Frierdiker Rebbe’s Reply to Participants Bored of a Class

Welcome to our weekly program, the story of Chabad in America through the Mindel archives. Last week, two weeks ago, we spoke about [unclear]. So today I want to share with you a letter that the Frierdiker Rebbe wrote to Rabbi Mindel. He wrote it in Hebrew, and Rabbi Mindel translated it into English.

Now, as a side note, he writes to him by name, Nissan, to say — I want to tell you something that the Rebbe mentioned years ago in one of the letters. [unclear] The Rebbe had answered somebody — it wasn't Rabbi Mindel, it was somebody else — [unclear] who had to go to shul like a vosek (an early riser), and he had to leave shul early. [unclear]

Now I'll tell you another story, because of that, that the Rebbe told Rabbi Mindel. You know, Rabbi Mindel — when he went in to take dictation, this was work; he never asked any private things for anybody. This was strictly — if he had to ask, he always wrote — but he never, when he took dictation, on the Hebrew letters, the English letters, all the letters, everything, it was only straight work for the Rebbe, that's all.

One time, someone said to him, "I write to the Rebbe all the time, maybe seven, eight letters, and the Rebbe never answers me. Do me a favor," he said to Rabbi Mindel, "when you go in, ask the Rebbe why he doesn't answer." He had asked him so many times. So Rabbi Mindel asked the Rebbe why he doesn't answer. The Rebbe said, "It's good that you reminded me — thank you for reminding me," and the next day he answered him.

This is a story that I heard from Rabbi Mindel. About a month later, or two months later, since the Rebbe had told him, "You remind me" — this always bothered Rabbi Mindel, why the Rebbe said that — but since the Rebbe had said this to him two months before, he asked the Rebbe, "Why do you say that?" So the Rebbe gave a big smile — a big smile, that was it. The Rebbe didn't say anything more.

So I wanted to mention this to you, and now let's go to the letter. The letter is in Hebrew, which the Frierdiker Rebbe wrote, and Rabbi Mindel translated it back into English. But let me give you an introduction first, and this is written by Rabbi Mindel.

In the year 1944, in Manhattan, New York, there was a weekly learning class given by Mister — not Rabbi — Alexander Cowen. You know Alexander Cowen — he had written pamphlets about [unclear]. This class was held in a dentist's office, with intellectuals, scientists, about twenty people. The class that Mr. Cowen gave was based on a textbook — he would first read the textbook, and then they discussed it. He read maybe four pages. The book is called Bible Unauthorized. I don't want to go into who wrote it, but I don't want to go into that now. That was the book that Mr. Cowen read from.

Now, the Frierdiker Rebbe was very interested in this group, in this class. Every single week, the Frierdiker Rebbe sent Rabbi Mindel — I think it was Wednesday night — to participate in the class, and every single week the Rebbe was waiting for Rabbi Mindel to come back and give a report on that class. This was probably the first adult education class in America — this was in 1944.

Also, there were questions they wanted answered, which they asked Rabbi Mindel, and the Rebbe told Rabbi Mindel that he should write down the answers — "we're not going to have time today for sure to answer all the questions" — with the answers in his own handwriting. This happened every week.

One day, Rabbi Mindel writes, after class, after he gave his report to the Rebbe, that Alexander Cowen gives a nice class, a nice lesson, and he also participated in it, as the Rebbe wanted him to, but the listeners need more to inspire them — that's why he tells the Rebbe it's a little boring; they need more inspiration. So the Rebbe tells Rabbi Mindel to tell them a story, and that story will give them inspiration.

And the Rebbe said to Rabbi Mindel — now Rabbi Mindel writes this — "I will put down on paper for you a chapter from my memoirs, where I report about my interrogation in the summer of 5681, 1921, in Rostov, when I was summoned to the Cheka, later called the GPU." The Rebbe then proceeds to write down, in Hebrew, the story of his interrogation. This handwritten paper he gives to Rabbi Mindel, to translate into English and share with the Manhattan class. Rabbi Mindel promptly translated the story into English, and the next week he read this letter to them, so that it would give them encouragement.

I am going to read this to you now, since today is Yud Beis Tammuz. I'm going to read this letter written by the Frierdiker Rebbe. I have the original — two pages, in his own handwriting. I'm going to read this letter to you now.

Rabbi Mindel is writing this from the Rebbe, but he's writing it the way he read it to them. It was in the summer of 1921, in the month of Tammuz, July, that the Rebbe writes this. Rabbi Mindel tells them:

"When the Rebbe was invited to appear before the Cheka's extraordinary committee, later to be called the GPU — the equivalent of the Nazi Gestapo, and dreaded no less — I was then in Rostov, and the invitation was the customary one. As I was still in mourning after my father, three Cheka agents entered the room, armed to their teeth with rifles, guns, knives, and belts of ammunition. Not attempting to disguise their hatred, they went up to the Rebbe and told him he was requested to accompany them immediately to the Cheka. Two of them were of the Yevsektzia — that's the Jewish section — and the third was a gentile.

"When the Rebbe told them he wished to conclude his prayers, the two Jews almost fell upon him, trying to tear off his tallis and tefillin, and were it not for their gentile companion, they would have forced him to accompany them before concluding his prayers. The gentile guard, however, prevailed upon them to let the Rebbe conclude his prayers."

Now, because that was the year of the passing of the Rebbe Rashab, 1921 — the Rebbe writes — incidentally, the Rebbe recognized one of the Jews as a native of Chevel [?], having once come to him for help, and the Rebbe had secured a position for him with a tobacco firm, and even lent him some money to start a business of his own — that was, of course, before the Revolution.

"When the Rebbe concluded saying Aleinu, he took off his tallis and tefillin and accompanied them to the dreaded Cheka. He had an armed guard on each side of him, and one walking behind, like a very dangerous criminal. In those days, one never knew whether one could come back alive from a visit to the Cheka.

"He was led into a large room, where some fifteen men sat at a long table on each side, with two men at its head. The Rebbe was placed at the end of the table, still surrounded by the armed guard. One of the two men sitting at the head of the table turned to the Rebbe, saying, 'We are members of the committee investigating religious activity under the auspices of the Party. We are engaged at present in investigating the Jewish faith. We had some questions cleared up by Rabbi Burman [?] and Goldberg, whom we had invited here. Now you have been invited to clear up some questions with regard to Kabbalah and Chassidus.'

"This person spoke in Russian. The Rebbe replied in Yiddish: 'I have already been invited twice before the Cheka, where I already stated that I would not deviate from my principles, and the man — or devil — hasn't been created yet who could make me give up as much as an iota.'

"Before the Rebbe managed to conclude his few words, one of the Cheka men present, sitting near the head of the table, picked up his gun lying in front of him — in addition to being armed with a gun, each one had a gun lying on the table before him, no doubt to intimidate those taken in for interrogation — saying, 'This toy does away with many principles and opens the mouth of the dumb.'

"The Rebbe said, 'You are absolutely mistaken, for this toy impresses only those who have only one world and many gods, to whom each passion is a god, and they are afraid to lose this only world. But as for Jews, who have only one God but two worlds, this toy does not frighten them, and makes no impression whatsoever.'"

So all of these things we know — but what happened, we know from a letter that the Rebbe himself wrote. I think it comes from the letter that he wrote to Rabbi Mindel. This is handwritten.

"'We have not called you for the purpose of annoying you,' said the chairman. 'Let's hear your principles — maybe we can get together on them.'

"'My principle is that I do not wish to hear nor speak any language but Yiddish, even amongst Christians, and especially amongst men who belong to the Jewish people.'

"So they asked, 'How do you know that we are all Jewish, that we are all Jews?' one of them asked.

"So the Rebbe said, 'Maybe I'm mistaken, and not all of those present here are Jews. My grandfather,' the Rebbe said — which is the Rebbe Maharash — 'could recognize a Jew at a glance, even in the street. Once, when he was in Kiev, walking along Kreshchatik Street, the Maharash stopped a young man dressed in modern clothes, clearly anxious to disguise his Jewish origin, and asked him where a famous professor lived. The young man became incensed and said, "How do you know that I am a Jew?" My grandfather said, "The bris left an effect upon your nose." Now,' the Rebbe says, 'I cannot recognize by that same criterion, but I still believe I am not mistaken.'

"The first question was: 'You observe your faith in every detail — you keep your heads covered, you wear tzitzis, and so forth. Now, all these things you do — do you do it from conviction, or from habit and your faith?'

"The Rebbe answered, 'From absolute conviction.'

"'If so, convince us also, and bring us to the same spiritual level as yours,' they said.

"So the Rebbe answered, 'I am prepared to oblige you, should you give me an opportunity to fulfill your request. You will admit, however, that if a student of astronomy is stopped in the street by someone with a request to explain to him the system of the stars and planets, surely the student of astronomy would tell him, "I cannot explain it to you here in the street right now, but if you really wish to learn, come up to the planetarium, and you will see with your own eyes, through the telescope, the movements of the stars and planets." Similarly, I say to you: if you really want to learn and be convinced about our faith in God and in the Torah, come with me to the house of God, put on tefillin, eat kosher, observe Shabbos, and then your mind will be clarified as well as your heart, and you will be able to understand it with your intellect, and I will surely bring you, little by little, to a conviction in the truth of our faith and our Torah.'

"But they said, 'First explain to us intellectually, and then we will take it upon ourselves to observe the Jewish faith, but until then we cannot accept the religious matters as truth.'

"So the Rebbe answered, 'You surely know definitely that food not merely satisfies the stomach and gives strength, but even fattens, because it turns into blood and flesh. In medicine, the process of digestion is clearly explained. But suppose someone said, "I shall refuse to eat until it is explained to me how the food turns into blood and flesh" — it is necessary to believe, and to eat and drink first, and then go and study medicine if you wish. And so it is also with religion.'"

And then the Frierdiker Rebbe writes, "After these words, it made a profound impression." This is what the letter — the original letter that I have here in Hebrew, that the Rebbe wrote to Rabbi Mindel — shows; you could see how much he was interested in that class.

So after reading the letter, they were so inspired that they asked a lot of questions, based on the Bible and based on this letter that the Rebbe gave him.

So, since today is Yud Beis Tammuz, I wanted to share with you this very interesting letter.

One more thing I want to say is about the yahrzeit of Rabbi Mindel. He was born [unclear], and he passed away [unclear]. All his life, he was with the Rebbeim. This is what he came down to this world for.

And we should see the redemption very soon, and there should be peace, and we should have a good and healthy summer.

And next week we'll continue. Weekly program — thank you.