Customs of a King - Pesach - Rabbi Tuvia Zilberstrom shlita

00:02 Speaker 1 You’re listening to the “Lema’an Yishme’u” podcast from Machon Halacha Chabad.

00:10 Speaker 2 Before Pesach, if it was a day when the Rebbe did not go to the Ohel, he would draw mayim shelanu. The mayim shelanu came from the same source that supplied the water for Tashlich. They would open it on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, and do the same on the eve of Rosh Chodesh Nissan. So the Rebbe drew mayim shelanu twice: once for the matzos baked on 2 Nissan to distribute around the world—he would send packages all over the world—and a second time on Erev Pesach. If it was a day when the Rebbe did not go to the Ohel, he would draw the water. On Erev Rosh Chodesh he always went, so they drew it the night before. Only if it fell on a day when he was there did he draw it himself. Depending on the dates, sometimes he drew it both times, and sometimes neither time. The Rebbe would take the vessel and rinse it three times, then rinse the large vessel three times. [unclear] It was an occasion, the drawing of the mayim shelanu. On Erev Yom Kippur and Hoshana Rabbah, Erev Simchas Torah, the Rebbe distributed a piece of cake and wished people a good, sweet year. At the close of the holidays, he distributed wine at kos shel bracha. On Erev Pesach, he gave out matzah and wished each person a kosher and joyous Pesach. The matzah distribution was on Erev Pesach. He stood for hours and hours distributing it. When? The matzos for 2 Nissan were baked on 2 Nissan and brought to the Rebbe. The Rebbe separated challah in his room. Later, the matzos were in the library, and he sent them with a trusted messenger all over the world. Everywhere—each person received a piece of matzah. For the residents of the neighborhood, the Rebbe distributed matzah on Erev Pesach. On Erev Pesach they only began baking the matzos after midday, and the bochurim had prepared the oven

02:23 Speaker 2 especially for baking matzos mitzvah on Erev Pesach afternoon. The Rebbe would take—for himself, during the years I was there, he took only two pounds, about a kilo. Then he took another hundred pounds for the public, though the amount always changed from year to year. One year it was a hundred, another a hundred and one, a hundred and five, a hundred and ten. It always varied. The Rebbe distributed them. The bochur in charge of baking the matzos had the privilege of bringing them into the Rebbe’s room, where the Rebbe separated challah. Then the Rebbe would daven Mincha and begin distributing them around three o’clock, continuing almost until sunset, almost until Yom Tov began. Matzos were set aside for those who had come from out of town and needed to get back; they were allowed to go first. The others waited in line. And then there were the latecomers, those who allowed themselves to come late, so the Rebbe distributed matzos throughout Erev Pesach. After the evening davening, the Rebbe spent another hour distributing matzos to those who had allowed themselves not to come on Erev Pesach and came to receive them on Seder night. The Rebbe stood there for another full hour. First he gave matzah to his brother-in-law, the Rashag, and then to the secretaries and other prominent people, and so on. Those I mentioned—the secretaries and the Rashag—of course received a whole matzah. Everyone else always received two pieces of matzah. Bochurim and all the Anash in the neighborhood stood in line. But I must stress: this was Erev Pesach. The Rebbe was a firstborn, and the Rebbe made a siyum on a tractate, but he did not rely on the siyum in order to eat. The Rebbe also fasted the Fast of the Firstborn on Erev Pesach. The Rebbe’s fast did not end when Yom Tov began and everyone went to make Kiddush. He continued distributing matzos for another hour, and afterward the Rebbe made a round of the institutions. He arrived home about an hour or an hour and a quarter before midnight, because the Rebbe held the Seder at home with the Rebbetzin. During the years I was there, this was

04:41 Speaker 2 after a whole day of fasting, standing on his feet and distributing matzos. In 5748, after the heart attack, they pleaded with the Rebbe to stop doing this. The Rebbe did not stop distributing cake, and he did not stop distributing wine at kos shel bracha or greeting people. But regarding the matzah distribution, the Rebbe said that since everything proceeds through Torah, the head of the kollel, Rabbi Heller, together with twenty or thirty members of the kollel—however many there were then—would stand in line. Each received a package of matzos to distribute. They set up five lines at 770, and within an hour the matzos had been distributed to the entire neighborhood through those five lines. Of course, the secretaries received a whole matzah, and... Naturally, I wasn’t going to miss being there for the matzah distribution. I found some little gap where I could watch, and of course Rabbi Klein noticed me. He gave me the matzah the Rebbe had given him and told me to pick it up at his house. It was a special privilege to hold a matzah in 5748 as well. On Erev Pesach, for the burning of the chametz—on one rare occasion, the only time he did it at home, in 5748, the Rebbe burned the chametz at home. Usually, though, it was burned in the basement of 770, in the corner where they operated the boiler, the furnace for the hot-water heating system and radiators. The usual procedure was for the secretaries to go down there ahead of time. It was done publicly—perhaps they did this during the year as well—but they would go down with bundles of letters and burn them, building up the fire beforehand. Then the Rebbe would come down with a yellow envelope containing the chametz, with the handle of a wooden spoon sticking out, and with his siddur. The Rebbe would throw the pieces of chametz into the furnace. Then he would take the oven peel himself. When they tried to hand it to the Rebbe, he would not take it; he would not agree

07:12 Speaker 2 and when they tried to take it from him, he would not agree either. The Rebbe took the oven peel himself and moved the pieces of chametz around three times inside the furnace after they began to catch fire. Then he put down the peel and said the “Yehi ratzon.” This was the regular practice downstairs on Erev Pesach, and he would come down toward the end of the fifth hour. On Seder night, after davening, when he had finished distributing the matzos, he would come to the bochurim. At first, the bochurim ate in the homes of Anash, and it was not always comfortable. The group of students who had come to the Rebbe was different. Everyone else could travel: the Americans went home, and most of the Europeans went home. The only ones who could not were the Israelis. Because of the restrictions on leaving Israel, they could leave only with an exit permit and could not go back home. Not only could they not go home, but the group came for a period running from Pesach to Pesach, rather than from Tishrei to Tishrei. One reason was that the group were the ones allowed into the Rebbe’s Seder. So they arranged for the group to be with the Rebbe on Seder night, both when they arrived and again before they left. They were the only ones allowed in to the Rebbe—the group. When I traveled, too, it was from Pesach to Pesach, until 5731. In 5731, the Rebbe discontinued the arrangement of his being present at the Seder. Until 5710, the Frierdiker Rebbe sat at the head of the table. On his right sat the Rashag, his older son-in-law. The younger son-in-law, the Rebbe, sat on the left, along with a few of the elder chassidim who sat at the Frierdiker Rebbe’s Seder—only a handful. This continued after 5710 as well. Everyone sat in the same place as before. The Frierdiker Rebbe’s chair stood at the head of the table, and the brothers-in-law sat at the table. Gradually, more people began coming to participate. Those who came included, of course, the bochurim of the group, and quite a few others

09:30 Speaker 2 They were allowed in, until it became very crowded. After Rebbetzin Nechama Dina passed away on 10 Teves 5731, the Rebbe held the Seder in his home until 5748, when Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka passed away. From 5748 onward, the Rebbe held the Seder in his room, the yechidus room. Some chassidim again suggested that, so the Rebbe would not be alone, perhaps someone could sit with him, perhaps... The Rebbe said, “I’m already past bar mitzvah. I can manage on my own.” But the thought is awe-inspiring. Those who stood nearby and saw the door open seven times knew that our eyes had seen only some of the Rebbe’s guests at his Seder. When the Rebbe would go to visit the Seder, first of all, he would arrive. Now, the bochurim were on their own among Anash, and the administration would give about a hundred dollars, or some other amount, to each family that hosted a bochur. The bochurim felt uncomfortable about that, so they took the initiative and told the administration, “Give us the money, and we’ll hold the Seder ourselves.” I think it was in 5726, if I’m not mistaken. So the bochurim held their own Seder, and the Rebbe came to them—to these sons of the Rebbe. The Rebbe would come to the hall where the bochurim held the Seder and give his sons his blessing, the blessing given to sons. Not only on Erev Yom Kippur, but on Seder night too. It was a blessing, something special, a majestic occasion. Now, when the Rebbe entered, each bochur had his Seder laid out before him: the three matzos, the cup of wine, the karpas, the maror—everything was in place. If the Rebbe came in and one thing was not in order, the Rebbe would point it out: if wine was missing here, or karpas was missing. In short, the bochurim knew that everything had to be prepared with the greatest care, so they would not receive a comment from the Rebbe. Of course, they also prepared the kitchen and cleaned, because it was an especially majestic occasion, and the Rebbe would also go in

11:43 Speaker 2 to inspect everything around it. When I was there, first of all, in those days the bochurim wanted to take part in the Rebbe’s Seder. The members of Anash who managed to get in finished their own Seder there much later in the night. The bochurim did not want to miss the Seder, but they also had to hold their own Seder before the Rebbe came in. So the bochurim had a method: before the Rebbe finished distributing the matzos on Seder night, they finished Kiddush and the entire Haggadah. The cup on the table, full of wine when the Rebbe entered, was already the cup for the blessing of “Ga’al Yisroel”—the second cup. In other words, by the time the Rebbe came in, they had already recited the Haggadah. As soon as the Rebbe left, they said “Ga’al Yisroel” and the blessing over wine, washed their hands, quickly ate the required amounts of matzah, and continued the meal at the Rebbe’s house. That way, the Israeli bochurim took part in almost the entire Seder there. From this came the important books Rabbi Laufer published, with all the questions and answers the bochurim recorded—what the Rashag asked and what the Rebbe answered. We have it all in Hamelech Bimsibo: what took place at the meals, especially at the Seder. That ended in 5731 because it had become very crowded and many things were spilled. But the Rebbe’s visits to the institutions continued from 5732 through 5738, and for another year or two. At first, it was only at the yeshiva, Tomchei Temimim. The kitchen used throughout the year was at 749, and it was impossible to hold the Seder there. I don’t know whether they ever did, perhaps at the beginning. So they took a separate floor, where Rabbi Heller’s kollel is today, and cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. Every bochur shouldered part of the cleaning.

13:58 Speaker 2 I had the privilege of being in charge of the spiritual side instead of doing the physical work, and everything had to be ready for the Rebbe to come upstairs and inspect the Seder. The Rebbe would come in, and it was the same again. When I was there, there were 270 bochurim, and they all stayed. It was no longer a small group: there were bochurim from Israel and France, everyone who studied there. A few went home, of course, and some of the Americans went to their homes, but the whole yeshiva was there. The standards were very strict, with great care in every detail, and the Rebbe would come in and look at all the bochurim. It was no longer a situation where the Rebbe would make comments to the bochurim, but everyone knew that everything had to be just right so they would not receive any comment. Even a comment in the Rebbe’s glance would have been enough. I remember someone saying to me before I traveled to the Rebbe, “Listen, when the Rebbe comes in, are you ready for the Rebbe to look at your Seder, at your Seder plate? He won’t say anything to you, but you’ll see in his eyes whether the Rebbe is pleased.” Well, thank G-d, my father taught me at home, and at the Tomchei Temimim yeshiva, what a Seder should look like. I said, “I’m ready. Just tell me where the Rebbe will pass, so he can see my Seder plate.” Thank G-d, I took that place. That was where the Rebbe passed by, looked, and... Yes. Now, after the Rebbe had passed all the bochurim, he went into the kitchen and inspected it. That was a responsibility. There was Musia, the cook. [unclear]. In the Rebbe’s kitchen, everything had to be sparkling, everything in good order. The Rebbe went in there, and she waited all year for that moment. The Rebbe entered the kitchen and gave her a special blessing for her devotion, along with a Yom Tov blessing. From there the Rebbe would leave. There was an instruction: every bochur had to

16:07 Speaker 2 stay in his place, so that all the wine would not be spilled. Wherever the Rebbe stopped, wherever he decided to stand, that was where he gave his blessing, and only the chozer could stand there. And the secretaries, of course. The Rebbe came accompanied by three or four secretaries, and each bochur stayed in his assigned place and did not move. One year, when I was responsible, I noticed something. At home, I had always been used to putting strainers on the faucets for Pesach, not just cleaning everything. We did not use water without a faucet strainer, and here there was no such thing. They told me, “We don’t know of such a thing.” There were five or six faucets there. I said, “At least one faucet, for a bochur who drinks water.” No commercial products were brought in at all. Everything was made there by the cook herself. No bottles. If they saw a bottle, out it went. If someone brought one in twice, the person who brought the bottle would also be waiting outside until he accepted the rules. The kashrus was maintained to the highest standard, so they drank water—tap water. I said, “Tap water needs a strainer, even at 770.” I went and bought two strainers. They did not fit the faucets, neither those at 770 nor the others. I found a utility knife and made a deeper cut in a strainer. I put one strainer on a faucet at 770, where bochurim could drink filtered water, and one on President Street, as they called it, in that same hall where the kollel was. There, I put a strainer on one of the five or six faucets. When the Rebbe passed by on his way back, he looked at the strainer, turned it, and looked at it with surprise. He said, “This needs to be checked, to make sure it actually keeps out unwanted things, so that nothing bad gets into the strainer.” Well, the strainer disappeared and came back. The Rebbe had touched it, and I announced that it had to go back in its place. It did not belong to anyone. There were arguments over whether it was the same one

18:24 Speaker 2 A strainer, but only I knew that I had made a cut with a utility knife, and I recognized the mark. In any case, the Rebbe said to check it. After Yom Tov, I saw that there really was a worm there, caught in the strainer. So of course I cleaned it and immediately told everyone about it. We had a practice: every night someone would share a Torah thought, and on the first night the Torah thought was about the strainer. There are many interpretations of the story—whether to use a strainer or not. In any case, my personal opinion is that you should use one rather than drink straight from the tap, so that undesirable things don’t enter our mouths. You just have to check it and make sure everything is kosher to the highest standard. But that’s my personal opinion. On Seder night, the Rebbe would visit Tomchei Temimim. Later, the Rebbe began visiting other institutions as well. The Rebbe would go up to... Then immigrants arrived from Iran, and the Rebbe went to visit them. The Rebbe went to visit the girls at Machon Chana. There, the Rebbe even entered the rooms and gave a blessing to each place, to the director of the institution. Once, the Rebbe’s rounds went on until around midnight; it was about eleven-thirty. The Rebbe arrived very, very late. He didn’t get home until around a quarter to eleven. There was the matzah distribution, and then the rounds of all the institutions. Rabbi Katz from Chicago accompanied him. He would come for Pesach, eat with the students, and spend the entire Seder night and all of Pesach with us. So he accompanied the Rebbe, and when he returned, he told me when the Rebbe had gotten home. And this was on a fast day, a day when a siyum is held—the Rebbe’s self-sacrifice and love for the students, the young women, and the chassidim. I wasn’t at the Seder night meal, but on Acharon Shel Pesach—and on several other occasions during the year—everyone would

20:43 Speaker 2 wash their hands, and afterward the Rebbe would distribute kos shel bracha. That was also the case at the Acharon Shel Pesach meal. The one very noticeable difference, particularly compared with after Rosh Hashanah or after Simchas Torah, was the bottles of wine that the Rebbe would give to shluchim, rabbis, and others. At those times he would distribute bottles of mashke. On Pesach, when mashke is chametz, the Rebbe distributed bottles of wine. That was the noticeable difference: there were bottles of wine on the table. But what was interesting was the Acharon Shel Pesach meal. Throughout the year, at the meals—meaning on Rosh Hashanah, Simchas Torah, and Shavuos—there were two challahs for lechem mishneh. Whenever you wash your hands for a meal on Shabbos, you need lechem mishneh. So even though this was the third meal of Yom Tov, when there is no obligation to have one, once we wash our hands, we need lechem mishneh. And we are careful to dip the bread for hamotzi in salt, so the challah was dipped in salt. But what do you do on Pesach? Dip the matzah in salt? The salt doesn’t stick to the matzah. I saw the Rebbe do something very interesting several times. The Rebbe would dip matzah in salt. Then he would take a piece of matzah, put salt on it, dip the upper piece of matzah into the salt on the other piece, hold both pieces of matzah, and put them in his mouth. That way he had dipped matzah in salt, fulfilling the custom of dipping in salt. And that is how chassidim dip matzah in salt throughout Pesach.