0181 - Looking at the Chazan During Chazaras Hashatz

00:01 We always saw that by Chazoras Hashatz, when the chazan would come to Birchas Keyanim, the Rebbe would always turn his face and look at the chazan. And we knew that this is what the previous Rebbeim also did. And actually it says in Sefer HaMenhagim that when the chazan would say Birchas Keyanim, the Rebbeim would turn their face to the chazan. So it was always known as something the Rebbeim did, but not that something that everybody has to do. There were individuals who would copy the Rebbe and also do that, but it was not something that was officially known that everyone is supposed to do. You see, it's not like those things that it says that this is Minag Beis Harav. Certain things, especially by Pesach, it says this is a Minag of the Rebbe's household. So the Rebbe said that that includes everybody. All the Chassidim follow what it says Minag Beis Harav. But here it says this is a Minag that the Admorim used to do, the Rebbeim used to do. It doesn't say Beis Harav. But melee, it was known that this is something for the Rebbeim. Those that wanted to, as an individual, copy what the Rebbe did would do that too, but it was not something known for everybody. But this was still the time when the Rebbe spoke against that the people look at him during davening. And the first time the Rebbe spoke about it was Parshan Meketz, which is Shabbos Chanukah, Tovshin Chavzayin. And there the Rebbe said

01:20 that there is a Minag that happened now by Spitz Chabad. He said that something that Lashirum Av is saying is something that is never happening. That you have to look in the face of the person who you hear Chassidus from. You have to look in his face at the time of davening. And the Rebbe said people do that during Hagbe. During Hagbe, you have to look at the Sefer Torah. So why are you looking at him? During Birchas Keyanim, you have to look at the Sefer Torah, at the Chazan. Why are you doing the opposite and looking at him? And the Rebbe said people are not only looking, they Beshas Maisa, they yawn, etc., etc. And the Rebbe said the Gemara says, you're not allowed to look in the face of a Nosi. In Yerushalmi, it says even more that you have to hide from him. So melee Yerushalmi, you don't know. But Gemara, Gemara, who doesn't know Gemara? All you have to do is if you know how to make a laning, you know how to learn a piece of Gemara, you could know what the Gemara says. The Gemara says, you're not allowed to look in the face of a Nosi. So if you do look at his face, so or you're making fun of him, or you want to show that you're a Namhoritz. Then the Rebbe said there are some people that even during the Farbrengen, they don't look at him. They look at the Reine Klach or they look at

02:34 others. But even those people who do look at the Rebbe Farbrengen, but that's only a time of Farbrengen. But other times, they shouldn't look at him. You shouldn't look at him during Hagbe. You should look at the Sefer Torah. You shouldn't learn, look at him during Birchas Keyanim. By the Chazan Chazoras Hashatz, you have to look at the Chazan, you have to look. And Bachlal, it's and the Rebbe even used the expression that it's interesting that those that don't hold him for a Nosi, they take it don't look. And those that do hold him for a Nosi, they're the ones that look. That's a strange thing when you're not allowed to do it. The Rebbe continued also that you don't look in the Seder, etc. That he thinks a Seder is for Amaratzim, etc., etc. The Rebbe said more things. But one of the things we understood from the Sich is that the Rebbe said that during Birchas Keyanim, when the Chazan says it in Shmoneh Esreh, in Chazoras Hashatz, you have to look at the Chazan. So till then, we assumed that this was only a meaning for Rebbeim, unless somebody wanted to copy the Rebbe. But then the Rebbe said that everybody has to look at the Chazan. And take it since then, more people started looking at the Chazan at the time of Birchas Keyanim because the Rebbe said so. See, the other time that the Rebbe spoke very strongly and sharply against looking at him during davening, the Rebbe, I don't

03:50 think, mentioned this inyan that during Birchas Keyanim, why do you look at him and not looking at the Chazan? Because the Rebbe spoke about this inyan many times. He spoke Shabbos Parsha Nitzovim Tov Shin Chav Ches, Shabbos Parsha Nitzovim Tov Shin Lamed He, Yud Gimel Tishrei Tov Shin Mem Gimel, Chav Ches and Tov Shin Mem Dalet. But this inyan that you have to look during Chazoras Hashatz, the Birchas Keyanim, you have to look at the Chazan, that the Rebbe said Shabbos Parsha Nitzovim Tov Shin Chav Zayin. And since then, we understood, but the Rebbe made it very clear that everybody should look at the Chazan by Birchas Keyanim during Chazoras Hashatz.