The Vav Tishrei gathering for Chabad women at the "Heichal HaPe'er" in Tel Aviv

00:08 Speaker 1 Until the child was weaned, which was around the age of two. Then she would take him, and the two of them would go up to Shiloh with Elkanah. Now the Rebbe pauses here and explains this. Chana was a prophetess, and as a prophetess, going to Shiloh meant much more to her than it would have to any other woman. She had the preparation, the true understanding, the true enjoyment, the genuine feeling that came from seeing the revelation of G-dliness in Shiloh. She had prophecy. And if she had really wanted to keep going up to Shiloh with her husband, she could have arranged it. We know Elkanah was wealthy and had no shortage of money. He could have hired caregivers, nannies, servants—whatever they needed to help them—so that Chana could go up to Shiloh with Shmuel without the journey being too hard on him. Of course, no matter how comfortable they made the trip, when a person is traveling, they can’t attend to every little detail or be as careful about everything as they can at home. Still, that was an option if she had wanted it. And if she was concerned that it might not be right to take a small baby on such a journey, but still didn’t want to miss going up to Shiloh, there was another option. There is such a thing as a babysitter. She could have left Shmuel at home for two or three weeks, however long the round trip took, in the trusted hands of devoted caregivers. Meanwhile, she could have gone up to Shiloh on her own and absorbed everything she could receive there as a prophetess. In the end, that would benefit her child too. She would gain from it, and so would he. What do we see? Chana didn’t do that, and she didn’t

02:31 Speaker 1 do the other thing either. The haftarah tells us that she told her husband she was staying home, and we see that Elkanah agreed. Nowhere do we see him arguing with her. He accepted what she said as true. Chana explained that by not going up to Shiloh during those two years, she could devote herself much more fully to her son’s education than she could while traveling—even on a journey to Shiloh. That is what she did. After two years, she went up to Shiloh and brought Shmuel. Then she brought him to Eli the Kohen and said, “For this child I prayed,” and he remained there all his days. Chana merited to have Shmuel the prophet as her son through her self-sacrifice. And we see that Hakadosh Boruch Hu agreed with her conduct too, because when she brought him there, she merited the prophecy recorded in the Torah: the Song of Chana, as we know it. The Rebbe continues in the sicha and says: There are many details of Elkanah’s and Chana’s lives that the Torah does not tell us. There is only one chapter, and a few lines of those chapters tell us about Chana and her decision not to go up to Shiloh. But this too is part of the Torah. And if it turns out that we read it on Rosh Hashanah—specifically on Rosh Hashanah, the head of the year—and the reading of Rosh Hashanah is meant to influence every day of the year, then there is a lesson here for all women, for every day of the year. What Chana did is an example for all Jewish women in every generation.

04:50 Speaker 2 Identify the opening. Ido—

04:53 Speaker 1 She is not one of those women who feel a need to struggle and prove that if a man can hold a particular position, she can do it too, and show that she can do it. That if her husband has the right to leave the house early in the morning and come home exhausted in the evening, she has the right to do exactly the same—to imitate him, leave in the morning, and come home late and tired. The haftarah teaches us that it is not right for a woman to think her true fulfillment lies outside the home, in showing that she can imitate what men do. For her, that is falsehood and a disgrace. She lowers herself and diminishes the value of the mission Hashem has given her. What Hashem has bestowed on every Jewish woman—the role of being at home and raising the children—is immeasurably exalted. It cannot even be compared to going up to Shiloh and having the merit of helping other people go up to Shiloh as well. Through staying home and devoting herself to the education of her sons and daughters, and making sure her home is founded and built on the foundations of Torah and mitzvos, she can achieve something far greater. That is her primary mission. We see in the Torah that when Hashem told Moshe to count the Jewish people, He said to count them “according to your families.” Even though, in practice, the count was by tribe and was a general count of the Jewish people, and we do not see a separate count of each family, Hashem nevertheless placed the emphasis on families. That is because the foundation of the Jewish people is the family, and the future and continued existence of the Jewish people are in the hands of the woman. She is the one who guides everything that happens in the family, so that the home will be as Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants it to be, the husband will fulfill his role, and she will fulfill hers. And her role is

07:28 Speaker 1 no less important than her husband’s—perhaps even more so, especially when it comes to everything involving the children and the education of sons and daughters. Today, in the times we live in, we see a regrettable phenomenon. Because some women need to leave home and work outside the home for financial reasons, the world has come to treat that as the ideal: that a woman will find her true fulfillment and real satisfaction outside the home. A woman who stays home and devotes her time to raising her children is not held in such high regard. Rabbi Manis Friedman relates that he once gave a lecture at a university in America to a group of female students, liberal feminists. He spoke about the Jewish home, the woman’s role, and various subjects in Judaism. At the end of the lecture there was time for questions and answers, and a woman in the audience stood up and said to him, “Very nice. You enjoy life. You travel around, give lectures, fly from place to place. And what does your wife do?” So he answered, “My wife? My wife runs a shelter for homeless children.” The woman fell silent. She hadn’t expected that answer. It certainly sounded respectable, like a wonderful thing. Then he continued, “Actually, the children are ours, and the shelter is our home. We asked all the neighbors if anyone wanted them, but nobody did. So she decided to raise them herself.” That is what we see in our generation. If a woman raises someone else’s children, whether in a daycare center or a home daycare, that really is a good thing, worthy of appreciation. But if a woman stays home and raises her own children, that is treated as something unnecessary. It doesn’t make much of an impression. And the message today’s woman receives from the world, from the very air and atmosphere outside, is that simply being

10:15 Speaker 1 Staying home, changing children’s diapers and wiping their noses—anyone can do that. You don’t need special skills for it. Better to go out, get dressed, feel like a person. Besides, if she stays home too much, she might go crazy and become irritable and not give the children a good education. Meanwhile, she’ll bring in a little income too. So what’s wrong with that? I want to tell you about a yechidus I had twenty-three years ago. We traveled to the Rebbe for 11 Nissan, the Rebbe’s seventieth birthday. My oldest son was one year old then, and before we left... before we left, I was offered a job in Nachlas Har Chabad as a bookkeeper. Since I knew this trip was planned, I said there was nothing to think or talk about for now. We were going away for a month; when I came back, we would think about it. When we went in for yechidus, it was in the Rebbe’s room. Among the things I wrote in my note, I mentioned that I had been offered this job and asked whether I should take it. I don’t remember anything else from the yechidus. Only that question and the answer the Rebbe gave me. The Rebbe didn’t answer in exactly these words, but this was the message. The Rebbe looked at me and said, “Perhaps you can take the job part-time, or perhaps you can take the job and do it from home. The main thing is to make sure it won’t harm the child.” And that was when I was a mother of just one child. But the Rebbe cared so much about the education of that one child. The lesson is very clear: every woman, whether she works or not, must have the same primary concern as Chana the prophetess. Whatever she does, her children’s education must come first. And our message for the coming year from the Rosh Hashanah haftarah is

13:10 Speaker 1 that a woman who is a mother in Israel, or a young woman preparing to become a mother in Israel when, with Hashem’s help, He blesses her to marry and have children, must recognize that all her good and blessed activities—even activities such as appearing before Hashem your G-d in Shiloh—must take second place when the time comes and Hashem blesses her with a family and children. A woman’s primary role is to be the akeres habayis, the mainstay of the home. This is her shlichus. This is her role, and this is her true greatness. By fulfilling it fully, she merits to bring her children. In the end, she does reach Shiloh, and she brings them before the High Priest. She says, “For this child I prayed,” and that child grows up to be like Shmuel, who anointed King David, from whom Moshiach comes. All this is placed in a woman’s hands, and she can fulfill it—not, G-d forbid, out of irritability or frustration, but with genuine joy and a glad heart. How much time do I have left? Okay, that’s the sicha. I want to share something from my memories of Rebbetzin Chana. Rebbetzin Chana passed away thirty-one years ago, and I don’t know how many women here saw her. That was before the time of the large group trips to the Rebbe’s court. I don’t know how many women here actually saw her and knew her. I was a little girl, and it’s a shame, because as a little girl I couldn’t appreciate her greatness. We knew she was the Rebbetzin, the Rebbe’s mother. When I try to remember what I recall of Rebbetzin Chana as a little girl, there are two images I see. I’ll tell you briefly what I remember, what I see in those images. In the first image, I see the Rebbetzin standing outside her home. Her home was on

15:40 Speaker 1 President Street, at the corner of Kingston, on the first floor. The Rebbetzin would come out. She had a custom of going out and standing on Kingston. Anyone who has been here knows it’s a very busy spot. All the women with their shopping, people coming and going, children and men—everyone passes through there all day long. The Rebbetzin stood like a queen, with a wonderful smile on her face. More than anything, I remember her smile. We all know the Rebbe’s smile. The Rebbetzin, too, had such a lovely, dignified, warm smile. She would stand in the street, and everyone who passed would approach her. She would greet each person and ask how they were, whether it was a child, a woman or a man. Anyone fortunate enough to pass by that day, to see the Rebbetzin and receive a smile, a greeting and a few kind words from her, surely had a much brighter day afterward. The second image I have of the Rebbetzin is very hazy. She would always come to the N’shei Chabad gatherings and sit at the front. That image is very, very brief. Now I’m actually moving on to three images. In the third image, I remember the Rebbetzin in 770. It was probably Rosh Hashanah. The shul was still small. This was before they expanded it the first time, the second time and the third time. The Rebbetzin’s place was in the front row along the eastern wall, right next to the wall. The shul was as crowded then as it was in later years. To give you an idea of the crowding, here’s just one example: when we came to shul to daven and needed a machzor, we always brought only a pocket machzor, the smallest one there was. Why? When we davened, there wasn’t even room to hold an open machzor normally. There was no room to hold out your arms, so the machzor was right here in front of your face. A tiny machzor.

18:03 Speaker 1 When the davening ended and the Rebbetzin had to leave 770, what did we do? Of course, we had to show the Rebbetzin the respect of letting her leave first. She wasn’t going to wait an hour for the whole shul to empty. But on the other hand, how could anyone get out of 770 when we were packed together like sardines? Downstairs, among the men, we know there would be a splitting of the sea: everyone would start pressing and pushing, and suddenly a path would open for the Rebbe to pass through. But in the women’s section, we couldn’t do that. For one thing, most of the space was taken up by chairs and benches, and the aisle was very, very narrow. The Rebbetzin sat beyond a long row of benches. So however much the women squeezed together, no passage opened up. What did they do? They simply helped. We helped the Rebbetzin out of the shul, the way you help anyone, the way everyone gets out. People pressed together and made as much room for her as they could. When the Rebbe comes out, the Rebbe is a king. A king inspires awe, so people move away from him. But when the Rebbetzin had to pass through, she was the king’s mother, and you’re allowed to come close to a mother—you want to come close. So the scene in the women’s section was exactly the opposite of the scene downstairs among the men. Everyone tried to help her. One woman reached out a hand from the front, another reached out another hand, someone helped lift her from behind, with one person beside her here and another there. Like everyone else, the Rebbetzin climbed a little over the benches and chairs, surrounded by smiling, loving women. I can see the Rebbetzin climbing, climbing, and that wonderful smile never leaving her face. The whole time, she made her way through the crowd, smiling. Smiling with that lovely smile. And so it went all the way until she left the women’s section of 770. She was accompanied by a chain of love from the women. The physical conditions in 770 may not have been royal, but

20:24 Speaker 1 In the women’s section, we had a queen. If only we could see her again very soon. Thank you for your warm, uplifting words, which strengthen us more and more in our position and in our role. May they give us more strength in our shlichus, and may it always be accompanied by a smile that never leaves our faces. The central point of this evening is the appeal. This appeal is held every year for Keren Chana and in her memory. As is well known, the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, speaks often about Chana’s three campaigns: challah, kashrus, family purity, and lighting Shabbos candles. The organization seeks to expand the campaigns connected with Chana. There are many well-known stories of families who returned to Yiddishkeit thanks to these campaigns, and through them, family after family returned to Jewish life. The brochures published by the organization are distributed in Russian and English. Many Russian families became interested in making their kitchens kosher because of a brochure they came across. It prompted them to take part in the campaigns and make their kitchens kosher, and a chain of other families joined them in doing so. To date, the organization has produced three recordings on the three subjects: kashrus, family purity, and Shabbos, also in Russian. Through this appeal, the organization hopes to develop all these campaigns even further. Every participant and every donor will have an enormous share in bringing hearts closer to our Father in Heaven. May Hakadosh Boruch Hu give each one from His full, open, holy, and generous hand. May each be blessed with every good thing, and may Hakadosh Boruch Hu grant them tenfold blessing and success and double and triple their reward. May Hakadosh Boruch Hu bless each woman who participates in this fund with abundant children, life, and livelihood. This year the membership fee is being raised to 190 shekels. It can be spread over the whole year, with checks for the year. At each person’s place, by the...

23:29 Speaker 1 By her place, on the table, there is an envelope. She can put this modest contribution to Keren Chana inside and write her name on the envelope. Girls will go around the tables, and each woman who hands in her envelope will receive a small, modest gift: a silver salt shaker that the Tzorfim company has given us at a very low cost price. The 190 shekels can be spread over the year or paid in two installments, each according to her means. We’ll pause now, and everyone is asked to take out a pen and her checkbook. Now we’ll journey to the city where the Rebbetzin lived, Dnepropetrovsk. Did I say that right? No. Dnie... Well, you heard it. Dnipro, for short, Dnipro. When my daughter was there, people asked me where she was, and I said Dnipro. They understood what I meant. We’ll journey to Dnipro and see the wonders of the Creator. Who ever dreamed that in that city, a Beis Chana seminary for girls, named after the righteous Rebbetzin, a"h, would be established and stand in all its splendor? What could be more uplifting than following in her footsteps, continuing her path, and educating a generation of Jewish women teachers from that very place? That is where the Rebbetzin sowed the first seeds, and today we see the fruits. We aren’t watching the...

25:28 Speaker 3 There are many students in the institutions: eight hundred students attend the school and kindergartens. I don’t want to take too much of your time. I want to wish you all a good final sealing and a good, sweet year. May we merit to see our righteous Moshiach very soon. Much success.

25:46 Speaker 1 Could you turn up the lights, please? The candlesticks are replicas of the candlesticks of the Rebbetzin, a"h. They were brought to the United States, where the design was copied and replicas were made. They are now offering a special: instead of 770 dollars for a pair of candlesticks, for this evening only they are giving us a ten-percent discount, and the payment can be spread over seven checks. I want to mention the Tzorfim company. They so appreciate Chabad’s campaigns, and the Shabbos candle-lighting campaign in particular, that they decided to donate the pair of candlesticks here in front of us for tonight’s raffle. They deserve a round of applause for that. Thank you! As for these candlesticks, perhaps it’s worth mentioning that after his mother’s passing, the Rebbe continued to light with these candlesticks. The Rebbe himself continued to light the Shabbos candles with them. And of course, whenever a woman who buys them—or whoever wins them in the raffle—lights the candles, she’ll be able, at that moment, to connect with the very thought that the Rebbetzin, a"h, lit with candlesticks like these too. I’ll ask the representative of the Tzorfim company, Mrs. Nurit, to go around the tables with the brochures. Anyone who wants to make a commitment—and someone already made a commitment at the beginning of the evening to buy a pair at the special price—can do so. For this evening only, it’s a ten-percent discount: I believe that instead of 770 dollars, it’s 693 dollars, payable in seven installments. Girls, please help Nurit go around the tables and distribute the brochures. Anyone interested can purchase the candlesticks this evening. She has stock. Do you have stock here? They’ll be sent to your home. Nurit will sit at the back of the hall, and anyone interested can... Nurit, Mrs. Botman suggests that you go around the tables too, in case people have questions you can answer

29:04 Speaker 1 for them.

29:19 Speaker 4 I just want to say that anyone who wants to buy them during the coming week can do that too, because it’s hard to decide today and pay today. She can call the phone number and ask for Nurit, and we’ll be able to offer the same terms and send them right to her home. Thank you.

29:37 Speaker 1 Thank you. We’ll move on. Now you have to pick again and again and again. There was a green booklet, a yellow one, a white one. Right. There was a white one at the end too. After the raffle, we’ll watch another song by Hila Barzilai to close the evening. And there’ll be coffee served too, so don’t rush. The cups are waiting. Well, this time the winner is—Shoshi, whom will your hand land on? Check that there’s only one. The winner is Tova Levinhard[?]. Tova Levinhard[?]. Thank you, Shoshi. Is Mrs. Tova Levinhard[?] here? The rest of you will have to win some money to buy the candlesticks. Please. There are some papers here. Is there a box here too, perhaps? I can only see half of it. The box is here. Please. Allow me to close with a short story from the book Toldos Levi Yitzchak, told by Rabbi Raskin, z"l. The chossid Reb Yehuda Gurary, z"l, of Yekaterinoslav received the Rebbe Maharash’s shofar from his father and kept it with him. When Rebbetzin Chana, a"h, was preparing to travel to her husband at his place of exile in Chi’ili, she asked him to give her the shofar so she could bring it to her husband. He fulfilled her request, and she brought the shofar to her husband. He continues: “When I was preparing to leave Russia, two weeks before Rosh Hashanah, I asked the Rebbetzin to give me the shofar she had. She also had another one, a white shofar of the Tzemach Tzedek. She arranged to give me the shofar known as the black shofar as a gift. A few days later, on Friday, 26 Elul, Erev Shabbos Parshas Nitzavim 5730, I handed the shofar to her son, the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, [unclear].” May we merit, immediately, to hear the great shofar blast from the shofar of Melech HaMoshiach, and may he redeem us. With Hila Barzilai. Long live our master, teacher, and Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, forever and ever. “He Will Redeem Us,” with Hila Barzilai. That

33:21 Speaker 1 wasn’t because of the note. It was written down.

34:43 Speaker 5 This time too, we’ll be able to see the words of the song on the screens. This time too, we’ll be able to see the words of the song on the screens.

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39:30 Speaker 6 La la. So where [unclear], [unclear], [unclear]--