Rabbi Moshe Dikshtein - Be'er Sheva - Part 6

00:22 Speaker 1 Moishe, please continue your fascinating story about organizing the Lag BaOmer parade in Tel Aviv forty-one years ago. There’s a huge uproar throughout Chabad and among all the religious people in Israel.

00:33 Speaker 2 You wouldn’t believe it. But, but—

00:34 Speaker 1 Chabad is stirring things up across the country.

00:37 Speaker 2 We carry on. No... the Litvaks are against Chabad, and Chabad isn’t fazed. I mean, Chabad—I’m... We aren’t fazed, and we keep going. We notified... I went to tell the Dan bus company to add buses on the routes coming from all over Tel Aviv to Kikar Malchei Yisrael.

01:00 Speaker 1 Ah.

01:00 Speaker 2 Meaning from Yad Eliyahu, from south Tel Aviv, from north Tel Aviv and Ramat Aviv. Lots of children would be coming to Kikar Malchei Yisrael, so they should add buses. The police already knew and had sent officers. The stage in Kikar Malchei Yisrael, by the steps of City Hall, had been left standing from the May Day event. We didn’t need to build one. I saved the cost of setting up a stage. The speakers and lighting were still there.

01:31 Speaker 1 Really?

01:33 Speaker 2 I saved—wait, that’s not... Hold on, there’s something very interesting here: how darkness turns into light. Everything was left as it was. I saved a lot of money on stage services, on taking everything down and setting it up again. Great. So we get to Kfar Chabad. I sent Shalom Ber Chaskind—there was this old Willys pickup truck. I sent him to Jaffa to buy what they called “ice juice” back then, little bags of colored frozen juice. Today they call them ice pops. How many did I send him to buy? Fifteen hundred. That was the largest number of children I thought might come. And as it happened, on Nachalat Binyamin there was this big barrel they used to keep drinks on ice, to keep them cold. So I took that barrel, put it in the truck so the ice juice wouldn’t melt, and had him bring fifteen hundred bags. They were in the truck. Great. The parade was supposed to start at four-thirty.

02:40 Speaker 1 What day of the week was it? Do you remember?

02:42 Speaker 2 Sunday. Sunday, like in America.

02:46 Speaker 1 Ah.

02:46 Speaker 2 It’s getting to three-thirty, quarter to four. Nothing. No children, nothing at all. A few counselors had come from Kfar Chabad, boys and girls. But nothing. Police officers—some three hundred of them. No children, nothing. Four o’clock, nothing. Four-fifteen, nothing. At four-twenty, buses started arriving. Listen, I’m telling you, rivers of children poured out. Rivers and rivers of children. It was unbelievable how many children came pouring out. Now, we didn’t have enough counselors, so the police officers acted as ushers: girls over here, boys over there. They sat on the ground in Kikar Malchei Yisrael. “Girl, you don’t belong there; go over there.” And they kept coming, more and more buses. Another bus from Yad Eliyahu, route 11, route 32. Route 25 started arriving from north Tel Aviv, route 24 from Ramat Aviv. I’m telling you the route numbers because I’m reliving it right now. And children kept pouring out, pouring out. The buses didn’t even go to the end of their routes, because they were full of children and had no other passengers. They’d turn around and go back to bring more children. From everywhere... Well, there I am, thank G-d. The Rebbe had already done his part; now we were doing ours. Tzvi Greenwald, of blessed memory, may the memory of that righteous and holy man be a blessing, was the emcee. Oh, what a Jew! He spoke with all his heart. He spoke to the children, and you know, they were riveted—eyes wide open, mouths open. He spoke to them about Lag BaOmer and Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. He told them the story of Rabbi Akiva’s daughter, Ahavas Yisroel. The children just sat there. Then Moti Giladi’s band started playing. We danced and sang pesukim, and Moti Giladi had everyone in stitches. He spoke—

04:44 Speaker 2 Like Ariel Sharon, like Rabin, and [unclear] was there too. He made jokes and called out, “Oh, Dosi, run!” “Dosi, run”—run, you know, run. Then he started talking like Ariel Sharon. He asked the children, “Children, do you want me to talk like Sadat?” And all the children shouted, “Yes!” So he said, “Repeat after me,” and started talking like Sadat: “Shema Yisroel...” He forgot the rest. Everyone sat there in silence. He’d forgotten the rest; he didn’t know it. It was amazing. Amazing. And the magician—what did he do? He took a bicycle, balanced it on his nose and danced with it, like they do at weddings. He picked up a bench and danced with the bench.

05:33 Speaker 3 He was the emcee too.

05:33 Speaker 2 And the emcee too. They put water bottles on their heads, did blanket tosses with the bottles... That great magician who... That great magician who...

05:43 Speaker 3 How wonderful. Well...

05:45 Speaker 2 Now.

05:46 Speaker 3 How many children do you think were there?

05:48 Speaker 2 Wait a minute.

05:49 Speaker 3 What?

05:49 Speaker 2 We ran out of ice pops. We ran out of ice pops.

05:51 Speaker 3 Go on, go on.

05:52 Speaker 2 I sent the truck to bring another fifteen hundred ice pops. So someone says to me, “Why bring fifteen hundred? Even two thousand won’t be enough.” So I said, “Make it twenty-five hundred.” He paid for them and... he brought another three thousand ice pops. According to the police estimate, there were more than five thousand children.

06:12 Speaker 3 Really?

06:13 Speaker 2 More than five thousand children. And with the adults—the parents and escorts—there were about another six thousand people. Anyway, toward the end, Yossi Gropius [?], may he be well, says to me, “Listen, it’s Sunday morning in America now, and the Rebbe is speaking at a gathering. Could we arrange with City Hall for the broadcast to come through here? Would you be willing?” I said, “What kind of question is that? Of course.” We had to run an electrical cable, a telephone cable, from the stage speakers to City Hall, connect it to a telephone there, connect that call to Lichtenstein in Jerusalem, and then we’d hear the broadcast. I said, “Of course, do it.” Anyway, the stage-services electricians, who had already come to dismantle everything, heard about it and said, “We’ll do it.” They ran a cable from the stage to an office in City Hall and connected a telephone line. And so the Rebbe spoke in Kikar Malchei Yisrael through the May Day speakers.

07:27 Speaker 3 Really?

07:28 Speaker 2 That was the good that came out of it—the light that came from the darkness. While Rabbi [unclear] translated into English, Shalom Butman translated it into Hebrew. Then it turned out there were Gerrer chassidim and Belzer chassidim there, and other chassidim who had come from Bnei Brak, as well as chassidim living in Tel Aviv. They came and heard the Lubavitcher Rebbe. “Quick, you can hear the Lubavitcher Rebbe! You can hear the Lubavitcher Rebbe!” That was it. The parade ended. I brought them the karshelach.

08:01 Speaker 3 The children went home?

08:03 Speaker 2 Everyone went home. Wasn’t I responsible for them? It was over. So I go to Moti Giladi. This is the punchline. I go to him and say, “Moti, thank you so much. We never discussed money. How much do I owe you?” He says, “Listen, I’ve never done anything like this in my life. I felt such holiness, such energy. I don’t want any money. Just give me the fare for two taxis: one to get here and one to get home. We took one taxi here, and I need one to get back. How much is that? Give me seventy liras.” I asked him, “And what about the band?” “I’ll speak to the guys.” The band said, “Listen, this was something a bit religious, something we’d never experienced. We’d never felt such holiness, such energy. You and the Lubavitcher Rebbe, really...” I asked, “How much?” “Nothing. Just two taxis to get here and two to get back.” There were a lot of them with their instruments, so they needed two taxis each way. Another hundred and forty liras. Great, fine. I go to Yisroel Gurary and say to him, “Well, now the day has come...”

09:25 Speaker 3 You found the money?

09:27 Speaker 2 Yes, the money. He asks me, “How much?” I tell him, “Stage services are fifteen hundred liras—the stage and lighting. That performer is five thousand liras. His band is seven thousand liras. And for the City Hall sound system, I need another seven hundred liras or so... And we have to pay for cleanup; City Hall will handle the cleaning.”

09:56 Speaker 3 But you also have the ice pops, the ice pops.

10:00 Speaker 2 What?

10:00 Speaker 3 The ice pops.

10:02 Speaker 2 No, Shalom Ber paid for the ice juice—Shalom Chaskind.

10:04 Speaker 3 Ah.

10:05 Speaker 2 Shalom Hatzkoni. He came over to me, and he paid. So he asks me, “How much? How much? How much?” I told him, “Look, work it out.” Anyway, he pulls a wad of liras out of his pocket—a whole pile of liras—and starts counting. I told him, “No need. Give me five hundred liras, and that’s the end of it.” The stage crew aren’t charging anything, because they didn’t set it up. They’re only taking things down. They’re taking down the May Day setup, not ours. The sound crew aren’t taking down our speakers; they’re taking down the May Day setup. So they’ve already been paid. Moti Giladi wants a taxi there and a taxi back. His band wants a taxi there and a taxi back. Eliel doesn’t want anything. That’s it. He gives me five hundred liras, that’s all. What? Yes, that was it. He was so upset that it was so little, so little money. Anyway, I brought in a special photographer—the photographer who had photographed my wedding. I told him what I wanted. Back then the photos had to be developed, and it took about a week before they were ready. I told him, “I want the photos in an album in two days, because I’m traveling to the Rebbe.” That night I sat with Rami Altiani and we wrote a report. The whole report: what the program was, what happened, everything outside and inside—everything, everything, everything. I slipped it into the album and traveled to the Rebbe. I traveled to the Rebbe, and on the plane I’m thinking to myself: I caused such an uproar. I woke up all of Chabad’s deepest-sleeping demons.

11:51 Speaker 3 Bears, not demons. Bears.

11:52 Speaker 2 Bears. I woke up the worst bears, going all the way back to the Alter Rebbe’s time, to the time of the accusations against the Alter Rebbe. I’m thinking, I’m going to the Rebbe—what... I decided, in my usual way of deciding things, that I would write the Rebbe a note. I wrote: I am responsible for the Tel Aviv parade; an album and a report are enclosed. All the—what they were calling the desecration of Heaven, all the Litvaks and all that—I am responsible. If I am welcome, I’ll stay here until after Shavuos. That would be a long time—this Shavuos was more than two weeks away. And if I’m not welcome, I have a ticket back. I had two tickets: one to go back after Shavuos and one to go back to Rome. That’s how I traveled. And the whole way, I’m—I’m—I’m tormenting myself, arguing with myself. Is it right to do something like this? Maybe it isn’t. But I said I was going to do it. Once and for all, I needed to know that what I had done was good, so I wouldn’t have this stain hanging over my head for the rest of my life. And I wrote to the Rebbe that I did not want to see the Rebbe, shlita, until I knew. You know, if I wasn’t welcome, there was nothing for me to do there. And if I was welcome, then...

13:21 Speaker 4 The trauma of that explosion was really that severe?

13:26 Speaker 2 You can’t understand. You can’t—when rabbis and mashpi’im came to you and said, “You’re just some young kid. What have you done? Who are you to do such a thing?”

13:36 Speaker 4 You threw Chabad into turmoil.

13:38 Speaker 2 “You destroyed all of Chabad. Everything Chabad built over all those years, you destroyed in a week.” And so on. I was just a young man with no standing. Who was I? I had no roots, nothing. I was nobody, nothing. Anyway, I got to 770 at about two. I went in with my suitcase and entered the secretariat. I sat down and wrote the note I told you about, then gave it to Binyamin. Binyamin reads it. He says, “What? You want me to bring this in to the Rebbe?” I say, “Yes.” “Look, you—what is this?” I told him, “Listen, Binyamin, you know me. If you don’t bring it in to the Rebbe, I’ll slip it under the Rebbe’s door. The Rebbe needs to get it.” He made up his mind. I told him, “You’re like an axe in the hand of the one who wields it. You’re a shliach. I’m asking you, please take it and put it on top—because we’re friends, put it on top, so it’s the first note the Rebbe sees, and he sees it right away.” He said, “Listen, I’ll do it, but I’m not responsible for the results. I’m not responsible for how the Rebbe will react, and I don’t know what will happen. I’m not responsible for the results.” I said to him, “What does that have to do with anything?” “All right.” So I’m sitting in the secretariat, smoking like a chimney, nervous beyond words. And Rabbi Chodakov comes in before Minchah and tries to calm me down. “Der Rebbe iz gut, der Rebbe iz gut. The Rebbe is good, the Rebbe is good. No, don’t be afraid, don’t—” I thought to myself, what does this old man understand about feelings, about... Anyway, the secretaries went out and locked up the secretariat, and I stayed there alone. The Rebbe came out for Minchah. I didn’t see the Rebbe. A wooden wall, about five centimeters thick, separated me from the Rebbe’s Minchah. That’s

15:45 Speaker 2 the secretariat wall between there and... And my heart is pounding, pounding, pounding, pounding, and I’m under such pressure. What will the Rebbe answer? Minchah ended. I hadn’t davened Minchah. I said, I won’t daven Minchah with the Rebbe either; I’ll daven Minchah downstairs afterward. Minchah ended. Binyamin is standing by the door, getting himself ready. He reaches for the door; it opens, and he goes in. And now I’m on trial before the Heavenly Court. What will it be—Gehinnom or Gan Eden? Actually, I wasn’t thinking about Gan Eden. Which kind of Gehinnom would it be? Gehinnom of ice or Gehinnom of snow? Exile or—no, that’s how it felt. After about fifteen minutes, ten minutes—it was probably less, but time was... Binyamin comes out grinning from ear to ear, with this enormous smile. “What?” He just smiles. “What?” That smile. I say, “What?” So he shows me the note. The Rebbe had crossed out the word “if” with an X. So: “You are welcome,” and—where I had written, “If I am welcome,” the Rebbe circled “I” and drew an arrow down. “You are welcome, and your actions are welcome.” And with it were ten liras toward the trip—an actual ten-lira note. I started shouting for joy. I ran from one end all the way to Rabbi Chodakov’s room at the other end. Ahhh! I went wild. Now, at a quarter to five or five, the Rebbe would always go home for a little while. I stood opposite the lower railing at the entrance to the zal. I said, that’s it—now the Rebbe will see all of me, from head to toe. The Rebbe came out of the plaza, looked at me, gave me something like a quarter-smile, and I started reciting blessings. “Blessed are You, Hashem our G-d, King of the universe, Who made man... Who sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us concerning the candle...” Every blessing I could think of,

17:59 Speaker 2 I said. All of them. And the Rebbe stood there and waited until I finished, ending with “Who has granted us life, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this time.” He answered “Amen” too, with that little smile, and went on his way. Right away, I called Israel to tell all the mashpi’im and all the rabbis, “Don’t worry, it’s all right.” And I went around showing everyone that note. Binyamin had copied it. “Here, look, here’s the proof. Here it is.” Listen. Yes. What? That’s an incredible story. Wait a minute, wait—it’s not over yet. Three-fifteen came around; there was a farbrengen. The farbrengen would be between five and six. You’re in 770. I’m in 770, standing in my place facing the Rebbe. My place was directly opposite the Rebbe, above the aisle. I’m standing there, and the Rebbe’s sicha is about Shavuos, the time of the Giving of the Torah. There was a maamar. And suddenly—just like that—the Rebbe turns to the subject of the parades. I’ll put it this way, in translation: “I sat and thought: Why should that rabbi care if several thousand children shout ‘Shema Yisroel’ in the streets of the city?” What you’re saying now is what the Rebbe said? Yes, what the Rebbe said. Okay. “Where does this baseless hatred come from? What is the source of this hatred toward an organization that gets children to shout ‘Shema Yisroel’?” “So I thought and thought and thought, until I came to the conclusion that perhaps his tefillin are invalid. It’s not that he simply wears inexpensive tefillin—they’re invalid.” The Rebbe continued, “This is a possible Torah prohibition. He should be told to take his tefillin to be checked.” Now, after the sicha, every eye turned straight to me. The Rebbe looked at me and motioned with his hand for me to come over to him. I picked up a little cup, one of those little disposable cups, with a bit of wine. The Rebbe gestured for a big cup. So they gave me a big cup with a little wine in it. And I said, “L’chaim.” “L’chaim.”

20:14 Speaker 2 And a bracha. So I had a big, full cup—I mean, a cup—and I said l’chaim three times, one after another, and the Rebbe... Now, I don’t drink in front of the Rebbe. I bend down and drink afterward. Someone told me, “Dickstein, the Rebbe looked at you with such a smile, such a...” Then, on the night after Shavuos, there was kos shel bracha. And I have a picture of the Rebbe looking at me during kos shel bracha with such loving eyes. I’m in tears right now. Where’s that picture? Give it to me.

20:55 Speaker 5 What?

20:55 Speaker 2 Bring me that picture. This is the picture. On the night after Shavuos, when I’m receiving kos shel bracha.

21:07 Speaker 5 Uh-huh.

21:13 Speaker 2 That’s it. You are accepted, and your deeds are accepted.

21:24 Speaker 5 Ah! Moishe, what an incredible story. Just incredible. Yasher koach, Moishe. Thank you.

21:31 Speaker 2 That’s it. This Shavuos—it’s exactly forty-two years, from 5740 to 5782.

21:41 Speaker 5 Yasher koach, and with Hashem’s help, we’ll continue hearing your stories. Moishe, we still have a lot more to hear. A big yasher koach.

21:51 Speaker 2 Show me.

21:53 Speaker 5 I salute you, [unclear].