The Story the Rebbe Enjoyed Hearing

Welcome to our weekly program, The Inside Story of Chabad in America, through the Mindel Archives. The last few weeks we discussed why we learn Pirkei Avos in the summertime, starting from Pesach, and how a person should conduct himself. So today I want to share with you a story of a real Yid, and we can learn from this how we should conduct ourselves.

We also have to know, besides learning Pirkei Avos in the summer, some shuls, from Pesach, are mekabel Shabbos early — Friday, before the time, before lighting candles, they already bring in Shabbos — which is fine, you can bring in Shabbos early. This isn't the usual practice, but some do it because people need it, so that's okay. It's only done — excuse me — on the Shabbosim between Pesach and Rosh Hashanah.

So I wanted to say today a story about a Yid — his name is Reb Sender N[?]. He was the father-in-law of Rabbi M[?]. [Applause] He was a real Yid — when I say the words "a real Yid," it's because when the Previous Rebbe was in France — he was in France then — and the Rebbe wasn't feeling well, he couldn't see anybody, but he wanted him, he wanted to see him. And when he came in, he told him: "You searched for the truth, you found the truth, and you lived with the truth." He was a real Yid. He cared about other people — every Yid, whether he was Shabbos observant or not — he cared about a Yid. His caring for others was unbelievable.

By the way, I want to tell you another story. He was in England, and his wife had a grocery store. Somebody came over to him and said, "I need parnassah." So he said, "I have a grocery store, and this is in the street — there's a store empty there — you should also open a grocery store in the same area." He wasn't afraid — he cared about somebody else. This is the type of person he was.

He was the one who was actually the first to say "Yechi" at a farbrengen — he banged on the table, and everybody answered. There are a lot of stories about him, but I want to share with you today a special story about davening Friday night, Kabbolas Shabbos.

He came from England in the late 1940s. He moved to Long Beach, Long Island — he wasn't feeling well, he had health problems, so it was suggested that it's a healthy place near the ocean, he should move over there. He lived there with his son-in-law, Rabbi M[?]. Long Beach is a city — Long Beach had five shuls in those days. A lot of Yidden — they had hotels, kosher hotels — people remember those days, not like now. Every hotel had a shul, so they davened Shabbos in the hotel. So they had five shuls — the hotels, in the summertime, the days were long — everybody was mekabel Shabbos early. There was not one shul that davened later — people didn't want to daven late.

Nevertheless, he wanted to daven Maariv after the proper time, even though you're allowed to daven before, but he wanted to wait. And he couldn't find a minyan — people refused to daven with him. He called, he begged people: "Please, let's have a minyan, at least a minyan, in Long Beach, after the time." I mean, he struggled. Some people had pity on him — he was an older man — so they did him a favor, here and there he found a minyan, here and there, but it was a big struggle. They took turns.

Anyway, somebody by the name of Willie Wolf — I remember him — asked him. He says: "Even you can bring in Shabbos early, so why do you want to daven late? Maybe if they have a minyan, fine, but to sacrifice yourself so much, when you have such a hard time — why, why do you need a minyan in Long Beach after the time?" So he told him that there is a law: if in a city all the shuls bring in Shabbos early, it becomes Shabbos automatically for whoever lives in that city. So those Yidden who are not Shabbos observant — who drive on Shabbos or whatever — would be mechalel Shabbos an hour or so, because there is still a minyan davening later. This is why he did it.

So he was, the whole time, every week, the whole summer, struggling to make a minyan afterward — to care about somebody else. This is the kind of person he was. And the Rebbe heard about this story and had a lot of pleasure from what he does. That's the type of person that was. So — excuse me — we can learn from people like that, we should learn from people like that.

Once I mentioned that this person went to the Rebbe, and the Rebbe said: why do we say "Hamakom"? "Hamakom" means "the place" — He is also called that because there is no place that is not filled with Him. So, but why, why do we use this term? So the Rebbe says: every person has a place in this world. Now the person is not here — but that place is still here. Before, the place was limited, it was confined to a certain place, to the body. Now that place is without limit — so the influence of that person can be even more than before. That's why you say "Hamakom yenachem" — since next week is the yahrzeit of this person, and it should be an aliya for his neshama. We used to send telegrams every year. Thank you.