0067 - Helping with Chazara

00:01 Shabbos Parshas Beshalach, which was Chamishos BeShevat in the year Tov Shin Chof Vav, which is 1966. The Rebbe was a man, the Rebbe appointed a few bochurim to become choizrim to help more in chazore. And this is how it happened. I was actually one of those bochurim, that's why I'm able to tell over all the details. That it was Yutrat at night, the night of Yutrat. The second night after Yutrat, that night was the big Yutrat farbrengen by the Rebbe. But the night before was when we're sitting in 770, a few bochurim, and Rabbi Klein, Rabbi Yom and Klein came over to us, to us few, and he said that, "Rabbi Chadikov wants to see you." When those days, if you heard that Rabbi Chadikov wants to see you, it was very exciting because there must be something special, and usually it's something that came from the Rebbe. And we had no idea what he wants. So when we came in, Rabbi Chadikov said to us that the Rebbe asked if you agree to help more in chazore, to become choizrim. So we said sure. When we heard such a thing, such a suggestion, such a offer, of course we became choizrim. And then he says, "But do you know what this entails?" And we said yes, we knew because we were actually bochurim that used to help in chazore anyway, but now the Rebbe wanted to make it stronger, wanted to make it more official. So we said yes. So he says, "Can I

01:14 give this over to the Rebbe?" So we said yes. We came out and we were obviously very excited knowing the great achrai is that is there, but also the great chuzz that's there. And then the next night there was the farbrengen of Yutrat. And the day after that, Rabbi Yom and Klein comes to us and says that the Rebbe asked how come we didn't come up to say l'chaim for this, uh, being appointed as choizrim by the farbrengen of Yutrat. 'Cause those years, the stated was that if somebody had a special bakasha or something to ask for a brocha or something, something special, was able in the middle of the farbrengen, the big farbrengens, to go up to the Rebbe and say l'chaim. Some of them would even bring a bottle of mashke. So the Rebbe asked why we didn't come up. Then he said, "Since you didn't come up then, so Shabbos will be a farbrengen, Shabbos Beshalach behem shochteh Yutrat, so you'll come up Shabbos Beshalach." Came Shabbos Parsha Beshalach after the maimer, the maimer can sicha. So all four of us, we were four of us, went up. The four of us were Sholom Ber Levitan, Reb Shloime Zachar, Rabbi Ephraim Pekarsky, and myself. So we all came up to the bima where the Rebbe was sitting. We came on the right side of the Rebbe. He's on the right hand, on the Rebbe's right hand, and we all were standing there, all four with a cup of mash-- a cup of

02:24 wine, little kalish of wine to say l'chaim to the Rebbe. And when we were standing there, Rabbi Chadikov got up to tell the Rebbe what we're standing there for. And he wanted to tell him that we came up for this reason of chazore. So the Rebbe said to him, "Zon ze ale zogen. Let them say it themselves." So the first one who was standing there says to the Rebbe l'chaim, and the Rebbe says to him, "Vos? What?" I mean, the Rebbe knew what it's about, but he wanted him to say it with his mouth, wanted to say it begoli bepal. So he said, "Dos iz men geit to helfen." To help. So the Rebbe said, "Helfen vos?" To help what? He says, "Helfen in chazore." So the Rebbe answered, "Hatslacha rabba." Then the second one, he asked, "Du eicheit? You too?" And he said yes. The same thing with the third and the fourth. And the Rebbe wanted each one poshet to say with his own mouth that he's ready to help. And then the Rebbe looked at Reb Yael. Reb Yael was... Those years used to stand on the left side of the Rebbe. We, bochurim, our places were on the right side, and he had a place on the left side. So the Rebbe looked at us, looked at him, and he says to him, "Zot l'chaim tzusamen. You should all say l'chaim together." So when we started trying to say l'chaim together, the Rebbe says to Reb Yael, " Oder du gehst

03:35 ze, oder zon ze kumen tzedir." Or you go to them, or they should come to you. Although you're standing on that side, they're standing on that, on this side, or they, you go to them, or they should go to you. So Reb Yael started getting up in order to go to our side. So the Rebbe says to him, "Vos darfst du a ropkin tzu ze, zon zein is alaven tzedir. Why are you going down to them? Let them go up to you." And the Rebbe used the lashon, ba'al yoseh shal bailim. The truth is, at that moment when he said it, I couldn't hear clearly whether he said ba'al yoseh shal bailim or ba'al yosem. But I realized l-later that Rebbe was referring to a lashon in Gemara where it says in Kesubos daf samech chaf vam lamed daled concerning a husband and a wife. So the Gemara says that if there's a question, he is higher and she's lower as far as money or other things, so she goes up with him. And the lashon is ba'al yoseh shal ba'al. She goes up to the husband. So Rab-the Rebbe used this lashon and he gave us and Reb Yael that instead of him coming to us, we should go to him. So we all got up and we all went to his side. Then we wanted to say l'chaim because the Rebbe said we should say l'chaim. So the Rebbe motioned to us with his hands, one hand over the other, that we should

04:44 say l'chaim on a full cup. It wasn't mashke, it was wine, but usually they would say on a little kalish of wine, or even if you used a big cup, it was not full. It was just a little bit on the bottom. But the Rebbe wanted we should fill up the cup and we should all say l'chaim. So we all did that. And then after the next sicha, Reb Shmuel Levitan said something to the Rebbe, and the Rebbe answered him, "Chassidishe in achis." And this was Shmuel because he was the zeide of one of the four of us, which is Reb Sholom Ber Levitan. And then the Rebbe said to Reb Yomim Levitan, who's the father of Sholom Ber, he should also say l'chaim on a full kos. And the Rebbe said b'chol the parents who are there should say l'chaim. My father wasn't there because he lived in Cleveland. For some reason, Reb Shloime Zachar's father wasn't there either. But Reb Ephraim Pekarsky's father was there and he was sitting down on the, by the tables. So the Rebbe said to him, "Ayer zun iz ech zwischen ze." And the Rebbe said out loud, "Yoffeke ech haben deke ech hav." The koach of the son is better than the koach of the father. Now, even though simple pshat it means that the koach of the son, the son is greater than the father, but in that same farbrengen earlier in one of the sichas, the Rebbe had explained the chassidishe pshat that it means

05:53 yoffeke ech haben, even the fact that the koach haben is stronger, but that itself is m'ke ech hav, comes because of the father. In other words, comes from, from the father. V'meile, as much as he said to him, "Your son is greater than you," but he meant to say also b'pashutnes that it goes from the father. And after that, the Rebbe said another sicha. And I have to say the truth that the whole kavanah of this whole thing was that we should start remembering better and concentrating better on the farbrengen. The sicha after this was very hard to concentrate. I remember what it was about. It was about the slav and things like that, but it was very hard to concentrate because of this whole excitement, this whole thing of the chuzz that we had. And take it since then, we started helping and getting involved in chazore more and more like the Rebbe had asked.