The Vav Tishrei 5764 gathering for Chabad women

00:42 Speaker 1 Days of harsh exile in the Soviet vale of tears. Days of persecution and torture, days of spiritual and physical oppression, darkness so thick it could be felt. And out of the pain and suffering emerges a singular, exemplary figure: Rebbetzin Chana. A woman who knew how to weave love into a sea of hatred and persecution, to plant devotion amid waves of hostility, to radiate great light in the terrible darkness of exile. A woman who found a path to every heart and, with a master’s hand, bound the threads of souls together. A woman who also knew how to take up a writer’s pen, a pen guided by heart and soul. Her whole life was a song of strength and fortitude, of courage and royalty; a song of blessings and thanks, the song of the mother of royalty, the song of Chana. The Rebbe’s childhood. Once, rioters in the city of Nikolayev attacked the Jews and carried out a pogrom. The Jews hid in various secret places until the danger passed. Distinguished ladies, in honor of the Rebbetzin. Once, rioters in the city of Nikolayev attacked the Jews and carried out a pogrom. The Jews hid in various secret places until the danger passed. In one hiding place, many women and children gathered, and the Rebbetzin and her son were there too. But some of the children began crying aloud, and there was a great danger that the rioters would discover their hiding place. The boy went around among the children and calmed them: one with a stroke on the cheek, another by placing his hand over the child’s mouth for a while. He was not yet five years old. Once, the Rebbetzin spent the summer in a resort on the Black Sea coast in Crimea. One day, a rumor spread among the vacationers that a child had gone out in a small boat, drifted away from shore and begun to drown, and another child had gone after him and saved him. When the Rebbetzin approached the scene, she saw that the hero was none other than her nine-year-old son. When he was ten, the brothers competed to see who could learn more languages, and he would learn a new language in a matter of weeks. In this connection, the Rebbetzin related

05:44 Speaker 1 an incident that happened later, when her son was older. In Yekaterinoslav, there was a young Jewish man who worked as a translator for a company that traded outside the country. Once, he had to translate an article from English into Russian, and because he did not know English, he feared he would lose his job. The Rebbetzin’s eldest son translated the article for him and thereby saved his position. Asked how he had learned English, the Rebbetzin replied that he had learned the language from a dictionary. He also learned Italian and other languages. Rebbetzin Chana relates: “14 Kislev 5709, 1948. The anniversary of the marriage of our son Mendel to his bride, Musia. This day reminds me, even now, of the greatness of my husband, of blessed memory. It was in the year 5689, 1928. The anti-religious propaganda was being carried on with great intensity. Although there were still several synagogues in the city, the religious community no longer conducted any activities. The authorities confiscated half our home, leaving us only three rooms. The large room of the house was, of course, given to others, who from then on were our new neighbors. The bride and groom were not with us, but we very much wanted to celebrate the day. Renting a hall was out of the question in those days. At that time, a sizable crowd still came to our home to hear Chassidus and take part in farbrengens. On holidays, our neighbor, an engineer by profession, could not bear the religious conduct in our home, and he would shut himself away in his own rooms so that he would have no contact with our household. Yet,” the Rebbetzin relates, “when he heard from someone in the city that we were not planning to hold a celebration for the wedding, he broke through the wall separating his home from ours and made an opening into our home. He moved all his furniture out and left us the entire space for as long as we needed it. So we had a hall

09:04 Speaker 1 large enough to hold the celebration. Since we had a hall, we sent out invitations to the celebration. It gave the townspeople an opportunity to express their appreciation and admiration for the Rabbi. His spiritual influence in the city was so great, and the admiration they felt for the Rabbi—his spiritual influence in the city was so great that the celebration did not seem like a private occasion, but took on the character of a public religious gathering. Although, because of the terrible conditions at the time, we expected fewer than thirty guests, about three hundred people came, including relatives from the city and the surrounding district. All this happened at a time when a Jew was very afraid to be seen on the city streets because of the suspicions surrounding a person like him. It is impossible to describe in writing what took place in our home that evening. Everyone present shared our sorrow that we could not attend our eldest son’s wedding in person. There was a feeling in the air that we would not have an opportunity to see our son again anytime soon, and the intense longing we felt cannot be put into words. It was a sorrow both communal and personal.” Good evening, and welcome to the memorial gathering for the righteous Rebbetzin, Mrs. Chana Schneerson, a"h. On this day thirty-nine years ago, 6 Tishrei 5725, Rebbetzin Chana, mother of His Holiness the Rebbe, the leader of our generation, the Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach, passed away. The passages we heard are from Rebbetzin Chana’s personal diary. When Rabbi Zevin, z"l, read these diaries, he was deeply impressed by the Rebbetzin’s literary talent. I am honored to invite Mrs. Miriam Haskind, a member of the executive committee of the national N’shei Chabad organization, to light a memorial candle for the elevation of the soul of the righteous Rebbetzin, Mrs. Chana, a"h. Mrs. Haskind, please. I ask the audience to respect the occasion and try to be a little, a little quieter.

13:11 Speaker 2 For the elevation of the soul of the righteous Rebbetzin, the mother of royalty, Rebbetzin Chana, a"h, daughter of Rabbi Meir Shlomo.

14:07 Speaker 3 [unclear] into the unknown [unclear]. At his side [unclear]. With her own hands she created [unclear], to develop new Torah insights together. [unclear] to the next generation. [unclear] her name shines like the sun. [unclear] she held in her hands. She is [unclear], and the spirited, mischievous child—she foresaw [unclear]. [unclear] her radiance [unclear]. She is [unclear], and the spirited, mischievous child—she foresaw [unclear]. [unclear] her radiance [unclear]. From days of joy and dancing at the side of the good leader, she enjoyed pride and greatness. Fortunate is the sight of the king in his glory, accompanied by [unclear]. A powerful figure, [unclear] shining like the sun. [unclear] She is royalty, a scepter of merit in her hand, [unclear] purity and nobility, her talent [unclear] Rebbetzin Chana. A powerful figure, [unclear] shining like the sun. [unclear] She is royalty, a scepter of merit in her hand, a thread of kindness. [unclear] Rebbetzin Chana.

17:27 Speaker 4 Thank you very much, Mrs. Miriam Haskind. Perhaps this is a good opportunity to mention that Mrs. Miriam Haskind had the privilege of visiting Rebbetzin Chana, a"h, in her home, just as the Rebbe came in to visit his mother, as was his holy custom. A double privilege. I would also like to thank, on behalf of all of us, the lovely young women studying at the Beis Chana seminary, Dina Feldman and Devorah Fles. Thank you so much for the wonderful singing. The song was “A Powerful Figure,” with lyrics by Meira Nachimovsky. Well done, girls. I would like to invite Rabbi Uri Gamson of Kfar Chabad to lead us in learning Mishnayos corresponding to the letters of the name Chana. The letters of “Mishnah” are the letters of “neshamah,” soul. May this learning be a merit for the Rebbetzin, for us and for all the Jewish people. Rabbi Uri Gamson, please. The Mishnayos are on the tables. I think there are two copies on each table. So please.

19:39 Speaker 5 Good evening, everyone. Three things come together here tonight in an amazing way: the season, the Ten Days of Repentance; the date, Rebbetzin Chana’s yahrtzeit; and the three Mishnayos corresponding to the letters of her name, which we will learn for the elevation of her soul. About this period, the Ten Days of Repentance, which culminate in Yom Kippur, the Gemara says: “Yom Kippur does not atone for wrongs between one person and another until the person has appeased the other.” In that simple statement, the Gemara emphasizes something about these ten days that is not present during the rest of the year: a special emphasis on the relationship between one person and another. As for Rebbetzin Chana, whose yahrtzeit falls tonight, one of the most beautiful stories about her... All right.

21:33 Speaker 6 A bit of a problem with the microphone. So, uh, let’s switch to [unclear]. Let me apologize. How well is this working for you?

22:26 Speaker 5 About the Chanukah lights, it says, “Only to look at them.” We’ve gotten ahead of ourselves, and today the mitzvah is mainly to listen. In any case, among all the stories told about Rebbetzin Chana, one that stands out is the story of her tremendous mesirus nefesh in gathering plants for her husband so that he could make ink from them and write down his Torah insights. That story holds a message we can take into every day: mesirus nefesh to do something for another person at the expense of her own comfort. And this message is also found in the three mishnayos, corresponding to the letters of the name, that we’ll study today. Before we open the first mishnah, perhaps to bring out its message, it’s worth beginning with a story from the Gemara. The Gemara tells of a family who, thank G-d, had many possessions, fields and vineyards, and their businesses were doing well. Before the father passed away, he called his sons and told them, “You should know that all my success in business came from one thing: every month, I made sure to give a tenth of everything I earned. You should know,” the father said, “that if you continue doing this, you’ll see blessing. But if, G-d forbid, you don’t continue, you’ll see the results.” And the Gemara tells us that the sons did follow their father’s example, making sure every month to give a tenth of all the money they earned. But at some point, the Gemara relates, one of the brothers apparently decided they could cut back a little on their tzedakah expenses and perhaps invest that money in other businesses that would bring in more returns. The Gemara tells us that from that month onward, the brothers began giving less to tzedakah each month. And each month, their profits also declined. The business kept deteriorating. They earned less, so they gave less to tzedakah; then they earned still less, and naturally couldn’t give as much to tzedakah. And the more they cut back

26:50 Speaker 5 on giving tzedakah, the more Hakadosh Boruch Hu cut back on the profits He gave them. Eventually, things reached the point they did. And from that very low point, they decided to go back to giving the full tenth they had given in the good times. The Gemara tells us that precisely when, from that low point, they decided they would no longer cut back on tzedakah, they began to earn money again. From then on, they learned not to cut back on tzedakah, and consequently Hakadosh Boruch Hu did not cut back on their profits. How does this story connect to our mishnah, which seemingly contains nothing more than a straightforward law of Shabbos? We’ll see in a moment. You have the sheets with the mishnayos in front of you, and this is what the first mishnah says: “If a barrel breaks, one may save from it enough for three meals. And he says to others, ‘Come and save some for yourselves,’ provided that he does not soak it up.” The mishnah is saying that a person has a barrel full of wine, and during Shabbos he notices the wine beginning to leak out. The barrel has broken. The mishnah says that he may take a vessel and fill it from the broken barrel with enough for three meals. He may save only enough wine for three meals. What should he do with all the rest of the wine? The Gemara says he may call his friends and tell them, “You, too, take enough from the barrel for your Shabbos meals”—provided that he does not soak it up. What does “soak it up” mean? He must not use sponges to absorb the wine, because that might lead him to wring them out on Shabbos. Seemingly, there is nothing here beyond a straightforward law of Shabbos. But we can interpret the mishnah this way: When a person sees that his barrel of wine—his livelihood—is beginning to leak away, that something has broken and his livelihood is not what it once was, he is beginning to lose his assets, like the man whose barrel of wine is leaking away. When he sees that he is beginning to lose his livelihood, his barrel of wine,

30:10 Speaker 5 that is the time to call his friends and say, “Save some for yourselves”—to save your lives. That is the time to give to another person. Precisely amid the loss, precisely when a person sees his livelihood breaking down and beginning to slip away, that is the time to say to others, “Take some of what is mine.” You can see this beautifully in the wording of the mishnah. After all, someone whose barrel of wine breaks is not obligated to call his friends to take some too. He could choose not to do that; he has no obligation. Yet when the mishnah describes the situation, it uses the language of obligation. It doesn’t say, “He may call his friends and tell them to save some.” It says, “And he says to others, ‘Come and take some for yourselves too.’” Its wording suggests an obligation. In light of what we’ve just explained, this becomes clear: when a person is having difficulty earning a living, that is the time—and the obligation—to say to others, “Take some of my own livelihood.” The mishnah continues: “One may not squeeze fruits to extract liquid from them.” A person may not squeeze fruit on Shabbos to extract its juice. “And if the liquid comes out on its own, it is forbidden.” If someone sees juice beginning to flow on its own from a pile of grapes nearby, the mishnah says that juice is forbidden too. But Rabbi Yehudah says: If the fruits are meant for eating—fruits that people generally eat rather than squeeze for their juice—then what comes out of them is permitted. But if they are meant for their juice, like the grapes we mentioned earlier, then what comes out of them is forbidden. That is what the Gemara—the mishnah—says. Why is what comes out of them forbidden? Because we are concerned that even if he does not squeeze fruit now, on Shabbos, a situation could develop among the Jewish people in which people think they may squeeze fruit on Shabbos. Even though he did not squeeze it

33:14 Speaker 5 just now, the very fact that he benefits from juice that comes out of fruit could become established among the Jewish people as a practice that permits squeezing on Shabbos. “Honeycombs that one crushed before Shabbos”—honeycombs are not ordinarily squeezed to extract liquid. If he crushed them before Shabbos and the liquid continued to flow out on its own during Shabbos, it is forbidden. Why? Because, again, we are concerned that if people are permitted to use something that they might come to squeeze on Shabbos, even though they have not squeezed it now, it could become established among the Jewish people as a kind of permission to squeeze on Shabbos. But Rabbi Eliezer permits it. Why does Rabbi Eliezer permit it? Because honeycombs are not ordinarily squeezed. Here, if people are permitted to use the liquid that comes out of honeycombs, there is no concern that they will conclude they may squeeze them, because honeycombs are not ordinarily squeezed. That is the first mishnah for the letter Ches. The second mishnah, for the letter Nun, also has a message we can take into everyday life. There is a story about a chossid from among the chassidim of Poland who once approached the Rebbe and asked him, “How does the Rebbe bring close all those people who are so distant, who have no connection to Judaism? And how does the Rebbe devote so much time and energy to bringing those Jews close?” The Rebbe told him, “If you had a daughter who had strayed from the path, you too would invest as much as I invest in those children of mine.” We can see this message as well in a mishnah that seemingly contains nothing more than a law of Shabbos. The mishnah says: “A person may pick up his son while the son has a stone in his hand.” If a person has a child who is crying and wants his father to pick him up on Shabbos, and the child is holding a stone, which is muktzeh, may the father pick up his son and, as a result, pick up the stone too? Or should we say that the child will have to keep crying? But I

36:21 Speaker 5 You don’t pick him up along with the stone. The Mishnah says: “A person may pick up his son with a stone in his hand, even though the stone is muktzeh and it is Shabbos.” And here, too, we can see a message a little deeper than the plain meaning. “A person may pick up his son with a stone in his hand.” Sometimes a person has a son who is holding something muktzeh—perhaps something spiritually muktzeh. Should the father continue to treat him just as he would if the boy were not holding that spiritual muktzeh? Can he pick him up even though, seemingly, he would be violating Shabbos? Can he show him affection, stroke him, pick him up and comfort him despite the difficult situation his son is in? The Mishnah says: “A person may pick up his son with a stone in his hand.” He is your son. Even with the stone in his hand, he is still your son, and you must make sure he does not cry and, G-d forbid, become ill—who knows where that could lead? The Mishnah continues: “And one may move impure terumah together with pure terumah.” When a person has a basket containing produce of impure terumah mixed with produce of pure terumah, may he pick it up? May he pick up that basket on Shabbos, even though it contains impure terumah, which is muktzeh? Blessed are You, Hashem our G-d, King of the universe, by Whose word everything came to be. Once we start talking about food, there’s no choice. When a person has one basket containing terumah—produce set aside for the Beis Hamikdash—that became impure for one reason or another, mixed with pure produce set aside for the Beis Hamikdash, and the impure terumah is muktzeh on Shabbos, may he pick up the basket and carry it? The Mishnah says he may. The same applies if he has impure terumah mixed with ordinary produce, not necessarily pure terumah, with

40:06 Speaker 5 non-sacred produce. Rabbi Yehudah says: “One may even remove the terumah from a mixture of one in a hundred.” Rabbi Yehudah comes and says that even if pure terumah... even if pure terumah fell into a basket containing only ordinary produce, just regular fruit and not fruit designated as terumah... if the terumah is imp—if the terumah is impure and there is a hundredfold of the other produce against it, he may nevertheless pick up and carry the basket on Shabbos as well. And the last Mishnah. This Mishnah, too, can be captured in one story. The story is about the mashpia Reb Gronem, who once, in the middle of saying Shema, got up from his place and approached a bochur whose shoes were worn out. He pointed to the bochur’s shoes and gave him money to buy new ones. When people came to Reb Gronem and asked how, in the middle of Shema, he could go over, point out the bochur’s shoes and give him money for new ones, Reb Gronem said, “That is the whole point of yichuda ila’ah and yichuda tata’ah. Here I am connecting those higher worlds I speak about in Shema with practical action.” And we can find this idea in the last Mishnah as well. This is what the Mishnah says: “If one was reading from the Torah and the time for the reading arrived.” A person was reading from the Torah as one normally does, and while he was reading, the time for the morning Shema arrived. He reads Shema from the verses written in the Torah scroll. “If he directed his heart, he has fulfilled his obligation.” If he intended to fulfill his obligation to recite Shema through those verses he was reading in the Torah scroll, he has fulfilled it. “If not, he has not fulfilled it.” If he did not intend his reading of those verses in the Torah to count as Shema, he has not fulfilled his obligation to recite Shema. Now the Mishnah discusses a different subject: whether one may interrupt Shema, and for what purpose.

43:03 Speaker 5 “Between the sections,” the Mishnah says, “when a person is between one section of Shema and the next—between Ve’ahavta and Vehaya im shamoa, or between Vehaya im shamoa and Vayomer—he may initiate a greeting out of respect and return a greeting.” He may ask after someone whom he is obligated to honor, such as his teacher. He may ask how he is or say, “Greetings, my teacher,” and he may also reply if that person addressed him first. “In the middle”—if the person is in the middle of a section of Shema, in the middle of Ve’ahavta, Vehaya im shamoa or Vayomer—“he may initiate a greeting out of fear.” He may greet someone who could harm him, such as an important official or a king, “and return a greeting. These are the words of Rabbi Meir. Rabbi Yehudah says”—and this, this is also the halachic ruling—“In the middle, he may initiate a greeting out of fear.” If a person is in the middle of a section, he may ask an important official or a king whom he fears might harm him how he is. “And return a greeting out of respect”: if his teacher comes over and asks how he is, not realizing that he is in the middle of Shema, he may answer him. “Between the sections,” Rabbi Yehudah says, “he may initiate a greeting out of respect and return a greeting to anyone.” When he is between sections of Shema, between Ve’ahavta and Vehaya im shamoa or between Vehaya im shamoa and Vayomer, Rabbi Yehudah says he may initiate a greeting out of respect. He may even approach someone he respects and ask how he is, and he may reply to anyone. Anyone who comes over and asks how he is should receive an answer. There is a tremendous message in these concluding words of Rabbi Yehudah. Rabbi Yehudah is essentially saying this: when a person comes up to you, just an ordinary person from the street, and asks how you are, you must answer him so as not to embarrass him, to give him what he asked

45:45 Speaker 5 of you. Even if you are in the higher worlds of Shema, you must come down to earth and answer that person, because he is hoping to receive something from you. And this is really what Shema is about, as Reb Gronem expressed it: not only being occupied with the higher worlds, with yichuda ila’ah, but also knowing that when there is a person who hopes for something from you

00:06 Speaker 1 These teachings have one message: sometimes you need to give of yourself in order to give to a friend. Sometimes giving to a friend is precisely what makes your avodah complete. When you see that giving to a friend will strain your livelihood, give anyway. When you see your child holding something muktzeh, pick him up even though it is inconvenient for you, even though it does not fit with the laws of Shabbos. Pick him up anyway, because he needs you. And when someone approaches you and asks how you are in the middle of Shema, while you are engaged with the higher worlds, come back down to earth and tell him, “I’m well,” because he is waiting for that. That, in fact, is what makes your entire recitation of Shema complete. So may it truly be Hashem’s will that these days, the Ten Days of Teshuvah, through the merit of Rebbetzin Chana, stand us in good stead, that we merit to greet every person and to fulfill all the spiritual things we spoke about on Rosh Hashanah and will speak about on Yom Kippur. A good, sweet year. May you be sealed for good.

02:03 Speaker 2 I brought them into a side room to hide them from view. The rabbi began preparing for the chuppah. First, we needed a minyan of Jews. Without a minyan, he would not officiate at the kiddushin. So we had to find eight more Jews who would see but not be seen—people we could trust completely not to inform on us. Less than half an hour passed, and there were already nine Jews in the room. Only one was missing, the tenth for the minyan. One of the residents of our building was a young Jew who served as chairman of the building committee. One of his duties was to watch carefully for people entering and leaving our home, and to see whether religious ceremonies were being held there. The rabbi sent for this man to complete the minyan. When he arrived at our home and the rabbi explained that he wanted him to be the tenth man so that he could officiate at the kiddushin of a young Jewish couple, the man was moved and asked in astonishment, “Me?” But he quickly went to the windows and closed the shutters. Then he shut the door of our home from the inside and sat down. I brought a tablecloth that looked like the canopy of a chuppah. Four of those present, who stood head and shoulders above the others, held its four corners. When they finished writing the kesubah, they called the bride and groom out of their hiding place in the other room. The bride’s face remained covered the entire time. The chuppah began. No candles were lit because the bride and groom were afraid. Seven circuits were made around the groom. The tall groom, dressed in a leather coat, looked like a commissar—and perhaps he really was one—but he said, “Behold, you are betrothed to me,” and did everything he was instructed to do. At one-thirty, the bride and groom hurried away. Two of the participants in the chuppah, who carried Communist Party cards, approached the rabbi and said to him with emotion, “Now, Rabbi, we cannot bear to leave your company. All this,” they pointed to

04:53 Speaker 2 the cards in their hands, “is worth nothing to us when we are not together with you.” The arrest. The rabbi’s struggle aroused the anger of the Communist authorities. And so, on the night of 9 Nissan 5699, nineteen thirty-nine, at three after midnight, thirteen NKVD men came to our home. “Where is Rabbi Schneerson?” they asked. When I went to tell the rabbi about the visitors, four of them followed me and stood guard by the doors of the room. Without ceremony, they immediately called him into his study, and the oldest among them showed him the search warrant and arrest warrant he held. They set to work at once. They examined and rummaged through all the books arranged in the five bookcases. They did not leave a single book without scrutinizing it. One of them could read Hebrew, and whenever a particular book aroused their suspicion, they consulted him as an expert. They worked for several hours without a moment’s pause. At six in the morning, after they had searched and rummaged through every room, the eldest among them said, “Rabbi, get dressed and come with us.” Knowing full well that he would not be home for Pesach, he asked them to let him take two kilograms of matzos packed in a small parcel. They gave him permission. When I asked where they were taking him, and where I could bring him food or money, they told me to come the next afternoon and they would tell me everything. I went there the following day, but to my sorrow I learned nothing. Whenever I asked to be allowed to give him something, they answered that he was not there. Seeing how bad the situation was, I gave the investigator a certificate stating that the rabbi was ill and that if he did not receive food from home, he would eat nothing. I received an official reply: “That is entirely out of the question. However, in prison he is being served all the food he needs in accordance with Jewish law.” I noticed the signature of the officer in charge on the arrest document, and every

07:52 Speaker 2 day I telephoned him at the NKVD offices. Each time he conveyed greetings from my husband and told me that he was seeing to his needs, and that he had taken a siddur with him and was sitting and reading it. Every ten days, when the day arrived on which items could be sent to him according to the alphabetical order of his name, I would go there to bring him food or clothing. But always, always, the answer was the same: “He is not here.” Yet the military prosecutor confirmed that he was there. Five months passed like this. Two weeks after they brought me back to Yekaterinoslav, three NKVD men came to our home on Shabbos to conduct another search. This time the search was more thorough than the first. They had already packed up all the books and manuscripts he had guarded like the apple of his eye and carried them to the car. But after my many pleas and entreaties to leave them at home, they agreed to telephone their superiors, and eventually returned them to me. From Hitler, may his name be erased, I was no longer able to save them. The purpose of the second search was to find further incriminating material to make his alleged crimes appear more severe. After the search, they summoned me to the NKVD offices, where I was subjected to several hours of harsh cross-examination. They demanded that I tell them what my conversations with my husband were about, about his correspondence abroad, and about his contact with his sons overseas. In the end, despite their threats, their interrogation yielded nothing.

10:17 Speaker 3 We are honored to invite Mrs. Leah Haskind to speak on the subject of Rebbetzin Chana, may her merit protect us. Please. Dear women, please allow me to ask something. I know it is hard. We are sitting around tables set with food and meeting friends. It really is hard to keep quiet, but let’s make an effort and truly show respect for this occasion. Please.

11:15 Speaker 4 Good evening, everyone. I hope everyone has managed to sit down and have something to eat. Then perhaps I can have a few moments of your attention. I come from a setting where people usually listen closely, so I realize I have to contend here with the temptation of the food and refreshments on the tables. Still, I ask you to do your best for a few minutes. If not for me—certainly not for me—then in honor of Rebbetzin Chana, in whose memory and honor we have gathered here this evening. In many of the sichos the Rebbe delivered at farbrengens on 6 Tishrei in memory of his mother, the righteous Rebbetzin Chana, the Rebbe connected his mother Chana with Chana, the mother of Shmuel, who, as we all know, is also connected with these days. The Rosh Hashanah haftorah, from which we have only just come, tells of Chana’s prayer and how she received what she asked for, as Hakadosh Boruch Hu fulfilled her wish. Chana’s prayer was accorded something special that other prayers were not. The Gemara in Berachos says that it is specifically from Chana’s prayer that we learn several fundamental laws concerning prayer. In one sicha, the Rebbe asks: Why was Chana’s prayer singled out for this? What sets it apart from all other prayers, so that our Sages chose to derive several fundamental laws of prayer specifically from it? Perhaps we can expand the question a little. First of all, Chana’s prayer appears in the Prophets, and we know the rule that we do not derive halachah from the Prophets. Halachos are generally learned from the Torah. Furthermore, the Torah records many prayers by the great figures of our people. All the Patriarchs prayed, and the Torah tells us about it: Avraham’s prayer, Yitzchak’s prayer, Yaakov’s prayer. The Matriarchs all prayed, too. Perhaps, says the Rebbe, Chana’s prayer was singled out because she prayed for something very central and essential. She asked, a woman

13:50 Speaker 4 A barren woman asking— a barren woman asking for a child. There is hardly anything that can compare with the depth and intensity of such a prayer, when a woman pleads with Hakadosh Boruch Hu to give her a child. But even in this, Chana’s prayer was not unique. All the matriarchs were barren, and all of them poured out their prayers before Hashem, asking Him to send them a child, to open their wombs. And yet, as we said, it was specifically Chana’s prayer that attained this special status. The Rebbe explains why. What was special about Chana’s prayer? To understand this, let’s say something general about prayer. Broadly speaking, there are two kinds of prayer. One is the more ordinary, familiar kind that we pray every day. It is the fixed text built around the ongoing, everyday needs that each of us has. The text of the prayer—meaning Shemoneh Esrei—is structured around the ordinary, ongoing needs that every person has. That is the regular prayer we say each day. But there is another kind of prayer: prayer at a time of trouble, G-d forbid, at a time of calamity, in a particular situation when we want to ask Hakadosh Boruch Hu for something special, for a particular change in reality. Not something routine that happens every day, but a special request meant to bring about a change in the situation we are in. There is a difference of opinion in halacha as to whether prayer is a Torah obligation or a rabbinic obligation. Even those halachic authorities who say that prayer is a rabbinic obligation say that the second kind of prayer we mentioned—when a Jew prays in a time of trouble and asks for relief and deliverance from a particular difficulty—is a Torah obligation. Why? Here the Rebbe explains something very important about prayer. The Rebbe explains it this way: What, essentially, is the purpose of prayer? The purpose of prayer is to bring about a change in reality, to bring something new into being that was not there before. So the greater the change requested in a prayer,

16:08 Speaker 4 the greater the power of that prayer. With this in mind, let’s look at Chana’s prayer. We said that there are other prayers in the Torah, yet Chana’s prayer was chosen as the model from which the halachos are learned. So what was special about it? Let’s consider it for a moment. Chana, as we said, asked Hakadosh Boruch Hu to give her a child. She was barren, and she asked for a child. That itself is a request for a change in the natural order. It is not like a prayer asking for rain during a drought, even though that, too, is a prayer said in a time of trouble, because rainfall is something that occurs in the course of nature. Or even a prayer for a sick person’s recovery—usually, recovery too has a basis in the laws of nature. For a barren woman to be blessed with a child requires a change in the course of nature, and that is what Chana asked for. But that was not all. There was something else extraordinary about her request. We know that in her prayer Chana makes a vow and says: Hakadosh Boruch Hu, if You listen to me and fulfill my request, “and give Your maidservant a child,” then I will give You this child: “and I will give him to Hashem all the days of his life.” The Rebbe explains: Chana asked for a child, but not just any child. She asked for a righteous child. And here is the great novelty. The Gemara in Tractate Niddah relates that the angel appointed over pregnancy declares what each baby will be before it is born, before it comes into the world: whether it will be wise or foolish, strong or weak, poor or rich. There is one thing the angel does not declare. He does not say whether the child will be wicked or righteous. Why? Because everything is in the hands of Heaven except the fear of Heaven. Whether a person will be wicked or righteous, whether they will have the fear of Heaven, is left to their free choice. And here Chana, who is aware of this—that these are principles Hakadosh Boruch Hu

18:02 Speaker 4 established in His Torah, that the fear of Heaven is a matter of free choice—nevertheless asks Hakadosh Boruch Hu for a righteous child. The Rebbe is precise about this and says: She did not ask for the soul of a tzaddik. She asked for a child who would be righteous in practice. How do we know? Because she says: If You, Hakadosh Boruch Hu, fulfill my request, “and give Your maidservant a child”—and Rashi says, a righteous child—then I pledge: “and I will give him to Hashem all the days of his life.” In other words, a child whose whole life would actually be devoted to serving Hashem. A child righteous in practice. The Rebbe says there can be no greater change than this, because Chana was asking not only for something beyond the course of nature—that a barren woman should give birth—but also for something beyond the principles and laws that Hakadosh Boruch Hu established in His Torah. So how was this brought about? As we said, it was through prayer that is truly prayer. The central purpose of prayer is to bring about a change in reality, something new that did not exist before. How can prayer do that? The Rebbe says: We learn this from Chana. When we look at Chana’s prayer, we see that its defining feature is the focus of the heart. That is also the first halacha we learn from Chana’s prayer about the obligation to pray. And we know that the focus of the heart in the mitzvah of prayer is far more significant than it is in any other mitzvah. We are getting close to Sukkos. If we take four species that are kosher according to halacha in every detail, then even if we do not have the proper intention when performing the mitzvah, if we take the kosher four species and make the blessing, we have fulfilled the mitzvah. If we have even better intention, we have fulfilled it in a more beautiful way. In other words, with other mitzvos, intention is an addition, but it is not the object—the substance with which

19:58 Speaker 4 the mitzvah is performed. With prayer, by contrast, intention is the substance with which the mitzvah is performed. The focus of the heart is the very object of the mitzvah. Without it, there is essentially no mitzvah. Why? Because the purpose we spoke about earlier—the change in reality—can be brought about only through the focus of the heart. And the Rebbe explains how. What is the proper focus of the heart during prayer? To know that you are standing before the Master of the World, to clear your heart and thoughts of everything else and be completely nullified before the King of kings, Hakadosh Boruch Hu. To be utterly nullified before Him, wholly focused on the fact that you are standing before the Shechinah. Those of us who had the privilege of being in yechidus with the Rebbe can imagine what that is like. Despite all the preparations we made, the things we planned and wrote down on a piece of paper to say, when we entered that holy room, into the Rebbe’s presence, everything was forgotten, everything was erased. We were like an empty vessel, completely nullified before the revelation, the light and the holiness in that place. That is how we should feel when we stand in prayer. And then, the Rebbe says, there is a reciprocal response, “as water reflects a face back to a face.” When a Jew clears their heart and thoughts of everything else and is completely nullified before the King of kings, Hakadosh Boruch Hu, Hakadosh Boruch Hu does the same, so to speak. He, too, sets aside all limitations, all prior knowledge, all preconceived notions, and Hakadosh Boruch Hu reveals Himself to that Jew in a new way. This is what we say in Chassidus: a new desire arises within Hakadosh Boruch Hu. And when a new desire arises, a new reality is brought about in our world: the salvation, the relief and deliverance, the fulfillment of the request we made in prayer. Chana indeed merited this. She had a pure focus of the heart, and so she merited to bring about a new desire within Hakadosh Boruch

22:09 Speaker 4 Hu. A new desire to such an extent that she merited a revelation, a gift, that was not only beyond the course of nature but also beyond the Torah’s established order. Here we have seen how a new desire is brought about within Hakadosh Boruch Hu in matters between a person and Hashem. Now we can also understand the connection between Chana’s prayer and Rosh Hashanah. On Rosh Hashanah, after all, we ask to bring about within Hakadosh Boruch Hu a new desire to once again reign over us and over the entire world. Despite everything that happened in the previous year—a new desire.

22:45 Speaker 5 All the waitresses are asked to leave the hall, leave the hall and go into the kitchen. Please leave the hall now and go into the kitchen, put the plates on the trays and go into the kitchen. We can’t hear the lecture. All we can hear is the plates banging, the spoons against the plates.

23:08 Speaker 4 Earlier, we spoke about a new desire on the individual level. On Rosh Hashanah, we ask to bring about a new desire on the collective level: that Hakadosh Boruch Hu renew His kingship over the entire world. Despite what happened in the past year, despite our limitations, despite the fact that, so to speak, we do not deserve it, we ask Him to turn His heart from all that came before and, with a new desire, continue to reign over us in the new year. And, as we said, we bring this about through heartfelt intention in prayer. That is between a person and Hashem. But there is another way to bring about the creation of a new desire, in the realm of relationships between people. There is a well-known sicha of the Rebbe Maharash—though I did not know it until I prepared this talk and came across it through hashgachah pratis. The Rebbe Maharash says something there that I find astonishing. He says: Until now, everyone has understood that only a Rebbe can accomplish what a pidyon nefesh does. That is why, on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, we send a pidyon nefesh to the Rebbe and ask him to bring about, through his prayers, a new desire on the part of Hakadosh Boruch Hu for each and every one of us: to avert the undesirable things and bring about the things we want, each person in their own circumstances. But, says the Rebbe Maharash, if one Jew says something genuinely praiseworthy about another Jew, with true heartfelt intention, that person accomplishes the same thing a Rebbe accomplishes when he offers a pidyon nefesh on someone’s behalf. Because on Rosh Hashanah, during the Ten Days of Teshuvah, and on Yom Kippur, the angels stand in heaven waiting for someone to say something good about a Jew. And that good word, that word of praise spoken about a Jew, has a greater effect than the prayers of tzaddikim. In other words, each and every one of us has the power to bring about that same new desire, at least

25:08 Speaker 4 as much as the tzaddikim. We will not boast and say more, but the Rebbe Maharash does say more. That is something I would like to discuss in connection with Rebbetzin Chana. We saw that Chana, Shmuel’s mother, brought about a new desire through pure heartfelt intention in prayer. As for Rebbetzin Chana, this is the impression I got, at any rate, from the passages and stories I read. What was special about her—there were many special things about her, but one of the most visible was the warmth of her expression and her humility toward every person, from a small child to the greatest of the great. You can see it even in the photograph, in her bright, radiant face. Sitting here in the hall, we have the feeling that she is looking at us and smiling. That is how I feel, at any rate. And those who had the privilege of knowing her during her lifetime can attest to it. And it must be said: she herself was a woman of distinguished lineage, from a most distinguished family. She was the wife of an exalted, deeply devoted, holy and eminent Jew. We have heard about Reb Levi Yitzchak. She was the mother of royalty, the mother of the leader of the generation. But none of that gave her even the slightest trace of pride. She had a warm expression; in our language, we would call her a down-to-earth woman. She would sit among everyone in the women’s section, greet every person pleasantly, and treat each one with extraordinary warmth—children and adults alike. There was no one she regarded as too ordinary to matter. It was so natural for her to speak in praise of others; that is a very, very prominent trait. Another point along the same lines also stands out in Rebbetzin Chana’s memoirs. In particular, when she recounts the hardships they endured in Chi’ili, in exile in Kazakhstan, at her husband’s side, she tells of various points of light, as she calls them, and miraculous moments amid that bitter, dark exile. And every such story of a point of

27:17 Speaker 4 light or a miracle, she ends by saying, “I have no doubt that all those miracles, all those revelations, happened solely because of my husband.” He had a noble countenance, was holy, and inspired respect in everyone. It was all because of him. She completely discounts the tremendous strength that was demanded of her and everything she did. Complete self-effacement—she does not even address it. Everything that happened, everything that was done, was all to her husband’s credit. And another thing I saw in Rebbetzin Chana’s approach was that, in the years after she was privileged to leave that valley of tears, during the seventeen good years she spent near her son, whenever activists, shluchim, or women from Neshei Chabad came to visit her, she would first say “Yasher koach” for their work. And at the same time, in her very next sentence, she would encourage them to keep going and do more. Now, we are so familiar with this approach from the Rebbe. When I read these descriptions of Rebbetzin Chana, I said to myself, “Well, now it is clear where the Rebbe got this from.” And I think this gives a broader meaning to “Judge every person favorably.” We know that the Mishnah is precise in saying, “Judge the whole person favorably”: to judge someone favorably, you need to look at the person as a whole—all their strengths, all their virtues, all their abilities—and then judge them favorably. I think Rebbetzin Chana, and the Rebbe who continued in her way, taught us a deeper meaning in this direction. “Judge the whole person”: look at the whole person, at who they are, at their strengths and abilities, and say to them, “It is a privilege for you that Hakadosh Boruch Hu created you this way, with so many talents and so much strength. Yasher koach

29:07 Speaker 4 for what you have done until now. But that privilege brings an obligation. It is a privilege that carries a duty. Keep using everything you have been given to bring more and more merit to yourself and to the world.” And perhaps, just to conclude, we will tell two very short stories that bring us full circle to what we have discussed so far. First, something I heard just yesterday, through hashgachah pratis—and we will give credit to the person who told it. We want to bring the Geulah closer. Ah, Rabbi Glitzenstein, who works at our school—the social activities coordinator printed the program yesterday for our 6 Tishrei event, which will take place tomorrow, and the design included a photograph of Rebbetzin Chana’s headstone. When Rabbi Glitzenstein saw it, he said, “I have to tell you something.” He told us that shortly after Rebbetzin Chana’s passing, before the headstone had been erected, he needed the wording that was going to be inscribed on it for some publication. I do not know what it was; he was not willing to give any more details. So he approached the Rebbe, and the Rebbe sent him the wording that was later inscribed on the headstone. Along with the wording, the Rebbe wrote two notes. In the first, he asked that when it was printed, photographed, and published, the sizes of the letters be reproduced exactly: just as the Rebbe had written it, with the letters of the name larger and the other letters smaller. The Rebbe asked him to make sure the sizes were exactly the same. And the second note—the striking detail, if I can put it that way—was that the Rebbe asked him to make sure the wording was printed, written, in eighteen letters. So there is the connection. Earlier, we spoke about Chana, Shmuel’s mother, from whom we learned the laws of the Shemoneh Esrei prayer, the prayer of eighteen. So

31:00 Speaker 4 Rebbetzin Chana has a deep connection to this matter of the inscription on the headstone having 18 letters. And there is another story that will bring full circle what we learned from Rebbetzin Chana: praising a Jew, greeting a Jew warmly, and judging a Jew favorably in the deeper sense. This story, too, is connected to these days. The Rebbe told it on one occasion in the name of his father-in-law, the Frierdiker Rebbe. The Frierdiker Rebbe told it in the name of his father, the Rebbe Rashab, who told it in the name of the Rebbe Maharash, who told it in the name of the Tzemach Tzedek. The Rebbe told it at a farbrengen on 29 Elul, the Tzemach Tzedek’s birthday. And we are now in days still connected with the Tzemach Tzedek, right? 3 Tishrei is the Tzemach Tzedek’s upsherin. So the connection is certainly there. This is how the Rebbe told it. The story is about the Baal Shem Tov. We know that before he revealed himself, the Baal Shem Tov would travel around towns and villages where Jews lived. He would usually come to the marketplaces, a central place where Jews gathered. He would bring them together and speak to them, strengthening them in their service of Hashem. On one of these occasions, the Baal Shem Tov came to a town and, as usual, went to the market on market day. Jews gathered around him. The Baal Shem Tov wanted to strengthen their Ahavas Yisroel, so he said to them: “Listen, Jews, you all know Reb Yankel in your town. Who is Reb Yankel? A great Torah scholar who studies diligently. He sits all day engrossed in Torah. And he doesn’t just study Torah. Reb Yankel would study by heart. He would learn something and then review it by heart many, many times. That was his way of learning. Now, we all know that when someone studies

32:46 Speaker 4 and reviews by heart, he is much more inwardly focused and absorbed than when he reads from a text. He needs to hold the words in his memory and keep his train of thought.” So the Baal Shem Tov said: “Imagine Reb Yankel sitting there, deeply engrossed in his studies. But then his little grandson comes over and tells him something clever. Even Reb Yankel will come out of his thoughts and descend from the higher worlds. He’ll pay attention to the child and smile at him. And if someone else is in the room, he’ll surely boast and say, ‘Look what a clever grandson I have.’” The Baal Shem Tov said to the Jews: “You should know, dear Jews, that this is exactly how it is with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. It says that during the first three hours of the day, Hakadosh Boruch Hu sits and studies Torah. Now, the first three hours of the day are when we daven. When a Jew davens, his prayer ascends Above. Hakadosh Boruch Hu turns His attention from His concentrated Torah study and regards it like something clever said by a little child. And if His heavenly entourage, the angels, are around Him, He boasts to them and says, ‘Look at My only son. Look how clever he is.’” The Baal Shem Tov continued: “You should know that when Hakadosh Boruch Hu wanted to create man, He consulted His heavenly entourage. They asked Him what man would look like, what he would be like, and what he would do. After Hakadosh Boruch Hu described him, the angels were, to put it mildly, not very enthusiastic. They said, ‘It’s a waste of time.’ Hakadosh Boruch Hu said nothing, but He thought to Himself—as the Baal Shem Tov explains—‘I’ll show them.’ And then, during those first three hours of the day, a Jew davens. The Baal Shem Tov explains: this is a Jew immersed in the darkness of galus, burdened with earning a living, burdened with taxes and municipal taxes. That’s how

34:33 Speaker 4 it appears in the story. I thought those were modern terms, but apparently they had taxes and municipal taxes back then too—and perhaps a mortgage as well. Each of you can add whatever your imagination suggests. Yet he puts aside all those worries and stands up to daven. So Hakadosh Boruch Hu calls His heavenly entourage and says, ‘Here, look at My son, whom you dismissed. Look what a clever child he is.’ He boasts to them about the child’s cleverness. The Baal Shem Tov concluded: ‘So you see, Jews, if every Jew is so precious, and a Jew’s prayer is so precious to Hakadosh Boruch Hu—like that of a little child whose father boasts about how clever he is—how much must each of us cherish every Jew?’ So let’s conclude in the spirit of these days. We all know—the mothers among us know—that there is no greater joy than coming home and seeing the children getting along in unity and peace. And if it’s the opposite, what do you feel like doing? Just turning around and running away. At least, that’s how I feel. So if we’ve said that we are Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s beloved little children, and that He boasts about how clever we are, then the same applies to Him. If we want to awaken in Him the desire to reign, and to reign openly—“Reign over the entire world in Your glory”—then we need to live together in harmony, unity, and peace. That is the most powerful thing that can bring about in Hakadosh Boruch Hu a renewed desire to continue His kingship, and not just to continue it, but to reveal it before our physical eyes. We are the Rebbe’s beloved children, and we want him to be revealed, and his leadership over us to be revealed as well. You could say that it is similar to the hiddenness of Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s kingship. The kingship is there; we simply want it to be visible. The Rebbe’s leadership is there—we believe that—and it is above ten tefachim, but we want it here below, his leadership openly revealed here.

36:30 Speaker 4 So the solution, or the way to bring that about, is also for us to live in harmony, peace, and friendship, and to judge one another favorably now, in these days when we need merits so badly. Then surely the Rebbe will look at us and say: “Children like these—there is nothing cleverer than their being together in harmony. It is worth coming and revealing myself.” And he will come and redeem us. The day of Rebbetzin Chana’s passing was very important to the Rebbe. The Rebbe guided the affairs of the world, both materially and spiritually, but on this day, 6 Tishrei, the Rebbe took time from his precious schedule and devoted it to doing things for the elevation of his mother’s soul. We can see how important this day was to the Rebbe from the schedule he kept for many years. On this day, there was a regular farbrengen, and the Rebbe spoke at length about Rebbetzin Chana. The Rebbe would also make a siyum on a tractate each year. For many years, the Rebbe was careful to lead all three daily prayers, consistently and without fail. The Rebbe would do all these things. But now, dear women, who will continue them? On whom does the responsibility fall? On us. On us, dear women. We are the Rebbe’s daughters. We are all the Rebbe’s children. This responsibility falls on us. We must continue what the Rebbe began, and I ask you, dear women: You have a sheet on your table headed “Membership in Keren Chana.” Please stop everything. I want us to read together what the Rebbe asked for at the farbrengen on 6 Tishrei 5745. We want to do what the Rebbe wants. This is something personal to the Rebbe. We are committed to the Rebbe. Who, if not us? Please, I ask all of you on behalf of all of us, take out that sheet, and we’ll read it together. But it still looks as though not everyone has the sheet in hand. So please. The words

40:10 Speaker 4 The Rebbe’s request to establish funds in memory of his mother, with a special addition that year, marking twenty years since her passing—today it has been thirty-nine years—was to connect these activities with the number twenty. Efforts should be made to establish twenty mikvaos during the year in places that do not yet have a mikvah. Establish twenty funds to provide financial help and support to anyone who undertakes to keep kosher in what they eat and drink, and establish twenty funds whose purpose is to publicize and spread the mitzvah of lighting Shabbos and Yom Tov candles, by giving prizes and the like to girls and women who undertake to light them. We want to do what the Rebbe wants. The Rebbe gives us the recipe right here, and if he spoke of twenty funds, well, it has already been thirty-nine years. So we have one fund, thank G-d, but it carries out dozens of activities, and I’m not exaggerating. You have a sheet with details of the activities of this fund, which is fulfilling the Rebbe’s wishes. The fund does a great deal. Take a look here for a moment. I don’t want to go on too long and tire you out, but it publishes brochures in Hebrew and Russian. There’s an example here, for anyone who would like, G-d willing, to order them afterward or later on, whether on kashrus, family purity, or candle-lighting—Chana. There are also video recordings that Mrs. Malka Tager[unclear] produced on kashrus, family purity, and candle-lighting. There’s an exhibition as well, and much more; the list is long. This evening, dear women, we want to bring the Rebbe nachas. We want to do something personal for the Rebbe. This is the one thing we can do. It is our duty and our privilege to do it. And if we want to take part in this fund that the Rebbe asked to establish—and indeed, at that very

42:38 Speaker 4 farbrengen in 5745, listen to what the Rebbe says next: “In addition, as has been customary in recent years, a special appeal is held on this day for the Chana Fund, a fund named for the woman whose yahrzeit it is, which provides assistance to those in need in matters concerning Jewish women and girls.” Dear women, the words speak for themselves. We are asking you, from the bottom of our hearts, to fulfill this personal request of the Rebbe for Rebbetzin Chana. You can contribute 360 shekels in twelve payments of just 30 shekels, which really, truly isn’t felt all that much. So I’m asking on behalf of the organization, and perhaps this is also an opportunity to thank Mrs. Hinda Gerlitzky, who organized this lovely evening, Mrs. Sarah Zilberstrom, and of course Mrs. Butman. Look, we have here... Can you open it? Here is a silver knife for cutting cakes and pies. Anyone who commits here, now, today, to give 360 shekels to this fund in memory of Rebbetzin Chana will receive one today. Even if she doesn’t pay right now but makes the commitment, she’ll receive it. Here, I’m showing you the knife—a knife made of real silver. There are envelopes on the tables. The envelopes are on their way. In the meantime, you can prepare your checks or your Visa card, or write your first and last name, address, and place of residence on a slip of paper. That, too, will count as a commitment that you can fulfill, G-d willing, in the coming days. You don’t have to pay now, but please commit now. Every woman who commits will receive a knife as a gift from the fund. While the food is being served, I just want to tell you how much money the fund has spent so far. First, hundreds of thousands of copies of the brochures in Russian and Hebrew have been printed, at a cost of—listen to this! It’s true—four

45:44 Speaker 4 hundred thousand shekels. All of it through this fund. The recordings also cost two hundred thousand shekels. So, thank G-d, these things are being done. The Rebbe’s wishes are being fulfilled, and we women have the opportunity to be part of it, to do this personal thing for the Rebbe. What did Hinda say to me? “It’s something personal for the Rebbe.” I told her, “Everything is for the Rebbe.” And she said, “The mitzvah campaigns are for the world.”