Customs of a King - Purim - Rabbi Tuvia Zilberstrom shlita

00:02 Speaker 1 You’re listening to “Lemaan Yishme’u,” a podcast of Machon Halacha Chabad.

00:09 Speaker 2 On Purim, when the Megillah was read in a large gathering, the Rebbe came in with his own Megillah, which he had received from one of the chassidim. It also had a silver case. The Rebbe would read from it while listening to the Megillah in shul, and people also relate that the Rebbe would read for the Rebbetzin. During the reading, the Rebbe would read along with the baal korei, word for word. He would spread out the Megillah in several sections, as prescribed, and some say that the Rebbe also recited the blessings along with the one leading the reading. One thing I noticed: in the customs it says that we stamp our feet at Haman’s name during the Megillah only when a description is added—“Haman the Agagite,” “Haman the wicked,” “this evil Haman,” and the like. When it just says “Haman,” we do not ordinarily stamp. But I watched the Rebbe carefully every year during the Megillah reading: the Rebbe did stamp. The difference was this: every time Haman was mentioned in the Megillah, the Rebbe would tap his foot—sometimes his right foot, sometimes his left—three or four light taps. When Haman’s name came with a description, the Rebbe stamped for a long time. By “a long time,” I mean more than twenty taps, between twenty and thirty, always with one foot. So, again, at every mention of Haman the Rebbe tapped lightly, and when a description was added, he stamped much more. As for the two occurrences of “this Purim letter,” when the Megillah is shaken, the Rebbe, too, held it with both hands and shook it seven or eight times. At the end of the Megillah, before the chazzan began the blessing, the Rebbe had already—there are two opinions about whether to roll up the Megillah before the blessing, so that it is not left spread out during the blessing, or to wait until after the blessing and only then roll it up. This is generally a difference between the reading of the haftorah and the reading of the Megillah. During the reading of the

02:41 Speaker 2 haftorah, the haftorah remains open before the person reciting the blessings. With a Sefer Torah, we roll up the scroll, so it is not open during the blessing. The opinions are recorded in the halachic authorities. The Rebbe would immediately begin rolling up the Megillah. Since he had opened it out several times during the reading, he had to roll it up and turn it over; at that point we were no longer counting exactly how many times. The Rebbe would begin rolling it up right away. When the baal korei began reciting the blessing, the Rebbe would stop and look into the siddur, listening to the blessing while following along in the siddur, and afterward continue rolling up the Megillah. He began immediately at the end of the reading and continued after the blessing. Right after the daytime Megillah reading, as the halacha states, when hearing Shehecheyanu by day one should also have in mind the other mitzvos of the day: the Megillah, of course, mishloach manos, gifts to the poor, and the festive meal and rejoicing. What we saw of the Rebbe’s practice was that immediately after the Megillah reading, the davening continued. First of all, regarding the Megillah reading, there are two opinions about where the Sefer Torah should be. After all, the Megillah is read after the Torah reading. The question is whether the Sefer Torah remains out throughout the Megillah reading, or whether it is returned to the aron kodesh before the Megillah is spread out and read. Both opinions appear in the halachic authorities. On Tisha B’Av, everyone agrees that after the Torah reading, the Sefer Torah is returned, and Megillas Eichah is read while the Sefer Torah is in the aron kodesh. There, at “[unclear],” the halachic authorities explicitly say to return it. As for the Megillah, there are two opinions, and Shaar Hakollel also relates an account involving the Tzemach Tzedek. When I was with the Rebbe, in the years I was there, they would return the Sefer Torah to the aron kodesh. That is how it appears in the customs printed in the Tehillas Hashem siddur. It is a quotation; it is not connected to the Alter Rebbe.

05:04 Speaker 2 There are quotations like that in the Tehillas Hashem siddur. It says there that we return the Sefer Torah and then read the Megillah, and that was also the practice by the Rebbe. In 5736, if I’m not mistaken, or 5737—the Rebbe would always receive the third aliyah, then wait for the Sefer Torah, as at Shabbos Mincha, for the recitation of “Yehalelu.” He would accompany the Sefer Torah to the aron, and then they would begin the Megillah reading. These were among the few occasions when we saw the Rebbe wearing tefillin, because until 5748 or 5749, the Rebbe did not daven Shacharis with the congregation; he davened in his room. So we saw the Rebbe wearing tefillin only on Erev Rosh Hashanah, Erev Yom Kippur, the yahrzeits—Yud Shvat, 6 Tishrei, and 20 Menachem Av. In addition, on Tisha B’Av afternoon the Rebbe would come down wearing Rashi tefillin, and for the Megillah reading, because one should hear the Megillah while wearing tefillin, these were the main occasions. So the Rebbe would be wearing his tallis and tefillin, receive the third aliyah, and after hagbah he would wait, accompany the Sefer Torah to the aron kodesh, and turn to a special table brought from the library, where he would listen to the Megillah. In two years, 5736 or 5737—5737 for certain, but I don’t recall right now whether the other year was 5736 or 5738—the Rebbe turned and went back to his place. Everyone stood astonished at the change from the previous practice. They thought that when the Rebbe reached his place, he would turn around so they could say “Yehalelu.” But no, the Rebbe did not turn around; he went to the table and opened the Megillah. So the Sefer Torah remained out, and they read the Megillah that way. That happened one year, and it happened again another year. I was involved in editing the siddur, and the siddur said that the Sefer Torah is returned first. The Rebbe had explicitly written to me several times not to change anything written in the siddur. If there was some comment, it should be written

07:32 Speaker 2 in a note at the bottom of the page. So I asked the Rebbe whether his public practice over the previous two years was an instruction for everyone, and whether I should include it in a note in the siddur. The Rebbe answered that I should include it in a note as an instruction to the public: the Sefer Torah remains out until the Megillah reading is finished. So that is our practice: the Megillah is read while the Sefer Torah remains out. After davening ended, the Rebbe went up to his room. Immediately afterward, the Rebbe fulfilled the mitzvah of mishloach manos. What we saw near his room was that the Rebbe would give mishloach manos to a Kohen, a Levi, and a Yisroel. During my time, the Kohen was the sofer Rabbi Yeshaya Matlin. At first, the Levi was Rabbi Shmuel Levitin; later, it was Rabbi Shmuel Dovid Halevi Raichik of California, who of course came especially to receive it. The Yisroel was Rabbi Chodakov, the head of the Rebbe’s secretariat. The gifts would be sent out from the Rebbe’s room by a messenger. After all, mishloach manos is sent through a messenger. The package contained a bottle of mashke, a hamantasch larger than a kezayis—not an ordinary small one, but a large hamantasch—and an orange. So it included food and satisfied all the opinions. There are opinions requiring two kinds of food, or food and a drink. With the Rebbe, we saw both: there was food and a drink, and there were also two kinds of food. That is what the Rebbe distributed to a Kohen, a Levi, and a Yisroel. The Rebbe himself received mishloach manos at home, and packages also arrived for him at 770. People close to the Rebbe’s household would bring him very generous mishloach manos, and the Rebbe distributed those things to his children, the Temimim. He would have them brought out to the secretariat, which distributed them to the bochurim. At first, some bochurim would take them; later, they were given to the yeshivah administration to distribute among everyone.

09:54 Speaker 2 For example, once I went in and took a basket of fruit that lasted me from Purim until Erev Pesach. Baruch Hashem, they only told me to share it with a few others, so I did, and what was left lasted me from Purim until Pesach. It was fruit from one of the mishloach manos. Another time, it was a Friday. The Rebbe had already gone home when some mishloach manos arrived. I asked what to do with them, and they told me to bring them to the Rebbe’s house, leave them by the door, and they would bring them inside afterward. One Purim, in 5737, it was also a Friday, and the Rebbe went home a short while before Shabbos. Rabbi Groner came out of the Rebbe’s room with a bottle of wine that was almost empty—there was perhaps one small glass left in it. The Rebbe went out to the car, and Rabbi Groner handed me the bottle. He said the Rebbe had given it so that they should say l’chaim over it in the zal. I was there. Most of the bochurim were out on mivtzoim. My mivtzoim weren’t on Fridays; they were on another day of the week. So we went in and started a farbrengen with the Rebbe’s wine. That one little flask, sealed with the seal of the Kohen Gadol—that tiny glass of wine—baruch Hashem, we filled it with all the wine there was in 770. Many, many cases of wine. When the Rebbe entered the beis midrash that Friday night, there was already joy and celebration, and it continued until midnight on Shabbos. All the bochurim came back. I told them, “There’s wine the Rebbe gave us,” and baruch Hashem, it was a very joyous Purim. That was Purim 5737. Since I mentioned bringing the mishloach manos to the Rebbe’s house and leaving them by the door, I’ll tell you about another time. The custom was for bochurim to escort the Rebbe from his house on Shabbos. During the week, at first, the Rebbe would walk. By the time

12:19 Speaker 2 I was there, the Rebbe would travel there by car—Rabbi Klein usually brought him—and on the way back, may he be well, Rabbi Krinsky would usually take him home at night. The Rebbe and Rabbi Chodakov would ride in the same car; it would drop the Rebbe off at home and then Rabbi Chodakov. But on Shabbos, the Rebbe walked, so they would escort him from his house to 770 and from 770 back home. There was always a lottery among the bochurim to choose the two who would escort the Rebbe there and back. Also, when a chassan was getting married, the custom was that on the Shabbos before his wedding, he too would escort the Rebbe. After a farbrengen—on Shabbos Mevarchim and the like—the Rebbe very much asked that not everyone from 770 escort him, so people were careful about that. They would accompany the Rebbe along Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, and President. They said that only those who lived in that area and were going home anyway could accompany him. Of course, I always lived there, and from there I went wherever I needed to go. But I remember one particular Shabbos, Shabbos Parshas Chayei Sarah 5735, when it was my turn to escort the Rebbe from his house to 770. There were two of us, myself and another bochur named Weiss. We were waiting, and the Rebbetzin saw that the bochurim were there. Then the Rebbe came down and passed in front of us, and we set off, escorting the King. What was interesting that time was that mail for the Rebbe normally arrived at 770, but while I was there, a package arrived at the Rebbe’s house. It was close to ten o’clock, between nine-thirty and ten, when the Rebbe was coming down to go to 770. The mailman was standing there with the package, then walked toward the Rebbe. The Rebbe said nothing and kept going, and the mailman looked at him as if to say, “I brought you a package—aren’t you going to respond? Accept

14:49 Speaker 2 it, take it, sign for it.” He was a non-Jew; what did he know, right? The Rebbe continued on, and the mailman watched him. I stood to the side to see what would happen, because telling him to bring it inside would be forbidden. President Street isn’t a public domain—it’s a private domain, the domain of the One and Only of the world—but it’s forbidden to bring something from a karmelis into the house. The Rebbe didn’t respond or accept it; of course, it was Shabbos, and he couldn’t accept it in the street. But telling him to bring it inside was also forbidden. Then the Rebbe turned to him and said one sentence in English: “Put—no, put it between the two doors.” There was an open outer door and a closed inner door. The Rebbe said only “between the two doors”; he didn’t tell him to set it down, and barely even hinted at it. Well, the non-Jew went and put it between the two doors, and we continued escorting the Rebbe. The Rebbe turned his head once, then a second time, and then a third. We looked too, and saw that the mail truck was still by the house. The Rebbe was looking to see why the man was still standing there. The Rebbe didn’t say anything to us, but I told my friend, “Someone needs to go over there. That’s what the Rebbe wants, even though he isn’t telling us.” So I said to my friend, “Go see what’s happening there.” Once my friend went, the Rebbe didn’t turn around again. I don’t need to describe what it felt like to walk alone, escorting the Rebbe. Every Jew is like an only child to the Rebbe, and at that moment I felt that in the fullest sense of the word.