Ep. 10: Shlichus in Chinuch with Rabbi Michoel Dahan

00:00 Speaker 1 We know the stories about getting a letter from the Rebbe for your child, for your baby, for your chasuna, and you wonder if it's the same, if the Rebbe knows who you are b'chlal. The, the Rebbe wrote this, say your name. Everybody gets the same letter. It could be that everybody got, uh, the same letter, but each one of those letters was addressed directly and specifically to you. To you to the point in which not only the Rebbe know your name, and he knows who you are in this letter, but the Rebbe knows your birthday, and he mentions it. And this is also a very, very important thing to realize that when we ask brachos from the Rebbe, you know, the Rebbe is, is, is, is the Nasi of the Klal Yisrael, and the Rebbe is your Rebbe, of you, the individual that you are.

00:47 Speaker 2 I'm Yossi Kamen. Welcome to Among Chasidim by Der Her, an ongoing farbrengen about life as a Chasid, our vibrant connection with the Rebbe, and inspired living shaped by the way he teaches us each and every day. Bruchim habaim, Rabbi Dahan. How are you?

01:07 Speaker 1 Baruch Hashem. Thank you for hosting.

01:10 Speaker 2 Of course. Of course. Thank you for making it happen. And, uh, I'm ready to begin. Let's, let's do this.

01:18 Speaker 1 Sure.

01:19 Speaker 2 So I was thinking, um, uh, one time I, uh, sat with you by a farbrengen many, many years ago. I was very young. I remember I was, like, inspired by what you were talking about. So may-maybe l- that, that's the last conversat-- that's the last meaningful conversation we had. We've been always saying hello to each other since then, but this is-- that's the last meaningful conversation I had with you. So let me start off with that take. Where, where, where that, where that left, left off. So I remember you were talking about, um, how you wanted... I think the Rebbe was naming for the Amud. Maybe it was your chashvat. I don't know. You'll, you'll, you'll tell me. And you wanted to come from merkhakim, from far away, only to hear how the Rebbe-- And you, you kept on repeating a certain t'nua of how the Rebbe daven kabbalah Shabbes. Davened Shabbes, the ein hakabbalah. So that's what I remember. So I don't remember where were you coming from? What were you doing? What, what, what were you talking about? I just remember that it had an impression on me. So may-maybe you could fill in the blank over there.

02:23 Speaker 1 Well, firstly, um, uh, I, it's impressive that, uh, you remember a farbrengen from so many years ago. You know, sometimes, uh, you know, you go, you sit down, you farbreng with the junge bachurim, alter bachurim, with Ingeleit. You don't, you don't necessarily know or if anybody's listening, if, uh, if anybody's gonna remember whatever it is that you say. And then to hear that, uh, this maybe twenty, close to twenty years later, you still remember what I said with the farbrengen is very impressive because I, I don't re-even remember everything I said. I know I said l'chaim. That much I remember. Uh-

02:59 Speaker 2 I, I'll, I'll tell you, for me, it was memorable for me because I was very young, maybe fourteen or fifteen. I think it was the first time in my life that I stayed up till... It was the 12th of Nisan. It was the first time i-in my life I stayed up till, I don't know, four in the morning farbrenging. So that, that was the first experience for me. So, uh-

03:17 Speaker 1 Wow

03:18 Speaker 2 ... I f-I felt, I felt, uh, mature. So maybe that's why I remember. But I also remember what you said had an impression.

03:25 Speaker 1 Yeah. Okay. Ganz gut. So, um, to, to start, I mean, you're starting really with a bang. Uh, this ma'ase actually happened Taf Shin and Dalet. Um, I wa-I was on shlichus in Brunois, which is actually where I'm from. And, uh, there's a lot of this very interesting interaction-

03:44 Speaker 2 You're from Brunois. From Brunois.

03:45 Speaker 1 I'm from Paris.

03:46 Speaker 2 From Paris. Okay.

03:47 Speaker 1 I'm from Paris. My, my father was in Brunois. My parents got married in Brunois, and then they moved to Paris. Um, but, uh, that's... Yeah. I, I learned in Brunois, and then actually I went on shlichus Taf Shin and Dalet. Uh-

04:00 Speaker 2 So sorry. Could you, could you, could you backtrack a little bit? Your parents are from where? They're living in Paris. You're going-- They went to Brunois. W-W-What-- How'd that happen? You could tell us b'kitzur if you want or, or ba'erech.

04:11 Speaker 1 Sure. Sure, sure. Uh, well, actually, my father, alav ha-shalom, was, uh, one of the first talmidim in the Yeshivat Machon Yeshurun in Ohel Yitzchak under, uh, Mechal Lipskier. Uh, how did he end up there is, is also an interesting story. He was actually, um, he was a yasom when he was very young. His father was a rav in a, in a village, and he passed away. My father was, uh, was very young. By the time my father was ten years old in, in Taf Shin Yud, a shliach came to the village, and, uh, he went to the shul. That's where the cheder was. And he said, uh, to the melamed, uh-

04:48 Speaker 2 Mechal Lipskier talking now

04:49 Speaker 1 ... uh, either it was Mechal Lipskier, I think may have been Zalman Teibel, um, you know, other shluchim that were then at the time. And, um, he sent-- He went to the cheder, and he said to the melamed, uh, "We're opening a yeshiva in Machon Yeshurun, and, uh, we need, we need talmidim." So the melamed said, "You know, this bachur, th-this little kid is a yasom. Go ask his mother." And, uh, so he went, and my grandmother was very happy to send him. Why was she so happy to send him is because after my grandfather passed away, uh, his younger brother was, was a banker, so was m- you know, more, uh, of a man of the world. So he came, and he told my grandmother, "I'd like to take, uh, your son in, in the big city in Casablanca. I'll send him to school. I'll make him a whole man. He'll be a businessman like I am." My grandmother says, "No. His father was a rav. He's gonna be a rav. He's gonna be in yeshiva."

05:49 Speaker 2 Mm-hmm.

05:50 Speaker 1 So she told him-- He told her, "What do rabbonim do a whole day? They sit with a book, and they smell, they smell tobacco." You know, so, so when the shliach came, it was soon after this ma'ase- She was very, very happy to send my father away. So he was only 10 years old, and he went to in the yeshiva in Meknes. When he was 14 years old, um, he's, uh, 14 going to 15, his, uh, group was up to continue, and continuation was in Boulaaj. So he was from the first talmidim in the yeshiva in Meknes, and he was from the first kvutze that went from Meknes to Boulaaj. Um, my mother was interestingly enough from the same village in Morocco, but, uh, she came to France. She first went to Besrifka in, in Morocco, and then from there, she was 12 years old also, she went to France to Besrifka. Also same thing, a group of girls were going and, uh, she was there. Then eventually, uh, they got married. It's actually a very interesting story. So it's, you know, if we have time I could tell you, uh, the-

07:04 Speaker 2 Uh, time is not, time is not a problem, so-

07:06 Speaker 1 Okay. A very interesting story about the, about the, the shidduch. I actually printed those letters in a Torah I made for one of my kids', one of my son's chasuna. Um, there is, uh... I, I see a letter, um, about, uh, about the shidduch, a letter written to my father in which the Rebbe says, um, um, being, uh, about the, the, about the proposition for the shidduch with, uh, a girl from Besrifka, uh, being that being that it seems to be a right choice based on the discussion you had with all the people you spoke to, so then, yeah the shidduch should be in a, in a good auspicious time. Um, much later, actually probably 40 years later, I saw a letter that the Rebbe wrote a day before to, uh, Zalman, uh, to Rabbi Berel Gurewitsch was the menahhel of Besrifka. And the Rebbe wrote to him a letter about making place, you know, productions and so on. And the last paragraph of the letter, the Rebbe says, and the shidduch proposal for the talmidah, my mother's name, um, being that the bachur in question is a, a talmid of Tomchei Temimim, so then it is, it is a, a right, a right thing to do and should be . This letter the Rebbe wrote to Berel Gurewitsch a day before the Rebbe wrote to my father being that it seems to be a right thing based on the people I spoke-- you spoke to, then you should go ahead with it. But the

09:16 Speaker 1 it seems from the other letter the Rebbe wrote a, a day before is that being that this is a good idea based on whoever I spoke to, you should go ahead with it. And it-

09:27 Speaker 2 Mm.

09:27 Speaker 1 It's very interesting, 'cause what, what I'm taking from this is that the Rebbe then was very involved, the Rebbe was very involved with, uh, with every talmid, with every talmidah. And, uh, but at the same time, he gave them the impression that the ball is in their court. You know, you have to do something. You have to do your job. You have to do your... they call due process, whatever. And I think that this is very much in line with whatever the Rebbe has always told us, you know. I'm here to help, but the avoda is yours.

10:05 Speaker 2 Yeah.

10:05 Speaker 1 So I think that this, uh, putting together this, uh, story was a very beautiful thing.

10:09 Speaker 2 Very interesting. Did your parents... Were, did your parents ever see the Rebbe themselves?

10:15 Speaker 1 Uh, it's a good... It's, it's a good question. Yes. My parents, uh, have seen the Rebbe-

10:19 Speaker 2 Before then, obviously.

10:20 Speaker 1 Before then? Never.

10:21 Speaker 2 Yeah. Uh, before then, never. No. Yeah.

10:23 Speaker 1 Never, never. The-- Going to, going to the Rebbe from France was probably a few months' salary at the time, and my, my father was a bachur in yeshiva. Uh, he did have a father, and he was completely under the care of the yeshiva, so going to the Rebbe wasn't, uh, an option financially.

10:41 Speaker 2 That's, that's also a whole 'nother thing how these people are asking the Rebbe for if they should do a shidduch, and, uh, their whole relationship with the Rebbe was through, through mektvim and through letters. Like, it's interesting.

10:54 Speaker 1 Uh, yeah. I'll take you, I'll take you... I'll up you one on this one.

10:58 Speaker 2 Mm-hmm.

10:59 Speaker 1 Tachli Yutres, one of my father's, uh, closest teachers, uh, Lebke Levin. Leb Levin was a navel of his, uh, his . Uh, he, he was not only a teacher to my father, he was very, very close. So he was going to the Rebbe and my father told him, "You're going to the Rebbe, mention my name in yechidas. When you're by the Rebbe, mention my name." So the Re-- so okay, Leb was in yechidas. At the end of the yechidas, the Rebbe asked him, "Do we need to talk about something else?" So he said, "Yeah, yeah, my talmid, Shimon Dehan, is asking for a bachur." So the Rebbe says, "Shimon ben..." He couldn't remember. He wasn't one of those common name, like, uh, Breider, Mischka Beyle, you know. It's like the name was Iza. So the Rebbe lets him sweat, and Lebel is thinking, and the Rebbe says, "Shimon ben..." He has no answer. The Rebbe smiles and says, "Shimon ben Iza." It seems to me, I think that it is Shimon ben Iza.

12:03 Speaker 2 Wow.

12:03 Speaker 1 Of course, Lebel says, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's, that's the name." He runs out the vichidis, he writes the name on a paper because he won't remember it again. And when he comes back to Bruno, the first thing he runs to my father, he said, "What's your mother's name?" So when he says my- his mother's name, he says, "Ah, Ade Rebbe knew the name."

12:19 Speaker 2 Wow.

12:20 Speaker 1 Now, you know, I-- it's interesting, I explained this, th-this... By the way, this story is multi-layered.

12:28 Speaker 2 Mm-hmm.

12:28 Speaker 1 The first thing, to go back to what I was saying before, the Rebbe knew the name.

12:32 Speaker 2 Right.

12:33 Speaker 1 Why are you, why are you, why are you making the guy sweat? Um, is-- Well, it has to come from you. I-I'm not gonna do everything for you. You know, I'm here, I'm helping you, but as- you have to do something. You have to do an effort. And I think this is recurrent in the Rebbe Sichas. And because, by the way, I witnessed this once myself. I think it was in Tofshin. Uh, it was in Mem Hei. I think it was Tofshin Mem Hei. Uh, Michol Lipsker, that we mentioned before, was actually, uh, very sick. I think it was Mem Hei, maybe early Mem Vav, I don't remember. But, uh, and by Kriya upstairs-

13:12 Speaker 2 He was living in Crown Heights then.

13:14 Speaker 1 He was living in Crown Heights. He was actually in charge of fourteen fourteen. Um, so, uh, s-so it helped that he remembered my father. I got an extra-

13:27 Speaker 2 Yeah.

13:27 Speaker 1 You know, I, I was able to ask him if I wanted the Pulke or the- ... the other side. He would, he would, he would help. Anyways, but at one point, he was very sick, and by Kriya, upstairs on a Monday or Thursday, in the zal, the Rebbe used to get Tlishi, and right after the Rebbe's Aliyah, David Raskin would make the Misheberach for the Choilim. So after he finished, um, the Rebbe turns to David Raskin and tells him, "For Michol Lipsker. Make a Misheberach for Michol Lipsker." So he said, "Misheberach

18:14 Speaker 2 Um, okay. So this is another, uh, a-a-another deeper level of the, the, the Rebbe's Avos Yisroel, the Nasit Avos Yis-- whatever, the connection of, of Nasit individuals. Very interesting.

18:26 Speaker 1 Yeah.

18:27 Speaker 2 So, so let's go back to, to, to, to you. You were, you were going... You went-- So you, you learned in Brunois and then you were later on Shlichus in Brunois.

18:36 Speaker 1 I actually, I, I did learn in Brunois for a very long time. Um, the Nissan was very intent that I should go to, to Brunois Shlichus. He spoke to my father, he told my father different things why I should go there, and I, I very much didn't want it. I wanted to... Finally, I got to New York, I wanted to stay there.

18:58 Speaker 2 You were, you were in Ale Teira?

19:00 Speaker 1 Uh, Chave Teira in those time was, uh, for the younger Bochurim. It's not like today. Chave Teira in those days was where the went and Bochurim that were not yet twenty, twenty-one, that's where they went.

19:12 Speaker 2 Mm-hmm.

19:13 Speaker 1 Of course, you had the choice to go, if you're American, go to Morristown Chave Teira, but, uh, so I went Chave Teira first. Uh, but, uh, it didn't... Not for long because then I got called in by the Draskin that the Nissan put me on the list and, uh, the name went to the Rebbe and, uh, I gotta go to Brunois. A . I mean, uh, yeah. Interesting stuff about my learning. I, I learned, um, in Cheder I was in Sinai, which is, uh, a Peretz school. It was in Paris. That's where we lived. We actually originally lived in the Platzl and the school was in the Platzl, and that's it. That's where I went. At one point, actually, in Top She Me Malef, my mother went in Yechidus and, uh, it was the last, it was Tisha Me Malef. It was the last day of Yechidus Klalis. I had Yechidus Klalis many times before. Uh, first I was when I went right after my Bar Mitzvah. But, uh, this time I wasn't-

20:13 Speaker 2 That was the first time you were by the Rebbe?

20:14 Speaker 1 I was by the... Yeah, first time I went to the Rebbe was, uh, a week, a week after my Bar Mitzvah. Um, yeah. So it was also, I came in Tisha. Bar Mitzvah is the end of Elul. My father couldn't come with me because he's, he was a Rav and that's when they work, right? In Tisha.

20:32 Speaker 2 Mm-hmm.

20:33 Speaker 1 So I went myself then, and I went Yechidus myself. Interesting Ma'ase also there. But this Yechidus Tisha Me Malef, my mother tells me, "Why, why don't you come with me? We could go together." My brother was also there. "We'll go together in Yechidus. People go in a family." I say to her, "You know what? I, I had Yechidus by myself. I'd like to have again by myself. You go, gezunteheit. You go, you have your Yechidus." Um, sometime I think maybe I should have gone, but whatever. That one of the reason why I should have gone maybe is because, uh, I was slated for Yechidus the next night and it was delayed and delayed, delayed and delayed until the only way we could go in Yechidus was that all the Bochurim of Brunois should go together. So we all went together. So it was my first Yechidus Klalis in the Rebbe's room, not in, not in the shul.

21:24 Speaker 2 So Yechidus, it stopped drastically like that? Like, there was no warning?

21:28 Speaker 1 Uh, that, I think it continues. This was Tisha Me Malef. I think that throughout the, the Cheydet of Me Malef, there were more Yechidus after that. But, uh, it became Yechidus Klalis and it was, it was just so happened because the Yechidus were delayed and people had a flight, and the only way you could go in Yechidus is if you come with a group. Tonight and then you go to your, to the airport or whatever, or tomorrow is your flight, so go, go tonight. And that, that was the only... And I guess, uh, you know, it was, it turned out to be a good idea, so it continued this way. But, uh, Rebbe many times said that Yechidus Klalis, um, we get the Berachahs that are meant for every single one who is there, which means that it includes Berachahs that you had no idea about asking because you weren't thinking about it. Another person thought about it, they got the Beracha and you got the Beracha.

22:21 Speaker 2 Yeah.

22:21 Speaker 1 So it ended up being so much better. A couple of Shurs in Yechidus and the Rebbe, and for some reason, she asked the Rebbe about my continuous, continuation of my, of my Chinuch. Uh, just putting in perspective, I'm the third in my family. My older brother was, uh, you know, didn't do Limudei Kodesh. He was in Brunois, you know, Shpitz Chabad. Very, very Bikach. He's a Shliach in the north of France today. My older sister, as a girl also stopped Limudei Kodesh by grade nine and in Bais Rivkah they had the option only Limudei Kodesh. She's on Shlichus today in Argentina. And I'm the third one, and for some reason, my mother asked the Rebbe if I should do Limudei Kodesh or if I should, uh, if I should go to Brunois. And the Rebbe decided to ask her a bunch of questions about me. What do I do in my free time? Do I frequent... They were spoke in French. Do I frequent the Yeshiva during my vacations? And, uh, how old I am, how many years do I have left? And then the Rebbe said, using a French slang for the diploma that he wanted me to get, he says I should first get... In France it would be equivalent to a, a high school diploma, but when you come with here, it's called, it's called a bachelor degree. Um, and after that, I should go to Yeshiva for a few years.

23:52 Speaker 2 So the Rebbe wanted you to finish what, what you started.

23:55 Speaker 1 Um, wanted to finish but all the way because you finish, I could have finished already by grade nine, and then this is a different, uh, you know, you go to high school and you have to do high school. But the Rebbe-- And my older siblings didn't, and s- most of my younger siblings also didn't. And I'm one of the only ones in my family who, who did it, and that's because the Rebbe said I should get a certain degree and after that I should go to Yeshiva. But I asked the Rebbe myself then, Pashtei Tzicha was very much devastated. I was lost with Amal, but you know, the Rebbe has his plan, the Rebbe knows. So I asked the Rebbe, why am I supposed to do this? And the Rebbe told me, "Kedima, priority, and you could-

24:33 Speaker 2 But what did you ask the Rebbe? What did you ask the Rebbe?

24:35 Speaker 1 Where, where am I gonna learn this Limudei Kodesh?

24:37 Speaker 2 Ah, ah, okay.

24:38 Speaker 1 You, you know.

24:39 Speaker 2 Mm-hmm.

24:40 Speaker 1 So the Rebbe said, "Kedima," and he named, uh, a Yeshiva, the, the most Litvishe Yeshiva that there is in France. Excellent scope. Um, I, I, I must say that when I got this answer, I was even more tzubachin than for the first one. But nonetheless, I felt that this is Shlichus. The Rebbe's sending me on Shlichus. You know, when you're a kid, you have the answer of all the worst problem. Thank God you don't have any problem, but you have the answer in case you have problem.

25:12 Speaker 2 Right.

25:12 Speaker 1 So I figured the Rebbe send me on Shlichus, you mean on Shlichus. So whatever. I was in Chabad with the people. What, echo Chabad. It doesn't matter. The safe maase is that, uh, whatever shlichus that I did, that I'm doing now in Montreal, which, uh, you know, I, I run the seminary, I ran the seminary, which is, uh, an official college. Uh, so the students who come to us, they get partially the college degree with credits that are transferable to other universities and so on. And to be in such a position, uh, you had to show that you have something. You have to show that you have some kind of, uh, degree. And, uh, in Quebec, if you have a degree from France, you become a yuchas.

25:58 Speaker 2 Mm-hmm.

25:58 Speaker 1 So that is the whole, uh, the whole way, the whole, the whole way that I got where I got was, was with this, uh, was with these studies that the Rebbe told me to do. Uh-

26:09 Speaker 2 So the fact, the fact that you're the only one in your family that had that herah from the Rebbe, you can see like how your shlichus... You had, you had a unique shlichus that, that needed that, uh, to be able to do this.

26:23 Speaker 1 Yes. Yes, and I tried. I tried other things, by the way. I was a shliach in Staten Island for three years. Um, after, after Kollel, I went to Staten Island on shlichus. I was working for Rabbi Katzman 'cause I speak Hebrew like an Israeli because I learned in 770. So my friends are Israelis. So, uh, I ended up, uh, working with the Israelis over there. I was a rabbi in a shul. I don't know. Nothing worked until I re- I s- I got to Montreal,

26:53 Speaker 2 Mm-hmm.

26:54 Speaker 1 Which by the way, um, is connected to another maase. A very interesting story, uh, about a... I don't have it on screen. I will show you the letter. In Tishrei, Mem Gimmel. In the summer, Mem Gimmel, I was head counselor in a day camp and I wrote the Rebbe, I wrote the doch. And I received, uh, a letter from the Rebbe. Letter is dated and is a, you know, kind of a like a letter that the Rebbe sends many people who wrote a bracha for the new year. So the Rebbe is giving a bracha for the new year, and, uh, my letter was not about the new year, it was the end of camp. I sent a doch. I sent a, a, a pan that I made the children write, sent pictures. I received this letter at the end of Cheshvan, Taf Shin Mem Daled. So it's about two months after it was written. I got the letter, I was in Benoit. And the Rebbe writes, So for a bocher to get oysek vetzorke tzibur, especially when he's still in yeshiva, is something very strange. I mean, not strange, very rare. Not many-

28:06 Speaker 2 Unusual.

28:07 Speaker 1 Unusual. Thank you. And, and I... So already there. Then the Rebbe says, the Rebbe writes, um, and the pan that was, uh, included in the doch and his kabbalah were received, and they will be read at Bet Rotsen, they will be read at the Zion. And then because Shana Chadasha, the whole bracha for the new year. At the end of the letter, "Bibrocha" is typed, and before the signature, the Rebbe writes with a pen, with sagat kodesh, "Bibrocha lehatzlacha bechinuch yalmei bnei Yisroel shitah al tara sakdesh." So the lashons is also unusual. Yalmei Yisroel, what do you mean yalmei bnei Yisroel?

28:50 Speaker 2 It's a bracha, uh, um,

28:53 Speaker 1 Uh, yes. A, a bracha of success in education of Jewish children, al tara sakdesh, a proper Jewish education, pure education, and then the Rebbe signed. Here, this is, I would say, the third letter that I... The third, uh, answer that I got from the Rebbe that put me in a shock. I was, then I was 18 years old, maybe 19 years old, and I thought that shlichus means going to a city, you take over the, the world, you turn around the city, you make a base Chabad and you open school and this and the other. That's shlichus. This is before Kol Chabad was printed, you know. And, uh, that, that's the way, that's the way I understood shlichus. And this was my dream. This is what I wanted to do. And I saw in this letter as if the Rebbe is directing me towards chinuch. Gave me a bracha. So of course, I went to the mashpia. I went to Reb Nissan with the letter and I said, "Nissan, is the Rebbe telling me that I should work on, on chinuch, in chinuch?" He said, "Nissan, look at the letter." And he says, "Hadoch, well, what doch did you write?" I said, "A doch about camp." He said, "Oh, you wrote to the Rebbe about chinuch, so the Rebbe give you a bracha on chinuch." I said, "Nissan, I like your answer, but, uh, the Rabbi Milubavitch, you know. This is- ... an Lubavitch Rebbe talking here. It's not just you wrote, he wrote, right?

30:22 Speaker 1 So what, what..." So he said, "Don't worry." So I was happy thinking that maybe my shlichus is not going to be in chinuch. And as I said, I tried all kind of different things. When I was a bachur, I went on shlichus in, uh, you know, very interesting places, mechutshim, because, you know, being a Frenchie in '770, by the way, we're not that many, as many as today. Those years maybe were a dozen Frenchies.

30:48 Speaker 2 There were, there were French guests participating, not, not learning full time.

30:51 Speaker 1 Oh, thousands of course. But '770, a whole year in '770, maybe a dozen. And we don't get much privileges, but one privilege we got- Is that my English-speaking friends went on Shlichus And I tell people who think that, uh, Shlichus and Chinuch is a cop-out. You wanna, you wanna be a Shliach, at the same time you wanna have fresh, uh, ba- baked goods and your kids in a Cheder. It's not a cop-out, it's a talent. If you have the talent, the Rebbe chose you to go on that Shlichus. If your talent is to talk to people, to student university, that is a Shlichus. And, you know, there is a lotion in the letter that Rebbe sent before Yitzchak Shevi Dalef. It says, "You know, there is different Kishreinu. See, if you are, if you are fit to speak as a rabbi in a shul, that's your job, that's your Shlichus. If you are fit, if you are talented to be able to have an influence on the youngsters, that is your Shlichus. So basically, Shlichus is not necessarily what you want, it is what the Rebbe wants you to do.

32:48 Speaker 2 Well, what, what's the lotion?

32:57 Speaker 1 Huh?

32:57 Speaker 2 A Shliach by definition is doing the will and the Ratzon of the Meshchaliach. That, it's not about your career, it's about, it's about fulfilling the Shlichus that was given to you. So-

33:07 Speaker 1 Yeah

33:07 Speaker 2 ... you know, maybe Dafke, if you, if you're doing the Shlichus that you didn't think you're going to be doing, you're, you're, y- you're, you're doing it more for the right reason, for, for, for, for the, for the Meshchaliach. So, yeah.

33:20 Speaker 1 Yeah. So this is, uh, th- this is the Ma'ase.

33:25 Speaker 2 Yeah.

33:25 Speaker 1 Uh, by the way, I was once, uh, Yesh Atid came to Montreal. Yesh Atid from Italy. Now, Shalom, he came to Montreal, uh, for a Chassunum. And when I was a Bachar, I used to love his Farbrengens. Uh, I got over there a lot. So when he was in Montreal, I was happy to drive him here and there, you know? So he asked me, "Noam, what are you doing here?" So I told him, and I told him the story with the letter. I told him 10 years later I understood what the Rebbe wrote in the letter. So he tells me, "You're lucky. I have letters 40 years I still don't understand." "What, uh, uh, what did the Rebbe ask for me?" So-

34:00 Speaker 2 Among Chassidim is brought to you by Chassidish Der Her. We live in a chaotic world, a world where for us Chassidim is a Seinu Le Raiinu. We do not have the ability to hear and see the Rebbe on a daily basis. Yet we know that the Rebbe is very much with us, and Chassidish Chabad is alive and thriving more than ever before. One needs to only tap into it. Chassidish Der Her provides you and your family with the tools necessary to tap into all of this, whether it's the monthly magazine, the way it all began, whether it's Der Her books, Der Her online content, and so much more. Men, women, and children throughout the world benefit and use these tools on a daily basis, whether it's children enjoying the children's magazine that comes along with the regular Der Her or enjoying the children's podcast, whether it's Bacharim in Yeshivas receiving the Der Her, whether it's girls in high schools enjoying Der Her Club in their local high school. People all over the world and from all walks of life enjoy and utilize these tools and take advantage of it. If you're not already subscribed to Der Her monthly magazine, do so today at derher.org. That's D-E-R-H-E-R.org. Der Her is a dynamic organization which is committed to continue providing these tools, grow on a constant basis, and do all that we can to help this effort. Baruch Hashem, it takes a lot of resources and finances to make this all happen. You can be part of

35:53 Speaker 2 Der Her through your financial support as well through visiting our website, derher.org, or through contacting us to setting up a meeting. Thank you very much. Enjoy the rest of the podcast. Okay, so back to, uh... So let, let's move backwards to where we started.

36:08 Speaker 1 Yes.

36:09 Speaker 2 Um, about, uh, going to the Rebbe and your Shlichas for the, for, for-

36:12 Speaker 1 Yes

36:12 Speaker 2 ... Yitzchak. What, what, what, what was that about?

36:14 Speaker 1 Okay. So Yitzchak was a Shabbos.

36:16 Speaker 2 Mm-hmm.

36:17 Speaker 1 Yitzchak was a Shabbos. And I very, very much wanted to go to, uh, to hear the Rebbe Davin by the Amit. I'll be honest, I, I-- the Farbrengen of Yitzchak, probably I could read the Hanochen. You know, we got the, we got the, the printed, uh, the printed, um, uh, edition of the Farbrengen. Then it took us a week, but Farbrengen, I missed it on Shabbos.

36:44 Speaker 2 Well, you-

36:44 Speaker 1 I could probably catch up

36:44 Speaker 2 ... were sent on Shlichas from where? From, from Cheder V'cheder?

36:47 Speaker 1 So, yeah. So what happened is, yeah. So when I, I, uh, finished, being that the Rebbe had given me a very short amount of time to go to Yeshiva, you know, originally-

36:58 Speaker 2 Right

36:58 Speaker 1 ... after, after my-

36:59 Speaker 2 You were only in Bnoa for, for what? For a year?

37:01 Speaker 1 Yes. I was, I was in Bnoa. I was in Bnoa for summers and for stuff like that, and then I told my father, "I'm not going to Bnoa." And my father told me Why, why you want to go to New York? So I told him, "Because in New York I'm gonna become a Lambdin." So, so what am I gonna tell him? But I thought, father's a smart man. He says, "I went to Brunoire my whole life. It, it, it turned out okay." You know. So anyways, but boy, yeah, I went, and I ended up in Chabad Teireth. And then after that-

37:35 Speaker 2 You asked Rebbi before?

37:37 Speaker 1 No. The Rebbe told me I could go to yeshiva after I'm done. That's it. I'm going to yeshiva.

37:42 Speaker 2 Okay.

37:43 Speaker 1 And but then, um, I get that the Roskin calls me up. He says, he calls me over to his office, and he says that I'm on the list that the Reb Nissan sent, and he wants me to be one of the . Basically, what happened is that, uh, there were a group, m- m- m- four French Bachim and two not French. Uh, two Israelis, that's Moishes Sonkin from Metula and Eli K from Tzfat. And the other three were French Bachim. The four French Bachim Reb Nissan put the name. The other three came from Brunoire. That's what they were. Um, and me, I was whatever. He knew who I was. He put the name. And Taki, Reb Nissan, uh, the Reb Nissan, "Well, what does Reb Nissan has with you that he insists you should go there?" He says, "It's not me. He likes my father a lot."

38:37 Speaker 2 Mm-hmm.

38:37 Speaker 1 "It's not me. Call father." The answer came from the Rebbe that we should go, and, uh, and, uh, we went.

38:46 Speaker 2 So, so you didn't spend any time... You were there for a year in New York?

38:50 Speaker 1 No.

38:50 Speaker 2 You didn't spend any time there, huh?

38:51 Speaker 1 I was, I was there a few... I was there

38:53 Speaker 2 Yeah.

38:54 Speaker 1 It's about three months. Yeah.

38:55 Speaker 2 Three months.

38:55 Speaker 1 And that was also... Yeah. That was very strange that, you know, to go on Shlichus, not even... You go on Shlichus, the Rebbe sends you from here, from Cincinnati.

39:05 Speaker 2 Right.

39:05 Speaker 1 So I guess it was enough time for me to be there. I don't know. Reb Nissan told my father that the whole reason why the Rebbe told me to go and do Limudei Chol is so I should come on Shlichus in Brunoire and over there I'll have a Shpaer on the Bachim who just came out of high school. Many Bachim over there were from, from school. You know, new, new Baalei Teshuvas and so on. He says, "That's why the Rebbe told you to do Limudei Chol." I don't know who told him. It could be. But okay, that was Monach Bahim wasn't convincing enough for me. But nonetheless, once the Rebbe said we go, we go. Went on Shlichus. So yes, I was there only... Then I was, as I say, on Shlichus. Um, Mevdalet comes, Yichvat. I wanted to hear the Rebbe daven. But they all made on Shabbos. So I told Nissan, I say-

39:54 Speaker 2 If you already had this, uh, Chassidishe Derher, no pun intended-

39:59 Speaker 1 Yes

39:59 Speaker 2 ... you already had such, such a Derher-

40:02 Speaker 1 Yes

40:02 Speaker 2 ... so this is something that you picked up from the Avira, from being by the Rebbe for those few months. Like, where did you get that conviction that you need to hear the Rebbe daven Kabbalat Shabbos?

40:12 Speaker 1 So the first thing is that, uh, you know, I've been to the Rebbe... I came to the Rebbe every single year since my bar mitzvah, uh, for Tisha. And in Top Shimam Gimel, I wanted to prepare my, my... You know, I wanted to get a room and a locker in Cincinnati and so on, so I also came for Shabus. Um, so like, then I went back to finish my, to take my exams, and then I came back to New York. I went to Brunoire and then came back to New York. So being by the Rebbe for so many years, even if it's only for Tisha, makes it that you don't... You're, you're not just by the Rebbe for Tisha. You go to the Rebbe for Tisha, and that's it. You're, you're, you belong to the Rebbe. That's it. So when you come back, you hang out with the Hasidim. I hang out in Brunoire. My brother was in Brunoire then. I was a kid. I'm a tes, I'm a tes, man. I'm out. I, I was in Brunoire every, every other Shabbos. Uh, every time I had vacation from school, whether it is in the summer, in the winter, that's where I went. And, uh, and Fabreges in Paris also. So Fabreges, and there were some young elite I became very friendly with when I was already an older bachur. So very Hasidish young elite that, that live in Paris, that live in Paris. And, and you get this Lachuchis, you get it. You get

41:33 Speaker 1 it. It, it comes to you, you know. Uh, it comes to you. And my brother was also definitely a huge, huge Ishpa when it came to that. Um, you know, uh, listen, the, the, the, uh, the Chassidish guy, the darkhei Chassidus that I got from home, you know, was, was my father singing Nigunim and, uh, and telling us stories of the Rebbeim and making sure we write a, a pan to the Rebbe before Yichvat. You know, this was pretty much the extent, uh, you know. So we had all the Sfarim, whatever, you know. But, uh, this, the, the Koch of Rebbe, um, is something that I got, you know, more from, I would say my older brother, but also the Sviva being in, being around Hasidim, being in-

42:25 Speaker 2 Mm-hmm

42:25 Speaker 1 ... for sure that, like I said, my, my father got many letters from the Rebbe, and he wouldn't do anything without asking the Rebbe and so on. But still, that thing, I need to be by the Rebbe for Yichvat, this, I don't know, this came from, from da home.

42:39 Speaker 2 Right.

42:39 Speaker 1 I had heard the Rebbe daven Badiyamit before in, in, uh, previous years when I was by the Rebbe. Um, you know, Vaftische. I don't remember if Vaftische once for Sha- Vaftische had fallen on Shabbos. Um, but I just wanted to hear the Rebbe, how the Rebbe davens on Shabbos. During the week, I heard it, I was there. But on Shabbos, I wanted to hear. So I went to Reb Nissan, and I asked Rashus. Reb Nissan say, "We don't travel in middle of this month. You're in middle of a semester, you don't travel." So I said, "It's not true. There was a goyel and the rodef goyel is going." That means that there is a, there is a possibility of getting reshus. So they say, "Yeah, the rodef goyel is going on everybody's behalf, and that wasn't you, so you're not going." So I said, "Listen, it's Shabbos. I'm not gonna miss Motza'ei Shabbos. Friday... You know what? I'll travel Friday morning. And if you want, it's a winter Shabbos, I'll come back Motza'ei Shabbos. I'll be back. I'll miss the Friday Seder and the Chassidis Sunday morning, and maybe the Seder Motza'ei Shabbos." So he saw I was very intent on going, and he told me, "And what happens if you get to, to 770, and the Rebbe walks into shul and he looks at you and he tells you, 'I sent you there. What are you doing here?'" So when he told me those words, I, I know that, uh, you know, the pen

44:14 Speaker 1 and paper were ready for him to write to the Rebbe, "This bachur went without reshus." So, so, you know.

44:22 Speaker 2 Mm-hmm.

44:23 Speaker 1 So that's it.

44:23 Speaker 2 He's gonna re-

44:24 Speaker 1 Yeah. He's gonna-

44:25 Speaker 2 He's gonna report you.

44:27 Speaker 1 Definitely, 'cause that's the way the hanhalla was working. I don't know if it still happens this way, but that's the way the hanhalla was going all the years. The Rebbe wanted to know a report. So I, I said this is, you know, "En lo cham meila b'shlichus de'lo mizu." You know that, uh, being sent on shlichus and you're going and doing your own thing. So I decided to stay. But of course, being that after that I spent from the summer of Mem Dalet until Taf Shin Nun Dalet. Actually, I went on shlichus to Satmar Taf Shin Nun Beis. Um, Erech Sheshones Taf Shin Nun Gimel. So until then, lo yamu sh'btoch ha'ayel. I was, I was in 770 day and night the whole time. So I got many, many, uh, tefillahs where the Rebbe is davening Shabbos, Chol, so on.

45:22 Speaker 2 S- Maybe, maybe talk, talk to me about, uh, your years in 770. I wanna... That's the-- It s- that sounds like it's Bachur's years is the, uh, smetana, and then, uh, your years by the Rebbe. So what was going on? What, what was your, what was your experiences then, uh, when you were learning in 770?

45:44 Speaker 1 You know what? If you ask anybody in my generation what, what were the best years in Lubavitch, they'll tell you the mems. You know, if you ask somebody, uh, you know, generation before me, they'll tell you the lameds. Some will say, "What? Us?" Depends, all the yar. And, and the, the answer is very simple. The years you spent by the Rebbe was the best year in Lubavitch. That's it. 'Cause after all, what is Lubavitch? It's you being by the Rebbe, that's it. What do you know anything else? So, uh, definitely the mems, the years we were in, in, in 770 were very, very significant, and packed. Went through the whole, the whole Didan Atzah, the whole Mishpat first, all anguish that went through it. Um, the whole simcha of Didan Atzah itself on the day of Petiras. And, uh, Hanachas of the Sefer HaPinat 770. The different inyonim, uh, that, that took place also, like, you know, of Beshalach was something definitely very historic. Eh, actually Nun, Nun Alef, the Rebbe staying with the Zeide in Kapah the whole week. You know, those were-- We, we were living times that were very, very clearly unusual, and something very significant is happening. Um, I, I, I, I can't really pinpoint on the, on, on... I don't know, what should I say about my time in 770? I don't know. I could tell you that first of all, first of all, when you're in 770, the clock is not, is not the, your watch. The clock is

47:30 Speaker 1 what's happening by the Rebbe. Um, you know, you meet somebody, say, "I'll, I'll see you after Mincha." You know? "I, I'll give it to you now. Give it, give it back to me after Maariv." You know, like our shfar, it was all about a-a-after the Rebbe-- after Kriyah, when the Rebbe came to Kriyah, you meet people, your whole timeframe, you know that this is the time lo yimalet you are going to be in 770 with the Rebbe. So our clock somehow was the whole, the whole time was around the time we're gonna be with, with the Rebbe, you know? That's, that was one, uh, you know, one thing I would say about the time in 770. You know, a very, very, um, a, a, a very special moment also was every day when in the winter, when the Rebbe came in from Maariv in middle of, in middle of the Seder. I, I learned upstairs in zal. And the zal upstairs, uh, was as packed as it is today, you know? Not that many, maybe 40 guys, 50 guys.

48:29 Speaker 2 Yeah. It is what it is. It's a limited capacity.

48:31 Speaker 1 That's, yeah. That's the space. And, uh, you know, we sit, we sit, uh, whole day without our hat and jacket. You know, we come in, you fold your jacket, you put your hat, you hang your hat, and then you open a Gemara or whatever, yeshiva there, whatever it is that you're learning. Then mitamauk from this man, in the winter in the mems, the Rebbe came to daven Maariv at this man. Um, very, very often they went home early. Um, so in the middle you're sitting there and then you see the door of the entachten opens. So right away, you know, put on your hat and jacket, stand up, and the Rebbe comes in. He's right in front, davening about, uh, I don't know, five feet from you, six feet from you, you know? And, uh, this in itself was very, very special. I could re-- I could tell you one thing, talking about the derech er, is that many of the bachurim, when it came time that Rebbe would walk in, they would, they would run out and daven the hallway. The door to the hallway next to the Amit, next to the Chazan was always open. So we daven the Rebbe's minyan, but if you felt for whatever reason, you know, you didn't really put in all your effort in learning, uh, and so on, or you didn't whatever, you didn't feel fit to be in the Rebbe's dayeh damis, so to speak. So many, many guys would go and stay and daven in

49:59 Speaker 1 the hallway instead. Um, you know, because the intensity of being in the Rebbe's dayeh damis, Rebbe's walking, he's right in front of you davening. Downstairs you could, you know, wanna be mizrach, could be maariv, you know what I mean? But upstairs was a very different, uh, very different hergash.

50:15 Speaker 2 You could like feel the, the Rebbe's presence.

50:18 Speaker 1 Yeah. Yeah. And they would look, they would look at people, look around. A lot of us. Yeah. For sure that, um, you know, the, the three weeks of the Mishpat where we had to take turn, we couldn't go. We didn't have the shoes to go every day to the court. Number one, because you're not gonna pack the whole, the whole room, and number two, because we have learning, you know, you have to learn. Uh, of course, some of my very good friends were there every day.

50:49 Speaker 2 But somehow-

50:50 Speaker 1 Somehow, yeah, yeah, of course. This, you know, when somebody wants to stop the Rebbe, Sure. You find a way if you-

50:59 Speaker 2 They gave themselves jobs, I guess.

51:01 Speaker 1 Yeah, yeah. Well, but, uh, you know, the few times that, the few times that I went, uh, that I got to go, uh, it was also felt, you know, seeing, for example, Mentlick sitting there in the front with other members of Chabad, not necessarily understanding what's, understanding what's happening, but saying Tehillim. You see them, you see them sitting over there seriously saying Tehillim the whole time. Uh, you see that, uh, you know, they're taking it, they're taking it very, this is, this is the Rebbe's, the Mishpat is involving the Rebbe, and they take it very seriously, and they're working on it very, you know, studying, they're saying Tehillim. Many of us were there because we wanted to be curious, you know?

51:47 Speaker 2 Right. A lot is said about that during that whole period of the, of the, from when this, from when the Rebbe first spoke about the Svarim and then the court case, the Mishpat, there was like a certain feeling in Lubavitch, and I could imagine by the Bachrim in particular, and then on Heites when the good news came that the Natzar that like burst that relief. So may- maybe you could describe a little bit what, what was that feel? What were the Bachrim? The Bachrim are the heartbeat at the end of the day, right? So what, what, what were the Bachrim feeling like then?

52:22 Speaker 1 Yeah.

52:22 Speaker 2 What was going on during that time?

52:24 Speaker 1 First of... Yeah. First of all, hearing, hearing that, hearing in the Rebbe's talk about the situation.

52:32 Speaker 2 You were there, Rebbe's time was, uh, Memhei?

52:34 Speaker 1 No, I was, no, I was in camp. I was in camp, but right after Shabbos, I got a phone call. I was in camp in France. Got a phone call, uh, right after Shabbos from my friend, uh, which is something he told me regarding what has happened. It's funny 'cause I was in-- I left, I left right after Chof Gesivan. Um, so when I left, um, all we knew that there was a, there was a Yechidus of... I, I didn't know it was called a Gidus Chabad on that day. So Shiva Tu Be'ai. Seven elder sitting. That, that, that's, that's the way on that day that I would heard it.

53:15 Speaker 2 So the first inkling that, that, that anyone knew that something was, was happening was the fact that the Rebbe called the people, the, these Chassidim and Yechidus.

53:25 Speaker 1 For, for, for the layman, for people like me, yes. There, there were those people who were more involved, for example, uh, Chaim Boch, uh, Willem, those people who were involved with setting up the cameras and everything else. So for sure, they, they knew a lot more, of course. I don't think they spoke. I don't think they spoke. As a matter of fact, even the Bachrim who were the most, you know, the Yechida double, those who knew all the secrets and had the intel on every situation, nobody was talking. Nobody was talking. We knew something was happening, and, uh, then I left. Well, I had to do, to go to camp, so I left after this event. We know something's gonna happen. We're gonna hear about it on the Rebbe's Tamus. And then I asked, you know, "Call me when, you know, what was this all about?" When we heard this, um-

54:12 Speaker 2 So then you, you knew that the Rebbe was gonna speak about it Rebbe's Tamus.

54:15 Speaker 1 This, this, this was said, yeah. This was said.

54:17 Speaker 2 'Cause, you know, 'cause the Rebbe said in the Yechidus that if nothing happens, I'm going to speak about it Rebbe's Tamus. Maybe that-

54:22 Speaker 1 Yeah

54:22 Speaker 2 ... part, uh, leaked.

54:24 Speaker 1 S-so that, that part leaked, but not nobody knew what it was about. None, I mean, as, as far, at least Amashiv Kerikeno, nobody knew what it was about. When this broke, and then when we heard about, uh, what the Rebbe said, and when, when you heard the Sichas, the way the Rebbe spoke, um, it was partial pain. It was very painful. And of course, even then we realized that, uh, what the Rebbe told, uh, someone, we made the bank on. You know, it was the whole year on the seas. Um, everything was... It's true. Besides for the time of the Mishpat, the time waiting after the Mishpat, it, it was, it, it was, uh, very, very tense. It was very tense. When, uh, the news came, the Natzar came, it was actually like you say, well, the first time was, uh, you know, Kislev. Before the Mishpat already, it was already a great, uh, great Simcha. Uh, I'll, I'll tell you about it, you know, Kislev the, the second, you know? You know, Kislev Toshem Mem zain.

55:31 Speaker 2 Sec- you're saying a year after.

55:32 Speaker 1 The year after, yeah.

55:33 Speaker 2 So Yud Gimmel Kislev Mem vav was when they came out that the Rebbe does not need to testify, so you're talking about the next year.

55:39 Speaker 1 The next year, yeah. So already on that day, uh, by Mincha, a- before Mincha, after Mincha, we're seeing Yud Gimmel Natzar. This is really the first time we're seeing Yud Gimmel Natzar, uh, in that nigun, the way Yud Gimmel Natzar was-

55:51 Speaker 2 'Cause-

55:51 Speaker 1 ... Yud Gimmel Ki- Yud Gimmel Kislev Mem vav-

55:53 Speaker 2 This is right-

55:54 Speaker 1 ... after Mincha.

55:54 Speaker 2 Mem vav or Mem zain?

55:56 Speaker 1 Mem vav. This was Mem vav. Mem vav after we-

55:59 Speaker 2 Original.

55:59 Speaker 1 The original, yeah.

56:00 Speaker 2 Yeah.

56:00 Speaker 1 After we heard that the Rebbe doesn't have to go to court, this nigun came up, Yud Gimmel Natzar Uh, and, uh, that night was a farbrengen in, in, in seventy upstairs in, in, in the south. Um, the farbrengen was planned. It was a 10th Kislev farbrengen organized by Meir Arlik, uh, before it turned to be downstairs, but then in Memva it was upstairs, and it was like a farbrengen, like Meir knew what to do. And, uh, the speakers, whatever, but on the side, on the side of the bimah, on the side of the, the chazan or the amud, there's one table over there right near that door to the hallway.

56:42 Speaker 2 Mm-hmm.

56:43 Speaker 1 And, uh, Yudl Kinsky and Rabbi Shemtov came to sit down, um, late, late at night. And then, you know, Chevre went right away to sit around and they, they said a few things about what was, what was going on then. They revealed a few, a few-- They revealed a few things that they were told or whatever. But I remember one Siyum, it's very interesting. Um, Rabbi Shemtov was, uh, had, had said L'Chaim, and he screams to the other side of the room to Meir, Meir Arlik, and he says, " You know, why are you still sober? You're sitting at the head table like, uh, you know, father of the bride, you know, 'cause he's celebrating the Rebbe's-

57:37 Speaker 2 10th Kislev.

57:38 Speaker 1 The 10th Kislev.

57:38 Speaker 2 Rebbe's chasan.

57:39 Speaker 1 Yeah. So, so this was, you know, you say things that you remember from farbrengen from twenty years before, and this is forty years before. I remember this, this, this outburst. " This was like, you know, this-- Like, like I'm saying, already the first relief kind of thing from that tension was Yud Gimmel Kislev.

58:05 Speaker 2 People were a little bit simcha.

58:07 Speaker 1 Uh, yeah, yeah, yeah. And, uh, then of course, uh, you know, Kislev, the year after-

58:13 Speaker 2 To summon then by a bachur then by the farbrengen made up, uh, Didan Natch, the song?

58:19 Speaker 1 No, it's not true. We sang Didan Natch after Mincha.

58:22 Speaker 2 So it was before that?

58:24 Speaker 1 It was before that. We sang Didan Natch after Mincha in that nigun, the, the way we sing Didan Natch. That night, by the way, there was a chasid, uh, Itche Springers son got married to Berel Lazar's sister, to Moshe Lazar's daughter, if I'm not mistaken. Um, that was the chasidim. And, uh, and over there, Berel Lazar started Didan Natch. I mean, the whole chasidim over there was Didan Natch.

58:56 Speaker 2 Mm-hmm.

58:57 Speaker 1 And it was in the evening after Yud Gimmel Kislev. Uh, then whatever, we went seven seventy, and then came the farbrengen. A shtetlach that a year later when Yud, Yud Gimmel Kislev came about, we were-

59:11 Speaker 2 You're saying the first year? The-

59:12 Speaker 1 The first year, yeah.

59:13 Speaker 2 The commemorate, whatever, the first year of-

59:15 Speaker 1 Yeah

59:15 Speaker 2 ... celebrating.

59:15 Speaker 1 The first anniversary of the-

59:17 Speaker 2 Anniversary

59:17 Speaker 1 ... of the original Yud Gimmel Kislev. It was before Didan Natch, but it was Yud Gimmel Kislev, so we had to farbrengen. And we were maybe, maybe twenty bachurim. By the way, I read some, uh, reports the way it was written in, uh, based on information from minor Gute Chevre and, uh, and, uh, it wasn't-- The way it's printed is not, not accurate. I'll, I'll tell you meshechiya because I was there myself. Uh, we have maybe twenty, twenty-five bachurim sat down to farbrengen somewhere around midnight. We started farbrengen Yud Gimmel Kislev, and Chevre started to sing Ykirov Veyedu. That, that, that night started singing Ykirov Veyedu because that's the idea of Yud Gimmel Kislev, that the whole world should know that the Rebbe is a melech, and the melech is not subjected to any testimony, and he runs the show. So you say Ykirov Veyedu, call, you just say... And then somebody came up with a Yud Gimmel Kislev.

1:00:25 Speaker 2 Was it Getraften Yud Gimmel Kislev?

1:00:26 Speaker 1 Was it Getraften Yud Gimmel Kislev is what we sang. Yeah. Today they sing it, which is a Yom Tov game. So it's Getraften Yud Gimmel Kislev. We sang... By, by the way, the mashke was a few bachurim. The mashke was gone, was finished. I had came-- I came back from shlichus in the Caribbeans, and I had on my, uh, I had a in my room, I had a desk in my room fourteen eighteen.

1:00:52 Speaker 2 That was in the summer you were, you were-

1:00:54 Speaker 1 Summer Mem Wow, yeah.

1:00:55 Speaker 2 You were in Caribbean, okay.

1:00:57 Speaker 1 Summer Mem Wow I was in Caribbean. That's an interesting story. Remind me, I'll, I'll tell you something about it. Um, so I bought over there a gallon of Crown Royal that comes with a, on a stand that you pour it 'cause it's too heavy, you know.

1:01:13 Speaker 2 Okay.

1:01:13 Speaker 1 And I said, it was Chevre I said, "I'm buying a bottle for Didan Natch." And I had this bottle in my, on my desk. It was a discussion piece, you know, a discussion starter, you know. "Oh, wow." "Don't touch it, it's for Didan Natch." Anyways, we're sitting over there, Yud Gimmel Kislev, they took a mashke. That's it. So one of my friends, uh, sitting next to me, turn out he became a mechutan, Itche Katman, I gave him the keys to my room, and I say, "You know my bottle over there? Bring it over." So it's Yud Gimmel Kislev, Didan Natch. So he brought the bottle, I remember saying, a soldike bachur full of his styluses, "Oh, dos ikover the melech. Dos ikover." This is how you respect a king by bringing a one gallon bottle of mashke. Anyways, this bottle took us for a while.

1:02:07 Speaker 2 Just a Crown Royal is a-

1:02:08 Speaker 1 Crown Royal

1:02:09 Speaker 2 ... it's malchus.

1:02:10 Speaker 1 Yeah. Crown Royal is malchus and this and This was the mevinus that we had, uh-

1:02:15 Speaker 2 Yeah

1:02:15 Speaker 1 ... then. If I bring-- Today I had in the storage-

1:02:18 Speaker 2 I'm old enough to remember, uh, Crown Royal being the mashke in Lubavitch. Either Smir-

1:02:24 Speaker 1 A staple, yeah

1:02:24 Speaker 2 ... either Smirnoff or Crown Royal, yeah. Yeah.

1:02:26 Speaker 1 That's it, yeah. Yeah. In the s- in the storage room of my shul, I have about 20 bottles. Nobody wants to touch them.

1:02:31 Speaker 2 Yeah, exactly.

1:02:32 Speaker 1 But then also that was it. Kol panim, um, about 6:00 in the morning is, uh, people start to come to daven. And, uh, Professor Braunover has mentioned Yud Gimmel Kislev. But let me tell you exactly what happened. Professor Braunover comes over, and he, he says... tells me, "What's going on? What, what's hishaint? Because it's just lev you'd give a Kislev." Uh, so, so what do you mean? "You don't know Yud Gimmel Kislev." I said, "What's Yud Gimmel Kislev?" So I told him, the Rebbe, Mishpat, this, that, and the whole thing. All right. So, "Oh, okay. L'chaim." Okay. So L'chaim, 6:00 AM. Look, later on, he was standing around right behind us, whatever. We're in the center of the shul. And somebody came in and he says, "Well, what's this? What are bachurim doing here at 6:00? What's the..." So Braunover says, "You don't know? It's Yud Gimmel Kislev." And-

1:03:32 Speaker 2 Said it

1:03:33 Speaker 1 ... then, yeah.

1:03:35 Speaker 2 There's the bachurim were spreading, spreading the word.

1:03:39 Speaker 1 Yeah. Yeah, yeah. The interesting thing is, uh, is that we weren't gonna go to sleep because it was Yom Hakiya. I've-- I managed don't remember if it was a Monday or a Thursday. We could probably look it up today on, on, on Google, but it was Yom Hakiya. So we're not gonna-- It's 6:00, 7:00, but, uh, okay, say our siddurs 'cause then if you go to sleep now, you're gonna miss the Rebbe coming for kiya and getting an aliya, and out of the question, right? So, uh, so we stayed, and we continued, and whatever. The Rebbe came in, you know, the, the way the seder was, the Rebbe would come into the zal. First, the Rebbe would go into his office, and then he would come out with a gartel. He would stand at the, next to the door. There was, uh, uh, his table, and then there was just a top, a standard top that was on top of the table. And on it, there would be a-

1:04:35 Speaker 2 Standard that was put on the table.

1:04:37 Speaker 1 Yeah, yeah. It wasn't a full shtender. It was, it was a regular table. The, the table with the checkered, uh, from Yankel Lipska. Um, and, uh, th-there was a, um, standard top with a few, uh, prongs at the bottom, and there's, there were four holes on the table that like this it stand and it doesn't move. Um, so that would be there. There would be a Chumash and, uh, the Tehillim, and the Rebbe would follow Krias Hatorah with the Chumash. And then after that, while we say Shevo V'al Tziyon until Sephardic comes back, the Rebbe would say Tehillim. And after Kaddish, the Halelu, when the Sephardic came back, the Rebbe would leave the room. We're in the middle of davening, so we never sang when the Rebbe came in, we never sang when the Rebbe came out. This is in the middle of Shacharis. But, uh, a few of us, um, I, I, I wasn't in a matzah. I could put on Tefillin because Al Pi Din I don't think I was allowed to daven. Uh, so, you know, we were there for the Rebbe's aliyah. And when the Rebbe left, uh, we started to sing Yaki Vu. The Rebbe turned, he looked, his smile, he went on. And-

1:05:52 Speaker 2 Smiled?

1:05:52 Speaker 1 Yeah. I heard a shmua that the Rebbe asked Leibel what they sang. Then somebody told me, "No, it wasn't that day. It was a time where the Rebbe went to, Rebbe went to the car and was sing-singing outside, and the Rebbe asked what, what it is." And when Leibel told him, smiled kol panim. This was a... I don't remember ever, um, ever that we sang when the Rebbe was coming for the Tefillis-- I mean, in the middle of davening, in Shacharis. Uh, you ask me would I do that again today? For sure not. But, uh, after a lot of mashke and then like you said, it was, uh, uh, the tension of that time, you know, was like, ah, hayom te, yalla. But whatever. If, if, if we... Okay. The Rebbe acknowledged it one or another, it's doch good. Um, yeah. So this was, uh, this was Yud Gimmel Kislev.

1:06:51 Speaker 2 So that was, uh, this is Yud Gimmel Kislev. And-

1:06:57 Speaker 1 Less than a month before Eitav.

1:06:58 Speaker 2 Right. And then right after, so is the prelude-

1:07:01 Speaker 1 Yes

1:07:01 Speaker 2 ... in the Hakdama to-

1:07:03 Speaker 1 Yes

1:07:04 Speaker 2 ... the explosion of Eitav.

1:07:06 Speaker 1 Yes. We knew for a few days before, for some reason, I don't know, uh, I remember I have a, a good friend, Reuven Matzov in France. So he, he had a, he had a-

1:07:17 Speaker 2 He's your age?

1:07:18 Speaker 1 ... with-

1:07:18 Speaker 2 He's older than you.

1:07:19 Speaker 1 No, he's older than me. Reuven is older than me-

1:07:21 Speaker 2 Yeah

1:07:21 Speaker 1 ... but he's, he's one of those Chevre that I mentioned to you before that, you know, I get the Lachlachis from when I was in France, especially the Mechaye to go Sneh. I would say Shabbos, go over to his house, L'chaim, and then ends up, uh, you know, many hours later with a few good stories and, uh, especially feeling, feeling the Yemei. So he-- I had a phone in my room, so I would, uh, I would call him all the time anytime there is news. So I remember hearing, this time I heard it from Yaskan, I don't know, but a few days before that the judge is busy right now with, with a, with a verdict. The judge is preparing a verdict. So a few days before, it was end of Hanukkah, um, I called up Reuven and I told him, "The judge is busy with it. The Anotzar is imminent. We don't know when, but this is what's happening." Uh, and taki, it was a few days later, it was the Anotzar Uh, uh, let me tell you something about, uh, well, Prshitz, everybody knows, everybody saw the videos. Uh, Yossi Pimenta was davening Shacharis. This was, you know, around eleven o'clock, and we started to dance outside. So he finished Shacharis, he went to his car, he took out his, uh, guitar, and he started to play in front of, uh, in front of the Rebbe's office, in front of Rebbe's window. Uh, started to, to, to dance over there, and more and

1:08:51 Speaker 1 more and more and more people came. Uh, station wagon pulled over, opened up the trunk, it had cases of mashkim, mashkim. Station wa-wagon went onto the, the parkway, you know, like after the service then. Cases of mashkim went out, people were saying hi. And, uh, there was-- I have a friend who was going to France that day because he was getting married on Thursday. So he stayed till the last minute, so he could get, uh, the siddur from the Rebbe the day before he travels. And he was getting the siddur on Chetes. And I went to him and I was like, "You're gonna be the first civilian, you know, not part of Maskiras-

1:09:39 Speaker 2 Yeah.

1:09:39 Speaker 1 "Not part of the mishpacha, like first, uh, chassid. You're gonna see the Rebbe. You come out, you tell us what's inside," you know. All right. He, uh, came out after a while, and he tells me the Rebbe looked very serious. So I told him, "You, I don't know what you're talking about. You are very serious. Finally, we're waiting for, for this day for, for, for years, and you're living. You're very... You're sad, you're just seriously depressed. So when you're depressed, you see everybody around you depressed. You don't know what you're talking about." He says, "I, I, I've, I know. I've seen the Rebbe before. The Rebbe looked very, very serious. I don't know what's going on." But what I give it, the payer we saw the Rebbe come in, you saw, you see it in the video. So we were there by Mincha. When in the front, I was right there, mamish, mamish, by Mizrach. Uh, nobody was, uh, nobody was nicht there. And we were singing, singing, and the Rebbe came in, and the Rebbe didn't look, uh, the Rebbe didn't encourage the singing.

1:10:47 Speaker 2 Yeah.

1:10:47 Speaker 1 We, we expect-- It's not what we expect, so to speak, right? I realized maybe this bachur was right. And after Ma'ariv we know the, we know the story. The Rebbe immediately asked if, if there would be a, an appeal, and when he was told there would be an appeal, the, the Rebbe closed the book. The Rebbe like was-- turned very serious. Even the Ma'ariv with the, with the Tachalum, you know.

1:11:09 Speaker 2 Yeah, the Rebbe started saying-

1:11:10 Speaker 1 The Rebbe started saying, "But there was a chassid. But there was a chassid. It is true there was a chassid." And, uh, so, so the payer, we saw there was Rebbe, but yet the Rebbe, the Rebbe said a sicha, and then-

1:11:21 Speaker 2 On the other hand, in the, in the sicha, the Rebbe said very strong oasis about, about, about what happened that day.

1:11:27 Speaker 1 Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Mm. The Rebbe turned it to Yom Tov. I think the Rebbe turned it to Yom Tov L'Shana Haba'ah. It was the, the next year, it was Tachshat Mem-Ches, it was a Shabbos. The Rebbe, the Rebbe said that this is just-- The Rebbe pashut linked in that sicha to, to, to, to Chanukah and Purim. The Rebbe spoke about Pirsumei Nisa, Tachshat Mem-Ches. The Rebbe started the farbrengen by saying that as it is, uh, was mit farsem in a way of Pirsumei Nisa, and then what happened last year, and then the Rebbe says, "L'Shana Haba'ah B'Yerushalayim," which is pashut, uh, just like, uh, mamish, the Rebbe establishing, established it as a Yom Tov. We understand that this was after the appeal was won, and this was after the whole thing was over. Um, and that tachit is, was tachit, the real Yom Tov. But nonetheless, even Tachshat Mem-Zayin, we dance every night, the Rebbe didn't stop us until Yud Aleph. Um-

1:12:24 Speaker 2 Yeah. The Rebbe said a sicha in it.

1:12:26 Speaker 1 The Rebbe said a sicha. And in the sicha, the Rebbe said it was ez otzin. The Rebbe said it was, it, it was ez otzin. I mean, the Rebbe asked to write the pan, whatever you wanna write, but anyways, we're not gonna read it, so don't worry about writing exactly what you want. It's gonna go basar hashamayim. You know, there, there was no faxes then. It's not like you send an email today. Um, I remember-

1:12:50 Speaker 2 There was no fax, Mem-Zayin?

1:12:52 Speaker 1 Mem-Zayin, Yechidim had fax. Binyamin Klein-

1:12:55 Speaker 2 Maskiras didn't have a fax?

1:12:56 Speaker 1 No. Maskiras didn't have a fax. Binyamin Klein had a fax in his basement in Mem-Zayin, and that fax actually belonged to, uh, to, to, to Yosef Gutnick. And he put it, like he bought it, and he put it by, by Binyamin, so Maskiras should have a fax. Um, I-- Binyamin had asked me a few times to go pick up some, some, uh, to go pick up some letters from there and bring him. S-sometime, you know, in between two, in between two tysjes, I would, uh, I would, I would need air, so I would go into Maskiras, you know, "Binyamin, what's going on? What's new?" He said, "Go to my basement. Get, get me some, uh, these faxes." That machine was the size of the copy machine of the nineties. It's the size of a table.

1:13:43 Speaker 2 Yeah.

1:13:44 Speaker 1 It's huge. That was the fax, uh, then in Mem-Zayin. And, uh, I don't know what the capacity, how much it could take. So for people from all over the world to send it, everybody had to find a different tachbula, you know, one way or another. Uh, my friend, Mendy Azimov, uh, today a shaliach in Paris, he was in Aleister then. And, uh, his father, Mulah, zal had a huge following. And of course, I would assume somewhere around a thousand people who had to send a fax, uh, so he should get to the Rebbe before it goes to dayen. So then, as we all know, everybody, especially the Americans, Frenchies come to the Rebbe by the thousands. How do they come to the Rebbe? They have to fly. So Mulah had a special, uh, deal with Air France, that when the people came from the Beis Chabad or when Beis Chabad called Air France for a ticket, it was a special deal. So he used his connection then, and he took all the pan, uh, all the panim that people sent. He took them to a office, the central office of Air France in Paris, and he sent it to the central office of-- to the office of Air France in Manhattan. And Mendy, his son, went to Manhattan, and he picked up the panim and brought it to the Rebbe. This is how much of a trip you had to do to get a fax-

1:15:13 Speaker 2 To get to Tzedek.

1:15:14 Speaker 1 Yeah. This, this was a, you know, very significant thing. It's, um...

1:15:19 Speaker 2 One of the integral components of being a Hasid are the Chassidishe Yamim Tovim and Yemei Depagra. Whether it's Hey Teves, Juchvat, Yud Aleph Nissan, or Gimel Tammuz, these days give us an opportunity to connect with our Rebbeim, to connect with each other, and be better Hasidim. What is the story behind each of these days? How did the Rebbe commemorate and celebrate these days? And most importantly, what are the lessons, the takeaways, and the action items, needed for each of these days? All of this and much, much more are answered in the new set recently published by Der Her. Our Days is a journey through the Chabad calendar in story, meaning, and practice. With over seven hundred beautiful glossy pages, with elevated content, beautiful, beautiful photographs, you, your family, and friends will enjoy and live with each Chassidishe Yamtiv. This book is a must for every Lubavitcher home, for every shul, for every school. It is a perfect gift item. This will not collect dust. It will be used day after day, month after month, year after year. You can have this set. Go to derher.org/ourdays, order your set today and start living the Chassidishe Yamim Tovim. So I wanna go back a little bit to, uh... You mentioned this, something about the, the American shlichus that you had to the Caribbean.

1:17:02 Speaker 1 Yeah. Um, it's actually, it's a very interesting story, and, um, I'll, I'll, I'll start, I'll start from the end. I'll start from the end. Okay. I'll start from the beginning. 5750, um, I had planned to go on Mekubal Shlichus to, uh, to, to two French islands in the Caribbeans, uh, Guadeloupe and Martinique. And at the same time that me and a friend were planning it, there's another two bochurim who were planning the same thing. Also two French bochurim, they're planning the same, uh, the same opinion. Uh, so then when we're discussing it, we decided, you know, let's go together. One of them was a chassan. One of my friends was a chassan. He says he won't go. He has to get ready for his wedding and, uh, so it's only we're gonna be three, three chevruta. And, uh, the three of us were going to France for July to do camp, and we figured we finish camp in, in France. Camp was only one month, so we'll finish, we'll go make a shlichus in August on the second part, the second part of the summer. Um, so we, we made plans to print the Tanya over there and so on. So each one had, you know, took a job raising money to print the Tanya, and that was my job. And, uh, you know, getting mezuzahs, they got the seferim, whatever it is. We went to France, and then they, these two, uh, my two friends, decided to go straight from Paris, uh, to the

1:18:43 Speaker 1 Caribbeans rather than come to New York. And I said, "It's about Chaf Alef, and I want, uh, I want to be by the Rebbe for Chaf Alef." I don't know what, what it is with me and wanting the Rebbe to daven Uvdabat.

1:19:00 Speaker 2 It's a recurring story.

1:19:01 Speaker 1 Yeah. But this one was a weekday. And when we were there for Chaf Alef... By the way, Chaf Alef is very geshmak. It's the one time in which, um, you get to hear the Rebbe very, very good. You get to be very, very close. There's actually a picture. I have a picture of, uh, of, of the Rebbe davening Mincha, between Shachi also, and I'm there, mamash right on the side. Chaf Alef everybody's-

1:19:27 Speaker 2 It's a small, it's a small Yud Shvat and Tishrei, above Tishrei's in Tishrei.

1:19:32 Speaker 1 Yeah. Tish-

1:19:32 Speaker 2 All of Tish-

1:19:33 Speaker 1 Yeah.

1:19:33 Speaker 2 Chaf Alef there's less... It was a time that the Rebbe davening for the Uvdabat but less of a crowd.

1:19:38 Speaker 1 Right. Because the bochurim were in camp or in Mekubal Shlichus. The, the yingeleit, the ba- the, the balabating they're in the country, and, uh, people didn't come usually. Not many people came for Chaf Alef. So it was a small crowd, and we were able to be close, hear the Rebbe very well. So I said-

1:19:55 Speaker 2 The roshei yeshiva that did, Geshem Mendel and-

1:19:57 Speaker 1 Geshem Mendel-

1:19:58 Speaker 2 These nine people. Yeah.

1:19:59 Speaker 1 Lev Elaskin. Yeah.

1:20:00 Speaker 2 Lev Elaskin.

1:20:01 Speaker 1 Yeah. Yeah, yeah, always did. Yeah. So good. So I decide I'm going for Chaf Alef to the Rebbe, and then if next day, whatever, two days later, I'll, I'll, I'll join you. So, uh, I get to the Rebbe, I get to New York, uh, a few days before Chaf Alef, and my friends call me up and they tell me, "Listen, we've been there for a few days. We did, we, we did the whole... We covered all the ground. We saw everything there is to see, and we... You don't need to come."

1:20:41 Speaker 2 We're very kevish.

1:20:43 Speaker 1 Yeah, yeah, that's it. We did, we did, we did-

1:20:44 Speaker 2 We, we conquer, we'll be done.

1:20:46 Speaker 1 We... Yeah. And, uh, okay. So I say, "Yeah, you conquered one, but there is a second island." They said, "Look, I... We spoke to the people here, they say there isn't that much work to do there. There aren't that many Yidden, so don't, don't bother coming." You know, so it's like, you know, again, you know. I guess, uh, third wheel. Who needs you? Whatever. Okay. I say, "Okay, well, what's with the, the, the, the money for the Tanya?" "Don't worry, we'll cover the Tanya." So I tell them, I said, "Listen, I, I... when I booked my ticket, uh, the travel agent told me that I have to stop in an island called Saint Martin." Today, Saint Martin is very famous, but I've never heard-

1:21:30 Speaker 2 There's a Shliach.

1:21:31 Speaker 1 There's a Shliach there, yeah. I've never heard of Saint Martin before this. The travel agent told me I have a stopover in Saint Martin. From France, they have direct flights, but from New York, they didn't have to Martinique or to Guadeloupe. So you have to stop in Saint Martin. So I said, "But I heard about that. That means that maybe I have something to do there." So they said, "Stay put. We're gonna find out." With the people over here was, yeah, good. So they called me back, and they said, "Here is the phone number of the Rosh Hakal, the president of the community. He's a lawyer. He is going to show you around. This is a small community. go there." Okay. So I had to go tell them change of plan, and I went to the office of Rabbi over there is where they prepared the plate for the Shaar bloat, uh, of the Tanya. Because if you print the Tanya, you needed to have the, the, the Shaar had the name of the place where we, where it's printed, so you can't just take some of Tanya. Yeah, each Tanya was assigned a number, you know, print number. This one is .

1:22:39 Speaker 2 Right.

1:22:40 Speaker 1 Anyway, so I went over there, and I said, "Uh, you know, they took care of Guadeloupe and Martinique. I'm going to Saint Martin. No Tanyas printed there. Print." "Okay, good." They prepared the papers. I wrote to the Rebbe the whole story, change of plan, and I'm going there instead. I got an answer. They will mention Badpoi. And I went back to my friend who was getting married, and I said, "this is your last chance to go make a Shlichus. You're getting married. You're going Shlichus, but make a Shlichus your last chance. Come with me." So he said, "Okay." So I said, "Fine. You know, you're Italian." Menachem Hadad. "You're Italian. There are a few over here that are Italian. You go get some money for the tickets and move on." "Okay." So we-

1:23:28 Speaker 2 But they did-- there's no payment from America's for, for tickets?

1:23:31 Speaker 1 There was... First of all, first of all, in the, in the it was very different. Make a Shlichus was very... When you, when you went to all those places in America, yeah, it was covered. When you went to further places, it kind of didn't happen. It kind of didn't happen. I remember Moshe Katkski, Hashem told me once, he says, "We don't send the because it was another French place I wanted to go to." And he told me, "We don't send to ." Then I asked about this place. He says, "It's a French territory. It has to do with the, with the French Shlichim." So the French Shlichim said that the French Shliach who was, uh, actually, who took ownership of this island five thousand kilometers away from him, but this is um, he was, he was masking we go, but he wasn't gonna pay. So we had to cover for it. Okay. So me and my friend went, and from the airport, we went straight to the lawyer's office. We had his, his address, his name, straight to the lawyer. And secretary tells us he's, uh, he's away. He's on vacation for two weeks. I said, "Yeah, we're here for two weeks." You know, so then there's nothing. Where are we gonna go? So, okay, we go, go out, we take a taxi, we go to a hotel. I figured, you know, growing up in France, if you want to know where to find a Jew, you ask a guy. They'll tell you who's Jewish.

1:24:57 Speaker 1 So I asked the guy at the hotel who's a French, a Frenchman. I tell him, "Do you know any..." In French, the nice way of saying Jewish is not Jewif, is, is Israélite, which mean Israelite. So he heard me say-

1:25:12 Speaker 2 Jewif is, Jewif is a derogatory?

1:25:14 Speaker 1 Jewif, Jewif could be as, uh, not as nice.

1:25:17 Speaker 2 Mm-hmm.

1:25:18 Speaker 1 Today we say it with a Jewif, but, uh, then they used to say Israélite. I said, "Do you know any Israeli?" He say, "Yeah, there is a guy who has a, a, a supermarket. He's Israeli." Um, I go there, we go right away, and we ask, "Where's the boss?" "The boss in the back." Could never see a guy, big guy with a mustache, a bit dark, and he say, "Shalom." He say, "Shalom." I say, "Where are you from in Israel?" He tell, "In Qalqilya." He is from... He's a Palestinian. He was not an Israeli, but for the, for, for the Frenchie over there-

1:25:59 Speaker 2 Israeli

1:26:00 Speaker 1 ... they all the same, Israeli. Okay. we left. Then we don't know where we're going. We're here for two weeks. The only contact we have is, is, is away, and it was the same. So I told my friend, just two years before that, the Rebbe spoke about printing Tanyas all over the world. And the Rebbe said that the idea of printing a Tanya all over the world is because it's a The wellspring itself is being printed in the place, not just the water. Not going to learn Chassidus there only, but you're going to bring the, the, the Mayan. I say, "Why we are making Shlichus?" Let us print the Tanya. Let's go find a printer. The printer says, "Uh, yeah, I could do it in two weeks." I say, "No, no, no. We're leaving in two weeks." And I see the guy was wearing a T-shirt that had a mention of some type of godliness. I told him, "Listen, let me tell you about this book." It was a big, big rabbi when he saw the book. He says, "How could it be a big, big God contains a small, small book? Now you want to print this book in your print house?" And the guy said, "Oh yeah, I do it today. I start today." Anyways, we started over. We stayed over there till he starts making upset. He wasn't coming. He was... Took time As soon as we walked out of the printer, somebody walks, somebody who's driving, short, short stops. Guy jumps

1:27:27 Speaker 1 out of the car, he tells us, "Ma atem osim po? Tem Chabad?" "Ken, Chabad." "HaRabbi shalach otchem?" "Yeah, HaRabbi shalach otam." Get in the car. He says, "Get in the car. There's somebody who's, who wants to talk to you." Okay. We get in the car, and he te-

1:27:44 Speaker 2 He, he wasn't kidnapping you?

1:27:46 Speaker 1 No, no, this guy's mamish like a, a We go in the car, and he tells us that there is a man who now lives in Guadalupe, the bigger island, who heard that we are coming, and he asked, he says, "He asked me to go around and look for you because he wants to talk to you." So we're going to this man's office, and he dials the phone, and this guy tells us, uh, "Why do you... What are you, what are you doing here?" "We're doing here, the Rebbe sent us here." So he said, "Rebbe sent you here. Is it because of the letter that I wrote to him?" I say, "Yeah, yeah, that's why." He said, "Wow, this was six months ago." So I said, "No. Okay, that's it." I said, "What was it? The Rebbe didn't tell us the details, so maybe you wanna, you wanna fill us in?"

1:28:38 Speaker 2 You guys are just, uh, saying, fam.

1:28:40 Speaker 1 We're bluffing. Yeah.

1:28:40 Speaker 2 Yeah.

1:28:41 Speaker 1 Just bluffing. Yeah. The Rebbe sent me because the, he wrote the letter. How do I know? I'm sure it's true.

1:28:46 Speaker 2 Right.

1:28:46 Speaker 1 But so the Rebbe didn't tell me why. So he says six months ago, he was, uh, on a boat, he went fishing, and the boat capsized, and he felt he was going to drown. And in the water while drowning, he says, "Elokim, if you save me, ani chozer b'teshuvah." That's it. I go back to religion. And the heavens take, you know, took care of him with and He saved him, right? The guy's stuck. He has a promise. He has to do teshuvah. He doesn't know what to do. So he says, "I wrote to the Rebbe a letter, and I told him that I wanna do teshuvah, and he sends shluchim all over the world. Please send shluchim to St. Martin so I could know what to do." He said, "I was surprised. I made Rebbe such an offer and he didn't answer me." I said, "What are you talking about, he didn't answer you? He didn't answer you in a letter. He answered you in person. He sent us here." After that, you know, I felt a little bad, so I explained to him, "You know, the Rebbe didn't tell us anything." But The Rebbe doesn't have to call me in his office and tell me, "I received a letter from a Jew." And the Rebbe made it that the travel agent told me there is St. Martin. My good friend told me, "Please don't hang out with us." And this whole thing came together, and, and we're here. Anyways, this guy tacky became full

1:30:16 Speaker 1 and so on. But just to tell you the, the rest of the story, which is, which is amazing. I mean, after that, by the way, this Israeli guy who, who took us to his car, took us to every single Jew in the island. Every one. We went to the In the doch, I wrote to the Rebbe everything. I wrote to the Rebbe in the doch that the whole story, how we met this guy, and what he told us about the Rebbe, and I just told the Rebbe that... And we explained to him that and the Rebbe found a way to send us in. The Rebbe answered to the doch, Anyways, fast-forward 30 years. A few years ago, Gimmel Tammuz was a Shabbos, and I have, I have a klal, if Gimmel Tammuz is a Shabbos, I come to the Rebbe on Friday, and I drive back to be Shabbos with my Olam. Because if it's in a weekday, everybody's... nobody's there. Everybody comes to the Rebbe, everybody goes, travels. But if it's a Shabbos, I have to farbreng with my people.

1:31:25 Speaker 2 You have a shul of Anash?

1:31:27 Speaker 1 I have a shul of Anash, yes, yes. Interesting, interesting stories about that shul. This one is the, the first Lubavitch shul in Canada, Nusach HaAri. It was established by the Rebbe's, uh, great uncles, the Lavots, uh, in, uh, Tavash Einhei. Now we go back-

1:31:45 Speaker 2 The great uncles or, or, like, whatever?

1:31:48 Speaker 1 The Rebbe's great... The sons of, uh, of the-

1:31:52 Speaker 2 Of the Kotlzki.

1:31:53 Speaker 1 Of the Kotlzki. Yeah, the two sons. Felike actually asked them for the, uh, for the Kisvei Ha'ad to print it.

1:32:00 Speaker 2 Mm-hmm.

1:32:00 Speaker 1 Uh, yeah, so they were basically Reb Zemach's uncles. Two brothers. They established the shul. I'll tell a few interesting things about that later if we have the time. I call upon him, I should shul of Anash, so I figured I have to farbreng with the Olam. So I stayed, I stayed for, for... I went to the Rebbe, I went to... I drove straight from the Olam on a Friday afternoon, and I was listening to farbrengens and so on, and I felt very, very, uh, lack of a better word, bamat, you know? I felt unsettled. I felt very uncomfortable. What am I doing here? Why I am not by the Rebbe for Gimmel Tammuz? Fine, I have shlichus. I have to deal with the Olam. But still, I didn't feel good. Like, I wanna be with the Rebbe. I mean, I'm with the Rebbe, but I wanna be in the Adamos. Anyways, on Friday afternoon when I, I get a phone call from a group of Meshiach Chabad who said, "Would you be able to come and give us a speech for Gimmel Tammuz?" So I say, "Okay, fine. Before Mincha, I'll come in. I'll say the speech." So part of my speech over there is to tell them... I tell them the story, this story that I told you about making shlichus. Why did I tell this story? 'Cause I said- The Rebbe, you are where the Rebbe wants you to be. You know, Amal, the Rebbe wanted to send , he had to call

1:33:32 Speaker 1 them up and he had to say, "You go there." Today, the Rebbe is telling you, you could-- you need to be there. That's where you need to be. And I said, today even after Gimmel Tammuz, there's no question that the Rebbe is sending his exactly where they have to be because he wants them to be there. So from that perspective, you know, we're here for Gimmel Tammuz, but, but we're here because the Rebbe wants us to be here. And I told him the story exactly that, that the Rebbe wanted me to be in St. Martin in the summer of Teshri 5 because that Jew needed it. As I'm saying the story, there's a lady who gets up and she tells me, "Do you remember the name of, of that person?" I said, "Of course I do. His name, Sylvain Ada." She says, "That's, that's my husband's uncle."

1:34:29 Speaker 2 Mm.

1:34:29 Speaker 1 She tells me, "I knew the part of the story 'cause he had told the story that he was gonna drown and he made a promise that he's gonna do teshuva, and he was saved, and he did teshuva. Today he's in Eretz Yisrael. He has a long beard. He learns in kollel half a day, and so on and so forth. But he never said anything about a letter to the Rebbe." So I was already... I was blown away. I was like, number one, this is the Rebbe telling me, "You feel bad that you're in Montreal on Gimmel Tammuz. I'm, I'm here. I'm part of your story here." And I was very happy that, you know, sometime you tell a story and somebody up slugs you, over here was a-

1:35:12 Speaker 2 Confirmation

1:35:13 Speaker 1 ... a confirmation of the story. So I told her, I said, "This is unbelievable because this is telling us again how the Rebbe is-- the Rebbe wanted me to tell you this story, so you could know the rest of the story. And please send him my regards." Anyways, the next day on Sunday morning, I get a phone call from the husband of this, of this woman who says, uh, "I, I called my uncle this morning, and I didn't want a phone call. I wanted to see him, so I FaceTimed so I could see his reaction. I told him the story and his jaw fell to the ground. And he said that he has never told this story to anybody, ever. Only to one guy." So he said, "Now that you know, let me tell you the rest." And he said that he wrote eight pages letter to the Rebbe his own entire life, but he didn't until now, and, and how he ended up, and, and so on and so forth. So this was, you know, one of my, uh, I would say first significant that I saw the Rebbe's involvement in, in everything. And, and today, this is very, very for today. Young who never saw the Rebbe who are going on the . They're going far away. They-- This became the . And they sometime they may ask themself, "Who sent me? The, the, the of the state sent me? The, the, the Rebbe? Did I decide to find a job? This is

1:36:49 Speaker 1 my career. What is it?" No, the Rebbe picked you because the Rebbe wanted you to be there. They didn't have to tell you anything, and this is the way it was. the very good years. This is still the way it was going on.

1:37:06 Speaker 2 And you're saying that this is the same thing that's, uh, happening today?

1:37:13 Speaker 1 Exactly. When somebody's going on today, it is not because his father happened to be a in that, uh, area and he kept a spot for twenty-five years for him. There was no Jews there until he got married. That's not the reason. The reason why he's there now after twenty-five years of, of his father being there is because that's the time the Rebbe wanted you to be there.

1:37:43 Speaker 2 And how does this, uh, translate to someone that's not a official ?

1:37:49 Speaker 1 Well, the Rebbe said many, many times, especially in, in, you know... When the Rebbe started, you know, with the every house a Chabad house. What does it mean you're not a ? You're a of a Chabad house. Wherever it is, you're a . What does it mean, a ? You know, it was an interesting, interesting, uh, thing that Binyamin, Binyamin Klein told me once. I had an offer once to go on . No, not on . I had an offer once to become a Rav in, uh... I, I've been on, on to Africa a few times. And, uh, so after I got married, I got an offer from the Kehila-

1:38:37 Speaker 2 What year did you get married?

1:38:39 Speaker 1 I got married . I got married . The Rebbe got it from the day before. The night of the the Rebbe said a in which he mentioned the . We could, we could talk about it, too. It's an interesting, uh, thing. Uh-

1:38:54 Speaker 2 Mention the ?

1:38:55 Speaker 1 Yeah, yeah. The Rebbe said This was said after Israel. I'll jump to this. We'll go back to that.

1:39:12 Speaker 2 Yeah, yeah.

1:39:13 Speaker 1 You okay?

1:39:14 Speaker 2 Yeah.

1:39:14 Speaker 1 You okay with the, with the jumping around subject? You know-

1:39:17 Speaker 2 Just, just, uh-

1:39:18 Speaker 1 The loop

1:39:18 Speaker 2 ... make a note. Yeah.

1:39:19 Speaker 1 Oh, okay.

1:39:20 Speaker 2 Make a note to remember it.

1:39:20 Speaker 1 The parentheses. Okay.

1:39:21 Speaker 2 Yeah.

1:39:22 Speaker 1 So, uh, yeah. I got married . And you could understand that on I was very confused besides of hearing the Rebbe, the first that the Rebbe did Mincha was a heartbreaking for anybody, especially if you're a . And who could think of a ?

1:39:46 Speaker 2 The Rebbe was crying in the Kaddish and-

1:39:48 Speaker 1 The Rebbe was crying, yeah. When you said that by, uh, it was, it was tearing, tearing, uh, tearing me apart. Uh, now I'm gonna go, I'm gonna get married with the band, the music, the . So, uh, anyway, so I actually asked, uh, I actually asked the Rebbe what-- if we should do anything differently. And, uh, the Rebbe gonna me, "You don't need to ask because the Rebbe already said to all the, the moises who had things planned not to do anything differently." As a matter of fact, I heard from, uh, my, my brother-in-law's father, Shimon Goldman, used to say a story Shabbos, uh, Mishpatim because he was in charge of the Gemach on the Shabbos.

1:40:36 Speaker 3 So he would say a story in front of the Rebbe every year.

1:40:38 Speaker 1 So in the middle of the farbrengen he would say a story, and he asked-- and then put, put on a shtreimel as part of the, part of the show. He put on a shtreimel. So he asked if maybe this time, because the farbrengen would be on the Shabbos in the middle of Shiva, and maybe it would be more, uh, well, it was a darker kind of environment, you know? He asked if he should say a story and, and with a shtreimel and then the Rebbe said yes, and the Rebbe said, "A longer story." To say a longer story than usual.

1:41:10 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm.

1:41:11 Speaker 1 Like, the Rebbe didn't want any, any, any changes whatsoever. Um, the , um, the night before, the Rebbe-- the night before the chasuna, the Rebbe gave dollars, and then the Rebbe asked that there should be a farbrengen that begins in the house, and the next night, like Tuesday night was a farbrengen in the house, and, and the farbrengen should continue Wednesday night in seven seventy. The Rebbe gave two bottles of wine. The big bottles, the half a gallon. Yes. Uh, two bottles of wine, one for the house and one... There was a farbrengen in the house, and the continuation was a big farbrengen seven seventy the, the next day. Uh, Shie Pinson called my shver. Uh-

1:42:06 Speaker 3 The Gabai.

1:42:07 Speaker 1 Yeah. Shie Pinson was the Gabai in seven seventy, and he's the one who made the announcement what time what would be.

1:42:12 Speaker 3 He annou-- I think he announced that there's gonna be a farbrengen in seven seventy, and the Rebbe said it should be in the house.

1:42:18 Speaker 1 Yeah.

1:42:18 Speaker 3 So then he said it to the chasidim in the house, and then-

1:42:21 Speaker 1 In the house, and then... Yeah. So Shie Pinson asked my shver, he called my father-in-law to find out the, the, the, the times of the wedding.

1:42:32 Speaker 3 Who's your shver?

1:42:33 Speaker 1 My shver is, uh, Jerry Simon, Yankel Simon. He was a famous, uh, caterer in Crown Heights. He was the caterer for the Kinus Hashlachim for decades. Kinus Hashlachos. The gvir in the, the Machaneh Israel Special Development Fund. Uh, yeah. So-

1:42:51 Speaker 3 From Crown Street.

1:42:53 Speaker 1 From Crown Street. An American boy who, uh, imported-- born in Jersey, but, uh, he learned in Beth Fredendin and was in a moises. He was part of, uh, part of Lubavitch. I mean, this is a-

1:43:03 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm.

1:43:03 Speaker 1 For anybody my age, you say Jerry, they know what you're talking about. So, uh, he, he asked, he asked him, uh, what the... Shver, uh, being the patient guy that he was, uh, he says "What's your, what's your business? Why are you, why are you asking?" So he says, "Because there's gonna be a farbrengen tonight in seven seventy, and, uh, the, the Rebbe want to make sure that, uh, I'm not gonna announce the time. I announce the wedding, so I have to find out before." So in some way, again, I mean, I'm not into the, you know, such a gentleman kind of guy, but, uh, but sometimes you just can't go around it. Uh, it's-

1:43:43 Speaker 3 The Rebbe, the Rebbe was sensitive about your, your, your chasuna.

1:43:47 Speaker 1 Yeah. Yeah. But, but for the Rebbe, this farbrengen was a geben epes. The Rebbe gave mashki-- The Rebbe gave a bottle of wine. The Rebbe gave directives. Start here, continue in seven seventy, and yet this is a friend, she getting married down the street, I'm not gonna ruin the party for him. Good. Anyways, after I went for dollars after the sicha, and, uh, Leibel Granit told the Rebbe that I'm getting married tomorrow, the Rebbe gave me an extra dollar, and then he s-- gave me another dollar, and he says, "Abgeben zum kale nokh di chuppa." Give over to your kale after the chuppa. My wife also went that night, and, uh, the Rebbe told her the same thing. You know, Leibel told the Rebbe she's getting married tomorrow, so the Rebbe gave her an extra dollar to give me, um, to give me by, uh, after the chuppa. Also after the chuppa. So basically, cheder yichud we exchanged the dollars.

1:44:42 Speaker 3 Hmm.

1:44:43 Speaker 1 Uh, the next morning, the Rebbe gave dollars again. And, uh, so I went by, I didn't say anything. I went by. Uh, my father was, was also there. So when I went by, Leibel told the Rebbe I'm getting married, uh, today. So the Rebbe gave me an extra dollar and told me, "Abgeben zum kale nokh di sheva berachos." The first one was nokh di chuppa. So I already had one for the chuppa. So give, give to the kale after sheva berachos or during mitten sheva berachos. That, that's what Rebbe said. Uh, then I went to get the siddur from the Rebbe on that day. The Rebbe went to the Ohel that day. And I went to get the siddur. Uh, the Rebbe came down, so Leibel told us in advance. He says the Rebbe's gonna come. We're-- There were an-another two chasanim. They were getting married, one in Israel, one in California. They were ma-- getting married in different places. So they came. It wasn't the day of their wedding. Their wedding was either next week, one of them. The other one was... I think both of them was next week. So, uh, Leibel said the Rebbe's gonna ask who's getting married first. You say me, and then the Rebbe's gonna give you the siddur. Okay. The Rebbe comes down And he had in his hand the siddur and a, a bunch of letters. And the Rebbe asked, he asked, "Who's getting married first?" And I'm, I'm not gonna volunteer to say, "Ich," you know,

1:46:20 Speaker 1 to the Rebbe. We know the stories, you know. There is no ich.

1:46:25 Speaker 4 Mm-hmm.

1:46:25 Speaker 1 To say me to the Rebbe. So I stood there like a goyim saying nothing. Um, so Leibel says, "Him." The Rebbe gave it to me, says, "Um, ask for all the good things and the, the chassan should receive a shtatel mechilas. And when you finish, give it to the next chassan, to the chassan getting married next." And then the Rebbe went to the ohel. Meanwhile, I stayed at the davening mincha. Leibel told me, "After mincha, I have something for you." So I went to Leibel after mincha, after I finished davening, and he had the, the letter. What's amazing with the letter is that yechi this was actually Monday night. That year, the yechi of Juchevat was very, very late.

1:47:12 Speaker 4 Yechi Klalis.

1:47:14 Speaker 1 Yeah. Yechi Klalis was very late. It was a week, ten days after Juchevat. Monday night was the yechi. Tuesday, I believe, the Rebbe went to the ohel. Uh, Tuesday night was the hispalus. So in yechi, I gave the Rebbe the invitation. The Rebbe, gashmius, didn't have time to, uh, you know, to respond, right? Um, so-

1:47:44 Speaker 4 That's

1:47:44 Speaker 1 ...

1:47:46 Speaker 4 Would hand an invitation to the Rebbe. That was the say there.

1:47:48 Speaker 1 In, in yechi, yeah.

1:47:49 Speaker 4 Mm-hmm.

1:47:52 Speaker 1 Especially that we thought that we have, like, at least two weeks from Juchevat to Chof Teshuvah, it's three weeks.

1:47:58 Speaker 4 Right.

1:47:59 Speaker 1 So it's plenty of time. But yechi this happened to be very much delayed. So, uh, there was the letter. Uh, so Leibel told me the letter was typed, the date was Chof Alef Shevat, uh, the day after the yechi this, but the Rebbe signed it. He told me the Rebbe just signed it before coming down. The Rebbe signed the letter and, uh-

1:48:23 Speaker 4 Before coming down.

1:48:24 Speaker 1 Before... The- When the Rebbe came down to give me the siddur-

1:48:27 Speaker 4 Mm-hmm.

1:48:27 Speaker 1 And he went to, went to the ohel, the Rebbe had an office upstairs also, you know, in his, uh, in his house. So, uh, before coming down, the Rebbe signed the letter, and he-

1:48:37 Speaker 4 Oh, the, the siddur was in the house. This whole thing was in the house.

1:48:39 Speaker 1 Was in the house. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

1:48:40 Speaker 4 Okay, yeah.

1:48:41 Speaker 1 All this was in the house, yeah.

1:48:42 Speaker 4 Mm-hmm.

1:48:43 Speaker 1 They can davened in the house, yeah. So, yeah, they took the time basically-

1:48:47 Speaker 4 Before the Rebbe gave you the siddur in the middle of this, what's going on in Chof Teshuvah, to make sure to sign your letter.

1:48:52 Speaker 1 Sign your letter.

1:48:53 Speaker 4 Right.

1:48:53 Speaker 1 Yeah, yeah. And then that night, I tell you, I insisted I wanted my chassanah to be on Chof Tes. Why? Because I'm getting married in winter, and I wanted that, uh, you know, I, I, I want... After the chuppah, I wanna be able to go to the Rebbe with the kallah, you know. And the only way you could do that is if it's the day the Rebbe goes to the ohel. 'Cause, you know, it's gonna be very, very late, so there's a chance. So bedavka, I wanted to get married Chof Tes. And turned out the Rebbe did say sicha, but I, I-- we didn't make it 'cause, uh, it was probably before the chuppah or whatever it was after. Uh, maybe I should have gone myself. I should... It was after badeken the Rebbe started the sicha.

1:49:39 Speaker 4 Mm-hmm.

1:49:40 Speaker 1 So I went to the seventy to get dressed, you know, with the kittel and the elizachen, and I heard the sicha over there. Yeah, maybe I should have just walked to the Rebbe's house. And I'll be back, you know, but I don't know. I guess it wasn't, uh, it wasn't the right thing to do for a chassan. Uh, but, uh, nonetheless, the Rebbe said the sicha. And in the sicha, the Rebbe said that the Rambam writes that Moshe has, uh, instituted seven days of mourning, and immediately, in order to counterbalance it, he instituted the Sheva Miam Mishteh. That when a chassan and kallah gets married, they also have seven days following this event of celebration. And the Rebbe explained very be'al regez how a chassanah is the antidote, is the opposite of the yinye epes hispalus. That the chassanah is a concept of binyan adiad, is about eternity. And the, the way to balance out the yinye of, of, of Sheva Miam Havalus is with the Sheva Miam Mishteh, the yinye of, uh, going-- the day of chassan kallah binyan adiad. And then the Rebbe said, and especially that we're going straight, uh, straight into... from the Sheva Miam Havalus, straight into yinyanim shel simcha, and which is the simcha achid gadol, the s-simcha of the chassan ve kallah. And then he says the yinye of, uh, simchas chassan ve kallah zocheh lechamesha kol onos that had to do with Matan Torah, that Matan Torah was also the chassanah of the HaShem with, with the

1:51:20 Speaker 1 Yiddishe. This sicha kimat muger, by the way. And I saw the Hagaah. Um, in the Hagaah, the, the Rebbe added. So simchas chassan ve kallah ve, ve chadome. The Rebbe added one word. Uh, but from the audio and from the tamlil of the, the verbatim of the audio, you see the Rebbe... That's what the Rebbe said, you know. Spoke about the chassan-

1:51:51 Speaker 4 Chassan kallah.

1:51:53 Speaker 1 Then the Rebbe added that we're going to yinyanim shel simcha. The Rebbe made it plural because I guess there were other things. It wasn't just, uh, all about me. We, we talked about me-

1:52:02 Speaker 4 The Rebbe's inc- the Rebbe's, like, being-- including more.

1:52:04 Speaker 1 Yeah, including more of this. But she'etzach that after that sicha, uh, the simcha of the chassanah was, was unbelievable. All my friends who were not in a mood for a wedding, you know, for sure came, and everybody else came. Being that Mashbe was a, a very good caterer, so he was able to add a few tables. Actually, some of my friends remind me this, how after the sicha, Mashbe added a few tables to the, to the hall. That was how it went.

1:52:33 Speaker 4 So he knew, he knew that, uh, the Olam was gonna come to the chasuna?

1:52:37 Speaker 1 Yeah. Yeah. He saw that it was, uh... So it was a very, very famous chasuna. So once again, this not only the sensitivity of the Rebbe asking what time is the chuppah, what time is the chasuna before for the fabringen to, to take place, but in addition to that, uh, the Rebbe mentioning it by a sicha. And, uh, you know, in my, in my position in public service, uh, I have had like, uh, many, many opportunity to show the sicha to chasanim who had just lost someone right before, or the family of the kale lost someone right before, and so on. So I always gave them this encouraging, uh, you know, sicha to say this what you're doing now, zein der simcha, because this is what is erasing whatever you have lived experience until now.

1:53:32 Speaker 4 It's, it's amazing also when you hear stories like this, Lubavitch was smaller, and the Yuds and the Hevs, you know, the Rebbe had this personal connection. What is, what's amazing is that this is Mamches, Lubavitch is huge already-

1:53:50 Speaker 1 Yeah

1:53:50 Speaker 4 ... and it's Takanat the same. It's not Tofshin Yud. It's not-- But, but the Rebbe made sure to have that personal shichas with, with every Chassid, like, like i-in that, in that way. It's like, uh, it's unbelievable-

1:54:05 Speaker 1 Yeah

1:54:05 Speaker 4 ... that type of thing.

1:54:07 Speaker 1 Yeah. Yeah. No, it is. And of course, uh, you know, those days, the Rebbe davened in, in the house for the year. And, um, so I was a Chassan to Yishar Bochez, so I had access, you know. I was there for every Tequila because like this, they don't say Tachana. There was Minyan. Somehow I got to Ma'ariv also even though there's no Tachana, but there's a Chassan, so every time I came in, I was able to be there. Uh, during Shiva, there was Mamish measured. A lot of people were there, so it was... But then the whole week after that, I was down with the Rebbe all the, all the time.

1:54:43 Speaker 4 Mm-hmm. Okay. Amazing. So, um, it's, uh, it's Yam Hashmuchem before or after by the time this goes on to Gimmel Tammuz. And the whole time, the whole year, it's important for us to know about our personal connection to the Rebbe. Every Chassid and every, every person in the, in the der, in-- Every person in the generation has this, uh, connection to, to the Rebbe. Sometimes you know it, sometimes you see it, sometimes, you know, sometimes you have a story. But I think it's also important, I think one of, one of the ways to arouse that feeling and that connection is to think about the shichas and the personal attention that the Rebbe gave either to you or, or to your Mishpacha, to your, your, your father, your mother, your brother, your Zaidy, you know. And those that didn't have that, hearing stories like this can really help us understand, you know, the personal connection that, uh, every Chassid has with the Rebbe.

1:55:51 Speaker 1 Yeah.

1:55:53 Speaker 4 Okay. And, uh, thank you for the-

1:55:57 Speaker 1 Pleasure

1:55:57 Speaker 4 ... for the warm fabringen. And I, uh, believe that I enjoyed every word, so I believe that, uh, many, many will, will too. And, uh, it, it sounds like we need to do a part two. So let's do a part two a different time.

1:56:12 Speaker 1 Good. Good. Good. 'Cause I was, I was gonna, uh, follow up with another Maase how the Rebbe paid attention, but we could leave it for a part two.

1:56:18 Speaker 4 So, so, so say another one. Let's go.

1:56:20 Speaker 1 Okay.

1:56:21 Speaker 4 This is, this is a free conversation, you know?

1:56:23 Speaker 1 Okay. Free flowing.

1:56:25 Speaker 4 So it's like a fabringen. You know, you think it's done-

1:56:27 Speaker 1 Yeah. Yeah

1:56:27 Speaker 4 ... and then, and then, you know-

1:56:28 Speaker 1 Ah.

1:56:29 Speaker 4 Yeah.

1:56:30 Speaker 1 So-

1:56:30 Speaker 4 I'm saying the whole time over here.

1:56:32 Speaker 1 Yeah. Yeah. That's good.

1:56:33 Speaker 4 I, I have my water. It's good.

1:56:36 Speaker 1 Very good. Um, you know, another, um, story. Uh, I'll tell you actually two, two very quick stories. But, uh, and then the next, the part two will be we'll talk about concepts like this.

1:56:49 Speaker 4 Okay. Go, go, go.

1:56:49 Speaker 1 Um, the, the Maase is that, uh, you know, my, my-- I saw a letter that, uh, my father got when my older brother was, was born. And in-- On the letter, the Rebbe writes, uh, the date. It was, uh, was written as Chet Ches, Cheshvan was typed. The Rebbe turned with a pen, he changed the Ches for a Zayin. Um, and the letter is a regular letter, the same letter that I got when I had a baby boy, you know, that, uh, the regular Bracha that the Rebbe gave. Bibir Kas Mazal Tov, and then the Rebbe adds after the, this Bibir Kas Mazal Tov, the Rebbe adds, In connection to his birthday, you should have a Shanah Tovah. And then the Rebbe signs. My father's birthday is Chav Zayin, Chav Zayin Cheshvan. So the letter was originally typed as a Chav Ches, and the Rebbe, maybe it's a Chav Vav, but we can't really see. The Rebbe changed with the pen the date. He put a Zayin over there. So in addition to writing a Mazal Tov for the birth, the Rebbe also mentioned for his birthday. So it's very interesting because, you know, many people receive-- We know the stories about getting a letter from the Rebbe for your child, for your baby, for your chasuna, and you wonder if it's the same. The Rebbe knows who you are The Rebbe wrote this, say your name. Everybody gets the same letter. It could be that everybody got, uh, the same letter, but each one

1:58:25 Speaker 1 of those letters was addressed directly and specifically to you. To you to the point in which not only the Rebbe know your name and he knows who you are in this letter, but the Rebbe knows your birthday, and he mentions it. And this is also a very, very important thing to realize that when we ask Brachas from the Rebbe, you know, the Rebbe is, is, is, is the Nasi of the Klal Yisrael, and the Rebbe is your Rebbe of you, the individual that you are. And, uh, I think this is also the Kesher with the, Kesher with Gimmel Tammuz. Realize that this is happening still now. The Rebbe told us how much, you know, that with all sicha of Levana in Sarif with the request of Vid A Nasi that we have to continue asking the Rebbe for Brachas, and the Rebbe will find a way to answer us. And this is still happening. And the Rebbe is answering you. When you ask the Rebbe, the Rebbe is, is answering you particularly. We should be able to see it

1:59:24 Speaker 4 Amen.