0001 - R’ Shmuel Levitin HaGoimel

00:02 Some of my children have asked me that from time to time I should record some of my zechrainas when the Geide Rebbe during Fabrengis or things that happened to me or things that I remember. And I was hesitant to do it. But then now that I was in camp this Yarchikallah and we're talking different stories, different things. So different people asked me if you could do it to be a Glei Chazak. And then even the Rav, Rav Gavriel Sinner came over to me and he said, why don't you record all your zechrainas, all your things? So when I heard that, I thought maybe it's a good idea. So I think I'm going to start doing this at least for a while, bli neder, to record maybe daily or from time to time different things that I remember that might be useful to people. And this will be basically by the nyonim that have a shaychas of the Rebbe, whether it's things that I remember from different Fabrengis and different nyonim that happened or things that happened to me which I was involved. And I will send it out and I don't mind if people send it to other people because everything that I will be saying, le daiti will be correct. But on the other hand, being that some of the things that I will be saying happened many, many years ago, like 45, 50, over 50 years ago and hashik chametzoya, it's possible that I could forget and not have the details correct. So

01:20 I'm asking that if anybody hears this and has certain like he'ores or difference of opinion or things like that, please let me know so I will then be able to discuss it to see how it really was. And the way I'm going to do it is not with any seder whatsoever. Whatever falls into my mind, which means whatever things I just remember on the spot, I will be recording that. Now sometimes it will be something that is just for a minute, just a vort that I remember or something that I saw which could take just a minute to repeat. And sometimes it could be something that could take five minutes or 10 minutes, 50 minutes. There's no rhyme or reason of the seder of the way the style will be, just to record it so people should be able to hear. Now the first thing I want to record is just that comes to my mind because I was talking to somebody about it so it just reminded me. And that is that I remember Tov Shenchof Hey when the Rebbe Davened for the Amid. During that winter, Reb Shmuel Eviten, Alav HaShalom, was walking in the street and he fell and he broke his hand and they had to put on a cast. Later on when things were better, I just don't remember if it was in the cast was taken off or when he felt better. Anyway, when he felt that it's time for him to bench Gemel, he asked the Rebbe if

02:44 he should bench Gemel or not. Now that I didn't see because that I don't know how he asked, whether he asked through Masquiros or whatever, but he asked the Rebbe. That was known. He asked the Rebbe whether he should bench Gemel because it was only that he broke his hand. It wasn't life-threatening. So he asked the Rebbe should he bench Gemel or not. I am assuming that the question is because since he was an older man, maybe if you fall and you break your hand, it's very possible, chas v'shalom, worse could have happened. But anyway, the shaila was should he bench Gemel or not. And the Rebbe said, that was the answer that we heard before davening yet. We heard that the Rebbe said that now a bocher came from Eretz Yisroel and the bocher is going to bench Gemel for his trip from Eretz Yisroel. The mele, Reb Shmuel, could ask him and he would be yetzer with his bracha. So it goes out of all shailas. So he'll be, the bocher will be yetzer him with the bracha of Gemel. The pel mamish, the bocher who came didn't know anything and he saw a minyan downstairs and he benched Gemel. So when he came to the Rebbe's minyan, there was nobody to bench Gemel. So I remember that Reb Shmuel went over and he benched Gemel himself. And as he walked away from the bimah, he passed by where the Rebbe was standing and I was standing not far, pretty close. And he

03:54 turns around to the Rebbe and he says, "Ich hab alenge benched." I benched myself. And the way we used to talk to those that remember, he had a special way of talking. "Ich hab alenge benched." That's the way, I mean, he said it. And the Rebbe looked at him and the Rebbe said, "Zol zayn zu gesund."