0274 - Passing on Erev Yom Kippur R' Nochum Schapiro

00:00 My zayde, my father's father, his name was Nochem, Reb Nochem Shapiro, lived with us in Cleveland, and he passed away on Erev Yom Kippur in the year תשס. And they buried him in a cemetery in Cleveland on Erev Yom Kippur. My father used to have a minhag to go to the Rebbe three times a year from Cleveland. It was for Simchas Torah, for Yutrat, and for Yud Beis Tammuz. But that year, he decided not to go. Also, my uncle, Reb Yitchok, alav hashalom, decided also not to go because they felt if they go, they have to tell the Rebbe that their father passed away, and they didn't want to do that. That was the way they felt those years, not to tell the Rebbe things like that. But when it came later Yutrat, they went to the Rebbe. So when my father went to the yechidas, he told the Rebbe that his father passed away on Erev Yom Kippur. And the Rebbe was surprised, "Why didn't you let me know right away?" In other words, the Rebbe wanted to know this. Probably it's negayed to the aliyas neshamah, that if the Rebbe knows about it, it's a very important thing for the neshamah. Anyway, but the way people looked at things those days were a little bit different. Also, my father and my uncle speculated that maybe if they would have told the Rebbe right on Erev Yom Kippur, right in the morning, maybe the Rebbe would have told him to wait and bring him

01:13 to bury him in New York, not far from the Ohel. We don't know exactly. This is shtam speculation thinking. But lefi halach, that's what the Rebbe said. He was surprised, "Why didn't you let me know before?" Later on, when it came to make, put up the matzeivah, because those days people were not so careful to put up the matzeivah right away, so they put it up later. So they wrote the Rebbe the nusach of the matzeivah. So my father wrote the whole nusach and asked the Rebbe if the nusach is good. So the Rebbe answered that bengei the nusach bechal Nochem hu, bechal it's okay. El shetzorich hi, but we have to think about it. Ulai kedai lechachlif haloshon, Erev Yom Kippur ve'loshen Erev Yom HaKodesh. Maybe it's worthwhile to change when it says the day he passed away, to change it, not to write that he passed away Erev Yom Kippur, but to write that he passed away Erev Yom HaKodesh. And the Rebbe writes, ki mi shezehu siman tovi eser, because this is a better siman. And he says, ayin ksubes davku gimal lamed beis. Look in the Gemara ksubes davku gimal lamed beis. There the Gemara uses a loshen that if someone is mes be'Erev Yom Kippur, someone passes away on Erev Yom Kippur, siman rale, it's a bad siman. So therefore, not to write that he passed away Erev Yom Kippur. And the chuda, the reason why it's a bad siman, because you didn't ma-ma-make it that Hashem should forgive you

02:27 for the aveiras. So Erev Yom Kippur means it's before Yom Kippur. But if you write Erev Yom HaKodesh, it's just, I'm saying chuda the pshat. Erev Yom HaKodesh vakeret, it means it's a day before a holy day, so it's a good day. And it's interesting that in this letter, the Rebbe doesn't write what the Gemara says, siman rale. The Rebbe just writes that Erev Yom HaKodesh is a better siman than Erev Yom Kippur. The Rebbe didn't even want to write the word that this is a siman ra, as the Rebbe always behaved. He never would say negative words, even though the Gemara here uses that word. But here where it's not important to use that word, the Rebbe just said that Erev Yom Ha-Yom HaKodesh is a better siman than Erev Yom Kippur. And this letter later was printed in the Igress. And this is Chelek Yud Gimel, page nun zayin, that this letter is printed. And I even think that in one of the yechidas, I'm not sure, I think the Rebbe mentioned this to my father also, that Erev Yom HaKodesh is better to write than Erev Yom Kippur.