Mazkir’s Reply to a Critic of Lubavitch

Welcome to our weekly Historic Treasures program.

I want to share with you a letter — a private letter that Rabbi Mindel wrote to a person, an answer. Someone wrote to Rabbi Mindel about somebody who had criticized Lubavitch, and he asked Rabbi Mindel to answer him.

Now, many times people wrote to Rabbi Mindel — I have a lot of letters — not to the Rebbe, they wrote to him. He was the mazkir; he writes books, he writes so much. He knew the Rebbe more than most people knew him, because he worked with the Rebbe. So people wrote to him certain things they didn't want to write to the Rebbe directly. Many times the Rebbe looked these letters over. I don't know about this particular letter — the Rebbe probably didn't look it over — but I know that many times he did.

So, he wrote about somebody criticizing Lubavitch. By the way, throughout all the years, the Rebbe received many, many letters with questions about Lubavitch. Maybe sometime I'll share some of the Rebbe's own answers — I did not print them in [unclear]. But this is a letter from Rabbi Mindel, and I think people should learn from this, because if they have any questions like this person asked about Lubavitch, this gives them material to know the answers.

So I'm just going to tell you a few lines — the few questions, I think five questions, that the person wanted to know.

Number one: Why do we show so much respect to the Rebbe?

Is the Rebbe rich from all the money sent to him?

Does the Rebbe perform miracles?

Is the Rebbe deified?

And the last question: Why does the Rebbe use a Cadillac? No — the Rebbe, you know, sometimes the Rebbetzin used a Cadillac years ago. The Rebbe only had a driver for that — Rabbi Kinsky [?] was the driver — and he used a car. So, why a Cadillac?

Okay. Now, even though officially Lubavitch policy was always not to pay attention to these scoffers, sometimes a person writes out of ignorance, not out of jealousy, and that's why Rabbi Mindel answered — otherwise he wouldn't have answered. I think it was out of ignorance that he wrote. But anyway, before I read you Rabbi Mindel's answer, I want to mention that the Alter Rebbe, the Baal HaTanya, was one of the greatest — he was the youngest talmid of the Maggid of Mezritch.

The Maggid had thousands of chassidim but only sixty talmidim, and here I have the names of the sixty. The Alter Rebbe was the youngest of them, yet he was considered the foremost. All the talmidim ate from one pot — they ate from one pot — but the Alter Rebbe took the cream of it all. He was very close with the Maggid. The Maggid used to call him "Zalmanu" [?].

Out of all the talmidim — I have all the names here — the one who faced the most opposition was the Alter Rebbe. He was put into prison, more than any of the other talmidim, because what he taught was a new philosophy, different from anybody else's. If you read from Rabbi Mindel the philosophy of Chabad, which the Rebbe also [unclear], you'll see exactly why the Alter Rebbe had more opposition, and he was one of the best talmidim of the Maggid.

Now, to be a target of opposition over something, you have to actually be doing something different. If people don't do anything new, they don't draw opposition. Let's say all the rabbis today, the holy people — there's really no opposition, because they all learn, they daven, it's not so different in many ways — maybe some learn many more hours than others, but it's the same type of avodah. But Chabad chassidus was a different type of avodah, and that's why there was so much opposition. And sometimes it's because of jealousy.

When the Frierdiker Rebbe came to America, the misnagdim said, "Why did he come to America — just to live here?" America was a piece of ice; the Frierdiker Rebbe came to break the ice of America. Others came to America just to live here — this is a place to live — but it wasn't like that with the Frierdiker Rebbe.

Now, before I give the answer, I want to mention one point about when the Frierdiker Rebbe came to America. There was a gadol — and this is what I heard; I did not hear it from the Rebbe, I didn't hear it from my father — I heard it from [unclear], so I don't know if it's true, but that's what I heard — there was a gadol who was against what the Frierdiker Rebbe supported, regarding released time.

There is a law in New York that public-school children, who finish public school every day at 3:00 — on Wednesday there's a law that they can go home at 2:00, with permission of the parents, and have religious instruction; they can take them to shul and pick them up, if the parents agree. That's a law in New York. The Frierdiker Rebbe was very much in favor of this. These Jewish children didn't have anything — no religious education at all — and he wanted them to have this, so he was mesayem [decided] that the bochurim should close their Gemara on Wednesday afternoon and go take these children to shul every Wednesday, to learn with them and teach them. You know how many hundreds — maybe thousands — of Lubavitchers became what they are from that one hour? I mean, if there's a fire burning, you close your Gemara, you go — it's not so terrible. This gadol held that it was forbidden; you can't do that. As a matter of fact, the Frierdiker Rebbe wanted other yeshivos to do this too, but there was great opposition. They still have this today — this Wednesday hour. There was a big controversy. So some hotheads wrote letters about this gadol — not in a nice way, it wasn't so nice.

So this gadol called up our Rebbe — he was then in the office — and told him that people were talking, making trouble, because he was against the Frierdiker Rebbe, against his support for release time. So the Rebbe said, "I don't understand this." He said there is a Medrash that says a maggid [a preacher] will get into trouble — people can call him whatever names they want. That's what he told this gadol. So the gadol said to the Rebbe, "No, mainly, you [say] that the children are not learning" — he asked, "How did you know this?" So the Rebbe said there was a siyata dishmaya [Divine assistance] that led to the truth, to arrive at the truth. This I heard — I don't know if it happened or not, I just heard it.

So I wanted to show you that there was hisnagdus [opposition] all the time, because when people do something new, there is opposition. There are letters about it.

But here I want to share with you a case of a person who wrote critically about somebody. He wrote like this:

So, Rabbi Mindel writes — I'm going to read what he wrote exactly:

"I was puzzled by your question about the Cadillac. As you correctly surmised, your letter explains it. But frankly, I could find more profitable use for my time than answering criticism of Lubavitch. If everything said, and rumored, and even printed in the press, were taken seriously and refuted, a full-time secretary would be required, and nothing would be gained, for usually these critics are not interested in the truth, but only wish to criticize and find fault. I cannot, however, refuse you an answer, since you seem to be concerned and requested a reply."

Then Rabbi Mindel writes:

"To begin with, you have conveyed to me something which you heard from someone who has heard it from someone else. Although I usually refuse to discuss hearsay, I will give you my reply in the order of your letter.

"Number one: I am not aware of anyone being warned before going into the Rebbe's room for a private audience to address him as 'your eminence.' This is absurd, and you know it from your own experience. I know of one writer, an author, who insists on using this expression when referring to the Rebbe, but that's the writer's prerogative. The usual custom is to address the Rebbe, when speaking to him, in the third person — 'the Rebbe said' instead of 'you said' — but this respectful manner applies to any older Rav; you would speak this way to anyone. It has always been the custom to use the third person when writing to anyone in Hebrew, except in modern Hebrew. The Rebbe also uses this form exclusively, except when writing to children. This is also my own practice." In other words, he had never heard of such a thing.

"Another thing: not to speak before being spoken to, to stand in the Rebbe's presence, and to walk backwards when leaving — the person had complaints about that too. This is the customary way to act in the Rebbe's presence; I might add that this is in the best tradition of Jewish behavior. I presume this would be the routine for being received in audience by, let's say, the Queen" — because this person had written from England. "What's wrong with it? One does not sit in his presence; I sit in his presence only when taking dictation. You don't have to stand, you don't have to sit. The fellow was barking up the wrong tree if he criticized this procedure.

"Number three: I know that the Rebbe does not accept personal gifts for himself or his wife from anyone. The only exception is books, and that for his library, since it is of public service. Checks made payable to him go to a special fund, for special cases, or are directed to one of the institutions — but never does the Rebbe take anything for himself." I guess that's one of the things the person had complained about.

"Another thing — on the question of miracles — here, too, the well-known adage can be applied: for him who believes, no proof is necessary; for him who does not believe, no proof will suffice. However, some basic observations regarding miracles are here in order."

And here Rabbi Mindel answers him — this is important to know:

"Jews who believe in the Talmud believe in the ability of certain men, the tannaim, to perform miracles. Many men are mentioned in the Talmud who performed miracles, and none was deified. The faculty of blessing and prayer has often been stressed in the Talmud, even for an ordinary Jew." So any Jew can bless.

"There are miracles, and there are miracles. There is the miracle of turning blood into water and water into blood, and there are miracles of blessings coming true, such as children or money and the like. As for the first variety, I have not heard of even the most ardent or gullible claiming that the Rebbe has performed such miracles" — nobody ever said the Rebbe turned blood into water or anything like that. "It is usually a case of the Rebbe's blessing or prayer having materialized, where the person concerned believed that, in the natural course of events, the outcome might have been different.

"Those who have experienced such miracles through the Rebbe's intercession do not have to seek a rational explanation, for, as mentioned above, it is well within the realm of man, especially saintly men. Skeptics may prefer to rationalize such miracles, and that is their way of doing things if they want. There is no way of preventing anyone who has been miraculously helped by the Rebbe from shouting it from the rooftops. Certainly there is no official sanction or encouragement to do so. What people say, people say. I do not know of a single instance where the Rebbe took credit for any miracle or even alluded to it, though he receives many letters from people informing the Rebbe how his prayer or blessing helped them miraculously."

Then Rabbi Mindel writes: "On one occasion, during a visit by a group of students, when asked point-blank if it were true that he can help people in a miraculous way, the Rebbe replied that any Jew who performs a mitzvah is capable of performing such miracles, by virtue of his attachment to the Giver of the mitzvah." He used the analogy of turning on a light by the flip of a finger, whereby contact is made with a central power station, which is the source of this "modern miracle."

"Incidentally, the kind of miracles attributed to the Rebbe have been attributed to other saintly men — not merely rabbis — including the Baal Shem Tov [?], because this person was associated with [unclear]. So it's not only the Rebbe — so, in other words, why are you complaining?

"As for attaching a godly image to the Rebbe, an often-repeated criticism by misnagdim, it is really a matter of semantics. We have all been created in the image of God and therefore have godly images. Certainly, the Jew who is more closely attached to God, and constantly so, has more of a godlike image than the Jew who is not so close. If the charge is that the Rebbe is deified, I cannot imagine any greater stupidity" — he wrote. "Even Moreinu [?] was never deified. I cannot imagine even the stupidest person being guilty of such idolatry. It has a place in Christian dogma, but not in Judaism, especially not in Chabad."

Now, there's another letter that somebody writes to the Rebbe — not here — about [the idea] that a Rebbe is a soul dressed in a body, something like that, and the answer is very sharp — that every Jew has [a soul], especially [the Rebbe] — that's something else, but this is the answer to this person.

"I need hardly point out that neither the Rebbe nor his wife shows ostentation in any way, shape, or form. Not only do they not travel first class" — this person had a complaint about traveling in a Cadillac — "it would be no crime if they did, but they do not travel, period. In my association with the present Rebbe for nearly [thirty] years, he has not taken a vacation for a single day" — do you ever see the Rebbe take a vacation? — "nor has he left the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. I believe his wife made one trip abroad, but I do not know if she traveled first class, Heaven forbid.

"Now, as for the Cadillac — a Cadillac is by far not the most expensive car in the USA. Many a person drives a Cadillac in the USA, even the lowest class. Perhaps a Rolls Royce is more often bought here for its performance rather than for prestige. If it is a luxury, it is probably the only one that the Rebbetzin can be accused of. It so happens that she is rather petite, and it is the most comfortable car for her to drive. I should know, because I went with her to buy her first Cadillac. She insisted on subdued colors. She has no private chauffeur to drive her around."

So he had a complaint about that too. Now, in other words — "nothing you will say will convince those who delight in criticism of this kind. As for the innocent bystander, you can only tell him: don't believe everything you see, and believe nothing you hear."

And then the Rebbe — and then he [Rabbi Mindel] — he knows this person wasn't feeling well, so he ends off here, saying that if you want a miracle, if you want to be well, you should write to the Rebbe, and I'm sure the Rebbe will give you a blessing and you will be well.

In the future, I will share with you more letters — the Rebbe's answers to people who criticized the Rebbe about Yechidus, about farbrengens, and about many, many things. I don't think these letters are public, but maybe I'll share them online. Next week we'll continue our weekly program. Thank you.