Ep. 19: Yamim Noraim By The Rebbe with Rabbi Yisroel Noach Vogel

00:00 Speaker 1 Since the launch of Among Chassidim Podcast by Der Her, Baruch Hashem, we were able to release an episode every single Sunday to the benefit of many. With Baruch Hashem, thousands of listeners, the feedback is immense. Tishrei is right around the corner. Due to the very busy schedule, we will not be releasing a podcast every Sunday like we usually do. Instead, we have prepared a special interview with Rabbi Shlonech Vogel. Rabbi Shlonech Vogel was zecher to spend many a Tishrei in the Rebbe's presence. The interview will, will be split into two. Part one will be the end of Elul, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Asaras Yemei Teshuva with the Rebbe. Part two will be Sukkos and Simchas Torah with the Rebbe. We hope that through listening to his zecheres, his experiences by the Rebbe will help us live with the Rebbe this Tishrei. If you've been enjoying this podcast, please like and subscribe so that others can enjoy it as well. In addition, if you've benefited in any way from Among Chassidim Podcast and would like to give something back, you can do so today at derher.org/donate. I'm Yossi Kamen. Welcome to Among Chassidim by Der Her, an ongoing farbrengen about life as a Chassid, our vibrant connection with the Rebbe, and inspired living shaped by the way he teaches us each and every day. This episode has been sponsored Leilui Nishmas Reb Aron Ben Reb Shneor Zalman Hakohen alav hashalom Blasofsky, who passed away this year on Shabbos 12 Elul 5783. And it is dedicated by

02:06 Speaker 1 his children to hei nishmasai Srula basrei rachamim. Bruchim habaim. Thank you, Rabbi Vogel, for, uh, making the time to, uh, have this discussion.

02:17 Speaker 2 Thank you.

02:18 Speaker 1 Okay. So as we prepare for the month of Tishrei, I felt it would be appropriate to leave, uh, the olam that is listening to the podcast with, uh, basics. And what I mean by basics is Tishrei is the time where one of the primary focuses of Chassidim is, uh, Tishrei with the Rebbe, and that, everything that that entails, and that, the, the experience. And the best way to do that is to speak to Chassidim that ha-have experienced it and know how to give it over. And I think that's very beneficial for me personally and for thousands of people throughout the world. Uh, whether they know that it's beneficial for them or not, maybe this will help in that effort.

03:09 Speaker 2 Mm-hmm.

03:11 Speaker 1 Sounds like a plan.

03:12 Speaker 2 Yep.

03:13 Speaker 1 Okay.

03:14 Speaker 2 Be'ezras Hashem.

03:15 Speaker 1 So I think you could, you know, I'll, I'll fo- I, I don't know. I think what we, what we can do is start off just going through in a chronological order. So today, tonight, is Chai Elul. Uh, if I understand correctly, that's usually, that sort of sets the tone or the beginning of Tishrei. I don't know if you wanna start there, you wanna start Day of Rosh Hashanah, but, uh, tell me how you, how, how you think you wanna do this.

03:48 Speaker 2 I, I wasn't thinking that much of Chai Elul, actually, but, um-

03:51 Speaker 1 So we could start Day of Rosh Hashanah?

03:53 Speaker 2 Yeah.

03:54 Speaker 1 Or the hachanos to that.

03:58 Speaker 2 Um, it's always hard to start. Uh

04:02 Speaker 1 It also might be helpful in, you're the one that's talking. So the context of you, where you're coming from, your first Tishrei, something like that, that also might be helpful in a, a way to, to get into it, if that, uh, makes sense.

04:18 Speaker 2 Makes sense, but in my case, it doesn't a-actually, it doesn't exactly apply.

04:23 Speaker 1 Okay.

04:23 Speaker 2 Because the first time I came to the Rebbe, I'll say the first time I came to the Rebbe was for Sukkos.

04:30 Speaker 1 Uh-huh.

04:31 Speaker 2 And, um, the next year I came for the whole Tishrei.

04:35 Speaker 1 So how old were you then?

04:37 Speaker 2 So instead of coming for my bar mitzvah, I came a little later. Most bochurim in my, in my class would come for the bar mitzvah to the Rebbe. Well, probably it didn't work out, I, I'm not sure why. So I came a year later, and I came for Sukkos.

04:56 Speaker 1 Your class, you're from London, right?

04:57 Speaker 2 From London. Yeah, from London. So, um, so, uh, I came for, my father brought me for Sukkos. Shemetzu sham de Sukkos will be exactly fifty years since, uh, I saw the Rebbe for the first time. Um, I'll say in a way, I'm thankful that I was n- I didn't grow up in Crown Heights, so I didn't have the experience of seeing the Rebbe the whole time. So, uh, the fact that for me it was new, I remember what it was like before I saw the Rebbe, and then I saw the Rebbe the first time. So I had a, you know, a, in a sense, a extra impression, and the memories, Baruch Hashem, are quite strong .

05:48 Speaker 1 Over the years, I've been speaking to people, and I kind of have a mixed message about those that grew up in Crown Heights. For an ein zeit, what do you mean? It's, it's, it's in the beiner. They, they were by the Rebbe. They kind of remember when the first time they saw the Rebbe. What do you mean? They're in Simchat Torah all, all the time, and that's obviously tremendous value. On the other hand-

06:09 Speaker 3 There's a certain level of, I don't know if you wanna call it taking it for granted or not appreciating, like you're saying, as much because they can't put their finger on that moment. This is when I came to the Rebbe, this is when it all began.

06:24 Speaker 2 Right.

06:24 Speaker 3 And, you know, there's, there's a start and an ending. When you live in Crown Heights, it's like, "This is how I was born. This is, uh, this is how life's gonna go," and, you know, without, without the having that, having that. So I guess-

06:35 Speaker 2 Yeah

06:35 Speaker 3 ... that's what you're saying.

06:37 Speaker 2 Even more than that, I would say the Mashal Simchat Torah. Baruch Hashem, I was ten Simchat Torahs by the Rebbe. So remembering what Simchat Torah was like before that.

06:46 Speaker 3 Right.

06:47 Speaker 2 You know, how unimaginable it is. And Mitzvah, when we get there, when we get to Simchat Torah, describe that a little more.

06:53 Speaker 3 Okay.

06:53 Speaker 2 That difference from before and after-

06:55 Speaker 3 Right

06:55 Speaker 2 ... is major.

06:57 Speaker 3 So you came-- So when you came to the Rebbe Rosh Hashana, you came right before Rosh Hashana?

07:03 Speaker 2 When I came, yeah. Usually, usually I came right before Rosh Hashana.

07:07 Speaker 3 Okay, so maybe let's start with-

07:09 Speaker 2 With Selichos

07:10 Speaker 3 ... with Selichos.

07:10 Speaker 2 Selichos I remember, um, 5711. So I came after Shabbos, since we flew on Sunday, a group of English, uh, boys together. And I remember the Rebbe coming into Selichos. In my mind, this is what it seemed to me when the Rebbe came in to Selichos, seven o'clock, the Rebbe, as the Rebbe walked in. Was it seven thirty? Seven o'clock. So the, the Rebbe seemed very serious.

07:37 Speaker 3 So you're not talking about the Shabbos, you're talking about the weekdays.

07:38 Speaker 2 No, I'm talking about the weekdays, yeah, um, Monday morning. And it seemed to me like the Rebbe was very serious. And when the Rebbe went out, the Rebbe's face was a little more relaxed, which remind me the story of the Ba'al Teshuvah, whatever. I'm saying the whole you know, you look at the Rebbe like trying, sometimes trying to translate or put in things which you connect from other places. That's the, the nature sometimes. But I remembering the Selichos and the days of Selichos went right up to, um, after Selichos. So Selichos took around half hour, just under. And immediately there was a minyan for Shacharis upstairs in the small zal. And, uh, eight o'clock, the Rebbe came in for Krias Hatorah. Instead of a usual day the Rebbe would come in ten o'clock for Krias Hatorah, here the Rebbe came in eight o'clock.

08:35 Speaker 3 It was a special minyan for the days of Selichos or 'cause there's no, there's no Te filcth?

08:40 Speaker 2 I mean, it's Shacharis. Because of s-- I don't know why. Because of sha-- because of Selichos-

08:44 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm

08:44 Speaker 2 ... Shacharis was earlier. So instead of the Yeshiva minyan being at nine thirty, wherever it was, they started the minyan like, uh, um, what was it? Seven thirty?

08:54 Speaker 3 Right.

08:54 Speaker 2 Seven thirty, twenty to eight.

08:56 Speaker 3 A- and after Mincha, I don't think it was like that. I think Shacharis was regular time.

08:58 Speaker 2 Mincha, everything changed.

09:00 Speaker 3 Everything was... Yeah, it was ten, I believe.

09:01 Speaker 2 Yeah. Mincha, everything changed. I'm saying what happened then.

09:05 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm.

09:05 Speaker 2 I'm not, I'm not even sure what happened in later years. But I remember then, eight o'clock, the Rebbe came into Krias Hatorah. There was a whole line of people, um, to bench Gemara, the Rebbe's minyan. And actually, I reminded myself the very first time I benched Gemara in front of the Rebbe, which was something unbelievable experience. But even though that happened, uh, you'd Gemara Tishri a year before, 5712. So if you wanna go backwards and forwards-

09:36 Speaker 3 I'll fo- I'll follow the, the flow. So you, you, you-

09:38 Speaker 2 If you wanna go backwards and forwards

09:39 Speaker 3 ... you could share. You could share. I'll follow. I'll-

09:41 Speaker 2 But, um, the very first time I saw the Rebbe, which i- in a way, I'd like to say it was printed, uh, many years ago in the, the Her and its forerunner . So, um-

09:54 Speaker 3 And by the way, in this month's Tishri, the Her, there's a overview of parts of Tishri, and, uh, you're featured in that as well.

10:03 Speaker 2 Mm-hmm.

10:03 Speaker 3 So whoever, uh, is hearing this, make sure to read that, Be'ezras Hashem.

10:08 Speaker 2 Yeah.

10:10 Speaker 3 So what was printed and what?

10:12 Speaker 2 So, um, the Rebbe came in then to Krias Hatorah. It was actually the day after Yechidus. It was the last time it was Yechidus between Yom Kippur and Sukkot. And, um, k- the Rebbe actually came to the Synagogue twelve o'clock then. So it was a minyan just for Krias Hatorah. And you know, the Rebbe has Shalishi as usual, and the Rebbe goes to the side of the Bima. And there's only two people benching Gemara. One person older, already married, and, and me. That's the first time in my life I'm saying Gemara. And I go to the Bima with a s-- with a Siddur. It's the first time in my life I'm saying it. And I go over to the Bima, and I say, "HaGemara." And in the middle, I feel eyes on me. So I made a mistake. I looked up. And believe me, the word Shema Kolani is a long word when the Rebbe look at me from three inches away. I'll never forget the, the, the fear, the dread, the, the, the pachad. And the Rebbe's like looking at me and, and seemed, I would say, sharp. Some people say that when you say HaGemara Lachayavim, so Rebbe looks at you as if you're a Chayav. So it's like whatever. I couldn't say the word. I started trembling. Shema, Shema, the words wasn't coming out. I don't know, five, six, seven times. I don't know. It must've been only a few seconds. And for some reason, I felt... I knew I should look

11:44 Speaker 2 back inside the Siddur, but I couldn't take my eyes off the Rebbe. And I was looking. It's like in the end, the Rebbe looked down, and I looked back to the Siddur, Shema Kolani Tov. And as I stepped back, I understood what Rashi says on the word Miksha, "Bar ka'veis avdola don nachshoni." Knees are knocking together, Pashtane, from fright. I never felt something like that. And from then on, I always made sure, don't meet eyes with the Rebbe. Farbrengen is one thing. The Rebbe says that when you're learning, when you're li- listening to Torah, you should look. But in general- Don't look at the look straight into the Rebbe's eyes. It's, it's whatever. It's shrekedik. Anyway, that's just remembering "." I mean, the next year, I, I already remember it as I went up. I, I'm not looking

12:28 Speaker 3 Well, as I, as I, uh, talk to more people, more Hasidim, and among Hasidim podcast-

12:35 Speaker 2 Yeah

12:35 Speaker 3 ... I start to see different, uh, I mean, I've been talking to Hasidim my whole life, but, you know-

12:41 Speaker 2 Mm-hmm

12:41 Speaker 3 ... in, in this formal way-

12:43 Speaker 2 Yeah

12:43 Speaker 3 ... I've been seeing certain threads that I see across many people. And one of the things I, I, I've, I've heard from many is this sentiment that you're describing of being in the Rebbe's presence, the, the and the of the way, you know, the way people, the way people feel.

13:08 Speaker 2 Yeah. Yeah.

13:09 Speaker 3 And I mean, I-I'm imagining you heard this from someone before or this you, you came in, uh, with an empty slate and, uh, this is what you felt?

13:21 Speaker 2 I'm not sure. At this point, I can't remember if I heard from people that they were afraid or not. I'm not sure. But I definitely felt it. I mean, this is

13:32 Speaker 3 Yeah.

13:34 Speaker 2 Although the same night by Farbrengen, and I'm jumping ahead, but it's the first time I was by Farbrengen. And the Rebbe came in. First, the Rebbe said the Ma'amar, and after Ma'amar, somebody gives me . Says, "Here, say the first time you're here by Farbrengen." So I pick up the cup, you know, the little , a little bit of wine. But I'm not sure if the Rebbe-- I've always been wearing glasses, so you know, you can't be exactly sure. And is the Rebbe looking at me or is he looking at someone else? I don't know. And I see the Rebbe nodding my direction. I wasn't sure it's me, so I'm still holding the cup up. So again, I see the Rebbe nod. Again, I'm not sure it's me. Suddenly, the Rebbe gave a smile. And then I suddenly felt that it was to me. Of course, everybody looks around who's the Rebbe smiling at, you know. But, uh, it's two opposites in the same day.

14:24 Speaker 3 Right.

14:25 Speaker 2 Here's the fear, the and here was a smile. That's the only time the Rebbe smiled to me. It was different times afterwards that like on a Machan that, uh, I, I smiled 'cause of something and the Rebbe immediately switched off the smile. Like stopped smiling immediately.

14:39 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm.

14:39 Speaker 2 Just to prove to me, I guess, he's not smiling to me. Which should I say is better? You know, a smile is a Kurv.

14:47 Speaker 3 A Hasid-

14:49 Speaker 2 You don't want the-

14:49 Speaker 3 Is not, is not looking for a Kurv from the Rebbe

14:50 Speaker 2 ... you don't want the Rebbe to smile. All right, we went off track a little bit.

14:54 Speaker 3 So let's go back to, uh, Yemei HaSlichos. That's what we're talking about.

14:57 Speaker 2 Anyway, so I was saying that, um, again, it was Shacharis or Slichos or something. I can't remember exactly. I'm not gonna say now what exactly happened. It was Slichos. What was there was no Farbrengen in the beginning. I'm saying a whole week of Slichos. That year, Rosh Hashanah was Shabbos, so it was practically one week of Slichos. So then Monday, Tuesday, one of the days, Tuesday, Wednesday, I can't remember which day, there was a Slicha to the ladies. So I heard once that, um, the Bachurim go upstairs to the Vaibe Shul when the, all the ladies in the Shul, the Rebbe speaks to them. Bachurim go to the Vaibe Shul. Later I was told you shouldn't do that. Whatever. I did it. Actually, interesting note, I found later a Sefer about the Chofetz Chaim, Drashas of the Chofetz Chaim, and it says over there what the Chofetz Chaim spoke when the ladies were in the Shul and the men were in the Vaibe Shul. So just it's, uh, not only in Lubavitch.

15:53 Speaker 3 There's precedent for that.

15:54 Speaker 2 Yeah. But I remember going into the, the Vaibe Shul, look down, I see the Rebbe speaking. And then, uh, Erev Rosh Hashanah was Farbrengen. Um, I'm not gonna dwell on it too much right now. That particular Farbrengen, I don't remember right now-

16:15 Speaker 3 And also, uh-

16:16 Speaker 2 Too much

16:17 Speaker 3 ... the article that I mentioned in the Deharei this month is, is specifically about that, about-

16:21 Speaker 2 About the Erevs

16:22 Speaker 3 ... that and Vav Tishrei and Erev Sukkot. So there's a lot to read over there-

16:26 Speaker 2 Yeah. Right

16:26 Speaker 3 ... about, uh, those three dates. So I guess now we're holding Erev Rosh Hashanah be day.

16:31 Speaker 2 So yeah, Erev Rosh Hashanah. I remember also that Slichos and then run out. There's, uh, buses to the Ohel. Erev's busy. You know, Erev Rosh Hashanah, one of those days you're very busy. You have to get to the Ohel, you have to get back. Buses to the Ohel.

16:44 Speaker 3 Those were the days that people went to the Ohel, Erev Rosh Hashanah and Yizkor.

16:46 Speaker 2 Erev Rosh Hashanah, Yizkor, yeah. So there was buses outside and, you know, like vans more and took a van to the Ohel. We got to the Ohel, he says, "You have half hour."

16:56 Speaker 3 You're skipping also, um, Hataras Nedarim.

16:59 Speaker 2 Hataras Nedarim, true.

17:00 Speaker 3 In the morning.

17:01 Speaker 2 True, true. Um, yeah, so Shacharis with the Rebbe. One of the few days that the Rebbe would come out to the Minyan and you see the Rebbe with a Talison film. Talison, the Rebbe always came out to the Avodah to the Minyan-

17:18 Speaker 3 Shabbos

17:18 Speaker 2 ... with Shabbos and Yom Tov and even Chol HaMoed. But to see the Rebbe actually with film was I think five, six days a year.

17:25 Speaker 3 In those years, yeah.

17:26 Speaker 2 In those years, just, um, when the Rebbe had Yahrtzeit, which is, you know, Vav Tishrei, Chaf Vav, and the Yizkor, and, um, Purim, Tishrei Vav by Mincha. Well, the Rebbe always came out to Mincha, but here the Rebbe came out with film.

17:42 Speaker 3 In Chabad, the Rebbe made didn't daven with a Minyan-

17:45 Speaker 2 Yeah

17:45 Speaker 3 ... by the Rebbe's . The Chiddush is that the Rebbe daven every day Mincha, Maariv with a Minyan.

17:52 Speaker 2 I'm not sure if that's the Chiddush. I saw a letter from the Maggid to his son, the Rav Rama Malach, that he should daven by himself Shacharis, if I remember correctly.

18:04 Speaker 3 Yeah.

18:06 Speaker 2 So that's some sort of an Hagaddah for the Rebbe's . But here the Rebbe came out, and Erev Rosh Hashanah, Erev Yom Kippur were also one of those days that the Rebbe would come out and daven with a Minyan. Till, just by the way, till Menchez, the official time for the weekday davening was nine thirty, not ten o'clock. That changed in Menchez

18:27 Speaker 3 'Cause that's the minyan of the bachurim.

18:28 Speaker 2 That's the minyan of the bachurim.

18:29 Speaker 3 Nine thirty.

18:29 Speaker 2 So even though the Rebbe down, downstairs-

18:32 Speaker 3 Down

18:32 Speaker 2 ... the minyan was nine thirty. So the Rebbe came out and danced with tefillin. I remember actually Rabbi Chaikin, zol zaljen, uh, he was my teacher, he said before Shacharis, he says, "Climb over the benches, make sure you get close, otherwise you won't hear anything, the Hataras Nedarim." But I was, uh, not used to it, so I didn't climb over and I tuchis didn't hear, I hardly heard anything then. A year-- later years, I did hear. I remember the Mashal, uh, Tashim Mem, which was actually the end of Shemitah. And that time I remember hearing well.

19:05 Speaker 3 The Pruzbul.

19:06 Speaker 2 Yeah, the Hataras Nedarim and the Pruzbul.

19:11 Speaker 3 And the Rebbe had a special nigun for Hataras Nedarim.

19:14 Speaker 2 Yeah, it was more like a davening.

19:15 Speaker 3 Like a davening, yeah.

19:16 Speaker 2 A davening type of nusach, yeah. There's recordings around from different years, even from the Chof there's, uh, recordings already.

19:23 Speaker 3 Yeah.

19:24 Speaker 2 But, um, then I noticed, I wrote down in my shtikel diary that time, so the Rebbe looked at every-- during, while they were saying Hakol Yitbarach, the Rebbe looked at each one of the miskanim who was on the bench. The Rebbe looked at each one, and then he looked in Sefer Siddur and didn't look out until, till the end.

19:45 Speaker 3 So-

19:46 Speaker 2 After, when he finished, so I pulled out, uh, what was interesting that year, the Rebbe made a whole sturm about the Pruzbul, and they printed, um, zettelach and giving over to a Rav, and Tzach printed. And here the Rebbe did like he always did. He said it be-al peh. The Rebbe took out a zettel from his siddur and said the nusach of the Pruzbul. He said something like-

20:08 Speaker 3 What was the sturm from, that the Rebbe made?

20:10 Speaker 2 They made a very big sturm that you might try and get as many people as you can-

20:13 Speaker 3 To do the Pruzbul

20:14 Speaker 2 ... to, to do a Pruzbul. But also it sound like they want, the Rebbe wanted it to be a shtair.

20:19 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm.

20:19 Speaker 2 So they printed them shtairs. I probably have a copy somewhere. And they printed the, like, papers, and we could cut it up. Uh, it was small papers and room for... I can't remember now, aidim or dayanim, which daiyen you're giving it over to, which Rav. It was very interesting.

20:37 Speaker 3 So you're saying the Rebbe didn't do it like that, so that-

20:38 Speaker 2 And the Rebbe didn't do it like that.

20:39 Speaker 3 So-

20:39 Speaker 2 So it was never done again.

20:40 Speaker 3 Right.

20:41 Speaker 2 But that year there was a sturm. People are wondering, "How is the Rebbe himself gonna do it?" So it was like-

20:45 Speaker 3 Right. Yeah. Now, in the new siddur, they now, they added it in, but it wa- it wasn't printed in the siddur, in this, in the nusach.

20:50 Speaker 2 No, Pruzbul wasn't added in, no. The Rebbe said something, to my mind, if I remember correctly, it sound like the Rebbe didn't wanna talk with tefillin on. He said it in Lashon Hakodesh, "And I added nusach haPruzbul kmay she-kosav shochinar reb, uh, Rebbeinu HaZaken," I think, something like that.

21:05 Speaker 3 The Rebbe said that?

21:06 Speaker 2 Yeah. I heard that. I wrote down then what the Rebbe said exactly, what I heard.

21:11 Speaker 3 Hmm.

21:12 Speaker 2 And fair when the Rebbe finished, so then the Rebbe said, "Yasher koach. Kzeh v'zman teiva." Maybe some other words. Generally, the Rebbe would say just a few words, "Yasher koach."

21:23 Speaker 3 Yeah.

21:24 Speaker 2 Until, um, Tashri Nun Bais, which is the only time the Rebbe said a sicha right after, um, uh, Hataras Nedarim. So after Hataras Nedarim, then they, you have to give the Rebbe panim. So it'd be a line, but it'd go very, very fast. I think the line for panim is probably the fastest line by, in Bechal. So I remember standing outside on the street, you know, all the lines to g- get to the Rebbe, whether wha- whatever it was. If it was Lekach, if it was Panim, if it was, um, I don't know what else could it be, but

21:55 Speaker 3 Dalos

21:55 Speaker 2 No. No, Dalos is later. I'm, I'm saying the, um-

21:58 Speaker 3 Panim

21:59 Speaker 2 In those years, Lulav and Esrog was the longest line. But, uh, you know, always the lines went out into the street. It went a few houses past some seventy. But here I partially realized, went onto the line, wherever it was, two houses down, three houses down. The line was moving very, very fast. You see in the videos, the Rebbe just takes the panim. Mashal, mem alef you see on the video there was for every two people, kzeh v'zman teiva shantei msuka, kzeh v'zman teiva shantei msuka. So it's each two people like that. But, uh, the Rebbe was, uh, giving very, very fast. It would be the fastest line.

22:33 Speaker 3 But everyone would go, all the way-

22:35 Speaker 2 Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Until, um, Mem Tet, uh, Lamid Tes, before Lamid Tes, the Rebbe said it'll take it in three days instead of one day to make it easier after Lamid Ches. So-

22:49 Speaker 3 It's a refuel-

22:50 Speaker 2 You'll have to explain Lamid Ches, right?

22:52 Speaker 3 Yeah. Yeah. After Lamid Ches-

22:54 Speaker 2 Yeah

22:55 Speaker 3 ... the, because of the Rebbe's health, they, they did it in, uh-

22:57 Speaker 2 So the Rebbe, the Rebbe himself sa- said it in the sicha. The Rebbe said because-

23:01 Speaker 3 So from then on it became over a few days

23:03 Speaker 2 ... became over a few days, yeah.

23:05 Speaker 3 Right. So after panim-

23:07 Speaker 2 Yeah

23:07 Speaker 3 ... the Rebbe went to the Ohel. But you were, you were in the middle of saying-

23:11 Speaker 2 No. Yeah, but I remember going-

23:14 Speaker 3 You, you were saying that you were told you have a half an hour. So what was that?

23:16 Speaker 2 No, so I guess I gave the panim, and then I immediately tried to catch a, a van to the Ohel. Um, no, to the, the stam, the van. It, it said half hour, and it was like, I don't know how long it takes.

23:35 Speaker 3 Oh, the ride to the Ohel.

23:36 Speaker 2 Yeah. And how long does it take to say a van to say Ma'arshon. I went inside, it was actually interesting. I was in there, and I have no idea. It's the first time in the Ohel. N- nobody told me anything. But I realized the place I'm standing has its, uh, kind of structure, not very strong. It was before Lamid Ches. It was, there wasn't the house which they built for the Ohel then, house-

23:55 Speaker 3 For the Rebbe

23:55 Speaker 2 ... cubicle for the, the, uh, the, which they built for the Rebbe, the cubicle like. Then it was just open. But you see there's a, a piece of wood and I don't know, it's, had some kind of structure. I suddenly realized and I said, "Wow, this must be the Rebbe's place." So I tried not to mamash use it because... And then suddenly I get a push from behind. I looked, there are shluchs behind me. It was like-

24:17 Speaker 3 Hmm

24:17 Speaker 2 ... it was like, uh, okay. Then I, one thing really impressed me then, which I won't forget. An old Hasid and r- one of the rosh yeshivas from Brunoi, Rabbi Yosef Goldberg, alav hashalom, he was crying his eyes out. I'd never seen it. Never seen such a seer. I mean, his Rebbe, I don't know if he ever met the Friediker Rebbe, but, uh, but he was just crying and crying. It was, it really impressed me, such a seer. Anyways, uh, in middle, suddenly I hear somebody banging. So I realized the ride is up.

24:50 Speaker 3 Yeah.

24:50 Speaker 2 So I rush back. I got outside-

24:52 Speaker 3 So you were there when the Rebbe-

24:53 Speaker 2 So I actually, I think I saw the Rebbe going to the Ohel. When I came back, I saw the Rebbe leaving to the Ohel, and the car was full of people. That was the only time in the year when the Rebbe would go, Rabbi Groner would go, and go into the, and the Rabbi Kazanovsky-

25:09 Speaker 3 And Rabbi Chadakov, I think, was-

25:11 Speaker 2 Chadakov. Yeah.

25:11 Speaker 3 Yeah.

25:12 Speaker 2 It would be full. The Rebbe always sat in the front seat to the ayal, and the back seat was full. Just three of them, probably.

25:18 Speaker 3 It's also the only time of year that there were people in the ayal-

25:22 Speaker 2 People in the ayal

25:22 Speaker 3 ... while the rebbe, and Yutrat also, I think, went. But the rebbe didn't always go to Yutrat later.

25:27 Speaker 2 From they never stopped going to the ayal in Yutrat.

25:29 Speaker 3 Yeah. So Rosh Hashanah was a time in the year-

25:31 Speaker 2 Yeah

25:31 Speaker 3 ... that people were inside the ayal when the rebbe was there.

25:33 Speaker 2 When the rebbe was there, yeah.

25:34 Speaker 3 The has a whole thing about it. In he has a whole write-up. You know what I'm talking about?

25:40 Speaker 2 Yeah. He says, "Why are people there?"

25:41 Speaker 3 Yeah, he has a whole-

25:42 Speaker 2 'Cause he remembers the Rebbe Rashab, they said they should not go there.

25:44 Speaker 3 Right. He says, "By the Rebbe Rashab no one was in the ayal with the Rebbe Rashab."

25:49 Speaker 2 Right.

25:49 Speaker 3 He has bechal, I think he writes, I haven't seen it in a long time. I think he writes that's the sayda when the rebbeim go to the ayal. And he says, "And the fact that people are in the ayal when the rebbe is there, you know, unzer rebbe-

26:00 Speaker 2 Right

26:00 Speaker 3 ... he says it's not a good thing." And I think he writes, "It's only because the rebbe is a ." "So therefore, he doesn't tell them not to." But, but the rest of the year, if the rebbe was in the ayal and someone came, they were told-

26:13 Speaker 2 Right

26:13 Speaker 3 ... by someone-

26:13 Speaker 2 In a sense, the rebbe himself stopped it because the first year they say, um, Rabbi Groen would go with, I don't know, probably Chadakov, maybe one or two secretaries. But later the rebbe said-- told Rabbi Groen he's gonna give him work to do in the office, and, um, maybe somebody else also. But chitzah, they understood that when the rebbe goes to ayal, it's him alone.

26:38 Speaker 3 Right. So then it became-

26:40 Speaker 2 And even Rabbi Krinsky wouldn't stand in there. He would go in from time to time to check that everything's okay, and sometimes the rebbe would give him messages to give over to people.

26:48 Speaker 3 Right. He or Rabbi Krinsky would be in the car.

26:50 Speaker 2 He would be in the car.

26:50 Speaker 3 Most of the time.

26:50 Speaker 2 He would wait in the car and not be in the ayal.

26:53 Speaker 3 Yeah.

26:53 Speaker 2 And besides that, he was, uh, be in the ayal the whole ti- Um.

27:02 Speaker 3 So you never were at-

27:03 Speaker 2 No, I never saw the rebbe in the ayal.

27:05 Speaker 3 Never, never there Rosh Hashanah?

27:06 Speaker 2 No, no. Anyway, then, um, okay, Rosh Hashanah night, I mean, I'm trying to remember now exactly, but I think they always used to sing Avinu Malkeinu the first night of Rosh Hashanah as the rebbe came in. There's also a-

27:21 Speaker 3 As the rebbe came in or when the rebbe was at the highest place?

27:23 Speaker 2 When the rebbe came in, the rebbe would start banging.

27:24 Speaker 3 Before ma'ariv it, Avinu, it starts with Avinu Malkeinu.

27:26 Speaker 2 Yeah. It starts with Avinu Malkeinu, or maybe even the rebbe said tell him first for a few minutes and then start Avinu Malkeinu. It's hard for me to remember 'cause things changed from And that's why I'm not sure. So it could be just from when I remember that, um, I think it took some time with tehillim and then Avinu Malkeinu. And then the rebbe davened ma'ariv. They say that the first night you do a whole rebbeim, they were down for hours first night Rosh Hashanah. We didn't see that by the rebbe, but they say, I heard, um, somebody told me that, uh, um, the rebbe would daven 12 minutes, the Shemoneh Esreh, first Shemoneh Esreh of the, of the year, so they say. Which is, um, you know, for the rebbe it's, it's long because we never saw the rebbe do three labarikos in public. And, um, I do remember waiting, which was unusual. 'Cause usually, and I think the rebbe answered somebody once, that by davening you can't be, uh, So the rebbe would daven a regular speed like a regular person. And here I remember waiting the first night of Rosh Hashanah. I probably didn't know how many minutes, but I definitely remember waiting till, until the chazan, till the chazan started the next piece. Um, but it was very serious like that. I don't remember there was any singing besides, you know, Avinu Malkeinu, the parts of davening which we sing. And that was a I jump years-

29:06 Speaker 3 Yeah

29:06 Speaker 2 ... To, to talk about the yontif, it doesn't matter which year.

29:11 Speaker 3 Yeah.

29:11 Speaker 2 So, um, was a very big chiddush. In bachar they called it the freilecher Rosh Hashanah. It was a minhagim which di- didn't usually happen before. So the fir- first night of Rosh Hashanah, the rebbe came in, they started ma'ariv immediately. No Avinu Malkeinu, nothing. It was very interesting. And they didn't sing Avinu Malkeinu, not Friday night, the first night of Rosh Hashanah, not, not by day the first day of Rosh Hashanah, not even ma'ariv Motzei or Motzei Shabbos, which was the second night of Rosh Hashanah. They didn't sing Avinu Malkeinu. Only before Shacharis on the second day-

29:47 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm

29:47 Speaker 2 ... they sang Avinu Malkeinu before. It became more understandable a, a year later when the rebbe said, "Shabbos, don't say Avinu Malkeinu." So the rebbe stopped the even of singing Avinu Malkeinu on Shabbos.

30:02 Speaker 3 Did that continue, or think the rebbe-

30:04 Speaker 2 Yeah, from then on we didn't-

30:05 Speaker 3 Didn't sing Avinu Malkeinu that time

30:05 Speaker 2 ... sing Avinu Malkeinu on Shabbos.

30:08 Speaker 3 Why was it called the freilecher Rosh Hashanah?

30:10 Speaker 2 It was very... I'll tell you in a minute. I'll get to that, but so here on the s- on the first night of Rosh Hashanah, the rebbe turned around and did something which he usually did only Motzei on Kippur and Simchat Torah. The rebbe turned around, "Gut Yontif. Gut Yontif." And I was like, everybody, as far as I understand, everybody was shocked. For me, it's the second time Rosh Hashanah, I didn't know that much, but it was very unusual. Gut Yontif, and then the rebbe's called out loud to everybody. And I remember hearing it, I was like, "Wow, is that the rebbe?" It was like... And then the rebbe starts Like, wow, singing on Rosh Hashanah. It was like a yontif, and every tefillah that year the rebbe started singing. So it was like, um, I even wrote down in my diary that that first night of Rosh Hashanah we're dancing for half hour after the rebbe left, 'cause the rebbe should start a nigun on Rosh Hashanah is very unusual. And, uh, had a I'll get to in a minute. Anyway, I, um, I remember, mashal, the first day of Rosh Hashanah Haftarah was Shabbos. It was not kius. And, um, they were saying on Haftarah about, uh, Hannah Shmuel. I, I just remember the Lamed Zayin. So as the Rebbe started the words, "Hannah, lo meiv sifki." Hannah, why are you crying? And I remember it's in my mind 'cause as the Rebbe started, said those words, he started crying. That's why I

31:43 Speaker 2 remember it. That's why I remember which words exactly the Rebbe-

31:45 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm

31:45 Speaker 2 ... started crying. So lo meiv sifki, why are you crying? The Rebbe starts crying, but... And, uh, that was the first day. The second day, that's when he didn't cry, even though it was the fourth kius, whatever. Tashrim mem, he didn't cry the first day. It was like, I'm saying it was a more upbeat Rosh Hashanah. But that was all basically there was the first day of Rosh Hashanah. I mean, you know, I say tell him, but there's nothing really to... Nothing happening. No Tashlich the first day.

32:16 Speaker 3 When it's on Shabbes, yeah.

32:16 Speaker 2 When it's on Shabbes. I was there Berashanah four times Rosh Hashanah, and three of them were Shabbes.

32:23 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm.

32:24 Speaker 2 So I heard the least amount of kius. Well, fair. Um, so again, by night, Tashrim mem, there was again no Vayimaalkenu. Basically the first day, then was the pushing and everybody hopping the places and-

32:42 Speaker 3 In the morning?

32:43 Speaker 2 In the morning. I wasn't used to it, whatever.

32:44 Speaker 3 For tkus?

32:45 Speaker 2 Yeah.

32:45 Speaker 3 There's the-- People had different places for tkus or-

32:48 Speaker 2 I guess people had sort of a kind of schooling, but you had to be there early. They said if you came after eight o'clock, uh, you probably didn't have your place. You'd lose it.

32:56 Speaker 3 So you didn't go bevtime in the morning?

32:59 Speaker 2 I didn't-- Well, I was new here anyway. I didn't know-

33:01 Speaker 3 Right

33:02 Speaker 2 ... I didn't know my way around. I mean... So I went later. Well, I stood between the crowd. I mean, I never had a place for tkus. I saw. There was those who wanted to see exactly what the Rebbe does with the shofars and with the tichelach, the red tichel and the white tichel. I never saw, I never realized those things. I just remember seeing the first time I was there even. You know, you're used to the Rebbe speaking when you always hear in the hookups, uh, hear the Rebbe speaking. I grew up with that. But to actually see the Rebbe doing something besides talking, in a sense, working, I would say, you know, blowing shofar, even being chazan of sorts. Okay, Zev Tishrei, the Rebbe davened for the Amidah. This is even Rosh Hashanah. Before, I didn't, hadn't heard the Rebbe davening for the Amidah yet. And, um, you know, they were saying the psukim. And then the, you know, and then the whole say there, throwing the talis over his head, covering the packages of the panim. And, uh, I mean, later years, I realized that people were always medayak how many packets there were, if there's three or four. There's usually not too much more than that. And they would put the talis over and cover the packages of panim, which they still argue about till today, if it was the panim and if it was the panim of Erev Rosh Hashanah. People backwards and forwards. Most people taynah that it was

34:31 Speaker 2 the panim from Erev Rosh Hashanah. Some people say it was the panim which came from out of town, not the ones the Rebbe received on Erev Rosh Hashanah. Who knows? Whatever it was, it was packages. Oh, actually, when the Rebbe was going, the second day of Rosh Hashanah, the Rebbe said Kaddish for the Rebbetzin Scheina, for the third daughter of the Friediker Rebbe, who was, nebech, uh, murdered in, uh, Treblinka in the... So, so, um, so the Reb- whenever the Rebbe would say Kaddish, he would, I won't say run, but go very, very fast to the bimah. Because the Rebbe stayed on his place till the end of Krias HaTorah, but as soon as Kriya was over, immediately, I guess, uh, Techiat Tzibur maybe, the Rebbe would go very, very fast to the bimah to say Kaddish. So I remember, you know, Rabbi Yaakov Klein or Rabbi Glazener just, like, running behind the Rebbe with the packages of the panim.

35:31 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm.

35:31 Speaker 2 They had to really, like, run to keep up. And they went up there and said Kaddish. And then they called the Rebbe up, so the Rebbe was already on the bimah when they called him up for Haftarah. So after Krias HaTorah, they put the panim up there. There's something interesting which happened, Tashrim mem daled. That was probably the first day of Rosh Hashanah. Then Rosh Hashanah's Thursday, Friday. So, um, I guess some people from the side, I would call, on the farbrengen bimah. You know, people stand wherever they could and, you know, on benches, tables, you know, make sort of, not really, ma-- a kind of pyramid. And they wanted nobody to block. So somebody tied a chair to the, what do you call, the sticks of the bimah. You know, the, the bimah platform has these, um-

36:30 Speaker 3 Which bimah? Are you talking about the-- The Rebbe said Kaddish bimah?

36:32 Speaker 2 The Krias HaTorah bimah.

36:33 Speaker 3 Oh, okay.

36:34 Speaker 2 So you, the, the, the platform itself, the, has, like, walls, has, um, pieces of wood, you know, the, the way it's built.

36:42 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm.

36:42 Speaker 2 It's not a wall. It's just pieces of wood. And they tied a chair inside so nobody should stand right next to the bimah. I don't know who did it, when it was done, 'cause I didn't notice it during Krias HaTorah. But suddenly, seemingly the Rebbe wanted the Rebbe-

36:59 Speaker 3 What's wrong with standing next to the bimah?

37:01 Speaker 2 No, they, 'cause they, the f- people are being blocked.

37:04 Speaker 3 Oh, okay.

37:04 Speaker 2 People on that side.

37:05 Speaker 3 So this is a different bimah. This is a lower bimah.

37:07 Speaker 2 No, no, no. No, no, no. Krias HaTorah bimah. The kius the Rebbe would blow by the Krias HaTorah bimah.

37:12 Speaker 3 Okay.

37:14 Speaker 2 So the Rebbe's there. So peop- two people whoever had hagba are holding the Sefor Torah. And for tkiyas, they would stand up and be right next to the Rebbe. In later years, people realized that the Rebbe's saying the second day of Rosh Hashanah, the Rebbe would say, uh, Yizkor. The Rebbe spoke about that in Vov Teshrei, Teshmim Gimel. First time it was megillah that nebech. So I heard from, uh, I don't wanna say names or whatever. Nah, it doesn't matter. It's done. Heard from Rabbi Yossel Minkowitz that one year, the Rebbe from under the tallit with his hand, the Rebbe was like, um, feeling out with his left hand. So he said he was behind. He realized that the Rebbe's p- wants to touch something, probably Sefor Torah. So he pushed, you know, guided the guy who's holding the Sefor Torah should go closer, and the Rebbe held on. And even though his hand was holding the etz chaim, the Rebbe put his hand over this person's hand.

38:12 Speaker 3 Yes.

38:12 Speaker 2 So that he wanted to hold the Sefor Torah. He figured later years that probably the Rebbe wanted to say Yizkor, 'cause whenever the Rebbe would say Yizkor, he would hold the etz chaim of both Sefor Torah. That's why I say I never saw the Rebbe during Yizkor. All right. So, um, anyway, whatever it is. So let me get back to this thing, Teshmim Dalet. So the Rebbe wanted the Rebbe Chodakov to stand at the side of the bimah. He tried to get in there, but he can't get there because there's a chair in the way. So he looks, he can't go, so he's standing just outside the bimah. So the Rebbe looks, he realized there's a chair in the way. I mean, somebody tried to pick it up, but it was chained. So the Rebbe started to schlep the bimah.

38:56 Speaker 3 You, you're t-- So you're talking about on the bl-- on the Kiryat Sefer platform-

39:00 Speaker 2 Kiryat Sefer platform

39:01 Speaker 3 ...there's a bimah. So someone put a chair-

39:02 Speaker 2 The bimah next to-

39:04 Speaker 3 Yeah. Okay

39:04 Speaker 2 ...next to the what you call shulchan ha'kriyah.

39:06 Speaker 3 Okay, now I get it. Okay.

39:08 Speaker 2 So the Rebbe's took the bimah. In other words, the shulchan ha'kriyah, and the Rebbe starts schlepping it backwards 'cause he wanted the Rebbe Chodakov to stand on the side of the bimah. Bachurim behind who realized the Rebbe's trying to schlep the bimah himself. So from behind, they pushed the bimah, you know, so the Rebbe shouldn't have to schlep.

39:26 Speaker 3 Right.

39:26 Speaker 2 So till they realized, so they called up whoever, whoever sent down the key within a minute or two. They opened up the lock, and they took the chair away because-- But it-- nobody realized till then that the Rebbe actually wants somebody to stand on the side.

39:39 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm.

39:40 Speaker 2 The Rebbe was always makpid for that in Kiryat Sefer there should be someone standing on both sides of the bimah. People didn't realize that the Rebbe was makpid on that by Kiryat Sefer or by, uh, Tkiyas also.

39:50 Speaker 3 Tkiyas.

39:50 Speaker 2 Anyway, the Rebbe wanted Rebbe Chodakov to stand there. Then the Rebbe would throw the-- they would-- the maskirim would put the panim, the packages onto the bimah, shulchan ha'kriyah. And then the Rebbe would throw over the, his tallit, be over the panim also. And then the Rebbe would mehzamen or whatever. I think first of all-- No, that would be first of all, the Rebbe would cover himself. Some say the Rebbe would sing, sing a nigun then. There's a whole machloket which nigun the Rebbe used to sing. There's a Rosh Hashanah nigun, T'nuah from the Alter Rebbe. Some say that's what the Rebbe would sing, and some say the Rebbe would sing, uh, um, Gimel T'nuis, the nigun from Baal Shem Tov and Magid of Alter Rebbe. I don't know. Rabbi Yomi Klein, some people... I don't remember if I'm remembering or people told me. It's, it's, it's a little haze, but that he would always go very close, and he would claim to hear something. But usually you would hear maybe a little hum. It wouldn't that much. It's not like the Rebbe would cry under the, under the tallit. Then the Rebbe would pick up the tallit. This would be pro- uh, probably around five minutes, something like that. Meanwhile, the whole oilem, oilem was pushing, but in a sense, you didn't notice. Once the Rebbe was on the bimah, you didn't realize the pushing that much. Before that, you did, but once the Rebbe was on the bimah, you felt like something higher

41:12 Speaker 2 is going on, you know? It was a himldik. And, um, the Rebbe would... Anyway, the Rebbe would pick up the tallit. Lam natzeach livnei cherach nizmei. Some people say sometimes the Rebbe nusach is a little different. Lam natzeach. But they're basically the same t'nuah. Then the whole oilem would start Lam natzeach. It was like a roar, you know, like a whole oilem is sayers. The Rebbe would take quite long to lefi ha'ar. I remember finishing seven times Lam natzeach, and the Rebbe didn't finish yet. It took, I would say, enough time for me to say at least an extra time. So, uh, it took long. You know, longer the Rebbe would say Lam natzeach. If I remember correctly, the Rebbe was holding the tallit over his eyes, and just his mouth was open, so, you know, not to block the sound. But it-- In other words, his face was basically covered as he's saying psukim. A little away, so you should be able to read, but the... And they said-- And then, um, the Rebbe would say the psukim, m'nameitar. I'm not gonna try and say the nigun now 'cause-

42:32 Speaker 3 You can do it.

42:32 Speaker 2 Uh, no, what I wanna say is it, it's, um, I'm a little confused that people say different years was a different psukim.

42:40 Speaker 3 Whatever you remember, you could say.

42:41 Speaker 2 Yeah. I remember one of the WhatsApps actually, uh, Rabbi Ari Bloisfusky, alav hashalom, just passed away. So he, um, he repeated the nigun. He wasn't so medayek into yudin with the years, just like he said, after being so many years where the Rebbe's tkiyas, he, he really was able to repeat it nicely. But basically, m'nameitar kol rzikah ad oni vamerech hakol. It's the nusach of the, all the psukim. They say that's the nigun from the Rebbe Rashab And then after the psukim, I think the Rebbe would cover over again. Not for very long, a few minutes or, I don't know, a minute, two, three, I don't know. Probably I'm not good at looking at the clock how long each thing takes, but, but, uh, not a very long time. Then the Rebbe picked up his, picked up a tallis. I remember one year, the Rebbe put the tallis behind his right ear, sometimes behind his left ear, sometimes, sometimes both. I think sometimes the Rebbe would put the tallis... It would be like covering his forehead, but because it's behind the ears, it, like, pulls the tallis tight to his forehead. It was an interesting-

44:03 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm.

44:03 Speaker 2 Look. The shofar is covered the whole time since the Rebbe was holding it, but the minhag is, it's a Lubavitcher minhag, to cover the shofar during the bracha. We only reveal the shofar when, when you're actually ready to blow. And then the nigun of the brachos, it was also the nigun from the, from the Rebbe Rashab.

44:25 Speaker 3 The same nigun?

44:26 Speaker 2 No, the nigun of the brachos is different.

44:28 Speaker 3 But, oh, but also from the Rebbe Rashab?

44:30 Speaker 2 It's also from the Rebbe Rashab. And they say, I saw a sicha, I think it's in chaf, chaf, dales, chaf, heh. So the Rebbe says that even though the hachanas tekios and so on, I don't remember if the Rebbe said the word psukim, but leading up to tekios would be like a meriros, it would be like a broken thing. Nevertheless, the brachos of tekios themselves would was a atzit tenua, uh, more neiter to the inyan of simcha, which was a very geschmacke beer, what's going on over there.

45:04 Speaker 3 That's how it is.

45:05 Speaker 2 Yeah, but it was interesting that, that the Rebbe mentions it to me.

45:08 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm.

45:08 Speaker 2 I don't think-- Well, now it's in the sicha, and a very interesting, uh... I never saw the Rebbe speaking about that inyan. So, um, the, the brachos of the tekios are different bracha. Baruch atah Hashem Elokeinu Melech haolam, asher kidishanu bemitzvotav v'tzivanu lishmoa kol shofar. And the roar of the crowd is, uh- It's like, you know, it's like, uh... So sometimes you see the, the hisoyros of the, the kahal, and it's like, it's very, very strong. Then shofiyan is the same nigun. Then the Rebbe start blow, some way, some years easier, some days harder. Tes shin lamed zayin, I think it went ganz easy. Tes shin mem was quite hard. From tes shin lamed Ches, so Rabbi Tannenbaum, who would blow shofar later during Shemini Atzeret-

46:13 Speaker 3 Yeah, I know him

46:14 Speaker 2 He would show. So he was the makri. I know there were changes over the years. I'm not sure exactly what happened. But from then on, there was a, he was the makri who was showing. So the Rebbe did a through instead of a shvarim, something like that. Tes shin mem was something different. It went harder. I remember especially the Tekiah Gedolah at the end could be like four or five times. The Rebbe tried again and again, Tekiah Gedolah. I mean, for a tekiah, it was yoitze, but the Rebbe wanted a Tekiah Gedolah, and it took a few times, a few tries till the Rebbe got-- till the Tekiah Gedolah came out. It was like getting cut off in the middle.

46:59 Speaker 3 The Rebbe would use multiple shofars sometimes, no?

47:02 Speaker 2 Yeah, but I, I didn't notice. I, I, I didn't see what exactly was happening over there. I can, I can't say. I just remember the yellow shofar, you know, regular color shofar. They say there was a black one. I, I never noticed it. Again, I was there, I wasn't there that many times. Now it was the Rebbe start saying the psukim. Now, generally, when the Rebbe said the psukim, he would raise his voice from one pasuk to another. But the first time I was there at tes shin lamed zayin, there was all three psukim in the same tone, which I remember people told me afterwards it was unusual.

47:36 Speaker 3 Unusual, yeah.

47:38 Speaker 2 Um, how does the psukim start?

47:41 Speaker 3 Ashrei.

47:41 Speaker 2 Ashrei. The ha'am is very hard to copy. It's like, it's, it's very fadreit in the nigun. Ashrei ha'am, hideys ruach, it's ring. Hashem bepanav ya'aleichom. B'shimcha. It would go up. I'm not remembering now, but then I remember the Rebbe said all three in a straight, the same tone. It didn't go higher.

48:13 Speaker 3 B'shimcha.

48:17 Speaker 2 Yigalon kol hayom uvezidchascha yaramu. Ki sefer ezuz omei ahdo, uvirtzein chatarum kaneinu. Then, like I said, sefir ha'agim, everybody says Ashrei together. 'Cause the velt, the chazan or the velt akeyah says Ash-- calls out the first pasuk Ashrei with the same, uh, tone. Uh, the tone of the velt is always the same.

48:48 Speaker 3 What does the velt do?

48:49 Speaker 2 The, the velt akeyah, he just said three psukim loud, and then he says Ashrei also with a special nigun.

48:57 Speaker 3 Maybe I don't do it.

48:58 Speaker 2 The first pasuk, Ashrei ish asu l'Adonai chosano.

49:00 Speaker 3 Oh, interesting.

49:01 Speaker 2 But the, the Lubavitch doesn't-

49:02 Speaker 3 Yeah, the ni- the nigun that the Rebbe use, I mean, it's kind of, it's b- it's a, it's basically a Veltishe nusach-

49:09 Speaker 2 Nusach, yeah

49:10 Speaker 3 But with, with the Rebbe's-

49:11 Speaker 2 Yeah, yeah

49:12 Speaker 3 You know, different-

49:13 Speaker 2 It's like, like Al tarei, so it's the same thing.

49:14 Speaker 3 Right, yeah.

49:15 Speaker 2 It's the same, but it's different. The Rebbe has his own-

49:16 Speaker 3 Yeah

49:18 Speaker 2 Way of doing it.

49:20 Speaker 3 I mean, it's the only one I know. I, I became in Lubavitch, that became the way everyone does it, but-

49:25 Speaker 2 Right

49:25 Speaker 3 I heard a recording of a, of the, of Nusach, and it was-

49:28 Speaker 2 Yeah

49:29 Speaker 3 Similar but different, obviously.

49:33 Speaker 2 Well, Ashrei, the Velt's, uh, I mean, I know here's the place 'cause y- we wanna talk about the Rebbe, let's leave it there without saying then again. Anyway, um, and then, uh, the Rebbe went back to the tekios, and, uh, those who noticed that the Rebbe would put on the tichel.

49:49 Speaker 3 Second day.

49:50 Speaker 2 Second day. And also the inyan of Hacharas... As I said, I, most time, I was there four times, and three of them were sh- were-

49:57 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm

49:57 Speaker 2 Uh, it was Shabbos. I was, I mostly saw the second day only. And the look of Hacharas Panim, which either I was aware or I wasn't aware, I never saw.

50:07 Speaker 3 The Rebbe did it by his place.

50:08 Speaker 2 They said the Rebbe went, got back to his place, the Rebbe would turn around and look at everybody. Well, people jumping, you know. The same problem during Mussaf when, um, when, uh, the chazzan would get up to Koheim, both Rosh Chodesh and in Kipper. Like somebody told me, "If you see everybody jumping, you know you missed the Rebbe doing Koheim." So that's-- I never saw the Rebbe doing Koheim.

50:35 Speaker 3 So you didn't have a place ever in Rosh HaShana Kipper close enough?

50:39 Speaker 2 I was close, but I don't know, I never saw Koheim. I guess I wasn't aware. Similarly, the Rebbe would, would, um, do it when chazzan started the next piece. I'm not sure where Elena exactly, but on Kipper about Vahakeinim. As soon as the chazzan would start Vahakeinim, the Rebbe would already do it right away, would bend down. I think it's a sikha from Friedrich, Rebbe saw that the whole Olam would everybody do it.

51:04 Speaker 3 Does it right away.

51:05 Speaker 2 As soon as the chazzan starts Vahakeinim. And then they say the Rebbe would stand and look at the chazzan, and especially on, on Kipper again because Vahakeinim is like the union of a Kohen Gadol. So Kohen Gadol would say and everybody would look at the Kohen Gadol. So in the same union, the Rebbe would watch him do the Koheim. But the Hazzan Shasha, one thing I did notice, even Tashlamanzayn, which was before Lamed Ches, that the Rebbe would sit down a lot during davening, which was a little bit unusual because before that I'd never seen the Rebbe sitting down during davening. Before Lamed Ches, the Rebbe would hardly sit Shabbos and Yontif if he did at all.

51:47 Speaker 3 Even like-

51:47 Speaker 2 During davening

51:48 Speaker 3 Even like by Psukah dezimbra, the Rebbe would sit?

51:50 Speaker 2 Yeah. Most of the time Rebbe would stand.

51:54 Speaker 3 And Rosh Hashana, the Rebbe would sit.

51:55 Speaker 2 Rosh Hashana, the Rebbe would sit a lot. It was very noticeable to me for some reason that once the Rebbe Gornah would, you know, bring the chair closer, the Rebbe should be able to sit. Well, it's helping. Which was another thing I noticed then over the years. The first time I was there at Tashlamadtev, when the Rebbe had to get up, the Rebbe would just stand, take the back of the chair and like almost throw it. Like I was amazed at the strength. Later years, later started pushing it, and then Rebbe Gornah would help because I guess it was harder for the Rebbe to move the chair. I mean, generally, the Rebbe would stand up when the Aron Kodesh is open, but not, not always. Sometimes the Rebbe would sit. You don't have to stand up every time the Aron Kodesh is open.

52:42 Speaker 3 Yeah.

52:44 Speaker 2 What else? Um, I said the Mussaf. And, um, one year I was quite close actually during Berchos Kohenim. We came to Berchos Kohenim, so the Rebbe would go off his davening bimah and go behind. They brought the Krias HaTorah half stender, which were from upstairs. It's a half stender like, uh, a stender on top of a table.

53:11 Speaker 3 Goes on a table, yeah.

53:12 Speaker 2 So it goes on a table. So they brought that behind at the end of the, at the back of the bimah and put that there.

53:20 Speaker 3 To the Rebbe's like where the crowd is.

53:21 Speaker 2 Yeah. The Rebbe's further back 'cause he's supposed to be facing the Kohen.

53:24 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm.

53:25 Speaker 2 And the Kohenim would go up onto the, onto the bimah, onto the Rebbe's davening bimah. I mean, there were loads more Kohenim near the Aron Kodesh, but on the Rebbe's davening bimah it would also be full of Kohenim. And the Rebbe would, um, the Rebbe was there, you know, the Rebbe covered himself. Cover the tallis. And then by Hayom Tam Tzeino, so the Rebbe's down on the floor, so it's a lot harder for people to see, but I do remember that one time, and there was like, I think it was the second day, Rosh Hashanah Tashm Endalat when I saw that. And the Rebbe's head like mamish, you know. They say that, um, one, one of chazzan, I think, uh, Zalmanov, he was the one who adapted the words Hayom Tam Tzeino to the Rebbe's father's niggun. And they say afterwards, the Rebbe, they thanked him for that. But I remember the Rebbe's h-head ba-backwards and forwards, like very strong, you know. You know, it's like... Anyway, the, the best chazzan I could say in, uh, in those years was, um, Rabbi Weinberg. You heard him clearly and so most Lubavitchers who know-

54:32 Speaker 3 Nusach

54:33 Speaker 2 From some seventy know Rabbi Weinberg.

54:36 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm.

54:38 Speaker 2 Hayom Tam Tzeino. So it was very-- But the Rebbe was very freylech. Then, um, well, basically what I'm remembering now from Mussaf. Mincha would be, the second day would be upstairs 'cause before Fabregen you have to set up, uh, downstairs for Fabregen. So Rebbe went upstairs and here was the Tashlach just for Fabregen, so it's very hard. Yeah.

55:11 Speaker 3 It's hard to know, to-

55:12 Speaker 2 No, no, just, um, you know, to be the-by the Rebbe's minyan at the Katcha place of Fabregen, whatever it was-

55:19 Speaker 3 Yeah

55:19 Speaker 2 It was, it wasn't easy. Generally, this I heard, um, from one of my teachers years before, they say that the Rosh Hashanah, the Rebbe didn't sleep the chalal two nights of Rosh Hashanah, so they say the Rebbe's voice was weaker on Rosh Hashanah. Generally, the Rosh Hashanah Fabregen, in later years it changed, but generally it was niggunim, niggunim of old Rabbeim, maimar, another s-short sikha usually. Later it changed, the Rebbe started saying more sikhas. Especially Tashm Endalat was a very strange, um, happening. It was the first time for years the Rebbe asked that it should be Pirke Smapa, then, uh, second Rosh Hashanah's Friday So before, before the Rebbe came into Farbrengen, Rabbi Mendlik was, um, explaining the Halachas of Peris Mapah, what you have to do. I mean, there's not really much to do, but if you listen to Kiddush, if you already said Bar Peragafin during the Sudar, so you don't say it by Kiddush. You have to cover over the Challah. Where were the Dinim which were Negei of Peris Mapah, and he was explaining all the Dinim. Uh, they say, I don't remember when exactly I heard that, but they say that the Rebbe said he has a lot more to speak, a lot more to say, and therefore he wanted the Olam should be Peris Mapah, so Farbrengen could go a little longer. So I, I can't say I understand that because the Rebbe himself wouldn't be Peris Mapah anyway. Minig of the Rabim not to be Peris Mapah. If

57:02 Speaker 2 you wanna look a little bit about that, it's, uh, Sicha Simchas Torah Tashin Dawat. There's a big Haar from the Friedrich Rabbi in the Sicha about being Peris Mapah. But generally, the Rabim were Machmid not to be Peris Mapah. But the Rebbe wanted the Olam at least should be Peris Mapah. Maybe that gives a longer leeway. I don't know exactly what that means.

57:23 Speaker 3 Interesting is also that after Mem Chess, the Rebbe did not do that.

57:28 Speaker 2 Right.

57:28 Speaker 3 And that has a b-- Okay, that's very simple because the Rebbe needed to bench Tricht.

57:32 Speaker 2 That's after Mem Chess.

57:33 Speaker 3 After Mem Chess.

57:33 Speaker 2 The only time after was, was, um-

57:35 Speaker 3 Mem Alef

57:35 Speaker 2 ... with Mem Alef. But I'll get to that in a s-- If you wanna, I'll get to that maybe if I remember. That was Mem Chess. The Rebbe mentions that, uh, we stopped doing that in Chabad.

57:44 Speaker 3 Right. Everyone always asks this in Purim.

57:46 Speaker 2 That Shabbos is gracious.

57:47 Speaker 3 Right. Everyone wants to be Peris Mapah in Purim for that Friday, the-

57:52 Speaker 2 I'm wondering if the Rebbe says as a Minich or just we stopped doing it.

57:58 Speaker 3 Or maybe there's a difference between Farbrengen as opposed to in your own home, whatever.

58:02 Speaker 2 I think the words in the, in the Sicha Lecha, I think it says, um, came to Chabad or to do-- We stopped doing this. However it was. So this time, the Rebbe wanted it to be Peris Mapah. So when it came the time to Peris Mapah, so the Rebbe said that where it was in the old Tolshevsky, the Chazan Remohabber Tolshevsky, he got up to say Kiddush. I don't know what he was doing, and I don't understand what the mix-up was. There was something going on, and he, like, was getting mixed up, uh, between, um, or I don't know what. I, I personally didn't understand what was going on, and it was, um, Bachar were laughing, and especially the guests, like, uh... And the Rebbe was getting upset. And the Rebbe said, um, to him, And for some reason, Rabbi Mendlik wasn't telling him what to do. Like, as if it looked to me like he was afraid to talk in front of the Rebbe. Uh, just something wasn't working out, and the Rebbe was not happy. Most of the Olam, knowing that the Rebbe is not gonna eat any Challah anyway, the Rebbe was not gonna eat after Shkiya. He's not Yotzer from the Kiddush. So most of the Olam did not end up eating. A few people did. The Rebbe did something then that he never, ever-- he never did in such a Krias before or after, which was when by benching, the Rebbe added And the Rebbe explained himself that, um, because

59:48 Speaker 2 there are people here who ate at Sudes Shabbos, so therefore, since it's a place which Al Pi Halacha, the Hefsek is not so bad, you know, after the fourth Bracha, that's why the Rebbe said Even though he didn't say Yotzer because he didn't say And then the Rebbe said that the Kosher Bracha, he'll give out the next night.

1:00:15 Speaker 3 Matzoh Yom.

1:00:16 Speaker 2 Matzoh Yontif.

1:00:17 Speaker 3 So there's two Fabrengens then.

1:00:20 Speaker 2 So... No, no, no, not Matzoh Yontif, Matzoh Shabbos. The Rebbe didn't say Matzoh Shabbos then.

1:00:26 Speaker 3 Ah.

1:00:26 Speaker 2 Let, let me recap again. At the end of Fabrengen, the Rebbe said, " That's what the Rebbe said. Until then, it was always usual that the Rebbe would give out Kosher Bracha. If Rosh Hashanah was Friday, you're not allowed to drink after benching before Maariv, before Kiddush. So the Rebbe would give out Kosher Bracha the next day after Shabbos Shuva Fabrengen. The Rebbe said, " The next day was a regular Shabbos Shuva Fabrengen, one thirty, and at the end of Fabrengen, the Maskirium took out the Kos of wine from yesterday he thought the Rebbe was gonna give out, like the Rebbe did till then every time it was such a Krias, even Tosh Maim Alef. Uh, then there was a thing that, uh, people didn't wanna go and trouble the Rebbe to go, uh, you know, after Lamed Chess. So somebody announced, uh, and the Rebbe said, "Leave the Moreh Secher alone and let everybody come to get, uh, Kosher Bracha."

1:01:33 Speaker 3 I think the Rebbe used a stronger Lashon, no?

1:01:34 Speaker 2 Yeah, but it depends. It was twice. It was Lamed Chess and Mem Alef. I'm not gonna go into it now, and I wasn't here anyway, so I'm not gonna -

1:01:41 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm

1:01:42 Speaker 2 ... I'm not gonna go into that. But, um, but the Rebbe al-always gave out the Kosher Bracha Shabbos day. I was actually hoping to see that. I wanna see if the Rebbe giving out Kosher Bracha during the day. But here, the Rebbe surprised everyone, and the Rebbe said there's gonna be another Sudar, another Fabrengen before Shkiya.

1:02:02 Speaker 3 But the Rebbe ever did it? What do you mean?

1:02:04 Speaker 2 That was the first time that the Rebbe-

1:02:05 Speaker 3 No, no, the Rebbe, the Rebbe ever gave out by day?

1:02:07 Speaker 2 Yeah, always. Whenever it was the first-- Whenever it was such a Krias, the Rosh Hashanah's Friday, second Rosh Hashanah Friday.

1:02:14 Speaker 3 The Rebbe gave out-

1:02:15 Speaker 2 So the Rebbe gave out the Kosher Bracha Shabbos Shuvi day

1:02:18 Speaker 3 Middle of the day?

1:02:19 Speaker 2 Yeah.

1:02:20 Speaker 3 Okay.

1:02:20 Speaker 2 There were other years, I think, that the Rebbe gave out Kos shel Bracha on 12 Tishrei. Kos shel Bracha for Rosh Hashanah, the Rebbe gave it on Kos-- on 12 Tishrei. I don't know exactly which year. I've seen it.

1:02:31 Speaker 3 Ha, I think in the early years, ha- Kos shel Bracha happened-

1:02:36 Speaker 2 Different, yeah

1:02:37 Speaker 3 ... differently, more often, whatever

1:02:38 Speaker 2 My shver had, uh, said, uh, told me he remembers in the yud, such a krias there would wash, the signal there was niggun, there would bentch, give out Kos shel Bracha, and then was the ma'ariv.

1:02:52 Speaker 3 Mm, interesting. Okay, so this is a chiddush that the Rebbe said that there's gonna be a s-- Rebbe finished the fabregen and said there's gonna be a second fabregen.

1:02:58 Speaker 2 There's gonna be another fabregen, and there wasn't even enough challah for everybody. You know, no-- you weren't ready for it. In fact, the Rebbe sent out matzahs from his room for himself to wash.

1:03:08 Speaker 3 So essentially, there were two-

1:03:09 Speaker 2 No challah

1:03:09 Speaker 3 ... matzah Rosh Hashanah fabregens that year.

1:03:12 Speaker 2 Yeah. But from then on, that was the krias. Mem-daled, mem-hei-

1:03:17 Speaker 3 Until after mem-ches

1:03:18 Speaker 2 ... mem-ches and nun alef. Nun alef, there was-- there wasn't the first one, Friday.

1:03:23 Speaker 3 Right

1:03:24 Speaker 2 Friday evening.

1:03:25 Speaker 3 So there are three fabregens on Rosh Hashanah.

1:03:26 Speaker 2 But till then, it happened mem-daled. Mem-daled and mem-hei and mem-ches.

1:03:33 Speaker 3 Three fabregens.

1:03:33 Speaker 2 Yeah. So it was farbrengen Friday evening, and Shabbos day there was two, two farbrengens. Um, I'm saying that the Rebbe gave out matzahs from his room. There was a-- they weren't ready for it.

1:03:50 Speaker 3 Right

1:03:50 Speaker 2 There was another farbrengen. Um, and then Kos shel Bracha came out, was from the three koses . I would say three koses, whatever the Rebbe used. I mean, there was a Kos shel Bracha from Friday and from Shabbos Shalshedis time, and also the Rebbe's made Havdalah. And, uh, it's like three, three times the Rebbe was using the kos, and the Rebbe gave a Kos shel Bracha from that. The Kos shel Bracha was matzah, Matzah Shabbos, that krias. Tashim Mem was a very... How we would thank.

1:04:27 Speaker 3 Mm.

1:04:29 Speaker 2 Um, Tashim Mem, as I mentioned before, was a very freilech Rosh Hashanah. And the Rebbe started the niggun after each tefillah. Ad mor chatanu, all four times, as far as I know. On, um, Matzah Rosh Hashanah, first of the Havdalah, if you listen to the recording, it's very upbeat and a, a tone which the Rebbe never usually uses. That's a beautiful, very upbeat, um, tune on the Havdalah. And the Rebbe is very freilech during Kos shel Bracha. I heard from people who were-- who, um, went over. I think I didn't go over then. But I heard from people who went over, they say the Rebbe was singing loudly with the oilem.

1:05:27 Speaker 3 Mamash.

1:05:27 Speaker 2 It was very freilech. Almost everything-- Kos shel Bracha wasn't that long then. I think it was about an hour. There was moeded almost every niggun besides and the Ne'ena. There was a moeded almost every single niggun. Towards the end, they were singing what's now known as V'yhiam shimchashem. In the middle, the Rebbe said they should sing, um, or shrine something, um, uh, V'yhiam shimchashem.

1:05:54 Speaker 3 They were singing the niggun .

1:05:55 Speaker 2 They were singing the niggun. And the Rebe- And the, the maimer, the Divrei Malkiel, the maimer was V'yhiam shimchashem.

1:06:00 Speaker 3 V'yhiam shimchashem.

1:06:03 Speaker 2 So, uh, the s- Rebbe said they should shrine or sing something that should say V'yhiam shimchashem. And so the, the Rebbe wanted them to add the words V'yhiam shimchashem-

1:06:12 Speaker 3 To the tune

1:06:13 Speaker 2 ... to the niggun. They started going, the, the Chazan Tolshevsky was there. He didn't used to be for Rosh Hashanah, but from the Kos shel Bracha, he came right away. He had the shul next.

1:06:21 Speaker 3 'Cause he had the chazan. Yeah.

1:06:23 Speaker 2 So yeah, so... But he came, Matzah Rosh Hashanah, he was there by Kos shel Bracha, and he's trying to sing the niggun. What's interesting is backwards and forwards, and he was trying to put the words to the song.

1:06:33 Speaker 3 I think he had like a machzor. He was, like, looking at it.

1:06:35 Speaker 2 Could be . There's a video, a shtickel video.

1:06:38 Speaker 3 Yeah.

1:06:38 Speaker 2 Friedman took a video. And, um, as I rem-- it was interesting 'cause when he started to catch on, and Rebbe went like this, so the whole oilem started to join in, and then he couldn't hear him. So it wasn't working out very well. In middle, the Rebbe says to him, "Vayapizmen." It's a firtsach that you say over words. You repeat words like Ulei Racham.

1:07:02 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm.

1:07:02 Speaker 2 Like you say the words, and then you say again, Ulei Racham. So here, the Rebbe says you could add the words, not Ulei Racham. The Rebbe says you say the words V'yhiam shimchashem adechem, uh, the a-add in those words and not say words of the pasuk, and say again V'yhiam shimchashem. Then right afterwards-

1:07:18 Speaker 3 I don't think that's how it came out .

1:07:19 Speaker 2 No. Afterwards, Rebbe was thinking how it could have worked.

1:07:22 Speaker 3 Yeah.

1:07:22 Speaker 2 But it didn't work that well. And then the Rebbe says to him, "Iz eyt a cha compositor."

1:07:28 Speaker 3 Composer.

1:07:28 Speaker 2 You're a composer. And, uh, it was trying again, trying again. Rebbe said... In the end, the Rebbe says to him, "Nu, zing a simchas teyrah dekenigin, un s'tal makhem beser." Something like that.

1:07:40 Speaker 3 If you sing a simchas teyrah dekenigin-

1:07:41 Speaker 2 Sing a simchas teyrah dekenigin, you'll do better . So, uh, he started saying, "Ay, da, ay, ay, ay, ay." The Rebbe put down the kos. And the Rebbe started to do more oyded the niggun. I would say generally, the Rebbe's more oyded. You know, it takes one way, either waving his hand or clapping his hands. But here, the Rebbe was doing all kinds of tnuos. It's push the unbelievable scene. I can't forget it. Even though there's a video, you can see mamash.

1:08:05 Speaker 3 Yeah, there's a whole video of it.

1:08:06 Speaker 2 Yeah. No, he's missing on the video . I saw Freidin in the middle of the singing. He had to change his, uh, film.

1:08:12 Speaker 3 Yeah, he's g-

1:08:13 Speaker 2 He had to change his film. He always had to change a film in the middle of something exciting. But, um, it's like he has quite a bit of-

1:08:19 Speaker 3 They, they, uh, when Gem produced that video They had a whole-- The narrator says a whole background that Friedan brought these videos to Eretz Israel. He would show them. He'd do like a public viewing.

1:08:32 Speaker 2 Yeah, I remember he would do that. Yeah.

1:08:33 Speaker 3 And he said-- And they, they say there that when he showed this video of the Rebbe Me'ed, this like that-

1:08:39 Speaker 2 Mm-hmm.

1:08:40 Speaker 3 Tav Shamim.

1:08:41 Speaker 2 Yeah.

1:08:41 Speaker 3 It was like a big-- It was, it was two years after Lamas Hes, you know.

1:08:45 Speaker 2 Right.

1:08:45 Speaker 3 So the Chabad in Eretz Israel, they, they don't know. I mean, it was like, "Wow, the Rebbe is-

1:08:48 Speaker 2 Yeah, yeah

1:08:49 Speaker 3 ... stronger than ever." It's a very special clip.

1:08:51 Speaker 2 Yeah. Anyway, that was also like a very freilicher Hashanah. So that was like the culmination, but the Rebbe made it so freilicher. And Mama she reminded us in Chassidya, the, the strength how the Rebbe was Me'ed the Nigun. And just before the Rebbe went out, and the Rebbe then the Rebbe gave out to whoever's left Kos shel Bracha. It wasn't much, remember, another few minutes. As the Rebbe left with a strong voice today. "I, yeah." Like very, very strong. I mean, the audio is there. You have the-- He doesn't have that p- that piece on the video. So after his dancing, I didn't even remember, but I, I actually found myself dancing in the cro- after the Rebbe left. And so dancing, I don't know how long, but it was a very freilicher. Anyway, so that was, um, Sunday night. Monday was Simchat Torah. Generally, I think a fast day, the Rebbe's serious. But Tuesday, um, was a very strange thing. The Rebbe came into Mincha, I would say a half smile on his face, which is unusual. The Rebbe was-- The Rebbe came to davening, the Rebbe was usually serious. The Rebbe came in like a half smile. It was very interesting. And then after Mincha, the Rebbe turned around, and also the half smile. It's wow, singing in the weekdays. And it's not Shabbos after farbrengen that it would start a Nigun, but here in a weekday after Mincha. And the Rebbe did that Tuesday and Wednesday. After Mincha, the Rebbe turned around

1:10:27 Speaker 2 and say, Thursday, he was off to Shrey, the yard site, so the Rebbe was like, I would say, very serious. And, um, I'm just remembering, it's even in the video also, Tashlamanzayn, who had the psicha, I think, Rebbe. Chabaduka had the psicha, maybe Dr. Zalekson. Dr. Zalekson probably had psicha. He took Hamshich Sefer Torah. It's extremely heavy Sefer Torah. It was the-- I mean, Chas VeShalom, he almost dropped it. It was, like, very hard to him. The Rebbe, like, caught it from him almost. And the keser went crooked. It was, like, very... Because I remember the Rebbe, like, standing, like, gave the Sefer Torah a shake, and the keser-

1:11:12 Speaker 3 Keser

1:11:12 Speaker 2 ... straightened itself. But it's-

1:11:15 Speaker 3 While he was holding-- While the other person was holding it.

1:11:17 Speaker 2 No, no, no. The Rebbe-

1:11:18 Speaker 3 The Rebbe grabbed-

1:11:19 Speaker 2 The Rebbe grabbed it from him, the Sefer Torah.

1:11:21 Speaker 3 Yeah.

1:11:21 Speaker 2 Then the Rebbe gave a shake, and the keser sat down onto the Sefer Torah. It was extremely heavy. After Lamas Hes, they wouldn't let the Rebbe carry the Sefer Torah. And the Rebbe actually stopped giving the Hachara when to use it. Rebbe said, "You're not listening to me anyway." But they would not-- Whenever the Rebbe had the yard site, they would not want the Rebbe to schlep the Sefer Torah. It's extremely heavy Sefer Torah.

1:11:47 Speaker 3 So the, so the-

1:11:47 Speaker 2 I mean, I've tried that. I can't carry it, honestly.

1:11:50 Speaker 3 Because of that, the Rebbe said, "I'm start not giving Hachara to use it."

1:11:53 Speaker 2 Yeah. That, that's what I heard. The, the Rebbe said, "You're not listening to me anyway." And then he stopped giving Hachara when to use it. They continued to use it every year with the Pagre, every special date. They'd use Moshiach's Sefer Torah. And that-

1:12:07 Speaker 3 That's when they started giving the Rebbe the, the, the Rebbe's Sefer Torah.

1:12:10 Speaker 2 The small Sefer Torah. Yeah, the slavita Sefer Torah. Also, um, a Shabbos which they use Moshiach's Sefer Torah, so they would use it also by Mincha and give the Rebbe Aliyah by Mincha. The Rebbe didn't always get Aliyah by Mincha. But because they use the slavita Sefer Torah from after, so the Rebbe didn't get Aliyah on Moshiach's Sefer Torah. So they would lean again by Mincha, Moshiach's Sefer Torah, so the, so the Rebbe should get Aliyah on Moshiach's Sefer Torah. If they use a different Sefer Torah, Lav Davka give the Rebbe Aliyah.

1:12:42 Speaker 3 On Shabbos-

1:12:43 Speaker 2 On Shabbos Mincha

1:12:43 Speaker 3 ... when they use the Rebbe's Sefer Torah, when the Rebbe's Chazan-

1:12:46 Speaker 2 Yeah

1:12:46 Speaker 3 ... they do the whole Kriya from the Rebbe's, from the small Torah.

1:12:50 Speaker 2 Um, yeah, from after Lamas Hes, yeah.

1:12:52 Speaker 3 Interesting. Mm-hmm. Interesting. Okay.

1:12:54 Speaker 2 Yeah.

1:12:54 Speaker 3 By Mincha, the Moshiach's Sefer Torah. Okay.

1:12:57 Speaker 2 No, I wouldn't say that. If they use Moshiach's Sefer Torah by, by, uh, Shacharis, use by Mincha. I'm not saying-

1:13:04 Speaker 3 But the Rebbe's tells to carry it by Mincha.

1:13:06 Speaker 2 Right. So they gave the Rebbe a small one. They didn't use Moshiach's Sefer Torah. I'm saying if it was, uh, a different kind of Shabbos. Whatever-

1:13:16 Speaker 3 Ah. Shaz-- Right

1:13:17 Speaker 2 ... Parshas Hodesh, Parshas Zachor, wherever it was, if they would use Moshiach's Sefer Torah by Shacharis, so the second Sefer Torah was always the small Sefer Torah. So by Mincha, they would use again Moshiach's Sefer Torah.

1:13:31 Speaker 3 Oh, right.

1:13:32 Speaker 2 And then the-- So the Rebbe should have Aliyah on Moshiach's Sefer Torah.

1:13:39 Speaker 3 Okay.

1:13:39 Speaker 2 Anyways, uh, Rov Tishrei. Actually, I remember a good friend of mine, Badolchem Tevim, um, he was saying, "Okay, Yossi Tif from Manola Shalom." And he was standing next to me, Tashlamanzayn. I don't know what he noticed, but in the middle of a farbrengen of Rov Tishrei, he asks me, "Does the Rebbe say a ma'amar on, uh, Rov Tishrei?" Maybe he noticed the Rebbe's putting on tichel, I don't know. But, um, I said, "No," 'cause usually the Rebbe doesn't say a ma'amar of Rov Tishrei. Right after that, I see the Rebbe nodding to Reb Yael to sing the ma'amar Nigun. It was a Chiddush the Rebbe said the ma'amar.

1:14:14 Speaker 3 The Rebbe said the ma'amar that year.

1:14:15 Speaker 2 Rov Tishrei Tashlamanzayn, Shuv Yisroel. And Shabbos again was a ma'amar Shuv Yisroel. Tashlamanzayn actually didn't know when the farbrengen Shabbos Shuv would be, because Motzei Shabbos is Erev in Kippur. So it's gonna be the Kapparos and everything. So the Rebbe's idea that on Friday the farbrengen is gonna be on Shabbos, not Motzei Shabbos. From then on, Tashlaman, half the farbrengens were Shabbos, half Motzei Shabbos, until Shabbos were from Adar, when the Rebbe's idea from now on, all farbrengens are back to Shabbos, not Motzei Shabbos. Anyway, um, Tashlamanzayn, I actually was in the sukkah when the Rebbe came out for Kapparos. Can't say I saw much, but I remember the Rebbe coming out. Well, actually it was full, it was pushy. I, I didn't see that much, but-

1:15:12 Speaker 3 Why did it move later to the front? You don't know? Do you know?

1:15:15 Speaker 2 I'm not sure. It was only I think, uh, one year or two years.

1:15:19 Speaker 3 Yeah.

1:15:19 Speaker 2 An hour from this probably. I don't know. I remember seeing the Rebbe's face, but I'm not sure if I saw the chicken.

1:15:27 Speaker 3 At the kaparos.

1:15:27 Speaker 2 Yeah, when the Rebbe came-- to shacht the kaparos. I'll make it clear, the kaparos itself, the Rebbe did in his room. Nobody ever saw that. Even us kirov were not in there when the Rebbe did it.

1:15:40 Speaker 3 Right. I think the chicken was delivered to the Rebbe's room.

1:15:43 Speaker 2 Could be. I, I-

1:15:44 Speaker 3 And then the Rebbe would do it-

1:15:45 Speaker 2 I don't know exac-

1:15:45 Speaker 3 ...and then come out with it. Yeah, something like that.

1:15:46 Speaker 2 Yeah, I don't know exactly. Well, the Rebbe came out holding the chicken . It was always amazing to see the videos also. The Rebbe holds the chicken, the chicken's perfectly silent. As soon as he gives it to the shochet, it starts squawking . Also the Rebbe would-- as he would shecht, you know, the Rebbe was watching. The Rebbe would give a slight shudder every time as he shechted. In fact, you could even notice it when, when the, um, shochet puts-- After he finished shechting and he puts the chicken into the, the ga-garbage can, you know, and the, the chicken's knocking around, and you see the Rebbe's very uncomfortable. And, um, he would, he-- Right away, right after schritta, he would pluck some feathers and give it to the Rebbe to, um, to do the bracha. But he would check the chalav before and after immediately.

1:16:39 Speaker 3 He'd tell the Rebbe-

1:16:39 Speaker 2 Tell him some... I don't know if he told him anything, but he would check the chalav.

1:16:43 Speaker 3 'Cause that's what he's supposed to do, by the way.

1:16:44 Speaker 2 Yeah, before and after. It's, uh-

1:16:46 Speaker 3 Yeah

1:16:46 Speaker 2 ...that's the hiddur. Reb Itche Massmid was, uh, very much into it . So, um, and then there was a line for lecha.

1:16:56 Speaker 3 And also the Rebbe, when the Rebbe did kisui adam, you know, I tried to look in the videos, like the-- It seemed like the Rebbe's doing like dal deruchas. Like, I don't know, like one, two-

1:17:05 Speaker 2 It just seems to be taken from all sides.

1:17:07 Speaker 3 Yeah.

1:17:07 Speaker 2 Yeah.

1:17:07 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm.

1:17:08 Speaker 2 Yeah. Backwards and forwards. And then they started line, standing on line for lecha, which took a long time. To shlome zaim, it's the first time I was here for Yom Kippur, and the Rebbe-

1:17:21 Speaker 3 So lecha is after shacharit.

1:17:22 Speaker 2 Yeah. They asked, um, the ohel not to take more than one, not to ask for anyone else. So from then I think that stopped, the asking for someone else. But, uh, yeah, they gave numbers, and the Rebbe thanked the Vaad Hatzalah afterwards because the numbers, it came easier.

1:17:43 Speaker 3 There was numbers for lecha?

1:17:44 Speaker 2 Yeah, that year anyway.

1:17:46 Speaker 3 You got a ticket.

1:17:47 Speaker 2 Yeah, a ticket with numbers. You see, it went easier 'cause if you know what number you are, you're, you're less hesitant. You know, you go. So it, it made, it made it faster for the Rebbe. And the Rebbe would always still before lamed heh. So the Rebbe would-- The, the tray of cake, tray, loads of trays, would be inside the room. And for every person, the Rebbe would take a piece and give. The Rebbe would look, take a piece, give Shonte and Sukkah. But each person, like the Rebbe would look at them and turn into his room, take the pieces, you know, backwards and forwards. They claim, this is what I heard once a svara that person-- The Rebbe was not like a, a waiter or server, you know, serving food. But it was a lot easier when later after lamed heh, so the tray's in front of the Rebbe, and the Rebbe was just-

1:18:37 Speaker 3 Are you saying-

1:18:37 Speaker 2 ...giving from the tray to the person

1:18:38 Speaker 3 ...the thing with pedafah ke like that, the Rebbe-

1:18:40 Speaker 2 Yeah, it seemed like, you know, the Rebbe's not giving you-- He's not a server giving the food. He's like-

1:18:44 Speaker 3 Right.

1:18:45 Speaker 2 But, uh, lamed heh it became easier.

1:18:47 Speaker 3 To have the tray in front of the Rebbe.

1:18:48 Speaker 2 The tray in front of the Rebbe. The Rebbe just gives you a piece, and he doesn't have to turn that much and-

1:18:52 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm

1:18:54 Speaker 2 ...it, so it went, to a certain ex-extent, it went faster. So the, when I always stood in line for lecha, when you have the tsitas, then you come back to push for, uh, catch a place for, um, the bracha to the bachurim. Okay, after the bracha downstairs-

1:19:15 Speaker 3 At Mincha

1:19:16 Speaker 2 After Mincha is the bracha to Anash. They say the Rebbe didn't, those years the Rebbe didn't like the microphone. This is years the Rebbe went like that to the microphone, should take it away.

1:19:27 Speaker 3 The whole thing changed 'cause it used to be Maam Shenibraha.

1:19:30 Speaker 2 Used to be a bracha. Mem Beis is the first time it was a sicha.

1:19:32 Speaker 3 And then became a sicha and a regular-

1:19:34 Speaker 2 Yeah. And then became a long sicha. Mem Gimmel I think or Mem Zayin-

1:19:38 Speaker 3 I mean, earlier the Rebbe would get on top of the table, no?

1:19:40 Speaker 2 Yeah, that's, uh-

1:19:41 Speaker 3 Pictures of that.

1:19:42 Speaker 2 And then there's a video of, uh, Chaviv, Chavshil.

1:19:44 Speaker 3 No, it's a table. Whatever, it's higher.

1:19:45 Speaker 2 He go went up onto something. Yeah, it could be. I heard there was a table. But afterwards, um, the Rebbe would-- It became a sicha, and then Mem Bet I think it was a sicha like over an hour.

1:19:57 Speaker 3 Yeah.

1:19:58 Speaker 2 On Erev Yom Kippur it's like people barely had time personally to go run home, eat two more seconds and come back, you know. You wanna go to mikvah before Kol Nidre again. It was like then everyone Lamed Zayin and the bracha . So, um, after the bracha to Anash, tell me that they held the microphone at the side. And as the, the Rebbe went to the side of the shtender, and as he closed his eyes to say the bracha, then they put the microphone close. He was holding it, whoever it was, Kazen maybe. He was holding it close to, to the Rebbe on a stick, so he doesn't have to be close to the Rebbe, you know. And, uh, Rebbe said the bracha. The tone is different. The tone of a bracha is different than a sicha. The Rebbe you know I think the Rebbe stressed that many years. And out, right after that, ran upstairs to the Kollel to catch a place for the bracha For the bachurim, for the bachurim of Tsair Eretz. And, um, okay, you know, the fiarah on time. So they're opening the door a certain time. It was, I think, fifteen minutes before Lech Manchin, 'cause they don't want too much pushing. There's a whole other story. I'm not gonna get into that now, but there was years when the Rebbe complained that the bachurim pushed for so long that they, they didn't have time to eat, uh, Seudas HaChodesh.

1:21:30 Speaker 3 Yeah, 'cause the bachurim were wait-- Oh, saying it. Amal was open, and people would push and sit there the whole day.

1:21:36 Speaker 2 People would, yeah.

1:21:36 Speaker 3 And the Rebbe was not happy about-

1:21:37 Speaker 2 The Rebbe was not happy. Yeah. So they start-

1:21:38 Speaker 3 -the fact that bachurim are not eating, but, you know, 'cause they were hopping a place. So they made a rule that the door is locked.

1:21:44 Speaker 2 Right. So they would open it up, like, fifteen minutes before Lech Manchin.

1:21:47 Speaker 3 Right. That's the whole thing where everyone stampedes into, into the room.

1:21:51 Speaker 2 Into the chutz.

1:21:52 Speaker 3 Yeah.

1:21:53 Speaker 2 Because Tasha Mem was another thing. So you started using the chutz. You know, when the Bracha Erev Kippur moved, first it wasn't there. It was room for the first ten years, nine years, until it became impossible in there. What happened was the light switch went on and off. So, um, it mamash disturbs. The next year, we went out to get in the tachton. So there's more room standing there and on the stairs until it moved into the zal, Tasha Lamed Aleph. So it's like every ten years, they had to make a change. It was impossible. And I just wanna describe what it's like, bachurim like when I describe it . Going into the Bracha Erev Kippur, it's Lamed Zayin, and, uh, people just coming in and coming in and coming in. I mean, they took out all the furniture. The only piece of furniture which was left was, like, two tables or four tables in the, what do you call it? Uh, safen side, I would say, next to Mazkiris, where the Rebbe came in. So they had the Rebbe's stand there on top of the tables. Put a carpet on top of it also, and the Rebbe would go up and stand on the tables. Besides that, it was, place was empty. Only the bimah, which they, I think they couldn't take it out.

1:23:07 Speaker 3 The Chazan bimah?

1:23:08 Speaker 2 No, not just the Amud. The Kirseteer bimah.

1:23:11 Speaker 3 It was stuck to the floor?

1:23:12 Speaker 2 It was too big to go out of the door.

1:23:14 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm. Yeah.

1:23:14 Speaker 2 I don't think they could move it. So they put it near the second door, you know, near the Chazan. I think it was there, and guys would stand on there. But, uh, besides that, there was, uh, empty. And there's, like, six huge fans. I mean, the air conditioner there was not strong enough for such an Ohel. And so three huge fans on both sides. Make such a noise. But you need it is to blow the air through. And just, place is just filling up and filling up and filling up and filling up. And I'm short, so I'm trying to catch my hat. So my hand's like this, and I'm catching my hat. And the place is getting fuller and fuller and fuller. And I feel my hand is, like, squashing my chest. Like, it's hurting. I, I feel like, you know, the, the... I don't know. I managed to move it a drop. It's crazy, you know. It's push-pushing, pushing, and pushing. It, it's, it's not pushing. It's just squashed. And the guy right next to me, don't forget, you're not standing in lines. Wherever there's a, a centimeter of space, you know, there's somebody there. And the guy right next to me, his hands were down, and there's no way he could pick his hands up. And, you know, shvitzing this, and his glasses just slid off, and they fell down. It doesn't go onto the floor. It dropped down over here. He says, "Do me a favor. Could you put my glasses on?"

1:24:42 Speaker 2 So I'm like, you know, barely able to move my hand, and I pick up his glasses and manage to hook it onto this ear, which is close to me, but I can't reach the other ear . I tried a few times, and it's like, in the end, he said, "Forget about it." There's nothing you can do, you know.

1:25:00 Speaker 3 Yeah.

1:25:00 Speaker 2 It's like your hands are wherever-- They're locked. Your ha- You cannot pick your hands up. You're, you know, just squashed. I mean, like, no moving. Then there became a shhh. The Rebbe came in. As soon as the Rebbe came in, they unplugged all the fans 'cause you wouldn't be able to hear a word. So they unplugged all the fans. Then it got hot . But it, uh, whatever. The, the Rebbe's there. I wasn't able to see anything, but at least I'm in the same room as the Rebbe.

1:25:25 Speaker 3 You can hear the Rebbe?

1:25:26 Speaker 2 Yeah, I could hear him. Yeah. Bracha. I can't say I caught the Bracha 'cause I wasn't used to this type of pushing. Takes a different type of concentration to be able to listen even though there's pushing. But the words are very interesting. I'm gonna listen over to the recording afterwards. And it was the first year the Rebbe allowed a speaker, so they hid the microphone under the stand there. There was a speaker in the hall and then maybe in the chutz or they start-

1:26:07 Speaker 3 So you could hear

1:26:08 Speaker 2 ... started using the chutz. Could hear something.

1:26:10 Speaker 3 I think in the chutz was for the younger bachurim, no?

1:26:13 Speaker 2 That started later. Then they pushed in the chutz, so it should be room.

1:26:16 Speaker 3 Oh, so those years it was every bachur was out there?

1:26:17 Speaker 2 Every... Yeah. That's why I was a young bachur. I was fifteen.

1:26:20 Speaker 3 Uh-huh. So the whole thing-

1:26:21 Speaker 2 I was in there

1:26:21 Speaker 3 ... the whole thing that only the older bachurim-

1:26:22 Speaker 2 Only after Lamed Ches started.

1:26:24 Speaker 3 Yeah.

1:26:25 Speaker 2 Then they changed the seder. So Tasha Mem, when I came, I was in the chutz or outside. It was a disaster. And the, and the peop- pushing there for an hour before. And even that doesn't help me 'cause I'm not good at pushing, and I found myself on the outskirts. Could not... And also the Rebbe came out very late. Tasha Mem came out, I don't know, maybe te- uh, I don't know, seven minutes, ten minutes after Lech Manchin. The Rebbe came out very late. And the-- whoever was inside, they disconnected the microphone 'cause they thought it's, they thought it's mamash, uh, you know, it's gonna be shkiah already. So there's no microphone. The Rebbe spoke louder than usual. The Rebbe heard there's no microphone, no speaker, and the Rebbe spoke louder than usual. I just heard in the chaser, I just heard hum of the Rebbe's voice. All I remember at the end, I heard Amen keni hi rotzen, that I heard clearly. Besides that, couldn't hear a word. But they recorded it. They say whoever held the, held the, the tape recorder. So he said, "The Rebbe finished two and a half minutes of "" Okay. We'll rely on him. Tape came out, so obviously it was . And, uh, there's a recording. But, uh, you hear the Rebbe crying in the middle of V'rechacha. From the start, one of the bachurim was screaming, and, uh, it was on top of the roof. The, you know, schach-- didn't have schach yet, but the beams

1:27:54 Speaker 2 were there.

1:27:55 Speaker 4 Sukkah.

1:27:55 Speaker 2 And he was on top of the beams, and he was like, I don't know what happened. He was s-s-some screams. So the Rebbe stopped in the middle.

1:28:02 Speaker 4 Middle of the Sukkah.

1:28:03 Speaker 2 In the middle of the V'rechacha.

1:28:05 Speaker 4 Hmm.

1:28:07 Speaker 2 But, um, anyway, it's actually it's hockey, what's gonna happen. But one of the things that came out from then that they would block the Sukkah also, no more than 15 minutes before Lech Menuchan.

1:28:19 Speaker 4 Right.

1:28:19 Speaker 2 Shouldn't have, shouldn't have pushing like that like it was. Pushing for an hour, it's crazy. Before Yom Tov. Before Yom Kippur, I mean, you know. Anyway, what happened different, uh... For me, the best was Mem Daled. I was already from the age 22, and the kutzah could be in the back room. Chedar Sheini was the best. They took out that window where the Sfarim are, and, uh, they put in all the benches from the, from the zal into the Chedar Sheini, put planks of wood on top of them. So you're standing high. It was so high, I could see so well.

1:28:59 Speaker 4 That's interesting. That's the best place.

1:29:01 Speaker 2 For me, that was the-

1:29:02 Speaker 4 Unless you're mamash in front. Yeah.

1:29:03 Speaker 2 Yeah, for me, that was the best. So I was mamash able to see. And the Rebbe came in. For some reason, I don't know why, they put a, a microphone in front of the Rebbe. I was like, "Why are you putting a microphone there?" I mean, as the Rebbe went up the stairs, and he came to onto the table, the Rebbe sees a microphone right in front of the shtender, and the Rebbe like stopped and, you know, like made with his shoulders, uh, like, "What is this?" There's a video of it. And immediately, a bachur came up and-

1:29:30 Speaker 4 So what's the problem? 'Cause the Rebbe, the Rebbe's yom tov dik.

1:29:33 Speaker 2 The Rebbe wasn't yom tov dik, but it's, um, but for Chassid after Lech Menuchan.

1:29:38 Speaker 4 Right. Uh-huh. Okay.

1:29:40 Speaker 2 So it was like, so immediately, bachur jumped up and pulled down the microphone. But there was another hidden microphone under the shtender. I don't know what he was trying to prove, but whatever. But there, there's a recording, but I'm saying he shouldn't have done that, put a microphone there. Anyway. Some years, the Rebbe would pull the tallis over his face, and some years, the Rebbe just left, um-

1:30:02 Speaker 4 Hmm

1:30:02 Speaker 2 ... his tallis on top just, uh, without putting it down. But it always felt very special, the, the bracha to the bachurim. And you see, the Rebbe's mis yachas to the bachurim in a way like, uh, I don't think it was another yachas during the year davka to bachurim like that. Okay, later, you said it's klalos. That's to tell me them from outside New York or outside America.

1:30:28 Speaker 4 I mean, the first year, the Rebbe said, the Rebbe started it. The premise for doing it is the Rebbe said, "..."

1:30:37 Speaker 2 Right.

1:30:37 Speaker 4 "..."

1:30:39 Speaker 2 "..."

1:30:39 Speaker 4 "..." So this is the Rebbe's kinde.

1:30:41 Speaker 2 Sure. Yeah.

1:30:41 Speaker 4 That's ba-basically what it is.

1:30:44 Speaker 2 It was a very, very special feeling from that. Anyway, Yom Kippur itself was very peaceful, let's say calm, you know, especially the night of Yom Kippur. They had the nigunim and then . They're very calming-

1:31:00 Speaker 4 They held the Torah by, uh,

1:31:02 Speaker 2 I couldn't always see because after the bracha, I mean, till I got down-

1:31:06 Speaker 4 Right. Right

1:31:06 Speaker 2 ... I didn't really see much, but... Well, the Rebbe, you know, he did Lamed Zayin, which was a kinda interesting thing. It's a separate story, but I probably printed once. I don't know. 'Cause a few days before Yom Kippur, the, the Arabs went into, um, M-M-Maaras Yaakov Avinu. They destroyed the place. I think, echad mitzvah, they ripped up two Sifrei Torah, and they were mamash made a churban. And the Rebbe was very upset about it. They say this was written down with the, um, Gershon Ber Jacobson when he went by the Rebbe for Lekach on Yom Kippur. The Rebbe told him it's still before Lech Menuchan, that he said, "Well, see if you can get some more details what happened over there." And it seemed to bother the Rebbe very much, and the Rebbe continued to talk about it, both, uh, um, whatever, I mean, L-L-Leil Shmini Atzeres, and then, uh, Shabbos Torah by day and Shabbos Bereishis. But there was a, a, a whole hemsha, but it began in Yom Kippur. The night of Yom Kippur, so after davening, you say Tehillim, and usually the Rebbe would go out after, uh, Elul finished Tehillim. I hear the Rebbe stood maybe half hour after the Elul finished, uh, Rab... And Rav Chaim Tashkenta was the chazan for, for, uh, Tehillim. But after he finished, he didn't go especially fast, but the Rebbe seemed like he was going very slow. It looked mamash half hour after the chazan finished, the Rebbe was still saying Tehillim. And,

1:32:42 Speaker 2 uh, again, the, during Yom Kippur day, there's not much happening. The Rebbe didn't even have a maftir on, uh, on Yom Kippur day.

1:32:49 Speaker 4 The Shacharis. Yeah, whatever, Shacharis, Musaf.

1:32:52 Speaker 2 Shacharis. So by, um, so there's nothing much happening during the day. But then right-

1:32:56 Speaker 4 Sha-Shacharis to Musaf Yom Kippur is like the lowest key-

1:32:58 Speaker 2 Yeah

1:32:59 Speaker 4 ... point in Tishrei with the Rebbe. Isn't it?

1:33:01 Speaker 2 Yeah, it's a... No, it's, it's always a schmack to be a whole day with the Rebbe. It was-

1:33:04 Speaker 4 Yeah

1:33:04 Speaker 2 ... it's not, but peaceful. Then-

1:33:06 Speaker 4 The Rebbe did the, and then the Rebbe did the, the Keilim a few times.

1:33:09 Speaker 2 Yeah.

1:33:10 Speaker 4 Yeah.

1:33:10 Speaker 2 But after, I, I mean, I loved to nigun, um- Uh, Kiano Anecha.

1:33:16 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm.

1:33:19 Speaker 2 The Rebbe would go

1:33:22 Speaker 3 Yeah, there's a certain, uh-

1:33:23 Speaker 2 So by this note, it was a

1:33:26 Speaker 3 There's a certain-- So the Chabad house, that the Elul and the Chabad house wants to know what time is Kiano. Yeah. It's, uh...

1:33:34 Speaker 2 But it's, uh... I love the way the Rebbe would do that nigun especially. Then, um, then, uh, tr-- after the break or during the break, start hopping places for the march 'cause that was the, the highlight. This time, it was the middle of Ne'ilah, , and something happened with the, with the kids. I don't know exactly what. And the Rebbe turned and he asked the

1:33:59 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm.

1:34:03 Speaker 2 He misunderstood. He thought that the Rebbe wants everybody to leave the area of the Amud. So he screams out, . The Rebbe says, He didn't tell everybody to go away. In the end, they understood that the kids who were there, the Rebbe wanted them to come onto the Rebbe's davening bimah. So a bunch of kids, maybe I think it's thirty, forty kids, I don't know exactly, and they stood on near the wall. Now, usually, when the Rebbe's the nigun, so he bangs with his left hand on the shtender so the whole Ohel could see. But here, because the kids are standing on the right, so with his left hand, the Rebbe banged on the shtender. With the right hand, he turned to the kids. I think it was , but for sure, right. That the Rebbe made them very strongly with his hand to the kids they should sing. And, um, at the end of, um after the Chazan said Shatz, the Rebbe asked the Chazan to wait, and the Rebbe asked that all kids under bar mitzvah who are able to daven should come to his place. Started a, a whole and in the back-- I was, like, more near the bimah. So the message didn't get there exactly. Heard the . He started kids, you know, even before I remember this. And on the table, which is blocking the Ohel from pushing too close to the Amud. They're apart from standing on there holding kids, and they have to send them back to

1:35:27 Speaker 2 the parents because the Rebbe wanted only kids who could daven.

1:35:30 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm.

1:35:31 Speaker 2 And the Rebbe waited, but they say that the Rebbe was then crying. I heard that in the name of Rabbi Groner. He never saw the Rebbe crying like that, like five minutes special sobbing. And, uh, one of the kids who was there says, uh, he saw the Rebbe crying like that, he started crying. So the Rebbe heard him crying. The Rebbe looked at him and smiled. But, um, and after all the kids gathered, he started Avinu Malkeinu. I mean, I would say there wasn't a dry eye in the Shul. It was like you could s-sense something happening. The Rebbe sang Avinu Malkeinu again and again. You know, as years went on, the Rebbe would say the sing Avinu Malkeinu by Ne'ilah over and over.

1:36:13 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm.

1:36:14 Speaker 2 It was like, uh, by the, by the-- It was something like five times. By the fifth time, the Rebbe was throwing himself backwards and forwards. You know, and the, the Ohel was like this fire. And after Avinu Malkeinu, all right, so then the Chazan starts Kaddish and the march. So the-- Um, so here, because all the kids are there, so Reb Gron instead of having the kids should push around the Rebbe from all sides, so he pulled the Rebbe's shtender all the way to the left. So the kids are near the wall, and they're only on one side of the Rebbe, so the, you know, 'cause it's... So the chair was right at the edge of the bimah, closest to the Chazan than the Rebbe's shtender. I didn't notice this point till somebody told me. He said, he put the chair with the back of the chair to the Ohel, so the Rebbe went like this. He should turn the chair the other way, so the Rebbe should be able to get up on the chair.

1:37:13 Speaker 3 Napoleon's March.

1:37:14 Speaker 2 Yeah. And it comes to Napoleon's March, and the Rebbe goes like this, his hand on the shtender. They should, um, start singing Napoleon. And the Rebbe was standing, and the Rebbe was straightening his tallis, straightening and straightening and straightening. It looked to me like the Rebbe was-- It's hard for him to go up. I don't know, uh. A long time, he's just straightening his tallis, straightening, straightening. Finally, the Rebbe put his left hand on-- his right hand on the shtender and stepped up onto the chair. And a little bit, the Rebbe waved his hand backwards and forwards a few times, and then the Rebbe went down. It's like very short. Even though I'd never been there before, it still sounded to me like it was short, lo fierekh what I heard from pre-

1:37:58 Speaker 3 In other years-

1:37:59 Speaker 2 From previous years.

1:38:00 Speaker 3 Maybe-

1:38:00 Speaker 2 Other years it was a lot, lot longer.

1:38:01 Speaker 3 Long, yeah.

1:38:04 Speaker 2 Yeah. I mean, uh, I remember later years, I don't know, I'm not sure what year they started putting the stairs there. It's a lot safer for the Rebbe. But they put the stairs, I think, . Anyway, the Rebbe went up on the, one of the stairs. I, I just remember that sear, the the Rebbe's-- most of the Rebbe's, uh, the tallis was covering the Rebbe's face completely. And the Rebbe would clap, like almost from inside the tallis. There was a uh, electric-- electricity in the air. You know, it's like the, the Ohel was like the march was unbelievable. And I said this time was short, and I'm not getting to

1:38:50 Speaker 3 No, no. We're getting there now. So then it's Matzo and Kipper, uh-

1:38:53 Speaker 2 It was Matzo and Kipper the Rebbe would say with the, you know, three times. It was Sameachto. I think it was almost always was Sameachto.

1:39:01 Speaker 3 And, uh-

1:39:01 Speaker 2 The Rebbe starts with Sameachto

1:39:02 Speaker 3 ... the last few years was, um-

1:39:04 Speaker 2 By the way, was the only time that the Rebbe made people fast a little longer because of this thing with the kids.

1:39:10 Speaker 3 This whole thing. Mm-hmm.

1:39:11 Speaker 2 Otherwise, the Rebbe was very makpid.

1:39:12 Speaker 3 Makpid, yeah.

1:39:13 Speaker 2 They say the, the Rebbe would have a watch on his shtender.

1:39:16 Speaker 3 Right.

1:39:16 Speaker 2 So he shouldn't go over the time.

1:39:18 Speaker 3 And, um, now the, the later years, there was, um, the Rebbe started singing, uh, his father's nigun

1:39:26 Speaker 2 Father's, uh.

1:39:29 Speaker 3 And also the, and also the Rebbe would come into Mincha with his hat, right?

1:39:35 Speaker 2 Yeah, most times. Even though I heard that I wasn't there. I was davening by a shliach. I heard that the Rebbe actually walked into Mincha with a tallis, not with a hat. So right after Rebbe reaches place, right asked Rabbi Groner, um, the schlapa.

1:39:53 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm.

1:39:53 Speaker 2 Rebbe would call a hitel schlapa.

1:39:54 Speaker 3 Schlapa, yeah.

1:39:55 Speaker 2 So he said, so he said, "?" I guess he was thinking Rebbe said, "Allen."

1:40:02 Speaker 3 Yeah.

1:40:03 Speaker 2 The Rebbe would always say, "."

1:40:03 Speaker 3 ""

1:40:04 Speaker 2 They even say Simchat Torah one, the Rebbe was having a heart attack, lo aleinu. So the Rebbe was, "Allen Yetzt."

1:40:12 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm.

1:40:13 Speaker 2 And always the

1:40:15 Speaker 3 Yeah. And then the Rebbe would, um, the Rebbe would take the hat off and put it in the, in the drawer-

1:40:20 Speaker 2 Yeah

1:40:20 Speaker 3 ... and then stand there and take it out from there, yeah.

1:40:22 Speaker 2 Yeah.

1:40:23 Speaker 3 Okay, so-

1:40:23 Speaker 2 There's differ- there's differences from the year when the Rebbe put on his hat. Some years the Rebbe did take it off till after the Tehillim, after the Ne'ilah.

1:40:31 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm.

1:40:31 Speaker 2 In later years, he started putting on early, sometimes even by Kavel, already put-

1:40:35 Speaker 3 Put on the hat

1:40:35 Speaker 2 ... put on the hat.

1:40:37 Speaker 3 Um, and to Neshamas, the things that are right to Neshamas, this nekuda that the Friediker Rebbe would come into Mincha with a sh- and he writes schlapa, if I remember correct.

1:40:47 Speaker 2 Yeah.

1:40:47 Speaker 3 And if I remember correctly, this hanhaga to come in with a schlapa is recorded by the Rebbe in Neshamas-

1:40:53 Speaker 2 Uh-huh

1:40:53 Speaker 3 ... with, with that word, with schlapa.

1:40:55 Speaker 2 Could, could be. But it's interesting, in the Neshamas, the Rebbe spoke about it in one of the siddurs also, that the, a year which I s- guess the Rebbe was especially meticulous in writing down the Friediker Rebbe's hanhagas, says, "Asher waltsian from Ne'ilah, his tallis was not on top of his head."

1:41:12 Speaker 3 Hmm.

1:41:13 Speaker 2 So even though in his zamani, his people, Hasidim cover the, put the tallis on the head here, the Friediker Rebbe didn't. The Rebbe Fri- the Rebbe says, "I didn't know if there was a minhag for a Barabim or not, so I didn't write it in the minhagim." But nevertheless, it's a-

1:41:31 Speaker 3 Right. And the Rebbe will go upstairs and there'll be kiddush Havdalah.

1:41:35 Speaker 2 What?

1:41:35 Speaker 3 There'll be kiddush Havdalah.

1:41:37 Speaker 2 Yeah, kiddush Havdalah was outside. I remember kiddush Havdalah. There's a picture the Rebbe actually wrote on it. Um, Rebbe's smiling. I don't know exactly what happened. And the Rebbe wrote on the back of the picture in Motzei Kipper