0273 - Connection with Harav Yolles Part 2 - Chaining his Chair

00:01 As I said before, Rav Yoles from Philadelphia, was the chief rabbi of Philadelphia, would come to the Rebbe's farbrengen every weekday farbrengen, and he would sit on a chair on the bimah that they would put on the Rebbe's right side. He also had this custom, it started at one point, that on Yud Tes Kislev, when the Rebbe would make the Chalukos Hashas, and everybody would have to write on a card which masicht they're taking. So the Rebbe would also write on the card which masicht he's taking. And the Rebbe, I remember one farbrengen in the beginning of the Chof's, I forget which year it was, one of the Yud Tes Kislev farbrengen, the Rebbe needed a pen. So Rav Yoles, who was sitting not far, took out a pen from his pocket and gave it to the Rebbe. And from then on, every year on Yud Tes Kislev, when the Rebbe needed a pen to fill out the card which masicht he's taking, Rav Yoles would have ready a pen. And I think he would buy every year, that's what they said, every year a special gold pen just for this, and he would give it to the Rebbe, the Rebbe would use it in the farbrengen, and he would give it back, and he would have the pen. One year, the Vaad Hamechader decided that when they put his chair on the bimah on the right side of the Rebbe, and they put it pretty far away, so he shouldn't sit right next to

01:13 the Rebbe. But what he used to do, he used to slowly, I don't know if it was be kavana, without kavana, but slowly he would get closer and closer. And they felt that he's getting too close. So what they did was to make sure that the chair cannot move. So one farbrengen, they decided to tie the chair with chains to the table so it won't be able to move. He came to the farbrengen, he sat down on the chair, and he tried to move it, and he saw it doesn't go. So he couldn't move it. He obviously wrote this to the Rebbe later, and the Rebbe sent out a letter to the Vaad Hamechader. Who is the one that tied Rav Yoles's chair be-shalshaloyos shel barzel, with chains made of metal, iron chains? Actually, the loshon shalsheloyes or barzel, which is used in Chazal in different places, it's not such a positive term. It's, uh, it says when you go to jail, you go be-shalshaloyos shel barzel. It says in the Yayankevu, in Hashem one, really he could have gone to galus with shalsheloyes shel barzel. Other places it says the loshon shalsheloyes shel barzel, which is a negative term, like when you put someone in jail. So the Rebbe used the term here, who is the one that tied the chair of Rav Yoles with shalsheloyes be-shel barzel, with the metal chains? They answered the Rebbe, the Vaad Hamechader answered the Rebbe that it wasn't one individual, it was a yachlot, a decision of

02:33 the whole Vaad. They all take responsibility for it. The Rebbe answered that he wants to know exactly who is the one that actually put on the chains. So I think they answered again, if I remember correctly, that it's not an individual, it's a responsibility of the whole Vaad. And the Rebbe said, no, he wants to know exactly who it is. And the Rebbe said that the one that did it should right away should resign from being a member of the Vaad Hamechader. That's how much it bothered the Rebbe that they did this. And actually, that's what happened. The one that actually did it, now I don't know if it means the one that physically tied the chain or the one that it was his idea, I can't say exactly. But the one that was responsible, even though they all took responsibility, the Rebbe wanted he should resign, and right away he resigned, and from then on he was not anymore a member of the Vaad Hamechader. Now here we see how much the Rebbe cared about the kovod of Rav Yoles, which probably many reasons for it, for whoever he was, his own greatness or whatever it is. But I think another thing is because the kiruv that the Rebbe was mekarev him was because the Friediker Rebbe was mekarev him, and the Friediker Rebbe was mechabed him. So by the Rebbe, the kovod of Rav Yoles also connected to the kovod of the Friediker Rebbe. Maybe we could say that. And therefore, it bothered

03:52 the Rebbe very much that they did something that he was very offended that they tied his chair be-shalshaloyos shel barzel. And the Rebbe went so far that he even said that the one that did it or the one that's responsible for it should resign. And that's what happened because seemingly maybe it's because this is connected to the kovod of the Friediker Rebbe.