0371 - Note Regarding Restriction on L'chaim Mistakenly Given to the Rebbe

00:01 In the late Chof, which is the late 60s, once there was a group of Bochrim sitting in 770 upstairs next to the Cheder Sheini and Farbrengen. And one of the Bochrim said that if we would be able to say L'Chaim a little bit more, the Farbrengen would be better. Because this was quite a while after the Rebbe made the Gezeira that you can't drink more than a Revi'is of Mashke via Farbrengen if you're under 40. So the Bochrim couldn't drink more. But it would be nice if we could. Another Bochrim said it would be nice if we'd be able to ask the Rebbe that at least for tonight for our Farbrengen, you should take up the Gezeira. It would be a nice thing. So another Bochrim who found a piece of paper laying around, it wasn't even a clean piece of paper, a paper had other things written on it, and wrote down the words that we're asking the Rebbe to take up the Gezeira and allow us to drink more L'Chaim tonight so we should be able to Farbreng better. One of the Bochrim that was sitting there took that piece of paper and walked out. A few minutes later he comes back and he says to the group of Bochrim who were sitting there that I came over to the Gardein HaTachten. I saw a person standing next to go into Yechidus. So I gave this settle to that person to give the Rebbe. So the other Bochrim started screaming at him, what?

01:19 Why did you do this? I mean, what do you think? That this is something serious that we meant to give to the Rebbe. And this is how you write a letter and through a fremder person. Everyone was very upset. So they ran, tried to see if they could take the settle back before he goes in. It was too late. He was in already. Everyone got very nervous. When that person went out, he was actually a Rov, not a Lubavitcher Rov, a Rov, that he was thinking of moving to California, I think, and he was asking the Rebbe whether he should move to California, something like that. So they asked him what happened. He said he gave the Rebbe the settle and he saw right away on the Rebbe's face that the Rebbe got very upset. But the Rebbe didn't say anything to him. So the Bochrim who were all there, that group of Bochrim got very nervous knowing what they did. They caused the Rebbe Agmas Nefesh. And this happened just by mistake. The next day, the group of Bochrim were summoned to Rashag's office. Rashag was the Yeshiv Rosh of Tomchei Temimim. So these Bochrim were summoned to Rashag's office. And Dan Holo was there. Reb Dovid was there. Rabbi Mantley was there. I don't know who else was there. And he showed them a settle of the Rebbe. The Rebbe wrote a settle to the Hanhole and clipped together with it the note that the Bochrim sent in. And the Rebbe said there,

02:34 I'm not saying the words, but the take home was, first of all, what are Bochrim doing farbrenging themselves with Adam Hashpia? Because this was what it was. They were farbrenging themselves. Late at night farbrenging with Adam Hashpia. Second thing the Rebbe asked to all these Bochrim, learn Chitas. In other words, are you careful in other things that now all of a sudden you want this? And another thing is, how do you do such a thing to give in a settle like this through a person who's not a Lubavitcher, a fremder Rov? How do you do that? And the Hanhole started being mefarret and mevayet, how this caused Agmas Nefesh to the Rebbe, how could you do such a thing, et cetera, et cetera. And you can imagine how these Bochrim felt who were part of this, even though it was, so to speak, without a kavana, but nevertheless, they were the ones that caused this to happen. So the Bochrim who wrote the settle actually wrote a letter to the Rebbe explaining what happened and asking mechila and asking the Rebbe for a tikkun. And the Rebbe answered him that he should speak it over with his Mashpia. And the Bochrim went to speak to his Mashpia, et cetera, et cetera. And Rebbe the Mashpia told him. The whole group of Bochrim collectively also wrote a settle to the Rebbe asking the Rebbe mechila. And as far as I remember, that that letter did not get an answer. In other words, and you could teach

04:01 it any way you want. Maybe the Rebbe disregarded that he doesn't even have to answer because he was moichel without a question. I don't know exactly what the reason was, but lapel didn't get answered. But that's something that taught a lesson that you have to be careful what you do. You can't just do things like this and make a joke and even write it down because you never know where it'll end up. And this is what, like this happened here, that this brought about Agmas Nefesh to the Rebbe. But I'm sure that the Rebbe was moichel all these Bochrim and it had no reishim later on or anything else that the Rebbe had a connection to these Bochrim.