Radio Kol Mevaser Kfar Chabad, 30 Shvat 5748: a Chassidic program for the women of the village

00:27 Speaker 1 Good evening, and a good new month to you all. “When Adar begins, we increase in joy. May we and the entire House of Israel know only joy and kindness all our days.” This is our first program since the conclusion of shiva. Everyone surely knows of the Rebbe’s request that a farbrengen be held on Tuesday, at the end of shiva, at his home on President Street, and on Wednesday at 770. He even contributed toward the cost of this farbrengen. We, too, will hold a kind of farbrengen over the airwaves. We will begin by listening to a sicha from His Holiness the Rebbe shlita, delivered yesterday, Wednesday evening, after Maariv at his home.

04:15 Speaker 2 [unclear]

08:15 Speaker 3 This was during the time of [unclear]. The congress was more active in [unclear]. And marriage—marriage was [unclear]; the two people had not lived [unclear]. At that time, [unclear] had not lived. He believed in [unclear]. [unclear] had not yet been [unclear]. And marriage, or perhaps a journey—[unclear] the Americans. [unclear] they were on their own. [unclear] They should not [unclear], and they should not [unclear]. They lived in the halls, but [unclear]. Moshe had not lived in Kaddish, and [unclear] had lived in Kaddish. [unclear] had lived in Kaddish. [unclear] had lived in Kaddish. [unclear] had lived in [unclear]. [unclear] The same person had lived in Kaddish, but [unclear] had not. [unclear] That was the atmosphere—the spirit. [unclear]

09:56 Speaker 3 [unclear]

18:15 Speaker 4 [unclear] This strengthened [unclear], and strengthened [unclear]. It was specifically the persistence, [unclear] the family’s kindness [unclear]. [unclear] I understood that [unclear]. When I hear [unclear]. All this was revealed to them. [unclear] He spoke about it, [unclear]. All of this was a burden [unclear]. It sounded amazing, especially on Pesach. [unclear] My wife and I [unclear] about it. So all these will be subjects [unclear]. In any case, [unclear]. In any case, the subject [unclear]. And particularly [unclear]. [unclear] It was revealed to me. [unclear] When I hear words of knowledge [unclear]. [unclear] This is connected to Shabbos [unclear]. [unclear] It is revealed [unclear]. [unclear] Yosef [unclear]; Yosef’s words [unclear]. [unclear] When [unclear]. [unclear] What is this? [unclear] Reb [unclear] spirit [unclear]. [unclear] The home—only Mom was there, and [unclear] the beginning of the year, and Dad [unclear]. [unclear] a figure of a king of Israel. [unclear]

20:26 Speaker 4 [unclear] Jerusalem, with the Kohanim [unclear]. This is our Father’s house. [unclear] All of Israel [unclear]. What is it? [unclear] He gave you [unclear] everything. Apparently, he brought him help from here [unclear], and family as well.

22:31 Speaker 4 But he is obligated to work. [unclear] He spoke about it. [unclear] You make the decision on your own. [unclear] This is only the beginning, and this is our way to change lives, and our way to change [unclear]. We will know what it is so that we merit to see the museum in Tel Aviv. [unclear] Is that the small catalyst?

24:44 Speaker 5 We’ll hear firsthand impressions from our Rebbe’s court from Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Liberow.

24:51 Speaker 6 Since we have already entered the month of Adar, it would be fitting to begin with something from the Shabbos farbrengen, which was Shabbos Mevarchim for the month of Adar. But first, a little background. A few days before Shabbos, on Wednesday, a few hours after the funeral, several people were standing around discussing what would happen on Shabbos. Someone said there would certainly be a farbrengen. The Rebbe usually holds a farbrengen every Shabbos Mevarchim, and there is a halachic consideration here: there is no mourning on Shabbos. So surely the Rebbe would not change that. But everyone was certain it would not be a farbrengen like any other. Boruch Hashem, as soon as Shabbos began and the Rebbe came down for Kabbalas Shabbos and Maariv, you could see a change in the Rebbe—a great change. In fact, the whole Shabbos proceeded like an ordinary Shabbos. You could see no sign of mourning in the Rebbe. And among everything else that took place on Shabbos, the farbrengen too was more than an ordinary farbrengen. The Rebbe spoke in a clear, loud voice. Someone happening upon it from outside could not have said, or even thought, that this Shabbos was any different from other Shabbosim for Chabad chassidim or for the Rebbe. The farbrengen also dealt with subjects connected to Shabbos Mevarchim for Adar and Parshas Shekalim. But when you look at what the Rebbe said that Shabbos, you see that every sicha was really connected to what had happened. In every sicha there were things that pointed to it—some more openly, some less so—but almost every sicha was connected to the event. And of course, there was also the subject of the month of Adar. So one could also say that the Rebbe’s emphasis on the whole subject of Adar alluded to what had happened. As we know, when Adar begins, we increase in joy. On Shabbos Mevarchim for Adar, we had not imagined

27:25 Speaker 6 such a thing. What did the Rebbe say about it? That in Adar, the entire month is a month of joy, as it says, “the month that was transformed for them.” In other words, not only Purim and the following day, Shushan Purim, but the whole month was transformed from sorrow to joy. So that begins with Rosh Chodesh Adar and continues onward. Here the Rebbe added that we are now in the time of exile, and so “our disadvantage is our advantage”: since we do not now sanctify the new month as they did in the time of the Beis Hamikdash, through witnesses who saw the new moon, we now have a calendar calculation. We know in advance when Rosh Chodesh will be. Because we are in exile, we bless the new month on the preceding Shabbos, and the whole matter of Rosh Chodesh already begins then. In this respect, the month of Adar already begins then. That means the whole idea of “the month that was transformed for them” begins on Shabbos Mevarchim for Adar—which was this Shabbos, in the middle of the days of shivah. The Rebbe had already spoken about the event itself immediately after the first Minchah following the funeral, on the first day of shivah. One of the points with which the Rebbe concluded the sicha was that all of this should lead to “the living will take it to heart.” The Rebbe also added that her first name was Chaya, which is connected to “the living will take it to heart.” Before that, the Rebbe had also spoken about Ahavas Yisroel. He mentioned that baseless hatred brings death into the world, and therefore we must strengthen our Ahavas Yisroel. And “the living will take it to heart” means thinking about what one can do to stop this painful thing and bring the Geulah, when there will be the resurrection of the dead. That is specifically through Ahavas Yisroel.

29:34 Speaker 6 I happened to hear an interesting story about the Rebbetzin that Wednesday. It is a story that says a great deal. A very simple story: at first glance, it is just a story. But when you think about it, you see so very much in it. The story is that in 5712, when the Rebbe’s brother, Rabbi Yisroel Aryeh Leib, passed away, the Rebbe, as is known, made every effort to keep Rebbetzin Chana from finding out, so as not to cause her pain. The Rebbe sent letters to the Rebbetzin in his brother’s name, and throughout all thirteen years, from 5712 until 5724, until the day Rebbetzin Chana passed away, she knew nothing about it. There was a Jewish man who would visit the Rebbetzin from time to time, and he came to visit during that period too. The Rebbetzin spoke with him about how every effort was being made to keep Rebbetzin Chana from learning the story. Then the Rebbetzin said to him, “Believe me, I have never in my life said anything that wasn’t true. But here there is no choice.” When I heard the story, I immediately understood what we must do now if we want to do something in her memory. As is known, the Rebbetzin was a woman whom people never heard about, because she kept herself out of sight in the fullest sense of the word: “The entire glory of the king’s daughter is within.” But this point—if we want to do something in her memory, there is no question that truth is something very, very important. We should follow in her ways. If we want to do something for the benefit of her soul, we should follow her example in this respect, as she said that she had never said anything that was not true. And then

31:51 Speaker 6 through truth, we can reach all the other things written in the Torah with ease. If there is truth, we do not need to make a special effort toward Ahavas Yisroel. It follows immediately. If there is truth, there must be Ahavas Yisroel. It cannot be otherwise, because the opposite of Ahavas Yisroel is also the opposite of truth. When I heard this, I realized that something seemingly so small is actually a very great thing. Another thing I thought about: we have now had the opportunity to be in the Rebbe’s home. Because of that same principle of “the entire glory of the king’s daughter is within,” people never entered the Rebbe’s home. Only those closest to them were privileged to do so. But now everyone came to daven, passed through and offered condolences to the Rebbe. We saw something very striking in the house. I myself had always thought there were at least some basic things in the home—basic things that make a place comfortable. But I entered and saw a very, very simple home. There is not a piece of carpet anywhere in the house; nothing hangs on the walls. The furniture is old, and so on. We have always known what the Rebbe asks of us regarding material things and wasting money, and what a Jewish home should look like materially. But who would have thought? The Rebbe never spoke explicitly about the bare minimum. He spoke against excessive luxury, but the Rebbe never spoke about basic comforts. Here we see just how much the Rebbe practices what he asks of us—and even more than he asks. May it be Hashem’s will that very soon we merit what the Rebbe calls for all the time: “How long?” And as the Rebbe also pointed out at the Shabbos farbrengen, it is not only we who ask “How long?” and not only we who must ask “How long?” The souls in Gan Eden

33:58 Speaker 6 also ask and demand: How long must we wait for the resurrection of the dead? For the main thing is souls in bodies. May Hakadosh Boruch Hu strengthen the health of the Rebbe shlita, and very soon lead us upright to our land.

37:03 Speaker 7 We will move on to our regular study of the Rambam’s Sefer Hamitzvos, presented by Mrs. Razi Halperin.

37:13 Speaker 8 This week, those learning three chapters a day in Mishneh Torah are studying Hilchos Berachos. These eleven chapters contain many laws covering a wide range of topics related to every kind of blessing. At the same time, we women and children are studying just one mitzvah in Sefer Hamitzvos over the course of several days: positive mitzvah 19, the mitzvah of Birchas Hamazon. That is because this mitzvah is the sole source in Torah law for the laws of blessings, apart from the blessing over Torah study, which has a separate commandment. From Birchas Hamazon stem the requirements concerning all kinds of blessings, answering amen, the order of a meal, and so on, as we will discuss briefly below. In the Rambam’s words in Mishneh Torah, this mitzvah is “to bless the great and holy Name after eating.” It is derived from the verse in Parshas Eikev, Devarim 8:10: “You shall eat and be satisfied, and bless Hashem your G-d.” By Torah law, the obligation to recite Birchas Hamazon applies only after eating enough food to be satisfied, and only to foods that satisfy: foods made from the five grains—that is, wheat, which includes spelt, and barley, which includes oats and rye—as well as dates, wine, and dried figs. Some say that the Torah obligation to bless after eating applies to all seven species, including pomegranates, olives, fresh figs, and grapes. The Sages, however, expanded the obligation to recite blessings. They ruled that one must bless after eating any food in the amount of a kezayis, even food that does not satisfy at all but merely gives pleasure. They also added that one must bless not only after eating but before eating as well, as though asking the owner of the house for permission to eat. And this applies not only before eating, but before any kind of enjoyment. Our Sages further expanded the obligation, requiring a blessing before performing any mitzvah, and instituted blessings praising the Creator for His mighty deeds, in the words of Sefer Hachinuch. Thus, from this one mitzvah come

40:07 Speaker 8 a great many blessings. Broadly speaking, blessings fall into three categories: blessings over enjoyment, recited over anything from which one derives pleasure, such as food or a pleasant fragrance; blessings over mitzvos, recited before performing a mitzvah, such as taking the lulav or lighting candles; and blessings of praise and thanks, recited in prayer, the Gomel blessing, the Shehecheyanu blessing, blessings on seeing certain sights, and the like. The form and wording of the blessings were established by Ezra and his court. Regarding the Sages’ expansion of the obligation to recite blessings, the Gemara in Berachos says: “Rav Avira taught: The ministering angels said before Hakadosh Boruch Hu, ‘Master of the Universe, it is written in Your Torah that You show no favor and take no bribe. Yet You show favor to Israel, as it is written, “May Hashem shine His face upon you.”’ He said to them, ‘How can I not show favor to Israel? I wrote for them in the Torah, “You shall eat and be satisfied, and bless Hashem your G-d,” yet they are strict with themselves and bless after eating as little as a kezayis or a kebeitzah.’” In other words, in this merit Hashem, too, treats us beyond the letter of the law. The author of Sefer Hachinuch emphasizes in mitzvah 430, the mitzvah of Birchas Hamazon, that anyone who is careful about Birchas Hamazon will have an honorable livelihood all their days. Birchas Hamazon consists of four blessings. As noted, its wording was established by Ezra and his court, but the main theme of each blessing was established in a different generation, as described in the Gemara in Berachos. The first three blessings are required by Torah law, and the fourth by rabbinic law. The first blessing is the blessing of “He Who nourishes the world.” Moshe Rabbeinu instituted it when the manna descended for the Jewish people in the desert. The second is the blessing for the Land: “We thank You, Hashem our G-d, for having given our ancestors an inheritance,” and so on. It was instituted by Yehoshua bin Nun when the Jewish people entered Eretz Yisroel. It thanks Hashem for what sets us apart from every other nation: the redemption from Egypt, the covenant He sealed in our flesh, and the Torah and mitzvos

42:34 Speaker 8 He gave us, as well as the life and livelihood Hashem gives us. The third blessing is the blessing for Jerusalem: “Have mercy, Hashem our G-d, on Israel Your people and on Jerusalem Your city,” and so on, ending with “Who rebuilds Jerusalem.” It was instituted by King David and his son Shlomo. The fourth blessing is Hatov Vehameitiv, “Who is good and does good.” It thanks Hashem for various things and includes several requests beginning “May the Merciful One.” This blessing was instituted by the Sages of Yavneh. The Gemara relates that after the failure of the Bar Kochba revolt, many of those killed remained in the city of Beitar, but the Romans would not permit their burial. Miraculously, the bodies did not decay for many days. Only after the death of Emperor Hadrian was permission given, on 15 Menachem Av, to bury them. This blessing was instituted to commemorate that event. Are women obligated to recite Birchas Hamazon? The answer is clear and unequivocal: women are certainly obligated to recite it, in full, with all its parts. It is not a time-bound positive mitzvah. Some authorities hold that women are even obligated by Torah law itself. Think how much we run around and exert ourselves to perform mitzvos, even mitzvos we are not obligated to perform at all, or are obligated to perform only by custom, such as hearing the shofar. We devote ourselves to them so wholeheartedly. Yet here we have been given a mitzvah as important as Birchas Hamazon, which, according to several opinions, we women are obligated to perform by Torah law, and we have the opportunity to fulfill it every day. So we must not take this mitzvah lightly. We would do well to be careful, despite the difficulty this sometimes involves, to recite Birchas Hamazon in full after every time we eat. The possibility that women may be obligated only by rabbinic law, rather than Torah law, stems from several reasons. First, one of its blessings is for the Land, and women do not themselves receive an inheritance in the Land. Second, the blessing beginning “We thank You” mentions two things that do not directly apply to women: “Your covenant, which You sealed

44:56 Speaker 8 in our flesh,” and “Your Torah, which You taught us.” Nevertheless, it is clear that we are obligated to recite Birchas Hamazon, whether by Torah law or by rabbinic law. Much could be said about the deeper meaning of Birchas Hamazon, but we will mention only briefly that blessings do more than express our request for permission from the owner of the house before eating, and our thanks after eating—like a servant who receives a gift and does not slip away like a thief, as mentioned in Sefer Hachinuch. The word berachah is also related to drawing down Divine abundance, as in the term for layering a grapevine. Our Sages said that it was a reproach to Moshe and the six hundred thousand that they had not said “Blessed be Hashem” until Yisro said it. It is specifically by saying “Blessed be Hashem” that we draw the abundance of the Divine Name Havayah into this world. Chassidus also explains, based on the verse, “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every utterance of Hashem’s mouth does man live,” that everything contains an utterance of Hashem, a Divine spark that gives it life. When a person eats any food, they receive life from the Divine spark within that food as well.

00:07 Speaker 1 Yet when eating is done properly, for holy purposes—with a blessing and washing the hands beforehand, a blessing afterward, care with the kashrus of the food and the way one eats, and so on—and with an emphasis on eating for the sake of serving Hashem, a person not only receives vitality from the food but also elevates the food itself to holiness. In this way, one fulfills the instruction, “Know Him in all your ways.” A Jew’s service of Hashem is evident in daily life, in eating and sleeping, just as it is evident in Torah study and prayer. Once we understand the significance of food in this way, the table is truly like an altar. Then Birchas Hamazon is said with greater joy and heartfelt intention, not merely to fulfill an obligation. The holy Shaloh also says—and this is the practice among chassidim—that one should dress for Birchas Hamazon just as one does for prayer, with a jacket and hat, and so on. It is also preferable, as we see with the Rebbe shlita, to say it from a siddur or bentcher and to accustom our children to doing so. The verse “Sanctify yourselves and be holy” appears, at first glance, to contain an unnecessary repetition. Our Sages explain: “Sanctify yourselves” refers to washing before the meal, and “be holy” refers to mayim acharonim, washing afterward. It is not enough for sitting down at the table and eating the meal to be done in holiness and purity; getting up from the table and concluding the meal must also be done in holiness and purity. Before Birchas Hamazon, too, one must wash one’s hands—mayim acharonim. For some reason, I have seen women sometimes neglect this washing, but in the halachic sources available to me, I found no reason to be lenient about it. It is preferable for women, too, to wash mayim acharonim. And it is known that mayim acharonim is treated more stringently than washing before the meal because of the danger involved. The laws of Birchas Hamazon, and of blessings in general, are many and should be studied. Here, though, we will mention just one more point: the obligation to answer amen with intention to every blessing we hear. Children, too, should be accustomed to this from an early age,

02:30 Speaker 1 because answering amen brings about very great results and salvations, and many stories about this are known. May it be Hashem’s will that our request in Birchas Hamazon soon be fulfilled: “May the Merciful One grant us the days of Moshiach and the life of the World to Come.” Amen and amen.

05:23 Speaker 3 In one of the lanes of Kfar Chabad stands a striking sign with a stirring, moving message: Here a children’s daycare center is being established in memory of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka a"h, and so on. Large and small institutions, and charitable loan funds of various kinds, are being established these days everywhere. The elementary school, together with the parents’ committee, is currently setting up a large, extensive reference library, alongside a lending library of books in keeping with Torah values, in memory of the Rebbetzin. One of the Orthodox women writers who has contributed greatly to the selection of books and recordings in keeping with Torah values is Mrs. Esther Hershter. [unclear] Menachem. Against the background of the recording Mivtza Menachem, we will hear an illuminating interview with the writer Esther Hershter, who writes under the pen name Hadassah Ereshet. Interviewing her is Mrs. Rivka Gofin.

06:49 Speaker 4 Hadassah is your pen name. Hadassah reminds all of us of Esther, so presumably your name is Esther, and perhaps your surname is different—or perhaps it isn’t so different. Would you like to tell us?

07:00 Speaker 3 Hershter.

07:01 Speaker 4 Hershter. So Hadassah—ah, Esther Hershter is Hadassah. That’s promising, and we’re truly delighted to hear it. So, Hadassah, were you that child prodigy at school who wrote all the girls’ compositions during recess, or at least most of them?

07:18 Speaker 3 No, no. I don’t remember myself being like that. I remember that when our teachers, our composition teachers, assigned us compositions to write, I wasn’t all that eager to do my homework either. But when I had to write and sat down to do it, something always came of it in the end.

07:38 Speaker 4 Do you write in rhyme too? Did you write rhymes?

07:41 Speaker 3 I did write in rhyme. In fact, the first things I wrote, in third or fourth grade in elementary school, were little poems. I wouldn’t even have remembered them, but my mother kept a little notebook, and it contains poems: a poem for Grandpa, a poem for Grandma, a poem for Father, a poem for Mother. More recently, when I started writing stories, my mother suddenly brought the notebook out of storage, and there I suddenly saw how I wrote as a child in third grade. It’s interesting that I wrote in rhyme. And it’s interesting that my mother noticed I was writing at all and kept those things. She says that sometimes, when the house was bustling with guests and children—this is what she says; I don’t even remember it—I would disappear. When she found me, she’d say, “Etty, what are you doing here? Everyone is playing.” And I’d tell her, “Mom, don’t disturb me. I feel like writing right now, and I simply have to sit down and write.”

08:52 Speaker 5 Do you still feel like writing today?

08:54 Speaker 3 Today? Today I very much feel like writing. The problem is that I don’t write whenever I feel like it. I have so little time available for writing now that I usually write in response to a request. Someone asks me for a story for a particular occasion, set in a particular period, so I try to come up with one.

09:20 Speaker 5 How did you publish your first book? Or not a book—perhaps even your very first story?

09:25 Speaker 3 The first story happened just as I described. The editor of Zarkor came to me and said they didn’t have a children’s writer at the moment, and he’d heard that I could write. I don’t know where he heard that. I hadn’t written anything before then—only things I’d written as a seminary student. Apparently I wrote well, but I don’t know if it was anything exceptional. Still, he’d heard. Maybe my good friends did me that favor. He asked me to write a story for him.

09:53 Speaker 5 Do you enjoy reading your first story today?

09:56 Speaker 3 Yes. My first story was actually the recording The Shofar Blower’s Secret.

10:00 Speaker 5 Yes.

10:01 Speaker 3 What’s interesting is that this recording, which we’ve only now made for this Rosh Hashanah, was written fourteen years ago, yet it’s as relevant as if it had been written today. It’s about a Jew in Russia who didn’t even know he was Jewish, and he discovered it through a moving incident. When you listen to the recording, you’ll hear exactly what I mean. Afterward he came to Israel, and now, of course, he has arrived in Israel. It sounds as though we actually wrote it—

10:31 Speaker 5 For today.

10:32 Speaker 3 For today.

10:32 Speaker 5 I think—I’ve read some of your other books, too—that this is really a characteristic that sets them apart: their relevance to current events. They grow out of the world we live in. That’s the impression I got.

10:42 Speaker 3 Yes, that’s right. They grow out of the world we live in, out of our immediate surroundings. Not fantastic stories about elves or—though, actually, in my case, a book—

10:51 Speaker 5 About elves, yes.

10:52 Speaker 3 But even the book about elves deals with very real things. You understand? Not Chipopo, Kopiko, those sorts of things that our children really don’t need.

11:01 Speaker 5 Are your plots intricate, or are they...?

11:04 Speaker 3 What do you mean by intricate?

11:06 Speaker 5 I mean, we don’t always know exactly where you’re going, and only toward the end of the story do we discover what sort of trap you set for us at the beginning.

11:15 Speaker 3 At the beginning. Ah—

11:16 Speaker 5 Or are they straightforward plots?

11:18 Speaker 3 To tell the truth, I don’t... specifically try to do that to the reader, to lead them astray.

11:24 Speaker 5 No, on the contrary.

11:25 Speaker 3 But in trying to hold their interest—

11:27 Speaker 5 To surprise them. Yes, to surprise them.

11:28 Speaker 3 I think the stories are certainly interesting. What characterizes them is that there’s usually a story within a story. I always begin—I think this happens almost every time, without my intending it—the plot begins at some point in the present, and through it we discover—

11:45 Speaker 5 For example, as in The Secret of Menach—ah, in Mivtza Menachem.

11:49 Speaker 3 But, ah...

11:50 Speaker 5 That—

11:50 Speaker 3 It’s the same with The Shofar Blower’s Secret[?]: the story begins today and reveals a story about what happened in Russia on the eve of the First World War.

11:56 Speaker 5 Yes.

11:57 Speaker 3 And—

11:58 Speaker 5 You write—

11:58 Speaker 3 We hear two—I don’t want to abandon the present—

12:01 Speaker 5 Yes.

12:01 Speaker 3 But on the other hand, writing only about the present is too limited. We bring the past in through the back door. When children feel the connection, it’s relevant and interesting to them, and they also learn about what happened—

12:13 Speaker 5 In the past.

12:14 Speaker 3 In the past. Perhaps that is a certain kind of intricacy: they don’t expect the plot to reach so far back, and yet, in the end, all the threads come together in the present.

12:25 Speaker 5 Do you write with humor?

12:27 Speaker 3 Sometimes there are—

12:28 Speaker 5 Are there smiles?

12:29 Speaker 3 Yes, I think there are.

12:29 Speaker 5 Even when it’s sad, are there smiles? In other words, is the outlook optimistic?

12:35 Speaker 3 I—I try.

12:36 Speaker 5 It couldn’t be otherwise. A believing Jew can’t write without optimism. And if she’s also a chossid—and Hadassah Hershter, ah, Esther Hershter, is a chassid or the wife of a chossid—then it’s certainly written with optimism.

12:47 Speaker 3 Yes.

12:47 Speaker 5 But are there smiles too? Will children smile when they read the, the...

12:53 Speaker 3 I think so. I don’t know whether they’ll always grasp the full depth of the little barbs and things like that, but they might. The adults certainly will. I think adults enjoyed “Kulam Nikbetzu Ba’u Lach” even more than the children did.

13:07 Speaker 5 The children. Actually, what ages do you write for? Do you write for young children who are just beginning to read?

13:14 Speaker 3 Oh, not at the very beginning. I think children need to know how to read well already and understand what they’re reading, to understand texts. The stories are a little sophisticated—

13:21 Speaker 5 The books have vowel points.

13:22 Speaker 3 As I said. They have vowel points.

13:24 Speaker 5 Large letters.

13:25 Speaker 3 Large letters. Pleasant to look at, I think. I managed—

13:30 Speaker 5 The openings are very appealing, genuinely appealing, and even surprising.

13:34 Speaker 3 Yes.

13:34 Speaker 5 The opening of “Az’akas Emes” is quite suspenseful, even.

13:39 Speaker 3 Yes, it’s very interesting.

13:39 Speaker 5 “Kulam Nikbetzu Ba’u Lach” is more beautiful, more interesting, but less suspenseful. But the—

13:45 Speaker 3 Right.

13:45 Speaker 5 “Az’akas Emes” really surprises us, or creates a certain tension. You’re also a teacher, I understand.

13:53 Speaker 3 Yes.

13:53 Speaker 5 And you’re also a mother, boruch Hashem, of young and older children, may they be well.

13:57 Speaker 3 Boruch Hashem, young and older, may they be well. Exactly.

13:58 Speaker 5 So where do you find the time?

14:00 Speaker 3 Well, there is no time. I’m telling you, it takes special help from Heaven. I’ve taken on a shlichus. It sounds terribly presumptuous, but if I’m going to write, there has to be an educational message. Without that, I don’t write. I won’t give that up, because that’s why I write.

14:15 Speaker 5 Now I have a slightly provocative question.

14:17 Speaker 3 Yes.

14:18 Speaker 5 You have an educational message. To convey that message, your books are saccharine. In other words, are you willing to ignore realities that aren’t educational?

14:29 Speaker 3 Look—

14:29 Speaker 5 Are you willing... For example, I’ll give you an example from the tape “Operation Menachem.” When you describe the kibbutz, you portray it very negatively, really very negatively. There are good things about a kibbutz too. Are you willing to leave out the good things in order to educate?

14:45 Speaker 3 Well, look, let’s answer in general first, and then address “Operation Menachem.” If my writing is saccharine—when I met secular writers, they told me it was very saccharine. I told them, excuse me, that’s the approach of religious writers. We don’t give up the message. We won’t leave the dilemmas unresolved for the child to decide on their own. We guide the child to safe ground educationally. Even if a secular writer thinks I’ve gone further than I should have and haven’t left the child much room to think. I think that, relatively speaking, I still don’t overdo it. I don’t ignore the shades, the negative things in life. Some people write only in black and white. I have gray too. In other words, there are also things—

15:36 Speaker 5 Do your characters struggle with themselves?

15:39 Speaker 3 Yes, sometimes. Not too much, really, so as not to—

15:42 Speaker 5 You mean they don’t struggle with spiritual conflicts.

15:45 Speaker 3 Yes, yes, yes.

15:45 Speaker 5 Educational conflicts.

15:46 Speaker 3 Yes, of course. And I try to move fairly quickly to the triumph of good, so as not to leave behind the taste—perhaps sometimes a pleasant taste—of the negative thing.

15:56 Speaker 5 There are some who—

15:56 Speaker 3 When we talk about “Operation Menachem,” it really is a beautiful tape. But there was very strong criticism, which I accepted and took to heart, and in later tapes I didn’t do what I did in the first “Operation Menachem.” You say I portrayed the kibbutz through all its negative aspects, when there are good things too. Look, the good things are well known. What should I write—that there’s scenery and grass and an atmosphere, and I don’t know what else? I think that when I depicted the desecration of Shabbos and the non-kosher kitchen, some mothers were angry with me. “Why did you come along and reveal to our children that such a reality exists? We give them such a sheltered education that our children don’t need to know such a thing exists at all.” I’m [unclear]. I really try to do things that will help and, G-d forbid, not introduce anything harmful. But even so, I thought to myself: must their education be so sheltered that they don’t even know there’s a place where people might eat meat and milk together? I think Menachem’s cry comes through—and I might almost play it again, since I’m the one playing Menachem on the tape: “Meat and milk together!” The children are shocked. Of course they’re shocked to hear that it happens, but they’re also shocked by Menachem’s tone. It hurts him so deeply that I think the children will remember for years that it’s something wrong. Now, I’m not here to decide for everyone. If a parent thinks the tape exposes children to too much, to things they shouldn’t know about, then they shouldn’t play it. I respect that.

17:28 Speaker 6 No, I think our children today—at any rate, it seems that way to me—really do encounter secular people, but—

17:36 Speaker 3 Perhaps less so in Jerusalem, and that’s why I received that criticism there.

17:38 Speaker 6 No, I think our children today are educated quite well, boruch Hashem, and they can handle being shown those negative things. And to finish: what do the children say? Are they angry with Mom for leaving the house to record tapes? Do they enjoy the attention, enjoy the tape, offer criticism, identify with it? How do they feel?

18:00 Speaker 3 It depends when, you see. When praise is being handed out and it’s their mother, they’re very, very happy. But when they have to spend time at home without me and watch the little ones, sometimes for hours, a complaint slips out now and then, gently. What can you do? They know that—

18:18 Speaker 6 Will they become writers in the future?

18:21 Speaker 3 It’s hard to know. I think I would have—

18:23 Speaker 6 At their age, you wouldn’t have—

18:24 Speaker 3 I wouldn’t have known either. I thought I might write, but—

18:26 Speaker 6 In any case, they have something to make up for it: the tapes and the beautiful books on the shelves.

18:30 Speaker 3 Yes. My son was in yeshiva, and they were learning together in the study hall. Suddenly he heard someone studying Gemara and humming the beginning of “Operation Menachem” to himself. He was absolutely stunned. He went over and asked him, “Tell me, what were you humming?” The boy said, “It’s from some tape. Don’t you know ‘Operation Menachem’?” So my son said, “Yes, that’s my mother.” And the young fellow—

18:49 Speaker 6 By the way, Mrs. Hershter doesn’t exactly look like the mother of a son in yeshiva, but that must be part of the pleasure—the pleasure he gets from the tapes.

18:57 Speaker 3 I’m telling you, whenever I find the time to write, everything else is boruch Hashem. Truly, boruch Hashem. Whenever I finish a project, I thank Hashem that I managed to bring it to completion, and with Hashem’s help there will be more. You understand? I don’t have any grand plans. I’m just glad I manage to get anything done at all.

19:16 Speaker 6 Much success. Thank you very much.

19:18 Speaker 3 Thank you very much.

19:19 Speaker 6 Goodbye. Thank you.

19:23 Speaker 3 We were saved, boruch Hashem, but how many children like us are in the kibbutz? What will happen to them?

19:33 Speaker 6 And so, as Menachem’s question echoed through the room, I knew that although Operation Menachem had come to an end, the story of all those children was not yet over. We’ve heard a great deal this week about Ahavas Yisroel. This time we’ll hear about turning away from evil: “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow.” Mrs. Sarah Alperovitch will speak about it.

20:36 Speaker 7 Good evening. The words lashon hara and rechilus—who among us isn’t familiar with them? Hardly a day goes by without our encountering one of these prohibitions, whether we are the ones speaking or merely listening and accepting what we hear. It may not be widely known that the punishment for accepting lashon hara is greater than for speaking it; we will discuss that at length, G-d willing, later on. Few of us know the name Rabbi Yisroel Meir HaKohen, but we all know him as the Chofetz Chaim. That name comes from the first book Rabbi Yisroel Meir wrote, and its title is taken from the verse in Tehillim: “Who is the man who desires life, who loves days in which to see good? Guard your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit.” The Chofetz Chaim wrote this book shortly after a bitter dispute swept through Radin, the town where he lived. The dispute involved much slander and ended with the local rabbi leaving town. Rabbi Yisroel was very careful not to become involved in disagreements, but it seems that this conflict, with all the pain and ugliness it entailed, hastened his decision to write the book. The Chofetz Chaim saw that guarding one’s speech was, in fact, among the most neglected mitzvos. Most people, even those who are most meticulous about the details of halachah, somehow do not take enough care with their speech and frequently stumble into the sin of lashon hara or rechilus. In Mishlei, chapter 18, verse 21, it says: “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” We also know the story our Sages tell in the Gemara, tractate Avodah Zarah, page 19, about Rabbi Alexandri, who called out in the streets: “Who wants life?” Hearing his call, a large crowd gathered and cried out to him: “Give us life!” He answered them with a quotation from Tehillim, chapter 34: “Who is the man who desires life, who loves days in which to see good? Guard your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit.” And it is remarkable. If this is so familiar to us and we know it so well,

23:04 Speaker 7 if we know this story and understand the meaning of this verse, why is it so hard for us to meet this challenge without stumbling? Our Sages tell us in the Midrash that if we examine our bodies, we will see that there is no other part of the body for which Hakadosh Boruch Hu made such safeguards against sin as He did for the tongue: He placed two barriers around it. Hakadosh Boruch Hu said to the tongue: “What more can I do for you? I created all the other limbs upright, but I created you lying down. I created all the other limbs on the outside, but I created you on the inside. And besides all that, I gave you two barriers: one of flesh—the lips—and one of bone—the teeth. Learn from all this not to speak lashon hara.” One problem with speaking lashon hara is that it usually brings other transgressions in its wake, committed while telling it. According to the Chofetz Chaim, in telling an apparently innocent story of lashon hara, one can violate as many as thirty-one mitzvos: seventeen positive commandments and fourteen prohibitions. That count applies under different conditions and circumstances, but in any case, speaking lashon hara leads to many transgressions by the speaker, the listener, or both. And when we speak about guarding our speech, this subject naturally concerns us as women, both because a woman has nine measures of speech and because, as the woman of the house, we are responsible for what takes place at home—including the conversations around the table at mealtimes and on many other occasions. The key to guarding our own speech, and consequently that of our households, is in our hands. One of the essentials of guarding against harmful speech is constantly studying and reviewing the laws of lashon hara. Perhaps if we study all the halachos connected with this subject and review them until we know them thoroughly, we will stumble less often in this sin. A person

25:23 Speaker 7 uses his tongue more than any of his other limbs, and so he must know at all times what he may and may not say. If we try to think through everything we say before we say it, we will stumble less often. And if we actually use the two filters Hakadosh Boruch Hu created for us—the lips and the teeth—and filter everything through them before speaking, we will be less likely to stumble. The main problem with the stumbling block called lashon hara is that we do not really know enough about what lashon hara is. So let us first try to clarify for ourselves what falls under the definition of lashon hara, what constitutes avak lashon hara, how they differ, what rechilus is, and so on. Which account falls into one category, and which does not? The Alter Rebbe, in Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 156:10, defines the prohibition of lashon hara this way: “One who speaks disparagingly of another, even if what he says is true—and even if he says, ‘Where can a fire always be found, if not in so-and-so’s house, where meat and fish are always available?’—this is lashon hara.” End quote. The Rambam, in Hilchos De’os, chapter 7, halachah 2, says: “A habitual speaker of lashon hara is one who sits and says, ‘So-and-so did this and that; his ancestors were such and such; I heard such and such about him,’ and speaks disparagingly. Of this, the verse says: ‘May Hashem cut off all smooth-talking lips, the tongue that speaks boastfully.’” If we pay attention to the Rambam’s words, what did I say, after all? I only mentioned what my friend or neighbor did today, or what she cooked, or I simply repeated what another friend had told me about her—and already I have stumbled into the sin of lashon hara. The Rambam continues in halachah 3: “The Sages said: For three transgressions a person is punished in this world and has no share in the World to Come: idolatry, forbidden relations, and bloodshed; and lashon hara is equivalent to them all. The Sages also said: Anyone

27:33 Speaker 7 who speaks lashon hara is as though he denies the fundamental principle of faith.” Later in the chapter, the Rambam says: “Lashon hara kills three: the one who says it, the one who accepts it, and the one about whom it is said; and the one who accepts it is worse than the one who says it.” Generally, there are two types of lashon hara: A. speaking disparagingly of another person, and B. saying something that, if publicized, could harm that person physically or financially, or even cause him distress or frighten him. These two types are independent of one another. Even if someone speaks disparagingly of another person but the account causes that person no harm—for example, because the listener does not believe it—it is nevertheless lashon hara. More than that, even if the speaker knows beforehand that his words will cause the other person no harm, he is still forbidden to speak disparagingly of him, because speaking negatively about another person is itself lashon hara. The Torah forbids speaking disparagingly of another person even when it does not harm him. What constitutes lashon hara also varies according to the person being discussed and the place and time, because an account considered praise in one case may be disparaging in another. Take the very same account, unchanged: someone devotes several hours a day to Torah study. For one person, this is praise: despite the many difficulties of earning a living that occupy him, he manages to devote several hours each day to study. For someone else, it is disparaging: although he has no difficulties earning a living, he studies so little. Many things fall under the prohibition of lashon hara, both in matters between a person and Hashem and in matters between one person and another. More on that, G-d willing, next time.

33:37 Speaker 8 Snippets of replies. This time we have some interesting answers from His Holiness the Rebbe shlita, some of them from earlier years. The first letter is from 5726. Chaya, on what occasion did you receive this letter?

34:00 Speaker 9 This was when my husband traveled to raise money for the generator. For many years he had dreamed of having Shabbos-compliant electricity, and finally, boruch Hashem, he was able to make it happen. On the day he left, I found it very hard to imagine how I would manage alone for three—three long months, from before Elul until after the holidays. That day I immediately sent a telegram to the Rebbe, asking for a blessing that I would get through it successfully, and the very next day I received a reply. Perhaps we can hear part of the answer you received. Please. “The merit of her husband the rabbi’s shlichus, may he live, in such an exalted matter—Shabbos, which is equal to all the mitzvos—will stand by him and by her, with whose full and willing consent he traveled, and by all their children, may they live, in everything they need. With a blessing for a good inscription and sealing, signed in his holy hand.” Did the letter really have an effect? Did that period pass easily? I can’t describe what a wonderful three months they were. The letter went with me everywhere, day and night, and it was simply a wonderful time for us and the children. I received the second letter in 5725. That was when I won the raffle for a trip to the Rebbe. I hadn’t expected to win, and suddenly, in the middle of the night, people came and told me I had won. All the friends around me were overjoyed, while I was quite stunned. After everyone left, I was actually—even ashamed to say it—sad. How would I manage with the children? Even boarding a plane was terrifying for me. Above all, I wondered who would care for the babies. Then, when everyone had gone to sleep, I sat down to write a letter to the Rebbe. I wrote that it was very hard for me, and told the whole truth: everyone was happy, but I wasn’t happy enough, and I was ashamed of myself. What should I do? I wanted the Rebbe’s blessing. The very next day I received a telegram, worded as follows: “Surely with her husband’s consent, may he live. May the trip be successful, as a representative of N’shei Chabad in Kfar Chabad and Tzfas, and may she return home in peace and joy. May she bring good news here and upon her return, at a good and auspicious time, and may the merit of the many assist her. Mentioned at the Ohel.” It’s impossible to describe

36:32 Speaker 9 what a wonderful ten days I had there. First of all, the raffle winner had a particularly honored standing in those days. They held a celebration for me both when I arrived and when I left. When I arrived and people recognized me, they said, “Here’s the raffle winner.” They gave me a seat in the front row. I was treated with respect and admiration from every side, as though I had worked hard to earn it. I received this letter a few years ago, during one of the difficult periods I went through. I asked the Rebbe for the privilege of receiving instructions and suggestions. The Rebbe answered me: “Very simple ones. Reflect as one should on the troubles, may Hashem spare us, of all different kinds that some of the Jews around them face, and on how she can help them as she should. Our Sages said, ‘One who prays for another’—and all the more so one who actually helps, with joy at this great privilege—‘is answered first.’” When I received the answer... I hadn’t thought I would receive an answer like that. I had been expecting something else. But the Rebbe had answered, so I accepted it and did as he instructed me. Every moment, every hour, I thank Hakadosh Boruch Hu for the great kindness He showed me in giving me the privilege and the strength to help others, and I thank the Rebbe, whose holy instructions and blessings brought me this far. May Hashem continue to grant and add to this all my days.

38:39 Speaker 10 I lift my eyes to the mountains.

38:45 Speaker 2 Truly, how splendid was the Kohen Gadol.

38:49 Speaker 9 Truly, how splendid was the sight of the Kohen Gadol. What does this line have to do with our series on the Jewish home? We’ll hear about that from Mrs. Nechama Greisman. In the previous broadcast, we spoke about how the purpose of the world’s creation is for the Shechinah to dwell specifically in this physical world, and for each person to make their physical home a home for Hashem, where the Shechinah will dwell. Ultimately, this will bring about the complete revelation of the Shechinah with the coming of Moshiach Tzidkeinu, speedily in our days, amen. We also gave examples of how running a Jewish home genuinely resembles the service in Hashem’s house, the Mishkan and the Beis Hamikdash. Both involve the use of physical objects and physical work for a holy, exalted purpose. Today we’ll expand on another point. As we know, the kohanim, who had the privilege and duty of serving in the Beis Hamikdash and the Mishkan, wore beautiful, splendid priestly garments. Anyone who saw them could tell that a holy man stood before them. The familiar piyut in the High Holiday prayers describes how beautiful and distinctive the kohen looked. Jewish women are the mainstays of the home, which is a miniature sanctuary. We too have the privilege and duty to serve in holiness through everything we do in running our homes and caring for our families. Like the kohanim, we too should feel proud, and not only in our hearts. It should also show in the way we dress, as it did in the appearance of the kohen. The Rebbe shlita is generally very careful in his choice of words and avoids moralizing and rebuke of the kind associated with the Mussar approach. But a few months ago, in the sicha on Shabbos Mevorchim Kislev, the Rebbe spoke about shluchos who, through their modest outward appearance, their conduct and their facial expressions, influence other women in matters of tznius. We must conclude from this that, in some respect, the Rebbe is not pleased with the way certain women among N’shei Chabad dress. The Rebbe shlita wants us to be aware that, without our saying a word, our outward appearance says a great deal. There’s no question that when we see an observant woman wearing a garment whose suitability for a Jewish woman is doubtful, the garment looks less objectionable to us.

42:27 Speaker 9 All the more so when we see many women wearing that style: it comes to look entirely acceptable and permissible. The Rebbe once said that when people look at a Chabad bochur, they see the Rebbe. The bochur represents the entire Chabad movement. The same is true of women. Every individual Chabad woman, whether she wants to or not, represents all of N’shei Chabad. Others will see her and do likewise. Not long ago I returned from Brooklyn, where I stayed with my family near the Rebbe. I attended several N’shei Chabad events in Crown Heights, and at one meeting they discussed a particular style of maternity dress. Because so many women wear that kind of dress, women have stopped asking themselves whether such an outfit really is modest. The N’shei Chabad newspaper in New York printed an article about problems of tznius in clothing today. One example it gave was a recent style of dress closure with an opening in the back that exposes the skin, for which they could find no justification. When the Rebbe shlita launched the tefillin campaign before the Six-Day War, my brother was a yeshivah student. He told me that in the first days of the campaign, the bochurim from 770 would go by truck to Manhattan and other neighborhoods and stop Jewish men with the questions, “Are you Jewish? Did you put on tefillin today?” They would then bring them into a nearby shul and help them put on tefillin there. One day, a bochur stopped an older Jewish man with the usual questions. The man looked at him angrily. “What nerve! I’m the rabbi of this shul. Only yesterday, Tzeirei Agudas Chabad called to ask my permission to use my shul for the tefillin campaign. And now you ask me whether I’m Jewish? Whether I put on tefillin today? This is an Orthodox community. You should be ashamed of yourself!” The rabbi left the embarrassed bochur and hurried to the

45:32 Speaker 9 shul, where Minchah would begin in a few minutes. The bochur felt terribly uncomfortable, but he had no choice but to go into the shul and join the minyan with his fellow Temimim, the tefillin team. At the end of the davening, the rabbi asked the bochur to come over to him. The bochur’s heart began to race as he walked slowly toward the rabbi. He’s sure to give me another earful, the bochur thought. What he gave me in the street wasn’t enough.