Cornerstone laying for a house ("palace") for the Rebbe in Kfar Chabad

04:45 Speaker 1 Zusha. Zusha.

08:34 Speaker 2 I wanted that, but I forgot. I wanted to. I don’t want to get sidetracked. [unclear] and I’ll start losing. Who isn’t warning us? [unclear]. You can hear him. [unclear].

09:34 Speaker 10 Let’s build.

09:37 Speaker 2 I learned [unclear]. [unclear] raw material in a discussion with a Jew. [unclear]. A direct route, the king’s road. [unclear]. I have nothing to say.

09:59 Speaker 10 Someone needs to correct them.

10:01 Speaker 2 Nothing is perfect. Who’s that in your head? And who’s waiting? A hundred and eighty-seven years. Me too. I was there.

10:53 Speaker 11 As members of Tzivos Hashem, let’s recite the Twelve Pesukim in order. [unclear].

11:09 Speaker 12 Moshe commanded us the Torah, an inheritance for the congregation of Yaakov.

11:26 Speaker 13 Hear, O Israel: Hashem is our G-d, Hashem is One.

11:39 Speaker 12 In every generation, a person must see himself as though he personally left Egypt.

11:55 Speaker 13 All Israel have a share in the World to Come.

12:02 Speaker 11 Don’t play around.

12:03 Speaker 13 As it is said: “And Your people are all righteous; they will inherit the land forever, the shoot of My planting, the work of My hands, in which to take pride.” “For this matter is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it.” And behold, Hashem stands over him, and the whole earth is filled with His glory, and He looks upon him and examines his innermost thoughts and heart to see whether he serves Him as he should. “In the beginning, G-d created the heavens and the earth.” “And you shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit in your home and when you walk—”

13:16 Speaker 11 No, no, no, no, no.

13:18 Speaker 13 “—on the road, and when you lie down and when you rise.” “If I worked hard and did not find success, do not believe it. If I did not work hard and found success, do not believe it. If I worked hard and found success, believe it.” “Love your fellow as yourself.” Rabbi Akiva says: “This is a great principle of the Torah.”

13:54 Speaker 11 Wait, that’s the whole purpose of man.

13:56 Speaker 13 And this is the whole purpose of man and the purpose for which all the upper and lower worlds were created, for Israel.

14:10 Speaker 11 Why are you playing with that, sir? My battery is almost dead. Stop playing with it. I won’t have any—

14:16 Speaker 13 “Let Israel rejoice—”

14:19 Speaker 11 Why are you touching it?

14:20 Speaker 13 “—in its Maker.”

14:20 Speaker 11 He’s filming.

14:21 Speaker 13 Meaning:

14:22 Speaker 11 He’s filming.

14:23 Speaker 13 Every—

14:24 Speaker 11 Come here.

14:24 Speaker 13 —one who is of the seed of Israel—

14:25 Speaker 11 Come here.

14:26 Speaker 13 —of the seed of Israel should rejoice in Hashem’s joy, for He delights and rejoices in His dwelling in the lower realms.

14:42 Speaker 14 Um, long live our master, our master.

14:59 Speaker 11 Longer, longer, longer.

15:01 Speaker 14 Long live our master. Long live our master, our teacher and our Rebbe. Long live our master, our teacher and our Rebbe. Long live our master, our teacher and our Rebbe.

15:27 Speaker 11 Orchestra. Rabbi Zusha Rivki[?], please [unclear]. [unclear], a pleasure.

19:01 Speaker 15 Thank you to the soldiers of Tzivos Hashem.

19:06 Speaker 16 L’chaim and blessings.

19:08 Speaker 15 L’chaim, l’chaim and blessings! With the permission of Rabbi Mordechai Ashkenazi, rabbis, heads of yeshivos and their students, mashpi’im, chassidim and people of action, public figures, elders and young people, this holy and distinguished gathering: Blessed is He who has kept us alive, sustained us and brought us to this time. “This is the day Hashem has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Today is Tuesday, the day on which “it was good” was said twice, and Purim Katan, in connection with which the Rema rules that “one whose heart is glad feasts always.” It is the year 5752 from the creation of the world. This place, Kfar Chabad, has merited; we have merited, and our generation merits, to lay and witness a cornerstone that will become the chief cornerstone of the palace of King Moshiach shlita, who will be revealed speedily in our days, immediately—with all the meanings of “literally” and all the meanings of “immediately.” In the words of the liturgical poem in the Rosh Hashanah morning prayers: “He set and laid its cornerstone”; and may the Creator of the world, who possesses all, complete this building. For “unless Hashem builds a house, its builders labor on it in vain.” Ladies and gentlemen, the deeds of the fathers are a sign for their children. Dovid, the king who is Moshiach, when he received word from Hashem that a permanent dwelling place could be built, gathered all Israel and stood and blessed Hashem, the G-d of Israel. And we, too, in his words, as recorded in Divrei Hayamim, will bless with full voice and open heart: “Dovid blessed Hashem before the entire assembly, and Dovid said: Blessed are You, Hashem, G-d of Israel our father, forever and ever.” My brothers and friends, millions of our fellow Jews throughout the generations waited, longed and yearned with all their souls for the good news that has brought us all here today. Among them were multitudes of holy people led like sheep to the slaughter and like candles to the fire for Your great Name, which was profaned. And it is precisely we, in these momentous days, the generation of King Moshiach, who merit, with Hashem’s help, wonders of the kind described in “As in the days of your going out of the land of Egypt, I will show him wonders.” These point us toward the imminent promise that Hashem will once again extend His hand to gather His scattered people from among the nations. The miracles encompassing governments and tyrannical regimes, the wonders renewed—

22:42 Speaker 15 —every morning throughout the whole world, [unclear], all these awaken in us ever more strongly the boundless faith and deep hope. Rejoice and be glad in the joy of the Geulah. Here, here, Moshiach is coming, standing on the roof of the Beis Hamikdash and proclaiming: “Humble ones, the time of your redemption has arrived.” And we all proclaim again and again, “I believe with complete faith in the coming of Moshiach,” and pray, “May You speedily cause the shoot of Dovid Your servant to flourish.” And we declare that they have accepted his kingship and authority—the kingship of King Moshiach. In simple words: Long live our master, our teacher and our Rebbe, King Moshiach, forever and ever. Amen, may it be so.

23:48 Speaker 17 What are you doing? What?

23:54 Speaker 15 Forever and ever, long live Moshiach.

23:57 Speaker 17 You can’t go over there from here anymore.

24:02 Speaker 15 Forever and ever.

24:03 Speaker 17 What are you doing? Mulik, go to sleep already. That’s enough now. L’chaim, l’chaim! The script, the script now.

24:29 Speaker 15 Are you coming back home afterward? I want to give you the dollars. I need to give—

24:32 Speaker 17 Leave them, because I—I won’t be home.

24:34 Speaker 15 Where are you going?

24:35 Speaker 17 I’m traveling. Honored rabbis, holy and distinguished gathering, welcome in Hashem’s name to share in the celebration of Chabad as a whole, of the Holy Land as a whole, of Chabad in particular, and of Kfar Chabad in the most particular sense. We are dealing with the weekly parshiyos of “And they shall make Me a sanctuary, and I shall dwell among them.” Rashi explains the words “And they shall make Me a sanctuary, and I shall dwell among them”: “‘And they shall make Me’—for My name, a house of holiness.” And indeed, as we heard earlier—where am I sitting? I’m on a car here. Why don’t you move over a little? I belong here. The conclusion and closing—the psalm of the Rebbe shlita, leader of our generation, the end of Psalm 90 in Tehillim, where we said: “May the pleasantness of Hashem our G-d be upon us; establish for us the work of our hands; establish the work of our hands.” Moshe Rabbeinu, the faithful shepherd, said this verse upon the completion and construction of the Mishkan and the placement of its vessels inside it. And indeed, last night the Rebbe shlita distributed a booklet containing a maamar for the day we are now observing, Purim Katan, beginning with the verse “And you shall command the Children of Israel.” One of the things the Rebbe shlita explains there is the meaning of “And you shall command the Children of Israel”: Moshe Rabbeinu, the faithful shepherd—“command” is related to mitzvah, to the word for joining and connecting. Moshe Rabbeinu is the one who connects Hakadosh Boruch Hu with the Jewish people. The Rebbe shlita then explains why this connection is followed specifically by the command concerning “crushed oil for the light.” Why specifically olive oil? And why specifically— The explanation the Rebbe offers there, his novel insight, is that “And you shall command the Children of Israel” means not only that Moshe Rabbeinu connects Israel—that the connection between Hakadosh Boruch Hu and the Jewish people is through Moshe Rabbeinu—but that the Jewish people give Moshe Rabbeinu an added measure of strength, holiness, and all spiritual and material things. That is to say, the third connection of the Jewish people, through the connection—

27:38 Speaker 17 This gives Moshe Rabbeinu, the faithful shepherd, added strength and vigor. Ladies and gentlemen, we have all gathered here today to lay the cornerstone for the home of the leader of our generation, the Rebbe shlita. Anyone who looks at Chabad Chassidus and its history, from its beginnings in the days of the Alter Rebbe—who gave himself over, among other things, to the settlement of Eretz Yisroel—and then at all the Chabad Rebbeim throughout the generations, sees that the Chabad leadership has been bound to Eretz Yisroel by an enduring, unbroken bond. Just as each Rebbe gave himself over for all the chassidim and for all the Jewish people, he gave himself over for Eretz Yisroel and its settlement. It began with the Alter Rebbe, continued with the Mitteler Rebbe, then through the Tzemach Tzedek, the Rebbe Rashab and the Frierdiker Rebbe. And then, some years ago, the Rebbe shlita instructed that this building, a 770 here in Kfar Chabad, be built as an everlasting estate of the Frierdiker Rebbe for the everlasting people. And we have indeed merited, with the Rebbe shlita’s consent and blessing, to lay the cornerstone today for his private estate, the estate of the Rebbe shlita. This will indeed be his home. As he said and wrote, all the Chabad Rebbeim had an estate in Eretz Yisroel, and he himself apparently also wants an estate in Eretz Yisroel as a continuation of that leadership. Perhaps this is connected to the situation we find ourselves in today, when everywhere there are people supporting and endorsing, G-d forbid, the acquisition of land and an estate by the enemies of our people—the terrorists and their like, and their friends in every guise. And perhaps, following on from this,

30:05 Speaker 17 now is also the time for “They shall make Me a sanctuary, and I will dwell among them,” when we merit that he establishes his dwelling among us. This is the protection and the way to overcome all the enemies and haters of the Jewish people. When “They shall make Me a sanctuary, and I will dwell among them,” the Shechinah cannot be moved from its place even one centimeter. We all pray that Hashem grant that this home be built as quickly as possible, and that we all merit, even before the month of Nissan—the month of miracles upon miracles, the month of Geulah—to be redeemed through Moshiach Tzidkeinu, speedily in our days, very soon.

30:51 Speaker 3 We’re almost finished.

30:56 Speaker 17 The kohen Mordechai Asri[?], Rabbi Ashkenazi.

31:00 Speaker 3 We’re almost finished. Stop talking like—

31:02 Speaker 17 And when we look at the section of the weekly parsha between the third and fourth readings, Rashi cites one of the verses and says: Hakadosh Boruch Hu tells Moshe, “And they will believe in you forever.” Faith in Hashem must be bound up with faith in Moshe: “They believed in Hashem and in Moshe His servant.” Ladies and gentlemen, the elder of the Chabad rabbis, the distinguished Rabbi Dovid Chanzin of Petach Tikvah, is here with us. We’ll ask him to say a few words. Rabbi Chanzin, please.

31:43 Speaker 3 Go downstairs, go downstairs. Don’t disrupt things here. You’re in the way of people coming up here. “The righteous resemble their Creator,” the Gemara says. At this time, when the Rebbe shlita says, “Prepare for the coming of Moshiach—he is coming,” and the Rebbe shlita says that the leader of the generation is Moshiach, we must remember that the coming of Moshiach is the purpose of the entire creation of the world. It is no accident that belief in the coming of Moshiach was included among the thirteen principles of faith in which every Jew believes, whether he says it aloud or thinks about it. For the entire purpose of the world’s creation is to make a dwelling for Him in the lower realms.

33:05 Speaker 4 Tell me, why are you reading that aloud?

33:07 Speaker 3 So that “the glory of Hashem shall be revealed”—that Hakadosh Boruch Hu will be revealed in this lower world more than in all the higher worlds. And when will that be? When Moshiach is revealed. Since that is now drawing near with tremendous speed—we have already seen how, lately, everything is happening quickly, and Moshiach is coming—then let the dwelling here below for the leader of the generation also be ready now, for we have merited this. May Hashem help that the promise be fulfilled very soon: “Behold, My servant shall prosper; he shall be exalted and raised up, and shall be very high.” [unclear] among many peoples, and he will appear to mighty nations far away. May we all who are standing here, together with all the Jewish people, soon see the revelation of the redeemer and the redemption of Dovid’s line. L’chaim, l’chaim!

34:30 Speaker 5 Amen and amen. And from the parsha we have just left, we also learned about the making of the choshen. In one of his holy sichos, the Rebbe cites the writings of the Baal Shem Tov and Chaim Vital: the letters of choshen can be rearranged to spell nachash, “serpent”—the primordial serpent, representing the other side, the sitra achra, gaining strength. On the other hand, choshen without the vav has the same numerical value as Moshiach. Five things were missing in the Second Beis Hamikdash, among them the Urim VeTumim—the explicit Name of Hashem that was placed within the choshen. Our work, as taught by the Rebbe, is to transform the choshen-nachash. In every generation there is the choshen, the numerical value of the generation, the Moshiach of the generation; we must reveal the Moshiach of the generation, so that the choshen will be a choshen mishpat, a breastplate of judgment, and Moshiach will judge the entire world. With us is one of the great authors of our generation, the author of valuable and important books and one of the generation’s renowned Torah scholars, Rabbi Alter Hilvitz shlita. We’ll ask him to share some of his thoughts with us. Rabbi Alter, please. What are you doing with my arm?

36:22 Speaker 6 Honored rabbis, may you live for many long and good years; honored members of this distinguished and holy gathering.

36:45 Speaker 5 What? What? Where are you from?

36:46 Speaker 6 My brothers and friends.

36:48 Speaker 5 Come here to the front now.

36:51 Speaker 6 It is a great privilege for me personally to be here now at this gathering for the laying of the cornerstone of the private estate of the Rebbe, may he live for many long and good years. I merited to be in Lubavitch, with the Rebbe Rashab, whose soul is in Eden, twice. I vividly remember the first time I traveled with my father, whose soul is in the heavenly storehouses, and we entered Lubavitch. My father pointed out to me: “Here is where the Rebbe lives, and here is where the Rebbe’s son lives.” And he told me, “See, this is the Rebbe’s private estate, his private home.” One thing stayed with me. He said, “Do you think the Rebbe—” It was early, at daybreak, when we arrived in Lubavitch. He said, “Do you think the Rebbe is asleep now? Look, the window is already open. The Rebbe is already at work.” It is a great privilege for me, having seen that estate in Lubavitch, together, of course, with the kleiner zal and the groisser zal, to be here now at this private estate of the Rebbe shlita. There is no doubt that this is a great privilege, and that every one of us who merits to take part in this great occasion will go from strength to strength. I do not really know what the concept of the Rebbe’s private estate means. What does “private estate” mean? After all, ultimately, all of Eretz Yisroel, every Jewish home and every single thing belongs to the person who bears responsibility for this entire heavy burden on his shoulders. But at the same time, there is such a thing here as a private estate. Certainly, the law of kingship applies specifically to Jerusalem. That is the distinction between the kings of the House of Dovid and the kings of Israel. The kings of Israel could be anywhere in the land, anywhere in Eretz Yisroel, except Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the place reserved for the kings of the House of Dovid. We will not go into what happened in the time of the Second Beis Hamikdash; the Ramban discusses that at length. In any case,

40:53 Speaker 6 a private estate can be anywhere. I said on one occasion, since I knew the Rebbe Rashab, of blessed memory: it is known that he wanted to visit Eretz Yisroel but was unable to. The photograph we have of the Rebbe Rashab is the one that was meant to go on his passport so he could travel to Eretz Yisroel, but he was unable to make the trip. The previous Rebbe visited Eretz Yisroel, and now let us hope that the Rebbe, may he live for many long and good years, will be here in Eretz Yisroel permanently. That is how it progresses, step by step: from the generation I merited to know—the Rebbe Rashab and the previous Rebbe—to, making a distinction between the living and the living, the Rebbe, may he live. May we all merit to see him here in Eretz Yisroel. I would like to make a personal request. I was asked earlier to say a few words, and I said that I was preoccupied. I ask this holy gathering to bless my wife, Sima bas Sarah Hodaya, who needs a complete recovery. May we merit good news, deliverance and complete Geulah very soon, immediately. Thank you.

43:03 Speaker 7 Thank you very much, Reb Alter, for your warm words. And you will surely agree with us that Jerusalem is destined to spread throughout Eretz Yisroel; if so, the kings of the House of Dovid have a place here in Kfar Chabad as well. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now come to the main event of the evening: witnessing and setting the cornerstone in place.

43:28 Speaker 8 Don’t play with that. Don’t play with it.

43:35 Speaker 7 Shimi, Shimi.

43:40 Speaker 8 All right. Now. That’s enough now.

43:47 Speaker 7 Don’t rush. Is that enough?

43:53 Speaker 8 In a moment. In a moment.

43:55 Speaker 7 You’re holding it. You’re holding it.

43:58 Speaker 8 Okay. Do you want it?

43:58 Speaker 7 Don’t push people. Come on.

44:01 Speaker 8 Come on. I didn’t see anything in that. I can’t stand. Moshiach, Moshiach, Moshiach is waiting for me. Stop shouting—you can hear everything here. Stop shouting. Wait, I can’t. Wait, come down. Come down. No, come down. Don’t shout! Come on, don’t shout. Here, here they come. No. Ah, that’s why it’s gotten so crowded here. Wait, a little more, a little more. Keep quiet. Hora, hora.

54:47 Speaker 9 Who’s that? That’s me, right? There’s Binyamin, come on. It won’t fit in here. No, I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you. Give me one more time. So, me again. One more. Wait, a second, one second. One more, two, another half a second. One more. One more, one, two, one more. One more, one, two. Three.