Ears to Hear 4 | Shofar Blasts from the Mouth of Moshiach

00:00 Speaker 1 “And Hashem has not given you a heart to understand, eyes to see, or ears to hear.”

00:08 Speaker 2 Ears to Hear. An audio program for the students of Tomchei Temimim, from the worldwide Atah organization.

00:14 Speaker 1 After that, the Rebbe rose and began in a loud voice. The Rebbe began, “For the conductor, a psalm of the sons of Korach.” It grew quiet, and everyone began saying “For the conductor”: “[unclear]”[?].

01:00 Speaker 6 Shalom aleichem to all the yeshiva students in Tomchei Temimim Lubavitch yeshivos throughout the Holy Land and the entire world. We are now beginning a special edition of Ears to Hear, a program permeated with a strong bond to the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach shlita, and with his central mission of bringing about the coming of Moshiach. This program will focus on a special account of Rosh Hashanah in Lubavitch, particularly the stirring moments of the shofar blowing in the Rebbe’s presence—the moments before and the moments after. In 5712, the Rebbe began saying the psalm “For the conductor” and the verses preceding the shofar blowing for the first time. In practice, it was the chossid Reb Mendel Tenenbaum who blew the shofar. Then, in 5713, the Rebbe blew the first blast for the first time, and from 5714 onward, we merited to have the Rebbe blow the entire set of blasts sounded while seated. These special moments remind each of us of the close and unique connection between Rosh Hashanah and the true and complete Geulah and the coming of Moshiach. As the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, explained in the sicha of Erev Rosh Hashanah 5752, the special connection between the true and complete Geulah and Rosh Hashanah is also emphasized by the fact that the avodah of Rosh Hashanah is to accept Hashem’s kingship—to fulfill Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s request, “Make Me King over you.” His kingship is connected with, and revealed in its fullness through, Dovid, His anointed king, whose defining attribute is malchus. Those are the Rebbe’s words in the sicha of Erev Rosh Hashanah 5752. So this special program, which will lift us above the everyday and take us to those moments of shofar blowing with the Rebbe, will remind each of us of those special moments and inspire us to greet Moshiach and bring about the coming of Moshiach in actual practice. We begin now with Rabbi Dovid Ofen, who merited to be with the Rebbe from 5734 to 5740. We now begin the program with Rabbi Dovid Ofen and those special moments.

03:14 Speaker 2 L’chaim.

03:14 Speaker 6 L’chaim, l’chaim, Rabbi Ofen. L’chaim, l’chaim. We’re here now for this special edition of Ears to Hear, as we prepare for those special days when every chossid is with the Rebbe—Tishrei with the Rebbe. Every Tomim longs to hear a little from those who merited to see the Rebbe in every setting and from every angle throughout the days of Tishrei, who saw every movement of the Rebbe and experienced every moment with him. We want to hear what Tishrei with the Rebbe was like, down to the details, in the days when they saw the Rebbe openly. So, as someone who was with the Rebbe from 5734 to 5740—many years, with so many experiences and interesting things to tell us—we’d like to hear just a little. First, what was the uplifting feeling of Rosh Hashanah with the Rebbe like in general? What was special about it? What particular things struck you about Rosh Hashanah with the Rebbe?

04:32 Speaker 7 Let’s begin with Rosh Hashanah 5736, because its calendar arrangement was like this year’s: it was also a leap year, and, more importantly, the first day of Rosh Hashanah fell on Shabbos. With the Rebbe, you could generally see the preparations already in Elul. The Rebbe did not receive people for yechidus that month. Throughout the year, the Rebbe would receive individuals for yechidus twice a week, all night long, but not during Elul. Another thing was that in Elul the Rebbe went to the Ohel on many, many days. Besides the regular days, he made many additional trips to the Ohel. The Rebbe once said that we need to prepare for Rosh Hashanah because on Rosh Hashanah we crown Hakadosh Boruch Hu as King with a new kingship, and that requires a great deal of preparation.

05:41 Speaker 6 As students, could you already feel that things changed a little in Elul? That it wasn’t like the rest of the year?

05:46 Speaker 7 Yes. There was something special. Let’s start with Erev Rosh Hashanah. On Erev Rosh Hashanah, the Rebbe would—he would receive panim, and afterward he would go to the Ohel. What was special about submitting a pan was that each person approached the Rebbe personally and gave him his pan. We’re familiar with occasions when the Rebbe gives things out, like dollars, kos shel bracha, lekach, or sometimes letters that the Rebbe sends and distributes. But here, you had to give the Rebbe something of yourself. You were giving him your pan. You had to offer good resolutions and other things that would give the Rebbe some nachas from us. So it was very moving when each person approached and handed over his pan, with the requests and good resolutions he had undertaken in honor of the new year, Rosh Hashanah. There was great emotion in handing over the panim. The Rebbe looked at each person as he handed over his pan. The Rebbe’s gaze went right through you, and he wished each person a good and sweet year.

07:20 Speaker 6 Do you remember that moment personally?

07:23 Speaker 7 Yes. Yes.

07:25 Speaker 6 The Rebbe said, “May you be inscribed and sealed for good, for a good and sweet year.”

07:28 Speaker 7 Yes. Sometimes he said one, and sometimes both together. But he always said to each person, “May you be inscribed and sealed for good, for a good and sweet year.” Another thing was that when the Rebbe went to the Ohel, no one traveled with him except the driver, and even the driver stood outside. Throughout the year, the Rebbe stood alone inside the Ohel. But on Erev Rosh Hashanah, people would come to the Frierdiker Rebbe’s Ohel because it was Erev Rosh Hashanah. When the Rebbe arrived, they would stay even as he entered; they had permission to remain there with him. Of course, the Rebbe was in a corner of that small room, but we could see him clearly. I remember the first time I saw the Rebbe enter the Ohel. It was very, very awe-inspiring. First of all, I saw [unclear]... I heard the Rebbe knock three times. When the Rebbe knocked, it wasn’t the way we knock: the Rebbe knocked and waited for an answer. Then the Rebbe opened the door and went in. At the Ohel, the Rebbe always wore glasses. He immediately took a flashlight, switched it on, and said what is written in Maaneh Lashon. He said just a few chapters, very briefly, and immediately afterward began with the panim. He would look at and read each pan, and then tear it up. He placed some inside the Ohel and returned others to the bag. Seeing the Rebbe was simply overwhelming. That year, the first time I saw it, I couldn’t stay more than ten minutes. After ten minutes I said I couldn’t bear to watch the Rebbe standing there like that, tearing up panim.

09:44 Speaker 8 If you had wanted to stay, was there room for you to do so?

09:47 Speaker 7 Yes. People could stay. If someone wanted, he could even stay half an hour, because there weren’t many people and they took turns. The Rebbe stood there for hours—four or five hours. He returned just before candle-lighting. When we got back to 770, we immediately began getting ready downstairs for the Rebbe to come to Maariv on Rosh Hashanah. As I said, the Rebbe would arrive from the Ohel about five minutes before sunset and candle-lighting. We would daven a short Minchah and go straight downstairs to get a place, waiting for the Rebbe to come to Maariv. When the Rebbe came to Maariv on the first night of Rosh Hashanah, he brought a siddur and the Tzemach Tzedek’s large Tehillim.

10:48 Speaker 8 Did you have a reserved place then, or did it change each time?

10:54 Speaker 7 It changed. We would find a place, and sometimes we’d squeeze in among the bobbes—not to sit, of course, just to stand—and wait for the Rebbe.

11:06 Speaker 8 That was the distinction between the Temimim and the bobbes: standing versus sitting.

11:11 Speaker 7 Yes. As soon as the Rebbe came in on the first night of Rosh Hashanah, he sat down and began saying Tehillim. There was a profound hush. The Rebbe said Tehillim quietly, and no one knew when Maariv would begin until the Rebbe suddenly stood up and closed the Tehillim. But during those ten or fifteen minutes when he said Tehillim, a sense of awe and fear simply came over us, seeing how the Rebbe prepared to accept Hashem’s kingship, as explained in Chassidus.

11:50 Speaker 8 And in those years, the Rebbe had also begun standing on the platform throughout Tishrei; he stood on the platform from 5724 onward.

11:57 Speaker 7 Yes, yes, that was when the Rebbe began standing on the platform throughout Tishrei. Yes. Maybe we’ll start with Rosh Hashanah 5736, because that’s how it was then. The Rebbe came in. The Rebbe said Tehillim, and after he finished saying Tehillim, he rose. While saying Tehillim, the Rebbe sat on a chair. Of course, the Rebbe never leaned back in his chair at all. He always sat on the front third of the chair, bent forward like this. I never saw the Rebbe lean back comfortably in a chair—not during davening, not at a farbrengen, not at any time. I remember one time a year when the Rebbe would lean back and sit comfortably: on the night of Yom Kippur. After Kol Nidrei, when they said the entire Tehillim following the davening, the Rebbe sat during Tehillim. That was the only time all year. Not on Shabbos Mevarchim and not during davening. In our time, before 5739 [unclear], the Rebbe did not sit during any davening, only Maariv.

13:18 Speaker 9 Throughout the recitation of Tehillim.

13:19 Speaker 7 The recitation of Tehillim. At Shacharis, the Rebbe never sat. Not on Shabbos, of course, not during Musaf, and not during the recitation of Tehillim. When the Rebbe came for Maariv, he sat down to say Tehillim for ten or fifteen minutes. After that he rose, and they began singing “Avinu Malkeinu.” The Rebbe motioned with his hand. Now, when Rosh Hashanah fell on Shabbos, we didn’t say “Avinu Malkeinu,” so they didn’t sing it. But generally, on Rosh Hashanah, after Tehillim the Rebbe stood up and began tapping his hand on the shtender, and then they started singing “Avinu Malkeinu” as an introduction to the davening. Something special about that night was that the Rebbe took a very, very long time over Shemoneh Esrei—the Rosh Hashanah Shemoneh Esrei. It really took a long time. Sometimes they waited seven minutes or more for the Rebbe to finish Shemoneh Esrei, because throughout the year the Rebbe finished Shemoneh Esrei very quickly. But on Rosh Hashanah, Shemoneh Esrei took a long, long time.

14:37 Speaker 9 As with all the Rebbes.

14:40 Speaker 7 Sometimes, uh, at Shacharis and Musaf too, but at night it took a long time. After the davening ended and the Rebbe went out, he said to everyone, “Gut Yom Tov, may you be inscribed and sealed for a good year.”

14:58 Speaker 9 Did you manage to catch his eye at all, or not?

15:01 Speaker 7 Yes. Sometimes the Rebbe would say, “Gut Yom Tov, Gut Yom Tov, Gut Yom Tov,” three times. That was rare. It was in the later years, but in the earlier years he only said, “Gut Yom Tov, may you be inscribed and sealed for a good year.” He turned his head like this to every side as he walked along the aisle.

15:23 Speaker 9 So if the Rebbe turned to every side, how could he catch each person’s eye? It wasn’t...

15:27 Speaker 7 No, he did catch people’s eyes.

15:28 Speaker 9 But you merited to receive that look.

15:30 Speaker 7 Everyone, everyone did, because the Rebbe gave it to everyone collectively.

15:34 Speaker 9 To every side.

15:34 Speaker 7 Individually, but collectively the Rebbe turned to every side, to every place where there were people, and said, “May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year.” It wasn’t to each person individually, but it was to everyone collectively. So as the Rebbe passed, he addressed the whole crowd on either side of him. That was at night. The next day...

15:55 Speaker 9 Meaning you had to get up early to save a place for the shofar blowing.

15:58 Speaker 7 Of course.

15:59 Speaker 9 How early?

16:01 Speaker 7 Early meant seven or six-thirty, something like that, because davening began at ten. Maybe we’ll start with Rosh Hashanah 5736. There was no shofar blowing on the first day, but since it was a special year, and it fits with what we’re discussing, we’ll talk about it.

16:23 Speaker 9 So was there even a reason to save a place? There wasn’t going to be any shofar blowing.

16:27 Speaker 7 There really wasn’t the same urgency as for the shofar blowing, but people wanted to hear the maftir. The Rebbe’s maftir on Rosh Hashanah drew an even bigger crowd than during the rest of the year. All year people pushed to hear maftir, but on Rosh Hashanah even more so. Since there was no shofar blowing, though, it really was easier to get close enough to hear the maftir.

16:51 Speaker 9 Were you a large group of Temimim, or just a few of the leading Temimim who...

16:55 Speaker 7 All the Temimim came. Everyone who was there. There weren’t as many as there are today, when the numbers have grown, but there were many Temimim. There were also young married men who came and took their places to hear the haftorah. People had regular places. During the haftorah, there really were regular places. Over the course of the year, they gradually worked it out: each person arranged with a friend who was ahead of him to let him in alongside him, and that became his regular place.

17:25 Speaker 9 Did you have a regular place?

17:26 Speaker 7 Yes.

17:26 Speaker 9 Where?

17:28 Speaker 7 In one of the rows in front of the bimah.

17:30 Speaker 9 On the left? The right?

17:31 Speaker 7 People came in from all sides, including the left. The bimah stood in the middle, and down below, behind the bimah, there were rows and rows of people, packed tightly together. Everyone knew: this one was first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth. That was my place.

17:50 Speaker 9 Do you remember where it was?

17:51 Speaker 7 I do.

17:52 Speaker 9 Who was next to you? Who was on your right and on your left?

17:53 Speaker 7 I don’t remember who it was, but I remember my place was sixth or seventh along the row.

18:00 Speaker 9 And could you hear the Rebbe?

18:02 Speaker 7 We could hear him. Yes, yes. When it was quiet, when things were orderly, you could hear every word, word for word. As I said, because there was no shofar blowing, it was even easier to hear, since there wasn’t so much pushing. But that haftorah is something you can never forget. The Rebbe was seated. The Rebbe always cried during the haftorah, but here it was at practically every passage. The Rebbe would stop, as though he could not go on saying the words; he had to pause because he was crying so much. When the Rebbe reached the words, “How long will you be drunk? Put away your wine,” he immediately burst into tears and really could not continue. Then again, when he reached the verse, “For this child I prayed,” the Rebbe cried a great deal. Incidentally, the Rebbe once spoke about how “this child” refers to Shmuel the prophet, whose mother was Chana, and that it also alludes to the Rebbe, who was also the son of Chana.

19:20 Speaker 9 And they called Moshiach “the son of Chana.”

19:22 Speaker 7 Yes.

19:22 Speaker 9 That refers to the Rebbe.

19:23 Speaker 7 The Rebbe also cried at the end of the haftorah, at “Hashem’s adversaries shall be broken,” which speaks about how, before the coming of Moshiach, all those who stand in the way will be removed. The Rebbe cried a great deal there too. And in the blessings, at “No stranger shall sit upon his throne,” the Rebbe cried very, very much. We really didn’t know what had happened that year, why the Rebbe was crying so much more than in any other year.

20:00 Speaker 9 Did you see him crying, or did you only hear it?

20:02 Speaker 7 I saw and heard it—both. As I said, it was possible to hear and also to see.

20:11 Speaker 10 Blessed are You, Hashem, our G-d, King of the universe, Who has sanctified us

20:34 Speaker 7 The Rebbe explained the whole thing there in a sicha, which has since been printed in Likkutei Sichos. But when we look at the sicha now, we see only the words. When we remember the sicha, we remember all the crying too. At the farbrengen, the Rebbe asked why Eli thought she was drunk. A woman stands there on Rosh Hashanah, davening and pleading with Hashem because she wants children, and he says to her, “You’re drunk”? Eli was a tzaddik, a kohen and a prophet. How could he not have seen what was going on inside Chana? You can’t say such a thing. Even an ordinary person, the Rebbe said, can see a woman standing and davening—yet he calls her drunk, because Eli thought she was drunk. So much so that she had to explain to him that she was not drunk: “I have poured out my soul before Hashem.” The Rebbe explained that Chana’s whole purpose was to ask for children. When Eli the kohen saw and heard her davening from the depths of her heart for children, he told her that she was drunk. It’s true that children are something very precious and that you want them. But, as we know from the siddur, on Rosh Hashanah we crown Hakadosh Boruch Hu as King. When you crown Hakadosh Boruch Hu as King, you must not ask for personal things—and you’re asking for children. That’s a personal matter. After Rosh Hashanah, after you have crowned Hakadosh Boruch Hu as King and His kingship is established, you can come to the King and ask Him for children. But not at the very beginning of His reign. That’s why he said she was drunk: just as a drunk person is caught up in himself, she too seemed caught up in herself, thinking about herself and her needs—even if they were good needs, both material and spiritual. But they were her needs. So Chana answered him. The Rebbe also cried a great deal at these words. The Rebbe said that Chana told him, “I

23:00 Speaker 7 am not asking for children for my own personal needs, material or spiritual. I am asking for a child so that Shmuel the prophet will live in the Beis Hamikdash and spread awareness of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and anoint King David, and ultimately bring Moshiach.” So the entire Geulah depends on Shmuel the prophet. She wasn’t asking for herself. It was part of Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s kingship.

23:33 Speaker 9 The Rebbe’s answer altogether.

23:35 Speaker 7 Yes. So Eli the kohen did, in fact, accept what she said.

23:43 Speaker 9 Did you feel, even a little, that the Rebbe was speaking about himself, or...

23:46 Speaker 7 Yes, of course. Also, when the Rebbe spoke about “Hashem’s adversaries shall be broken”—that before Moshiach comes, all the obstacles and those who oppose him must be removed, and “He shall raise the horn of His anointed one”—the Rebbe spoke with great force.

24:06 Speaker 9 What was the context at the time? Was there something specific?

24:09 Speaker 7 No, there wasn’t.

24:10 Speaker 9 Because of the...

24:12 Speaker 7 The subject of Moshiach.

24:15 Speaker 9 So that’s basically what happened on the first and second days of Rosh Hashanah 5746.

24:19 Speaker 7 Yes.

24:20 Speaker 9 That’s the account of the first day of Rosh Hashanah 5746: there was no shofar blowing, but there was a haftarah.

24:25 Speaker 7 Yes.

24:26 Speaker 9 What would be interesting to hear now, from the perspective of a Tomim who spent quite a few years with the Rebbe, is about everything that happened around the shofar blowing: the Rebbe’s preparation, the shofars, the tallis, the panim. What was it like? How did it happen? What was your personal experience in those moments?

24:43 Speaker 7 Let’s move on to an ordinary Rosh Hashanah, with the shofar blowing. Of course, in 5746 there was shofar blowing the next day, on the first day of the week. What was distinctive in our time was that the Rebbe came in on Rosh Hashanah morning before davening, carrying a great deal—a real load. First, the siddur; second, Tehillim, the Tzemach Tzedek’s Tehillim; third, the Arizal’s siddur; and a machzor. So I remember four things, four. The Rebbe held all of that in his left hand, along with the shofars. There were another two or three shofars, which the Rebbe held with handkerchiefs in his left hand. And the Rebbe came in already wearing his tallis. The Rebbe sat down in his place, and the secretaries brought all the panim we had given the Rebbe the day before or two days earlier. There were about four or five large bundles of panim. They would set up a small table next to the Rebbe during davening, and during the davening, around the recitation of Shema, they would put the bundles there on the table beside where the Rebbe sat. So the Rebbe sat there with the panim beside him and...

26:27 Speaker 9 Davened.

26:27 Speaker 7 He davened. Then, when it was time for the Torah reading, the gabbai would announce beforehand that there had to be order, because the Rebbe wanted order: people shouldn’t push. They could stand close together, but they shouldn’t push; it had to be quiet, with no disturbances. The Rebbe was very particular about that.

26:54 Speaker 9 Were they able to move all the panim in an orderly way from the Rebbe’s platform to the Torah-reading bimah?

27:00 Speaker 7 Yes, I’ll get to that in a moment. So the gabbai—his name was Rabbi Moshe Pinchas Keren Katz[?]—was originally Polish, and he had studied in Warsaw with the Rebbe Reb Avdon[?]. After telling everyone not to push, to keep order, and to let the Rebbe pass calmly—and to let the secretaries through too—he said it had to be quiet and orderly. No standing on crates; everyone should stand in their place and try to see as much as they could. Then he told everyone to remember—and he said it in Yiddish—“Vu men shteit un far vemen men shteit”: where you are standing and before Whom you are standing. Everyone should remember that. That was how he ended his speech. Yes, and right away Avinu Malkeinu began, followed by the Torah reading. For the Torah reading, the Rebbe stood in his place. Then, as maftir approached, when the Rebbe was called up, he rose, took all the shofars and the siddurim—the siddur—and went up to the bimah. As the Rebbe walked down the aisle, he made sure that Rabbi Chadakov followed him. What I especially remember is the Rashag, who also went up to the bimah. The Rebbe was very watchful that no one push him. Sometimes the bochurim didn’t notice: the Rebbe had already passed, so they thought they could start pushing. Suddenly the Rebbe would turn around and look back, as if to see where the Rashag was. Then everyone knew to be careful: until the Rashag had passed, no pushing. After the Rebbe, the Rashag, and Rabbi Chadakov had passed, the secretaries came through. They may have come from somewhere else; I couldn’t see very well. Maybe they used the same aisle—I don’t remember. And they brought the bundles of panim for the shofar blowing. Now, while the Rebbe said the haftarah, they put the panim

29:37 Speaker 7 on the bimah. After the Rebbe finished the haftarah, he began arranging all the panim. The Rebbe moved them from right to left, into the middle. You could really see him putting everything in order. Sometimes he would move one a little farther, and then... I remember one time—I don’t remember which year it was. Maybe it was that year, or perhaps my first year there.

30:05 Speaker 11 5734.

30:05 Speaker 7 5734. The Rebbe was moving the bundles, and suddenly, from where I had been pushed to—I was standing a little way off—I saw that if that bundle stayed there, it would completely block my view of the Rebbe. So what was going to happen? What could I do? I was so tense, and I started looking for another place. Maybe I’d try to squeeze in somewhere else, because I could see that this particular bundle was blocking the Rebbe. Then, in a split second, I saw the Rebbe move the bundle, and suddenly there was a little opening through which I could see. I realized I didn’t need to do anything. Wherever you’re meant to be, that’s where you’ll receive what’s meant for you. It was all the Rebbe’s hashgachah pratis. The Rebbe sees every person and feels every person. You could really see it. Even during the shofar blowing, even in the loftiest state, as they say, the Rebbe doesn’t leave the chassidim for a moment.

31:12 Speaker 11 From a distance, you could see the Rebbe attending to the panim and the shofars. But, for example, when the Rebbe hummed the Alter Rebbe’s niggun beforehand, you couldn’t hear it, right?

31:22 Speaker 7 No. Listen, you couldn’t hear it, because after maftir, in those days, the Rebbe would usually take his tallis and spread it over all the bundles, and the Rebbe would, uh...

31:40 Speaker 11 Do we know what the Rebbe hummed? Some say it was the Alter Rebbe’s Niggun Deveikus, or Gimel Tenuos.

31:46 Speaker 7 Not Gimel Tenuos. There was one niggun that people said the Rebbe hummed. I never heard a niggun from the Rebbe myself, but there was some niggun.

31:56 Speaker 11 And then the order of the shofar blowing began.

31:58 Speaker 7 Then the order of the shofar blowing began. The Rebbe would lean over them like this. Imagine the Rebbe leaning over your pan and davening, as they say, while your pan is lying there too. And with his tallis, the Rebbe covered all the panim at once. In other words, the Rebbe was now davening for all the panim. He stayed like that for minutes that felt like an eternity.

32:24 Speaker 11 Did the panim cover the entire Knesses Yisroel bimah, or only part of it?

32:27 Speaker 7 Almost all of it.

32:28 Speaker 11 So the tallis was essentially spread over the whole bimah.

32:29 Speaker 7 Almost. Yes, yes, really. There were about five bundles. The Rebbe spread the tallis over all of them. Then the Rebbe straightened up and began in a loud voice: “For the conductor, a psalm of the sons of Korach.” It became quiet, and everyone began saying “For the conductor.” The Rebbe took the tallis again. All seven times the Rebbe said that psalm, he was under the tallis; you couldn’t see or hear him. Afterward the Rebbe would stand up and lift the tallis. It varied from year to year. In the years I was there, the Rebbe held the tallis very, very differently from the way he did during davening. He simply took the tallis—the part over his head—held its edge and made a sort of fold. The fold made a straight line, and that was how the tallis looked.

33:49 Speaker 11 Like an opening.

33:49 Speaker 7 Like an opening. The Rebbe held it that way with both hands, so the tallis formed an opening, and he began the verses: “From the narrow place I called to G-d; G-d answered me with expansiveness. Hear my voice according to Your kindness, Hashem; give me life according to Your judgment. G-d ascends with a blast; Hashem, with the sound of the shofar.” Then the Rebbe took the tallis and covered himself again. There was silence. Everyone waited for the shofar blowing. After a few minutes—a minute or two, I don’t remember—the Rebbe lifted the tallis again. Then he adjusted the tallis firmly and put it behind his ear. He took the shofars, arranged them, covered them, arranged them—it was hard to see exactly what he was doing. Then the Rebbe began the brachos: “Blessed are You, Hashem our G-d, King of the universe, Who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to hear the sound of the shofar.” If it was the second day, he would also say Shehecheyanu. You would suddenly see the Rebbe take out a scarf and put it on under the tallis, around his throat. Then the Rebbe began the second brachah: “Blessed are You, Hashem our G-d, King of the universe, Who has granted us life, sustained us, and brought us to this time.” Then it became quiet. The Rebbe began. The Rebbe’s shofar blasts were very soft. You could hear them, but they were soft. What I noticed was that when the Rebbe blew the teruah, he went, “Tu, tu, tu, tu, tu, tu, tu, tu, tu, tu.” Some people do it very quickly. The Rebbe did it quickly, but it was “Tu, tu, tu, tu, tu, tu, tu, tu, tu, tu, tu, tu.” Usually the Rebbe would blow the whole first section, Tashrat, three times, pause for a second, and go straight into the second section. Three Tashrat. Then straight into the third section, Tarat, with a pause there too. There was a pause between each one.

37:32 Speaker 12 Do you remember any difficulty with the shofar blowing over the years?

37:34 Speaker 7 Yes. Once—this was only in the early years—there was some difficulty, and the Rebbe suddenly decided that a particular shofar blast wasn’t quite right. The Rebbe repeated the tashrat or the tashat. I no longer remember which it was, but I remember that the Rebbe repeated it. I also remember one time when the Rebbe changed shofars in the middle. That shofar wasn’t working so well, so the Rebbe changed it. After the Rebbe finished all thirty blasts, he began the verses. The Rebbe said them in a very special melody, with a feeling of hope, as if to say, well, now the shofar’s influence has been drawn down for the whole day. People ask: Why do we need to hear the shofar blasts from the Rebbe? Because there are those who sound the teruah, and there are those who know the teruah. There’s a story about the Tzemach Tzedek. Once, the Alter Rebbe’s eldest son, Reb Chaim Avraham, who was the Tzemach Tzedek’s uncle, was already very old, and he came to hear the shofar blasts from the Tzemach Tzedek. The Tzemach Tzedek said to him, “You can blow the shofar yourself. Why do you need to come to me? After all, I’m your nephew.” He answered, “It says, ‘Fortunate is the people who know the teruah.’ One has to know the teruah, not merely sound it. So I came to hear it from someone who knows the teruah.” So, of course, when the Rebbe blows the shofar, he is one who knows the teruah, and the Rebbe draws down all the spiritual influences. By the way, I’ve just remembered that on Erev Rosh Hashanah, you could see in the Rebbe many things he had once spoken about: that the Tzemach Tzedek would arrange matters in the world on Rosh Hashanah, because it says that the entire structure of malchus is drawn down on Rosh Hashanah. So everything depends on how the tzaddikim, how the Rebbe, decide what needs to be. The Rebbe works to accomplish all sorts of things concerning kingship and the affairs of the world—how the world will be governed so that it will be for the good,

40:03 Speaker 7 for the good of the Jewish people. You could truly see in the Rebbe everything written about the order of [unclear]. As I said about Maariv, too, you could see in the Rebbe everything written in the maamarim about malchus withdrawing on the night of Rosh Hashanah. From the time Tehillim was recited at night, you could see in the Rebbe something like sleep, like the state called dormita—a kind of sleep that is the withdrawal of malchus. Suddenly the Rebbe would rise and begin singing “Ribono Malkeinu,” as though malchus was beginning to be drawn down from above. And with the shofar blasts, it was completed. It was as though that was the completion of those spiritual influences. An awakening. There was an incident—everyone knows that in 5741 the Rebbe introduced the campaign for young children to have a letter in a Sefer Torah. Throughout those six months there was a great stir about it, especially the first time. Letters were purchased, and they managed to complete the first children’s Sefer Torah on 25 Menachem Av. Then, as Tishrei approached, the Rebbe held a farbrengen on Erev Rosh Hashanah. The Rebbe said, “I’ve received all sorts of notes asking me: Why am I arranging a Sefer Torah only for children? Why not for adults? So we’ll see what to do.” That was what the Rebbe said on Erev Rosh Hashanah. From the sicha, it sounded as though people were asking for it: We’ll see, we’ll give them what they want. He didn’t say what. Then, suddenly, after the shofar blasts on Rosh Hashanah 5742—I was with the Rebbe then, too—the Rebbe’s whole tone at the Rosh Hashanah farbrengen changed. There had to be an initiative from above for everyone to have a letter in a Sefer Torah, for each person to buy one, and for people to go to the soldiers and to everyone. People had to get letters, because it provides protection. And indeed, that year there was the first Lebanon War. The Rebbe kept speaking about how the letters would

42:32 Speaker 7 provide protection for people, and so on. You could really see the difference between before and after the shofar blasts—before Rosh Hashanah and after Rosh Hashanah. Before Rosh Hashanah, the Rebbe had heard a suggestion from chassidim: Adults want letters too. You want them? We’ll do something. Then, within two days, everything was turned on its head. It changed completely. Suddenly it became a directive, something necessary, something obligatory—not a favor people had asked for. I really saw that the Rebbe drew down something new on Rosh Hashanah.

43:06 Speaker 13 Because of malchus. After all, the Rebbe is the sefirah of malchus, Moshiach. So he builds up all the matters of malchus.

43:13 Speaker 7 So the conclusion of the shofar blasts, as we said, was with the verses. You could sense in the Rebbe a feeling of, thank G-d, the shofar blasts have been sounded. We know that even when a blast didn’t go so smoothly—as I mentioned, the Rebbe had to change shofars—that too was because of the spiritual influences being drawn down. The Rebbe had to accomplish various things. I don’t know what, but clearly the Rebbe had to do various things so that the blasts would draw everything down as they should. The Rebbe would chant the three verses: “Fortunate is the people who know the teruah; Hashem, they walk in the light of Your countenance.” With the second verse, the Rebbe rose even more powerfully: “In Your name they rejoice all day, and through Your righteousness they are exalted.” With the third verse, the Rebbe rose still higher: “For You are the glory of their strength.” “And through Your favor our horn is raised.” The Rebbe lifted each verse higher and higher. Yes. After that, the Rebbe turned to the chossid Reb Menachem Tenenbaum and asked him, “Which shofar do you want?” Of course, he asked for the shofar the Rebbe had used. The Rebbe was holding several shofars; he took that one and gave it to him, then returned to his place. When the Rebbe returned to his place, preparations for Musaf were already beginning. Then the Rebbe did what is written in the teachings of the Arizal: the person who blows the shofar should turn and look at the entire congregation, and the congregation should look at him. It says that doing so arouses compassion. The way the Rebbe looked around was remarkable. He turned with his tallis, almost as though he were arranging it, but his gaze went across the entire shul, from the beginning, toward the right, making a full circuit. The Rebbe went section by section, looking at everyone. Do you remember the Rebbe looking you in the eyes, or...? Yes. Generally speaking. Yes, generally speaking, but the Rebbe looked at everyone. You could see that the Rebbe was looking, that he wanted to see everyone. Was there something special about the Rebbe’s gaze? A gaze

46:32 Speaker 7 very, very full of compassion and love. The Rebbe really looked at everyone, and slowly returned to his place. Also, I didn’t mention earlier what happened during the shofar blasts. The Rebbe mentioned at the farbrengen, too, that it says there is stillness before the blast. The Rebbe explained that the stillness relates to a person: the person becomes revealed outwardly, and the shofar blasts draw down vitality. So you really could see a profound stillness in the Rebbe during the blasts—just what is written in the Arizal about stillness before the blast. The Rebbe mentioned it at the farbrengen as well. And, of course, Rosh Hashanah concluded with the farbrengen. As I said earlier, many things at the farbrengen revealed what the Rebbe had drawn down on Rosh Hashanah. Did you manage to get places at the farbrengen? After all, you were busy with the mivtzoim, with mivtza shofar, weren’t you? But we had regular places at the farbrengen too, even during Tishrei. What’s the difference? It’s more crowded. It’s crowded. You let another person in. But... The guests who had arrived from Israel, and everyone... Yes. If someone squeezed in, I personally wouldn’t push him out. I’d tell him, “Just let me in too.” But no, there were people who would throw others out. Of course, the Rebbe didn’t want that. I tried to stay in my place, and if someone squeezed in beside me, of course I didn’t push him out. I just told him, “Let me in too.” Where was your place at the farbrengen? I had two different periods. For a while I stood to the Rebbe’s left in the first row, but it was a little hard to hear there. Near the pillar or by the table? When the Rebbe was sitting on the platform downstairs in 770—picture the Rebbe facing the crowd—I was to his left. Mm-hmm. There were rows there, and I was in a row, but it wasn’t so good there. After a year, a year and a half, I moved. I found

48:57 Speaker 7 A spot facing the Rebbe—that really was something. On the pyramid? No, on the floor. I didn’t like standing on the pyramid. I liked standing on the floor, and I managed to get a spot there, facing him. You could see, but it must have been hard to hear. The opposite. You couldn’t hear everything, but you could hear because the Rebbe was speaking in your direction, and you could see his mouth. That makes it easier to hear what a person is saying—what the Rebbe is saying. No, facing the Rebbe was the best. There were one or two people in front of us, but we heard well. That was the best spot. I stood there for several years, really until ’92. After your wedding? Yes, even after I got married, I stood in the same place. It was as if I had a regular spot. So before we would travel, we would always have another bochur stand there so that when I came, he would let me in. Thank you so much, Rabbi Opel[?], for that special, moving description. Now, standing here some forty years after those remarkable experiences you’ve described, from ’84 onward, how can we, as Temimim living so many years later, experience the Rebbe’s presence and feel the Rebbe—and, above all, not be content with the present situation, but want to see the Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach openly? I want to draw out a very important point from all this. We spent several years with the Rebbe, and you could say the Rebbe raised us. The Rebbe taught us that the Geulah and Moshiach are something immediate, that he is about to come at any moment. The Rebbe instilled in us the expectation you have when you’re waiting for an event that has to happen today. Whether it was Tammuz, Menachem Av, or the Three Weeks—it didn’t matter. The point was always the same:

51:10 Speaker 7 At every farbrengen, in everything, the Rebbe made it real for us that Moshiach was about to come and that we had to do one small thing to bring him. So when we think about everything the Rebbe did—all the Rebbe’s activities, the shofar blowing, everything being described, the group, Yom Kippur, and all the instructions—we think about what the Rebbe instilled in the chassidim, especially the Temimim. We grew up with the Rebbe, who instilled in us that Moshiach isn’t just the Geulah: it’s reaching a true sense of bittul, of “there is nothing besides Him,” which Moshiach will reveal in the world. That is what the Rebbe wanted, and wants, us to live with all the time. And we always saw that the Rebbe was ready for Moshiach at every moment. Moshiach could come—no problem. Even if the Rebbe was at the Ohel, in the middle of reading notes, that would be no problem. If Moshiach came, the Rebbe would change course and go on. I remember one time on Erev Rosh Hashanah, the Rebbe was distributing a book by the Tzemach Tzedek. He distributed it for seven hours. Before the distribution, the Rebbe spoke for a few minutes and said, “I hope Moshiach will come in the middle of the distribution, and then we’ll continue distributing it in the Holy Land, in the Beis Hamikdash.” In other words, the Rebbe was ready to go at all times. Literally. You could see it. We saw that the Rebbe was ready at every moment. If you told a person, “Come, let’s leave for Jerusalem right now”—not stay in the United States—he’d say, “Wait, wait, I need to take something. I need a cup of coffee; I haven’t had one today. Wait, I need to do something. I need to ask someone something. I need to speak to someone. Hold on, I’ll come with you in a moment.” With the Rebbe, there was no such thing. The Rebbe had returned from the Ohel. He hadn’t eaten all day; he had only had something to drink. So let’s say the Rebbe

53:41 Speaker 7 didn’t want to interrupt the distribution to go and get a drink. But he was ready. If Moshiach came and you hadn’t even had a cup of coffee yet, would you go have a cup of coffee and then greet Moshiach? No, with the Rebbe there was no such thing. The Rebbe said, “We’re going to the Geulah now.” The Rebbe instilled in us that Moshiach was about to come at any moment, and we shouldn’t make calculations like, “I’ll come for my year with the group in ’86 or ’87,” because we were sure—and hoped—that even before ’84 the Rebbe would come and blow the shofar on Rosh Hashanah that falls on Shabbos, in the Beis Hamikdash. That was how we thought. That was how the Rebbe educated us. But to illustrate it, I want to tell you a story. During our time as bochurim, there were often what we called spontaneous farbrengens with the Rebbe. The Rebbe would suddenly hold a farbrengen. What does “suddenly” mean? The Rebbe would go to the Ohel, return at night, come to Minchah and Maariv, and that was it. Everyone would go about their business. But many times, when the Rebbe returned and nobody had dreamed of it or knew anything, he would suddenly finish Minchah, finish Maariv, and after Maariv tell one of the secretaries—

55:11 Speaker 3 No one knew anything—

55:12 Speaker 7 “A farbrengen.” When? Now. “But I’m not prepared! Wait, what happened? I need to—I already arranged with someone to go somewhere.” You sat down at the farbrengen. That was it. With the Rebbe, everything could happen suddenly.

55:30 Speaker 3 Did you experience that with [unclear]?

55:32 Speaker 7 Yes, I’ll tell you about that in a moment. Why was it really like that? Everything the Rebbe said and revealed, and every new instruction he gave, always seemed to come suddenly. Was the Rebbe trying to surprise everyone? Why couldn’t he say beforehand, by way of introduction, “Soon I’m going to do such-and-such”? Of course, the Rebbe may have thought about it. So why didn’t he say so? Someone once came to me and complained—he wasn’t from Chabad. He said, “The Rebbe introduced a wonderful Rambam campaign. But why did he suddenly announce at some farbrengen that people should study three chapters of Rambam? He didn’t tell anyone anything; he just gave an instruction. Doesn’t the Rebbe take people into account?” I told him, “You should know that what the Rebbe says is a revelation of G-dliness from Heaven. Hakadosh Boruch Hu decides that now is the time for it to be revealed. And Hakadosh Boruch Hu reveals His will through the service of tzaddikim. The tzaddikim are vessels for the Shechinah; the Shechinah speaks through their throats. So why do you ask why the Rebbe said it now? Because now the Shechinah spoke about this through the Rebbe.” The next day the Rebbe spoke about something else. The Rebbe launched the Shabbos candle campaign. When did he launch it? Suddenly, on Erev Rosh Hashanah. Why on Erev Rosh Hashanah? Let people prepare for Rosh Hashanah! Why come and overwhelm them with Shabbos candles?

57:15 Speaker 4 It will be fifty years in the coming year.

57:17 Speaker 7 I just remembered when the Rebbe began speaking about Shabbos candles. I said, “All right, Rosh Hashanah—you light candles, fine, but still, people have so much to do.” But this was the time; that was what was decided in Heaven. The Rebbe says what he was told to say from Heaven. The Rebbe doesn’t say anything on his own; the Shechinah is revealed through the Rebbe’s throat. The Shechinah speaks through his throat. That is why, with the Rebbe, everything happened suddenly. And Moshiach will come that way too, when the moment for his revelation arrives. Even though the Rebbe is waiting every moment—and apparently waiting for us to do our part and hasten it—so it depends on us. But the Rebbe is already standing ready for the revelation.

58:09 Speaker 4 And did you personally experience that moment in [unclear]?

58:13 Speaker 7 Yes, there was a story. I’ll just finish with this. The Rebbe’s routine on Shabbos was that when there was a farbrengen, it began after davening, at 1:30. Sometimes there were also unexpected farbrengens. But on a Shabbos without a farbrengen, after Musaf the Rebbe would go up to his room and stay there for an hour or an hour and a half. Then the Rebbe would go home to make Kiddush and have the Shabbos meal. Some people waited until the Rebbe went home, and then they went to eat. Others left earlier, but the bochurim generally liked to wait in 770, learn something or just talk. They waited until the Rebbe left his room and went home, and then they too would go eat in the dining room. It was a winter Shabbos. The gabbai announced that Mincha would be at four o’clock. Since it was early, the Rebbe would usually go home around 2:15 or 2:30, return an hour later, and come out for Mincha at four. That was what was supposed to happen. That Shabbos I davened downstairs in 770. After davening I stayed, and then I went upstairs to the Rebbe’s small zal, near the Rebbe’s room. I asked the Temimim whether the Rebbe had already gone home. They told me, “No, the Rebbe hasn’t gone.” So I said, “All right, I’ll stay and wait today.” Just as I decided to stay and wait, the Rebbe was delayed. Half an hour passed—2:30, a quarter to three, three. What was going on? It was winter. The Rebbe usually left much earlier, sometimes at two or 2:10. But as the clock moved forward, the tension grew. Why? What would happen? When would the Rebbe go? When would the Rebbe come back? The Rebbe had to be back by four, and I could see it was already three. That made me want to stay even more. Not to mention that in my day there weren’t many kiddushes in 770, so—

1:01:07 Speaker 5 No secretary went out with the Rebbe. The Rebbe was alone. The Rebbe was—

1:03:40 Speaker 7 The Rebbe was alone, completely alone. He had no secretary with him; the secretaries had gone home. And the Rebbe sat on the bench and waited. He opened the siddur to Ashrei. There was a bochur older than me, a friend named Menashe Perman, who is now a shliach in Caracas, Venezuela. He said to me, “Dovid, I can see that the Rebbe wants Mincha. We’ll start Mincha with Ashrei. I’ll be the chazzan, and you know how to read, so you read.” The regular baal korei hadn’t arrived. He was only coming at four, and it was now 3:20. So he went up and began Ashrei, and the Rebbe continued along with him. Then it came time for the Torah reading, and I began to read. I was very nervous. It was the first time I had read for the Rebbe. It was a little unusual: the Rebbe didn’t receive an aliyah at Mincha unless they were using Moshiach’s Sefer Torah, and that Shabbos they weren’t. But the Rebbe stood barely a meter from the bimah, and during the Torah reading the Rebbe stood. So the Rebbe stood throughout the reading and watched, and boruch Hashem, we got through it all right. “What did you feel at that moment?” “I didn’t have much room to feel anything. I was anxious, because I was simply afraid to read next to the Rebbe. I had never read or been the chazzan in the Rebbe’s presence, and this was new to me. The circumstances had put me there.” “Were you able to concentrate on the reading?” “Yes, yes, we managed. Boruch Hashem, I read slowly because I was afraid I might make a mistake. I read very slowly, but boruch Hashem, I read. It was Parshas Noach, and we read Vayeira. And we saw, indeed, that the Rebbe suddenly appeared. It came without any preparation. In Vayeira there’s that well-known question: Why did Hakadosh Boruch Hu reveal Himself to Avraham and not to us?” “Yes. So you actually got a taste—” “Afterward, the Rebbe went home and came back for Maariv.” “So you got a taste of the Rebbe’s revelation, and that’s what gives you life now.”

1:06:04 Speaker 7 What I say in practical terms is that we need to know that the Rebbe could arrive at any moment. Every good thing we do in thought, speech or action, as the Rebbe says, tips the entire world toward merit. It may be that just one more good deed is needed. We don’t know which straw will break the camel’s back, as they say. It may be that your deed at the other end of the world will change everything and the Rebbe will be able to reveal himself. The Rebbe has certainly been ready since 5752[?], and certainly even before that. The Rebbe has already done everything. The Rebbe said, “I have done everything.” So the Rebbe has done everything. The Rebbe stands ready and waits—waits for us, the chassidim, to help him, with Hashem’s help. Once, at a farbrengen, someone said to the Rebbe that the Rebbe should be healthy and live to greet Moshiach. He said in Yiddish, “Zol der Rebbe zain gezunt.” The Rebbe answered, “Gezunte chassidim.” The Rebbe will be healthy, don’t worry. But the Rebbe wants us to be healthy chassidim, physically and spiritually, so that we can take part in bringing the Geulah. The Rebbe himself could have brought the Geulah alone, but the Rebbe said that he wants to include chassidim in everything. So the Rebbe includes chassidim in every campaign. And of course, he wants us to take part in the hardest, the very, very greatest campaign: the campaign for Moshiach. Let each and every person make a good resolution in honor of Rosh Hashanah. As it says in Sefer Haminhagim, there is a practice of taking on some additional hiddur for the new year. Let everyone make a good resolution in action, speech or thought, to bring closer the Rebbe’s revelation, very soon. Ears to hear. Audio programs for the Temimim from Ata Haolami. For more programs, dial *6358. Long live our master, our teacher and our Rebbe, King Moshiach, forever and ever.