Ep. 38: When I Held The Door Open For The Rebbe with Rabbi Berel Levertov

00:00 Speaker 1 The Rebbe uplifted everything, set the tone for the whole thing. It's, it's-- It, it was so different when the Rebbe spoke about the Ave and the kids, and the love the Rebbe spoke with the, with the kids. Just how every, every year then every kid is precious, and then for sure we did this, and for sure you could do this. And the kids, and, and in, in school it was like, "Why weren't you here? And what were you, what were you there?" It was a little different. Uh, I'm not saying it was the school, there were very good teachers, and still Chabad learned and everything, but still the whole concept of Asei Tov rather than Sur Midav, or like somewhat focusing on, on the possibilities and the goodness, it, it was like a sort of a contrast. But they, they were uplifted. It was, it was un-unbelievable.

00:45 Speaker 2 I'm Yossi Kamen. Welcome to Among Chasidim by Der Her, an ongoing farbrengen about life as a Chasid, our vibrant connection with the Rebbe, and inspired living shaped by the way he teaches us each and every day. Right now, we're at the very end of our annual campaign. If this podcast or anything that Der Her provides to you and your family means something to you, and you would like it to continue, please consider joining this campaign. You can donate today at derhercampaign.com. That's D-E-R-H-E-R campaign.com. Thank you for considering it. And now let's continue with this week's episode of Among Chasidim. Shalom Aleichem, Rabbi Berel Levertov. How are you?

01:36 Speaker 1 Baruch Hashem. Aleichem Shalom.

01:38 Speaker 2 Okay. Thank you so much for being here. I appreciate it.

01:42 Speaker 1 It's an honor and a pleasure.

01:46 Speaker 2 Okay. So, um, I happened to be reading just the other day, uh, be-before we get into, uh, you yourself, like you and like many, there's, uh, there's roots from where we come from. I happened to be reading a whole, um, write-up about Russia and about the Chasid, the Reb Yehuda Potaber, and one of the things I read was, uh, various memories and recollections that your father, Reb Meshulem Levertov had. So maybe we'll start talking about your parents and Reb Meshulem Levertov, and I know there's a lot of important things that he was involved with when he was, when he was young, but especially in the later years as Hasachim and different things like that. So maybe you could tell us a little bit about him.

02:33 Speaker 1 So my father, Reb Meshulem Levertov, alav ha-shalom, came from a family of Chasidim. He-- His grandfather was a Chasid of the Reb Menachem Nadj, and they came from the-- they came from Kamenchuk. And his father w- learned in Lubavitch. His father, who's-- who I'm named after, Berel Kabbalah. He was known as Berel Kabbalah 'cause I probably, he probably stayed, uh, in Kabbalah for like twenty-five minutes or something. And, uh, passed through Kabbalah, so the guy has the name of Kabbalah. Berel Levertov, he was in Lubavitch. He learned in Yeshiva in Lubavitch. He was a baal mesiras nefesh. He was one of Chasidim of the Friediker Rebbe, uh, lived in Moscow. I-- And, and major, major mesiras nefesh, and he actually passed away. He was killed by the Russians in the Russian Gulags in 1947 when they escaped. Everybody escaped, and he couldn't make it. My father came out of Russia in 1946, Tosh Uvav, went to Paris and was finally came out, came to Crown Heights. The Rebbe allowed, allowed him to come to Crown Heights in Tosh Ud. Shimini Atzeres Tosh Ud, the Rebbe asks about if the, if, if he came, if he arrived yet.

03:49 Speaker 2 Shimini Atzeres, Tosh Ud.

03:51 Speaker 1 Tosh Ud.

03:52 Speaker 2 You're talking about the Friediker Rebbe?

03:55 Speaker 1 I'm sorry. Shimini Atzeres, Tosh Alef.

03:58 Speaker 2 Mm, okay.

04:00 Speaker 1 But Shimini Atzeres, Tosh Alef, the Rebbe asks about the farbrengen if he arrived yet. Came with, uh, five other Rusisa, Zangi Kumen, from France, and he was one of the Bachrim who were there before Yushvat Tosh Alef. So in between Tosh Ud, Tosh Alef, he was one of the Bachrim who wrote, like, Sabbath kashas and so on from the young Bachrim who were there before Yud Alef, this-- before Yushvat Tosh Yud Alef.

04:28 Speaker 2 He wrote things then that year, right?

04:31 Speaker 1 He recorded a lot of things, a lot of stories and a lot of sichas, and a lot of Yemei Bereishis is b- is based on his writings.

04:38 Speaker 2 So a lot of the-

04:39 Speaker 1 And-

04:39 Speaker 2 A lot of the history we know from that period is, is from your father's writings.

04:44 Speaker 1 Yes. He also wrote letters to Rebbe El Shem Tov and others who were still in, in France or in England, and he wrote what's 50 letter of Tosh Ud, Tosh Alef. And, uh, he, he-- Yeah. Yeah. We still have those k- those k- those ksavim that he wrote down and the no- the notes that he took. He kept writing even, like, till later years. He wrote down farbrengens. He would sit by farbrengen sometimes, and, like, even in the mems, he would have write down the kudos of the farbrengen just to remember it as well. Uh, my mother came from, uh, a non-Lubavitch family, and her brother, his-- Her name is Moskal, and there's a Moskal family. Her brother came to Lubavitch, and then he brought the whole family in, and she had early kiduvim from the Rebbe when she was dating and earlier. She had a lot of Yechidim. Uh, a girl coming in from Bais Yaakov, very involved in Chasidus, and she would learn a lot of Chasidus, and she would also memorize some of the farbrengens and, uh, very involved in the early, the early years.

05:51 Speaker 2 So they got married, um, in, in New York. Your, your father's learning in 770 for a few years, and then they, then, then they got married here.

06:02 Speaker 1 So my father was a, um, Alter Rebbe Bachar Shliach in Pittsburgh in Tosh Ud Gimel. He went out there. He was a mashpia. There's a letter to the Rebbe to Rav Shalom Posner, "Why does Moshe Levertov have to, have to tell me that, uh, you're not well?" So he went there as a bachur, and then he came back from Pittsburgh, and, uh, they got married, and the Rebbe was mesader kiddushin. The Rebbe was mesader kiddushin. He went back to Pittsburgh to be a mashpia, and then he came back to New York.

06:36 Speaker 2 Okay. So, um, so he's back in New York. So I understand that, uh, I think he did diamonds, right? The, the, the... Is that correct?

06:45 Speaker 1 That's g- very good. He did, uh, he did, uh... He was a jeweler at that time. Um, I know Mrs., Mrs. Garelick says that he, he was involved in Gershon Menachem Garelick's, uh, shidduch, and he convinced them 'cause they weren't living in Pittsburgh. And, uh, s- so that was, that was the Pittsburgh time. And then he has-- Again, he has letters from the Rebbe then, and he comes back to New York, and they, they didn't have children for a f- for, for some time. But the berachah of the Rebbe, the doctor said actually that they couldn't have any children. And, uh, with the berachah of the Rebbe, my mother actually had a, had a append- appendix removed, and the Rebbe said, "Epis nisht gut iz a, iz a ruis. Epis a gut der einkomen." Something bad came out, so something good should, should come in. And, um, then they had my older brother, Yossel Levertov.

07:36 Speaker 2 Hmm.

07:37 Speaker 1 He worked at-- Like a lot of other Hasidim, a lot of other Jews, they worked-- he worked in diamonds, and she was a teacher, a preschool teacher. She always loved children, and she always s- spoke to the children and did crafts with the children. She was very artsy. And eventually they lived in Crown Heights. They moved to Crown Heights in the s- in the '60s, in Taf Shin Chaf He. And then-- And I was born in Taf Shin Lamed. And it was a really rough time, Crown Heights, when everybody moved out. All the Jews moved out of Crown Heights, and it was crime-ridden and very challenging. We lived on Lefferts Avenue, which was technically even out of Crown Heights. It's a different, another zip code. It's a one-one-two-O-three, not O-one-two-one-three. And there were like three, four families on the f- on the block, and it was pretty, pretty challenging. To go from the U-- from Lefferts Avenue to Empire, you have to go through on every street, whether it's Troy, Albany, Kingston, Brooklyn. There's always big apartment buildings, and there's people loitering there, and it was extremely dangerous and scary. And it wasn't just phobia-like scary. It was actually scary. A lot of break-ins. You couldn't leave anything outside. You had to check right and left before you walked out of the house. You went to shredder site, and it was difficult times. And, and but we, you know, we, we, we managed. We used to go to, uh, Seven seventy, and there was an

09:12 Speaker 1 idea of chizuk haschuna. The Rebbe spoke a lot about keeping all the shuls open. So my father w- was, uh, involved with the shul, and he made sure the minyanim kept going. And we would be-- We grew up on Lefferts Avenue, the Lefferts Avenue shul with the mikvah. But it was pretty, pretty challenging those, those years. Um.

09:30 Speaker 2 Yeah. Peop-- I don't know if everyone realizes that there are people that if by choice they probably would have davened in Seven seventy on Shabbos. But since the Rebbe was promoting this idea of the being mechazek haschuna, they davka davened in the shtiebelach to keep them going. I mean, they, they, I mean, there were existing shtiebelach. They were from the-- They were from before, right? And, uh, Lubavitchers, Lubavitchers are the ones that kept it going.

09:55 Speaker 1 The Rebbe wanted very strongly that, that the older shuls should stay open, and they pushed out to keep minyanim there. I remember they still had like different Nusach Sefardim, and sometimes they would add a few things of Nusach before the ma'ariv. I remember growing up, there was like, uh, one... Till the last guy left or passed away, they kept saying, uh, this bracha that in Yiddish. They say, "Yireh eineinu v'yesmach libeinu," something that we kept saying in ma'ariv at the end before, before Shemoneh Esreh.

10:21 Speaker 2 Hmm.

10:21 Speaker 1 "Hey etz bazah." Um, we used to go for takias. All the shuls would come to Seven seventy, like a break, and also for, of course, for seudas third after all the shuls finished Hakafos, we go to Seven seventy. But otherwise, we, we try to kept it, kept, keep the shul going. But as a, as a youngster, you'd go-- I would go to Seven seventy a lot, and especially as a bachur once I was able to walk and not be afraid to walk, to walk the streets of Crown Heights after, uh, five o'clock in the afternoon.

10:49 Speaker 2 Right. So let me ask you, um, two questions about your-- I guess one about your father and one about your mother.

10:57 Speaker 1 Okay.

10:58 Speaker 2 Maybe we'll start with your father. So I know that at a certain point, he became very involved in Ezras Achim, which was doing secret, uh, missions for the Yidden in Russia. Maybe you can elaborate on what it is, what it was, when did it start, and what was his involvement in it.

11:17 Speaker 1 So in Taf Shin Chaf Dalet, Mendel Futerfas came out of Russia, and he told them that there's a lot of Hasidim stuck in Russia still. My grandmother was ac- actually still stuck in Russia. Her husband was killed, but she was still stuck. And they said, he told them that there's a possibility, there's ability the Russians are allowing for people to send packages to their family. Basilikas it would be called.

11:42 Speaker 2 One second. So your father's mother was in Russia the whole time?

11:46 Speaker 1 Was in Russia the whole time. She came out in Taf Shin Lamed. Uh, Taf Shin Lamed, Taf Tes Lamed.

11:51 Speaker 2 Wow. Okay.

11:52 Speaker 1 She came out. So with her daughters, my father's sisters. So my father and his-- My father has a b- who has one brother, Shalom Levertov alav ha-shalom. He's a f- had a father of all the other Levertovs, and that's it. The two Levertovs. The other ones are sisters. And She was still stuck in Russia, and he met Rabbeinu for the first came out and told Chassidim like there's a possibility of sending packages, pacilkas. And what they could do with the packages is, first of all, they could have it for themselves. Secondly, they could sell them in the black market. So if you had a fur coat, it's very valuable, or jeans or other small things, but it had to come from family. So they created this whole-- So they-- He, Rabbeinu for the first founded this Ezras Achim, or he urged at least Chassidim to found Ezras Achim, and my father was one of the founders of Gedalia Korf, and, uh, there was a Shpalter involved, there was others who, who built this, uh, this organization called Lishkas Ezras Achim. It was of cour- very secret. And it took place. They-- It was run from underground, literally from my basement, from our basement in our house, literally underground. And they started sending packages, and I still have the bills of laden, the, the, the shipping bills, where I think it's called Kaufman or something. So what they would do is they would create names that sounded similar to the names of the people they're sending

13:17 Speaker 1 to. They had up some list of names, and they would create as if they're cousins and addresses, and they would package them and send them s-some-- send them things. Some things got there, some things didn't get there if come moving. Um, but it helped them a lot 'cause they're able to sell things on, on the black market. So as time went on, they were sending more and more packages. That's where it started. Slowly, and Rabbeinu Levi was the main one who, who traveled a lot to Russia on his own, and he would give reports to Ezras Achim and-

13:45 Speaker 2 He would go there for kashrus purposes. That was his main objective, right?

13:50 Speaker 1 I don't-- I, I, I'm guessing, but I, I, I'm not sure. I, I still-- I never found-- figured out why he would go a lot. He would travel a lot. He was the main, the main guy who would-- So he had videos, and he had letters. He was the main contact to-

14:02 Speaker 2 Right. I, I mean, I thought that the way I understood it is that he had a reason to go for kashrus purposes, and that's why he got all involved with the, with the, with the Yiddishkat operations. But could be I'm wrong. I don't know.

14:15 Speaker 1 I don't know. I, I-- To, to me, it sounded like he would go intentionally, maybe use that as an excuse, but, but, uh, but he definitely was the main, the main person of the connection, and he had, had these many conversations with my father and others. He was the main, main person who traveled. And then they started sending him packages and started sending them... They, they would, they would get packages, send Teshumi Kedusha, like Sfatim, Tefillin, Mezuzahs, and everything they would send with different people who were traveling. Some people were tourists, some people were from the-- from Israel or something, and diplomats. And it, it, it started scaling up the operation more and more. I have a, a letter from someone who's going from-- I, I have a duch, a report from somebody from going from the Federation of Connecticut or something. And they said they turned to all the different organizations asking them what they could-- They're going to Russia, they're having a trip. Could they bring anything? And maybe people said that we don't know what to send. We don't know. The minute they called my father, within like two hours or four hours, they had two massive suitcases with names and addresses to go and, and distribute. So the Babich has it all. So that's-- They started send- they started sending people. They started sending shluchim as well. And my-- We-- There was a phone number. They had-- Ezras Achim had a phone. It was registered under my father's name, and there

15:40 Speaker 1 was a, an extension that was in my house as well upstairs. And I remember getting phone calls in the middle of the night because they would be able to call. They had-- In order to reserve a call, you had to call weeks in advance, like to make an, an international call. And of course, in order-- The reason was because they always had to have an operator listening to the whole conversation. So they was limited, so they had to have-

16:03 Speaker 2 You mean calls from Russia?

16:04 Speaker 1 From Russia. Calls from Russia would take a couple of weeks. And so finally, we'd get call- phone calls, and of course, they would say the Zayda said this, and the Zayda said that. And, um-

16:18 Speaker 2 The Zayda referring to the Rebbe?

16:20 Speaker 1 The Rebbe. They would ask questions, or would they get, um, answers about-

16:24 Speaker 2 I was gonna ask you, do you know what the Rebbe's involvement was in this, uh, operation?

16:30 Speaker 1 The Rebbe was very involved, especially with reports from, from Berel Levi. My father gave a lot of reports to the Rebbe, duchas. The Rebbe was limiting his, his direct involvement. It was dangerous. Anybody to have any connection to the Rebbe was dangerous. So they had a lot of a-- They had answers, but it was-- I, I haven't seen that many like clear directives 'cause the Rebbe was, was very careful not to be involved. Ad ka dei kak, that even in 1990s when it was already open, the Rebbe-- And they had-- Ezras Achim had a Melav Malka. The Rebbe forbade them to show a video. Everybody was already talking about Russia. Russia's open. The Rebbe-- And they wanted to show a video, but Melav Malka, the Rebbe's didn't allow it. There was not-- It was the opinion that it may still go back. Ad ka dei kak that if you look at the kin- at the Sefer Shluchim, all the people who are go to-- or Moscow are listed as Ezras Achim, Brooklyn. And the word Ezras Achim wasn't, it wasn't like no one-- It wasn't Lubavitch, of course. That would be dangerous. It was, ach, LeEzras Acheinu Ben, the Meacheinu Masach Bazel or something, like very vague of what they did. So it was hard. They had to raise money. They had to send money, and they had to send people. And, um, my father was-- But, but they couldn't really say what they were doing. They-- It was limited what they could s- what

17:53 Speaker 1 they could say they were doing.

17:56 Speaker 2 So-

17:56 Speaker 1 My father was the one who was the main program director. The other were people were fundraising. My father, uh, those who went told me that my father was the one who was really, really making decisions. He was involved in it one quite a bit. At a certain point, he gave up In, in Tof Shin Mem Beis in 1982, he gave up-- First he was, you know, jewelry, I was saying, he gave up that, and then he went-- he was working Cahas for a little bit. I was-- I helped move Cahas into its new space where it is today. It used to be upstairs seven eighty-eight. There used to be a Cahas showroom, uh, room two something, two fourteen or something, seven eighty-four. And it's the same place where the Rebbe went up for the, for Nachson's, Baruch Nachson's display, uh, art exhibit. That's where the, the Cahas was. And then we, in Tof Shin Mem, it moved over to the current space, and I helped my father organize it and set it up, and I used to hang out a lot at, at, uh, Cahas. And then he asked the Rebbe if he should go full-time into Ezer Satem. It was time to get more involved, more time, because the Rebbe said he should go. And that's when it really s- they started sending more and more shluchim and more and more young Golait, uh, couples would go. Right. So all these couples that went, um, they're all sent by Ezer Satem, you know, throughout

19:19 Speaker 1 the mems and, uh, those years. Over the past few months, I've been receiving constant feedback regarding Amongst Them podcast. Each episode brings a different guest and hits home differently for a different person. Honestly, all of the feedback gives myself and the entire team at The Her the kayak to continue. Right now, we're at the very end of our annual campaign. If this podcast or anything that The Her provides to you and your family means something to you and you would like it to continue, please consider joining this campaign. Every donation of thirty-six dollars and above enters you into a raffle. If you'll be hearing this podcast at a later point, we will keep the website open so that you have the opportunity to participate. Tonight, we will be holding our final raffle drawing. If The Her or Amongst Them means something to you, please consider helping us continue this work. You can donate today at thehercampaign.com. That's D-E-R-H-E-R campaign.com. Thank you for considering it. And now let's continue with this week's episode of Amongst Them. Well, also Ezer Satem, and we packed them. We packed them up suitcases, and it was an incredible operation because they couldn't send tzitztzit, but they needed tzitztzit. So they sent them-- They got a hold of wool material, like a whole bunch of sheets, and they folded over, and they said it's like tablecloths. And then we got tzitztzit in a ball of yarn, just one big ball, and we put like a crochet needle in it, and it

21:14 Speaker 1 was for crocheting. And I remember we had to, we had to send ink for sefarditas, like a fixed sefarditas. So we used to get shoe polish and empty out the shoe polish into things. I used to have shoe-- We used to have shoe polish in our house. We used to have shoe polish in a cup because they had to empty, they had to empty it out and fill it up with, with yoi.

21:34 Speaker 2 You need to keep the shoe polish. You can't throw it out.

21:38 Speaker 1 So they go ahead and used to have shoe po- Then we had-- When you have to have sfadim, you couldn't just send sfadim. You had to use it. You're using it for your own s- so you use tek sedurim, and some of you traded it out for used sedurim. Otherwise, we like push it, like made it used. We had to like push, put some coffee on it and, uh, make it look like it was used or break it a little bit, to tear a little bit. You couldn't really hide anything 'cause that was much worse. If you hid something and they found it, it means you were trying to hide it. So you can't hide anything, but it was, it was used. And then, uh, I remember a story. I forgot who it was with, but he brought a chalaf. You have to bring a chalaf for shchita. So when it came to the border, of course, when it came to the border, they would open them up, and they would start interrogating them and asking what's this for, take it out. And it was a whole process of what the border agents would take. Sometimes they would just, uh, schlep away something 'cause they wanted it. Sometimes they ask, and sometimes the shluchim would put things back into the suitcase. It was a whole process. What did they take? How much they passed by? Like I, I think it was with my-- with Label, Rabbi Label Shapiro. He went with his wife, and they

22:38 Speaker 1 had four pairs of tefillin. And the agent at the place said, "Oh, these two are for you, and these two are for you." He's referring to his wife. So they understood that the wife also needed two pairs of tefillin by Rosh Hashanah time. So they used to leave, of course, tefillin over there, and they would come back with old ones. But-- And a lot of times they wrote down exactly what they're taking, what they took, and they would have-- they would be afraid to leave anything. It was, it was nerve-wracking in every, every single step of the way. Rabbi Yisroel Dero went. He had major stories as well. Um, so one time they came to the, to the border, and they saw the chalaf, and they asked him, "What do you need a chalaf for?" He says, "It's to cut my salami. You see, I have salami." So they ask him, "But why do you need such a long one?" He says, "Because I cut the salami the long way." Not the, not the... So my mother was very involved in it, and mother created a new way, a way. She figured out a way how to, how to send meat. And she got a canning machine, something I never saw and never-- It's a little machine that you put, you put meat. So she cooked meat, put it into cans, and sealed it, and that's what they had. Uh, they would take it. It would last a long time. Sometimes it worked out, sometimes

23:40 Speaker 1 it didn't work out, it didn't work out. But she-- It was her project herself. Voluntarily, she made meat for the Yidden in, uh, in Russia and for the shluchim as well. And Rabbi Berel Lazar tells a story that one of the times he went, they, uh, they were packing it up, and my mother came down and said, like, came up to the basement, and that's where everything was happening. She came with a few candies. She said, "You're going to kids. You're gonna be see kids. Give them candies." And the men said, "Eh, what's up stopping candies? Who needs candies? There's more thing, more important things to put in there. Tashmishe Kidusha, why do you need candies?" Okay. So the, the candy's gonna go. They left. Anyways, he came to the border, and he started taking out his stuff, and they find a pushka. And they ask, "What is this?" He says, "Every day I give charity. I want to put pushka." He says, "Fine." And he started shaking the, the, the pushka, and they said, "What, what's in there?" And he got all scared 'cause you're not gonna bring in any money and-

24:35 Speaker 2 Right

24:35 Speaker 1 ... and not hiding money. So they opened it up, and it was the candies that the mother had. He had a good laugh. The mother snuck in the candies anyways because, uh, you know, those days it wasn't so-- they weren't so machmir about the weight or paid extra for weight. They didn't care. Like it was heavy, heavy suitcases. Of course, we paid overweight. Whatever it was, it didn't matter. So it wasn't about the pace, the, the weight. It was about the, the spaces. So she cared about the chocolates for the kids or the, the candies for the kids.

25:01 Speaker 2 Mm-hmm.

25:01 Speaker 1 So she got involved with us. There was somebody who came out of Russia, who told me that my father-- told us my father-- It was somebody who had to go through some operation, and they needed to have the equipment like a, a kit, like for, for a knife and a s-scissors and other things, a whole kit. And th-that's what they needed in Russia. They couldn't get it. So my father got a whole... No one was able to help. Okay, forget it. You can't, you can't find it. My father went around, called different hospitals, and finally got a hold of a doctor, and he finally got this kit, and he took it apart, and he sent bit by bit with different shluchim. And over there on the other side, they put it together, and they, they were a- they, they made this whole kit, and they were able to do this operation, and Baruch Hashem saved, saved his life.

25:46 Speaker 2 Wow. So it's like all the needs. It's the, the kadisha needs, its physical needs, whatever, whatever they need in, in Russia needed.

25:55 Speaker 1 Ruchnius and gashmius and, uh, very, very involved. That's where Berel Lazar came, got involved. He went as a, as a bachur, and then he, he-- when he-- after he came back, he realized that the bachurim are going. They're not really continuing the connection, and they're not just-- they're not being-- they're chosen by these yungerleit or people who run the organization don't really know the bachurim. So he got involved and started volunteering. Spent-- And he said my father gave him a desk, and he said, "Here's a, a desk and a phone call. Make as much as you want. Call, call Russia." Then it was starting to get a little opened. It was '89 already or taf shin nun to '89. And it was at least a dollar a minute, at least, maybe even more to call. But my father said, "Don't worry. Just make any phone call you want to Russia and organize." And he talked to Karani. Him with Right. I, I think people's narrative is that like, you know, the, the '30s and the '40s, w- you know, '50s, it was terrible, and then they, they forgot about the Yiddishkeit. You're saying that in, in those tekufos itself, there was ups and downs. There was ups and downs. And it was the, the same year from, fr- if I, if I remember correctly, it's the same year, taf shin mem dalet or shin mem gimel, the Rebbe spoke about machan sta'arim in Petersburg. Rabbi Zemach Tsadik would speak on Yom Kipp- on Rosh Hashanah

29:45 Speaker 1 and would mention different ministers in Petersburg who should remain and who should not remain, and that's what happened to them. And the Rebbe mentioned just this story, uh, on, on Rosh Hashanah, and actually the guys who were in charge, they paid it, died. And th-those were terrible people. It was actually getting worse. And I heard that when Professor Yirmiabanavir met with Gorbachev, Gorbachev asked him, "Who is this rabbi who said that it's gonna get-- that, that it's gonna be- become o-- it's gonna open? 'Cause I, myself, wasn't planning to open it. I don't know what happened." He says, "Somehow I, I, I was motivated to do it." So it wasn't like it was a plan. He was actually gonna plan to make it worse, Gorbachev, and the payal nisim and neflim. So it's, it's clearly the Rebbe's, uh, working over here in this case.

30:41 Speaker 2 Right.

30:42 Speaker 1 So that's as the tekufas of the tzadikim was amazing, amazing. Uh, the tekufa, um, again, answers and, and connection, you know, reports to the Rebbe all the time. And then when it opened up, it was-- there were major containers were going. The Schmerlings were involved with containers from Switzerland and the The Ronald Lauder and Israel Singer and Bronfman, and it was, they were starting to send matzahs and hundreds of thousands of dollars are going through, like they really started pumping in and rebuilding Yiddishkeit in, in Russia once it opened it up, once it opened up. Um, do you remember Isaac Cogan? Rabbi Isaac Cogan came in Taf Shin Mem Vav, and he stayed at my house. He was a talmid of Unigat 'cause we knew him. My father ca- took care of him when he was in Russ- when he was in Russia. They-- That was their connection to, to the Rebbe. Um, so that was ama-amazing, amazing tkufah of really, really helping and finding out and debriefing and connecting to watching all these Hasidim go and the-- And, uh, I, I remember that, if I remember correctly, when he used to put down mashke for on Shabbos to take, and everybody-- so with the Farbrengens, at first they would... So, so anyways, by the Farbrengens, the Rebbe would give mashke from, from the Farbrengen, mix from his becher into the mashke if anybody was doing s- apulu that week. So, and they would have to an-announce what they're doing. But the-- When the shluchim

32:20 Speaker 1 went to Russia, they would take, but they wouldn't announce.

32:23 Speaker 2 Hmm.

32:23 Speaker 1 Just 'cause I was talking about, you know, they shouldn't say what, what they're doing.

32:26 Speaker 2 Right. Okay. Um, so and these things have been documented. I mean, Deher has written, uh, an article about the, the Sakim and, uh, he actually had one about you mentioned Rabbi Shurcogan, he had one about him. But, uh, there's a lot more that I don't know what-- A lot of these things it sounds like they weren't documented, so it's, you know, it's hard to collect, but, uh, it's a lot of fascinating, um, anecdotes that should be recorded.

32:55 Speaker 1 Yes.

32:55 Speaker 2 Um-

32:56 Speaker 1 One of the fa-fascinating things, I had one of the duchas of one of the shluchim, and I sent it to him, and he says, "You know, I don't-- I never kept a copy because it was pashut dangerous. We're not-- We weren't allowed to keep a copy." I had to send it to the Rebbe, and that was the only copy. So they, as a Sakim, kept a copy, I guess. But, uh, yeah, classified stuff.

33:13 Speaker 2 Yeah.

33:14 Speaker 1 There's no question that they were listening, listening into the telephones, and they, they were wa- they were watching.

33:19 Speaker 2 Right. Okay. So I wanna ask you about your mother.

33:26 Speaker 1 Yes.

33:26 Speaker 2 So one of the things your mother is famous for, she was the famous, uh, mikvah lady in Crown Heights. And because of that, the, um, the Rebbe used the, the mikvah that the Rebbe used was, was the, the mikvah Snosher in Crown Heights. And I understand she would prepare the mikvah for the Rebbe, and there was involvement. So maybe you can, uh, tell me a little bit about that.

33:53 Speaker 1 Yeah. That was something that was, uh, ver- amazing. And she again, she started working there in Taf Shin Mem Gimel. That's the Mikvah in Union and, and Albany. And of course, the women used the mikvah at night, so the Rebbe would use the mikvah when he went-- before he went to the ohel every time. And every single time before the Rebbe went to the mikvah, the Rebbe would-- there would be a phone call. Rabbi Groner or Rabbi Klein would call and ask the Rebbe, the Rebbe's gebeten to make a nutzen the mikvah morgen. So we would know the night before if the Rebbe was going to the ohel. So there was the, there was the kavodika times. Taf Sh- uh, you know, the Rebbe would go tes vav of the month and Erev Shmini Atzeres. And then other yemei d'pagres that were very, very known. Then it started becoming every Sunday, and then it moved to Monday. It was kavua. E- I remember getting a phone call after Farbrengen. The Rebbe gave, the Rebbe Farbrenged, and after Farbrengen, like eleven, twelve o'clock at night, a phone call came in asking if the Rebbe could use the mikvah tomorrow. When we already knew for sure the Rebbe was gonna use the mikvah. So that was an ama-- A-again, the courtesy, like every single time, the Rebbe made sure that, that the-- asked to ask if he, if he could ask if we could use the mikvah.

35:17 Speaker 2 And the night before?

35:19 Speaker 1 The night before. Sometimes the Rebbe wanted to go to the, to the ohel right away, so it was that day. Now, the way they did the, the mikvah there was they would empty out the water, and they would put in fresh city water every single day. So it wasn't like filtered the same water, but it was new water. So un-until you put it in, until it heats up and so on, it takes time. So sometimes the Rebbe, so the Rebbe, they would get a phone call like the Rebbe's gebeten to make a mikvah. So sometimes it was mamash a rush. You would have to rush to the mikvah and see and put everything together, set it up, clean it up. You know, the women would use it the night before, so it wasn't, it wasn't always ready. Uh, and a f- once or twice, there was something wrong with the city plumbing, and the water was coming in was very dirty, and she tried so hard to get it clean, and finally she said, "It-- I'm sorry, but the water's not ready." So the Rebbe went to, to Katostur mikvah. A few times the Rebbe went-

36:19 Speaker 2 Seven Eleven, Eastern Parkway.

36:21 Speaker 1 Seven Eleven. Seven Eleven, Eastern Parkway. Katostur mikvah with Vachavus. So a few times it was pashut it wa- something was wrong with it. It was, it was black water was coming in for whatever reason, and there wasn't enough time to-

36:31 Speaker 2 So even in the later years, some- it happened a few times that the Rebbe went to the Katostur mikvah?

36:36 Speaker 1 Yes, yes. Later, in the later years. Talking about like nun and alef, like really late. I mean, and pashut it was not possible. But at that time, they were doing construction in the mikvah. That was a famous saga of the construction of the mikvah, which took incredibly amount of long time, and there was metziah the Rebbe that had a lot of tzar that it wasn't happening, and the Rebbe ki yadowa sold seven seventy, um, to, in order to, to get raise money for the mikvah. If I, if I remember correctly, it was for ten thousand dollars I don't know, but I, but I remember going down-- I was working in America, then I saw some-- I went down to look at the registry of, uh, the deeds, and it actually says a certain time it was sold and, and, and it was bought back in the end, the 770 itself. If I remember correctly, it's under America's in the

37:30 Speaker 2 The 770.

37:32 Speaker 1 I believe so. Um, in any case-

37:36 Speaker 2 I, I think it's under Agudas Achimot.

37:38 Speaker 1 Actually, I'm sorry, 770 is under Agudas Achimot, but 788 and 784 is America's. I think, yeah, you're right. Um, so, so the mikvah-- So, so my mother would... Now, the, when the Rebbe went to the mikvah, whenever the Rebbe went to the mikvah first, and like I said, there was major construction going on, and it was-- the Rebbe was very bothered by the lack of movement. There was three beis that were being put, put together. It was the original one, and then they were building, they were expanding two more, and there was-- And the Rebbe screamed with fabric in, and it was, it was very, very heartbreaking to see. It was just going very, very slow for whatever reason. And, uh, finally they opened the other one, and it had cracks and had leaks and had to start again, and it was, uh, re-really, really challenging. But my mother w-- There was no specific time the Rebbe went to the mikvah, so my mother would have to-- would go there. It was after, after ten o'clock, after So the Rebbe's car-- The people are walking down Albany Avenue to all the way down to the park down in Troy, and then the Rebbe's car pulls up to Albany Avenue, and I see the Rebbe's coming out, so I immediately open the door and start walk away. All of a sudden, the door starts closing, and I realize there's a spring. There's a spring. I mean, the door's gonna shut. I can't just leave it. So

41:36 Speaker 1 I'm standing over there. I, I, I was like mortified 'cause I, I wasn't planning, but I held the door open. It was a, a scene that I'll never forget. I held the door open for the Rebbe. Rebbe said, "Yeah, Shehecheyanu," and, uh, went inside. And another time, my, my parents wanted to leave. It was in the summer. They wanted to leave for, for, for the day, and they couldn't get anybody else, the other mikvah ladies to open up. So they asked me if I could open. I said, "I'm not really... I, I don't feel comfortable opening the mikvah for the Rebbe." But they said, "If, if you don't open it, we can't go on this trip." So I said, "You know what? Okay, I'll do it for them." So I stood there one day. I, I stood there, and I opened-- held the door open for the Rebbe. It was, it was, uh, shekhel to watch. I mean, not, not shekhel, but just to watch the Rebbe come up the stairs. You're standing, and Rebbe's walking slowly up the stairs, and, and I'm opening the door. And, uh, you know, being, being in, being in, in the building yourself with the Rebbe, um, as he goes to the mikvah, very powerful moment. And when the Rebbe left, the Rebbe said, uh, "Guten tag." I, I didn't know what to say. What do you, what do you say when the Rebbe tells you a guten tag?

43:00 Speaker 2 Right.

43:01 Speaker 1 They said, "I..." I mean, like, whatever. Um, of course, I went to the mikvah right after that, after the Rebbe went. I was, I was the, I was the real source. I was able to do it. And one time I, I noticed- That-

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45:09 Speaker 3 part of Der Her through your financial support as well through visiting our website, derher.org, or through contacting us to setting up a meeting. Thank you very much. Enjoy the rest of the podcast.

45:21 Speaker 1 That this chair that I was using is not, uh, a good chair. And, uh, those days, the Rebbe's gezunt, you know, after the Rebbe had the maise with the foot in Tashum Im Vav, so people were more sensitive about the, about things. So I, I asked, like, "Why can't we get a, a better chair?" So we tried to figure out what kind of chair, whatever. Finally, from-- They brought from sim seven, they wanted the red chairs. The Rebbe's nice red chairs, and they brought it to the mikvah. And that's what the Rebbe used after that. And then they kept it there, and it's still there. And it's like the, the women, it's a zechus that the Rebbe's chair is sitting. It's a red chair in middle, in middle of, uh, of the mikvah. Um, after construction, they finally got the last third boyd mikvah ready, and it was-- And, and they, and they wanted the Rebbe to use it. The, the Rebbe used it. And after the Rebbe gave a message as far afrui v'tchat t'tamet hahartz is shver taruf gain di trep, that if a woman who has heart sensitivities, heart problems, it may be hard to go up the steps. So that-- Because that mikvah was a little deeper for whatever reason. And again, I think the Rebbe was saying there was-- He didn't wanna use that one anymore because it was a little ha-- It was harder. So they didn't give him, give him that one yet. Other time, other time-

46:49 Speaker 3 You see, the way it worked is that not all the mikvahs had water in it every, you know, every time.

46:54 Speaker 1 They had, but they wanted-- They, they switch-- This is a new mikvah that, that they just, they just finished construction, and finally they had the rainwater, and finally everything was fine. So the first one to use, the one-- My mother wanted the Rebbe should use it first. It was a big zechus, you know, like the ladies to, to call him to the mikvah the Rebbe used afterwards at night. So they wanted the Rebbe to inaugurate it, you know, not a f- and the Rebbe used it, but then the Rebbe like sort of asked not to use it again. One time, uh, my mother got a message that the clocks, the clocks should be-- We-weren't updated. There was daylight savings or the clock was broken, and the Rebbe could say it was You see, they didn't have-

49:17 Speaker 3 For a few, for a few years

49:18 Speaker 1 ... didn't have children for a few years. It's a partial b'fniat-- It's a story b'fniat, you should ask him about it. And they had a bracha, and he was born, and my father went to open the mikvah. And my father told the Rebbe that, "Mein zonot gehat a kind. I, I had a son." So the Rebbe said, "Oh, this is doch two hundred year from-- Two hundred year from Samach Tzedek." And the Rebbe gave him a bunch of brachos. My father was too overwhelmed to remember the details of the brachos, but the Rebbe gave him a lot of, a lot of brachos then. And one time, the Rebbe, the Rebbe went to the mikvah and came, and, and he noticed that there was like a lot of garbage for like the construction, or somehow they didn't pick up the garbage, and it-- And the Rebbe was very, very bothered by it, and he spoke about it by the fabrengen, why there was garbage by the mikvah. At one point, there was a display that they made. Mrs., uh, DeVary Halberstam was involved in Shey Chabad, and they made a whole turning display of, of mikvah, about the old mikvahs, about marriage, different little, little dolls and so on. And they set it up for the Rebbe, and the Rebbe, and the Rebbe, and they wanted to show it to the Rebbe, and Mrs. Halberstam was there. And-

50:38 Speaker 4 It was a display that was, like, gonna be housed in the mikvah?

50:43 Speaker 1 I think it was meant to travel, like to go around.

50:46 Speaker 4 Mm-hmm.

50:46 Speaker 1 It had like a turntable, like a turning thing. It must have been like four feet wide or five feet wide. I believe they showed it in different areas of plugin, and it was a very nice handmade hun-- handmade water. And, uh, so she came there, and when the Rebbe came, she explained what it was, and she showed it. And I think the Rebbe was going a little too fast. The Rebbe held, stopped it with his hand to make it slow it down. And then the Rebbe saw the, the scene which had a chuppah. So there was a photographer, and there was a chassan kallah. The Rebbe asked, "Where's the Rav? Where's the Rav?" And there was a few other comments that the Rebbe made about that, but the Rebbe was very happy to see the whole display over there. Um, so that was a very, very, very special time. Yeah.

51:38 Speaker 4 Okay. Thank you for sharing that. That's very interesting, not often, uh, spoke, uh, spoken about topic.

51:48 Speaker 1 Wow.

51:48 Speaker 4 So let me ask you-

51:48 Speaker 1 I remember... Wait, one, one, one, like I remember a story. I don't know why I was getting something, I guess, off my mother. I came to get something and whatever, and all of a sudden I, I, I see the Rebbe was coming. So I ran, I was-- I ran upstairs. There was a, there was a second floor, it was empty, and I stood in one place. I didn't wanna make any noise 'cause we... I stood in one place and like for 30 min- for 30 minutes, like holding my breath just to, to be there. Oh, and have, and, and then I had amazing story with my, a story with me.

52:20 Speaker 4 One second.

52:21 Speaker 1 One second.

52:21 Speaker 4 I think, I think I know the story, but I wanna talk about you.

52:24 Speaker 1 Okay, fine.

52:25 Speaker 4 So, so let, let, and-

52:26 Speaker 1 Uh, ach so.

52:28 Speaker 4 Well, yeah, put a, put a placeholder on that-

52:30 Speaker 1 Sure

52:30 Speaker 4 ... 'cause I think it'll be, well, it's part of your story. Um, so you said you were born in Taf Shin Lamed.

52:36 Speaker 1 Taf Shin Lamed. I'm, I'm from the 69, '60s.

52:39 Speaker 4 Ah, it's 1969. Um, there's something from the Rebbe when you were born, no?

52:47 Speaker 1 So I was born Yitro Kislev, and my mother went to the hospital, which is now Mesivta Campus Chamish on Lefferts Avenue. Everybody was born there. And it was Shabbos morning. I was born eight o'clock. And then... So my father sent my brother to go tell the Rebbe when the Rebbe came from his house that, uh, his mother had a baby.

53:13 Speaker 4 I think there was like, I think there was some type of seder that people would do that.

53:18 Speaker 1 Yes.

53:18 Speaker 4 Right?

53:18 Speaker 1 Yes. Yes.

53:19 Speaker 4 Shabbos.

53:19 Speaker 1 That's what I understand.

53:20 Speaker 4 And if you had a baby on Shabbos, you would go-

53:23 Speaker 1 And tell the Rebbe

53:24 Speaker 4 ... in the morning, tell the Rebbe.

53:24 Speaker 1 In the morning. Yes. Yes. That was common. That was a, that was a, that was a thing. Um, so my brother went, but he didn't wanna, didn't wanna tell the Rebbe, so he asked my grandfather, my mother's father to tell the Rebbe, and he told the Rebbe.

53:40 Speaker 4 Your mother's father lived in Crown Heights?

53:42 Speaker 1 He did not live in Crown Heights. He lived in the Bronx and then in Borough Park. So I guess he came for Yitro Kislev maybe. Some reason he was there, and he told the Rebbe, and the Rebbe said, "Oh, Yitro Kislev?" And the Rebbe said, "Oh, and the bris was on Shabbos Hanukkah?" So I knew that, uh, my father said he knew that this bris is gonna be bizmanah because, because the Rebbe said it's gonna, bris was on Shabbos Hanukkah.

54:05 Speaker 4 Mm-hmm.

54:07 Speaker 1 So that was, uh... Um, so growing up in Crown Heights, it was a, it was an incredible time, of course, to be with the Rebbe. You know, it's-- the tzir, the, the experience that you remember is there weren't that many kids, and the, it came from the people who were living there, the Hasidim came from all these people from all the tzaddis that they had in Eastern Europe, whether it was Russia or, or they were survivors. And, uh, the, the teachers weren't-- we still was in the mode of teaching, of teaching with, uh, not all the teachers were the most loving people, let's put it this way. So we got gehaft, you know, like, uh, we were troublemakers, so we, we got what we deserved. But it was, it was, it was amazing. Like the Rebbe sort of was, was the kind, the kind one. Like the Rebbe, the Rebbe spoke, and the Rebbe encouraged the kids and was involved in our lives. It like uplifted everything. Like it o- it covered over, it, it overcame everything, all the challenges. Like I said, living in Crown Heights was challenging. I mean, I, I think the Rebbe kept us in boot camp, if you will. I mean, 'cause anywhere outside of Crown Heights was like gonna be better. It, it was difficult. I mean, you would wake up with nightmares, and we had people in our house. There was muggings and everything. People were k-killed. I mean, a bachur was shot, killed making a phone call.

55:39 Speaker 1 It, it has an effect on the kids. There's no-- you can't walk in the streets easily. You're afraid every time you see somebody, you know? So, but the Rebbe encouraged and inspired and just uplifted everybody. It was a mechaye, you know? He came to Fabregen, and especially when it came to the mems, when it was Tzidkas Hashem, and the Rebbe Pashut like gave the kids, you know, or looked, looked to the kids and gave them such power and, and spoke directly to them. You know, in Taf Shin Mem the Rebbe said that when you prove to Durch the Eltern tried speaking to the Eltern. Now I'm gonna speak directly to the kids. I was gonna try directly. There's a sicha. The Rebbe says that they're gonna directly to the kids. Forget about the, the parents and speak directly to the kids. I mean, we were-- we went on with tankists, and my brother was a tankist. He drove one of those bread trucks, you know, the Wonder Bread trucks. That was the, the tank, and I was part of it. I remember, uh, Taf Shin Mem, Schneller Schlechim with the, with the tanks. It was-- The Rebbe really, like, gave the kids amazing, like, uplifted the kids, especially in Taf Shin Mem Alef. I remember we were a part of the choir for, for Simchas Torah, Taf Shin Mem Beis. There was by Kosher Bracha, there was a choir, and we, we were waiting. It was Tzvas Hashem, and we had, uh-

56:56 Speaker 4 That was a, that was a, it was a Tzvas Hashem choir?

56:59 Speaker 1 Tzvas Hashem choir.

57:01 Speaker 4 Wasn't it-

57:01 Speaker 1 Later it became Tzvas Hashem.

57:02 Speaker 4 Tzvas Hashem, you know?

57:03 Speaker 1 First it was Tzvas Hashem. First it was Tzvas Hashem, and then it was Tzvas Hashem, Avraham Ro- Avraham Mashal Rosenberg. And it, it was amazing. They had music, and we had a choir. And I think we were planning to be there, like, just for, like, two hours or something, and it ended up we were the whole Kosher Bracha. We stood the whole-- stayed the whole Kosher Bracha. And at the end, the Rebbe, like, turned his-- turned and, like, led the whole, the whole choir. And there's a, there's a picture, a video of it.

57:30 Speaker 4 There's a video, yeah.

57:31 Speaker 1 The video of it, the Rebbe saying, of doing it. It was like standing because of Bracha and, and, and singing in a choir. I'm curious to why they never did it again. The Rebbe, I mean, it, it was, was for it. Um-

57:47 Speaker 4 It wasn't only Lubavitcher kids, right?

57:51 Speaker 1 Right. So I remember, uh, Shloime Dax was part of it, and, uh, Sully Williger, these big singers, and, um, but mostly, but mostly Lubavitcher kids were part of it.

57:59 Speaker 4 So you could, so you could have been a singer also.

58:01 Speaker 1 Exactly. Even that, mamash. Um, but yeah, that was, that was really good. And but bachah, the Rebbe, like, mamash took care of the kids and gave us inspired achas with the, with the, with the Tzvas Hashem. Did a lot for, for us kids.

58:16 Speaker 4 You're saying something important. You're saying basically, you know, the, the system, everyone likes talking about the system. The system might not have been the best or people might not have had a good experience at all, but the Rebbe was the oasis that was, uh, that was higher than the system. That the, uh-

58:38 Speaker 1 The Rebbe uplifted everything, set a tone for the whole thing. It's, it's-- It, it was so different when the Rebbe spoke about the Ave and the kids and the love the Rebbe spoke with the, with the kids. Just how every, every Yid and every kid and every is precious, and then for sure we did this, and for sure you could do this. And the kids didn't-- And in, in school, it was like, "Why weren't you here? And what were you, what were you there?" It was a little different. Yeah, I'm not saying it was the school. There were very good teachers, and it was Chavim Gelant and everything. But still, the whole concept of Aseh Tei rather than Sur Midav, or like somewhat focusing on, on the possibilities and the good, it, it was like a sort of a contrast. Like that was the place where the Rebbe-- And in a, in a way, like sort of like as a kid, it also bother you. Why does the Rebbe talk about so much about the goodness in a tzadik? And what about like, you know, not everybody's frum, not everybody's, is, is doing all these good things. It-- The, the Rebbe uplifted us. It was un-unbelievable. And, um, yeah.

59:38 Speaker 4 There's a diary that, uh, a new man, a kid went over to the Rebbe and said that his melamed-

59:44 Speaker 1 Is hitting him.

59:45 Speaker 4 Hitting him. The Rebbe, the Rebbe took it very seriously. The Rebbe said, "We should visit." I think the Rebbe asked who's the melamed.

59:50 Speaker 1 Melamed.

59:51 Speaker 4 And I heard, I, I, and I heard that there's a backstory that, that Skiddies ended up calling the school. I mean, I don't know who this kid was, but you know, he felt like the Rebbe is, uh, the address, you know?

1:00:02 Speaker 1 Yeah. There's no question. There's no question. Um, yeah, we used to go hang out a lot. So like I said, I lived in, in Lefferts Avenue, so it wasn't easy to go back and forth, especially as a kid. Once I was in seven seventy, I couldn't come back. It wasn't simple 'cause it was at night or Fabregen or whatever it was. So we used to like sort of park then hang out, and that was the place to be. In seven seventy, we, we could be. So like I used to go sometimes for davening. My father would daven still in, in Lefferts Avenue Shul, but I wanted to be by the Rebbe's. I, I stood there. I was very, I was very fortunate. My father had a place by the shvil. So I used-- I sat, uh, on his... I sat, I sat with him a lot of time with all the skanim.

1:00:43 Speaker 4 He sat.

1:00:44 Speaker 1 I sat. He sat.

1:00:46 Speaker 4 He sat at the table there.

1:00:47 Speaker 1 I sat by the table. By the table. And, uh, I as a kid, I was-- I used to sit with him whenever he used to come, come in time for Fabregen. Um, I would sit. I was-- I remember those days, and there's like some videos of it as well. But that was precious. It was precious.

1:01:05 Speaker 4 Did he move to sit with the kids, um, by the, by the Rebbe's feet after Mem Alef?

1:01:13 Speaker 1 Once or twice I sat by the Rebbe's, by the, by the feet, yes. Once or twice I sat there, but whenever I wanted, I could just sit by my father. So it was like, it was-- I didn't have to do that one. Um, but later on at Sebacher, once I touched on in Beis, they had closed off the tables 'cause the kids were commanding over there. They would-- And they closed off the table and put a wall around it. So they s- the kids stopped sitting inside, but Bachim came on from underneath. One of the bleachers came in, and, uh, one of the Bachim was Mendel Feller, and he was out of town, so he gave me his place on Taf Shin Mem Beis, and it was incredible, like, to be so close up. It, it was closed off, but a little bit we o-opened the, the board and, and, you know, to see from so close up, it gave me see like the crumbs on the Rebbe's situg.

1:01:58 Speaker 4 Hmm.

1:01:59 Speaker 1 That was, uh, very precious.

1:02:02 Speaker 4 And when, when the Rebbe was coming in and out by davening, you were like upfront, like by the shvil, like, or you were with the crowd? Like how did it work?

1:02:15 Speaker 1 Until my bar mitzvah, I was in the front. I remember- I have a memory of, of, I, I think it was Teshuvim Gimel. I was already we- these two months before I remember my mitzvahs, I was basically wearing a hat, but it was like last year I was able to stand with the kids in the front. I was all the way, all the way, all the way in the front with on Yom Kippur by Ne'ilah. Um, together with, I remember Ari Groner, and I believe if I remember correctly, it was Shabbos. I have to check out the dates. But anyways, the, the Avinu Malkeinu before Ne'ilah or, I mean, Ne'ilah Avinu Malkeinu was the Rebbe was making for a very long time. The Rebbe was making a very long time, and I was able to hear the Rebbe crying, the Rebbe crying. And it, it-- Not, not too many people were able to hear it 'cause there was singing Avinu Malkeinu, but us two, you know, a few kids that were sitting in the front were able to... I don't know if we were able to see the Rebbe. Maybe the Rebbe was covered over with a tallis, but definitely I remember cry- the Rebbe crying and crying. It was like, so we were standing all the way, all the way in the front, um, like mamash against the Mizrach front. Later on at Sebacher also when the Rebbe was davening for the Amid in Teshri Nun, I was in Tisha Teshri Nun. I'm sorry,

1:03:32 Speaker 1 um, Teshri Shontes. Tisha Shontes. So I was stood also Mizrach all the way on the other side of the Aron Kodesh, and I was able to see the Rebbe from, from, from the front. In other words, I was able to see behind the pareches, um, I was able to see and then notice interest- a couple of things the Rebbe says as well. Um-

1:03:56 Speaker 4 What do you mean behind the pareches? You're saying like in the gap between the-

1:03:59 Speaker 1 Between the pareches and, and Aron Kodesh, yeah.

1:04:01 Speaker 4 The gap.

1:04:02 Speaker 1 There's a gap. There's like a little gap. So it's like a few bachur were stood over there. But as a kid, so I was, uh... Let's say, let's how do we put this? I was a very, I was an, I was an overachiever, so I didn't fit into any classes very well. So, uh, at a certain point, we, we skipped into-

1:04:21 Speaker 4 You have the right terminology, I see.

1:04:23 Speaker 1 Yeah. We were, we were, uh, overachievers, so we, a few of us were skipped into a, a higher class in fifth to sixth grade towards the end of the year, and then went to seventh grade, and I wasn't too well doing too well over there either. I was put back and up, back and forth. And the poel, Rabbi Pikarsky of Mesivta tells me that, "Berel, um, I don't know if we have-- You're far so talented that, uh, we don't have anywhere, anything to offer you anymore." At that time, he recommended that I should not come back next year, basically. So I went to Lubavitch Yeshiva, Ocean Parkway. And, uh, academically, I was learning, it was fine, but, uh, b'haga was not, not great, and also was so sort of a wasted year as well. And towards the end of the year, my mother and father heard that there was, there was a group of boys going to Israel, Teres Amos. And so they found out some friends are going to Teres Amos, so they asked, they asked Rabbi Pikarsky from Olat Taida if he thinks it's a good idea that I should go to, to Israel, and he said, "Yeah, I think it's a good idea." I was 14 Tzachako. But then they asked the rosh yeshiva of Lubavitch Yeshiva, Rabbi Tenebaum, if I should go, and he said no. He wouldn't give permission. So it was one day the Rebbe was came to the mikvah, and my mother opened the door, the Rebbe went

1:05:51 Speaker 1 inside, and my mother left. And then the phone rang, so mother went inside to answer the phone. You know, people have questions and so on. So on the other line, other side of the line was Rabbi Tenebaum from Lubavitch Yeshiva, and she asked him, you know, "Could I send my son? You think it's a good idea to send him to Israel?" And he said no, because it's still the middle of the year, and he's gonna break apart the class if he leaves. So she said, "Okay. So when next year, will you let him come back?" So he says, "No, we're not letting him come back next year." So she said to Tenebaum-

1:06:26 Speaker 4 If he goes.

1:06:26 Speaker 1 If he go... No. No, no, no, no.

1:06:30 Speaker 4 Oh, you're saying leave and you're not accepted for next year.

1:06:33 Speaker 1 Right. I'm not accepted for next year, and I shouldn't go. So my mother was saying in Yiddish, "Rabbi Tenebaum, Which means the Rebbe said I should follow the lead of Olat Taida even though I was on Lubavitch Yeshiva, basically to go to Israel.

1:07:16 Speaker 4 As is, as is known that the-

1:07:18 Speaker 1 As is known. Oh, guys, as it is known, you have to follow then the, the advice of the rosh of Olat Taida. Rebbe like ki yadu kat, Rebbe would a lot of times answer, ki yadu, you have to ask your rosh, your, of, of, of yeshiva. So that was a, as a bachur. But here there were two rosh, and the one that was under right then was told me not to go, and actually Bashert didn't want me to go. And here, the Rebbe said I should follow the rosh Olat Taida, and then we got a call from Rabbi Tenebaum's that telling my mother that I could go.

1:07:53 Speaker 4 Hmm.

1:07:53 Speaker 1 So I don't know what transpired, but he called back and said, um, he gives me permission to go, and I went to Israel. And-

1:08:00 Speaker 4 You, you know that the Rebbe was in the mikvah when this conversation was happening?

1:08:03 Speaker 1 Yeah. The Rebbe was in the mikvah when the conversation happening, and it's probably the Rebbe heard. My mother hung up and heard probably that she like, she, oh my gosh, I didn't realize I, I was speaking so loud that the Rebbe must have heard my conversation. That was the end of it. I never heard anything else, but it's the poel Rabbi Tenebaum said I could go. I had the most amazing year in Eretz Yisrael. We were 14 year old. There was a whole group of us, and we had an amazing mashpia.

1:08:29 Speaker 4 What year is this?

1:08:30 Speaker 1 Taf Shin, Mem Dalet, Mem He.

1:08:32 Speaker 4 Mm-hmm.

1:08:34 Speaker 1 Eighty-four, '85. And Rabbi Shlomo, um, Rav Shimon Cohen, it's Rebbe Gevin, like, he really dedicated himself to the bachurim, and he gave us and he, um, really, really inspired. I have at the same time, Chaim Shoal, Chaim Shoal Brook was there and he was like a veker. He used to wake us up. And I have a-- he showed me, I have a tettel that he gave me a pic-- a, a, a copy of a Kovad from the Rebbe. In the back, he writes. He, he asked me to wake him up, uh, whatever, five forty-five, six o'clock. I should wake him up to activate as a media, as a bachur. I'm waking up Chaim Shoal Brook. Um-

1:09:11 Speaker 4 What do you mean he gave you a Kovad of the Rebbe? I-

1:09:12 Speaker 1 Two things. He wanted... He had a copy of a Kovad, so he gave it to me, but he also-- he wanted to res-- so it's right at the back of a Kovad. So that's why I kept it 'cause I saved it. So I have this tettel that he's telling me that I should, I should wake up better Levita, you know, the he's waking up the veker. Like, it was so, um, amazing, amazing, amazing year. And then it was coming towards Yad Vashem Pesach, and I was gonna go home for Pesach Taf Shin Mem He. And, and there was, there was making-- they were making a goydel for the bachurim to go, "Who's gonna go for Yad Vashem?" A goydel from all the yeshivas in Eretz Yisrael.

1:09:48 Speaker 4 Who's the representative of, of bachurim?

1:09:50 Speaker 1 A representative. Uh, a goydel, who's gonna represent the bachurim for Yad Vashem Taf Shin Mem He? And, and, uh, someone came over to me and asked me. He was arranging it for that Yeshivat Ateret Zeman in Yerushalayim. And he said, uh, "You should, you know, buy a ticket." I was like, "I don't need a ticket. I'm going to New York anyway." He says, "Yeah, but this is... I think this, you could... It's like a goydel." I said like, "What am I gonna do if it, if I win, if I win it?" He says, "Yeah, you may... You'll get money, a face." Okay, he convinced me last minute and I bought a ticket. And I won. From the whole Eretz Yisrael, I won. I was the Zecher Hagoydel. Okay. So he came to me, "Slom, now am Zecher Hagoydel, so you should know you have a big achayus. You represent all the bachurim, which means that you have to be by every single davening and every single fabregen kamuvin. And, uh, when you come back, you'll have to give chazara and share with all the bachurim. You'll travel around Eretz Yisrael." I was 15 years old. So because of that, I ca-- I, I probably because of that, I mean, probab- maybe even without that, but I, because of that, I was made sure I was there for every Shacharit Menchameiv. Shacharit was then Kriya. So I was there by Kriya. I was there Chatzot before, before Kriya. I was representing the bachurim of Eretz Yisrael

1:11:05 Speaker 1 to the Rebbe for Yad Vashem Taf Shin Mem He. Yad Vashem Taf Shin Mem He was then the first Siyum HaRambam. And, uh, I remember that, and I was learning. We learned there was a new Haderan that came out, and, uh, I sat down with Yasker Greenberg. He was teaching me. Um, we, we, he taught us, taught me the Haderan. And it was an amazing time to be Yad Vashem as a representative of the bachurim. At that time, I was supposed to get a, a bottle from the Rebbe by Kesher Bracha as a Zecher Hagoydel. But I came over to the Rebbe and I said, you know, quietly I said, "Zecher Hagoydel." I wa-- uh, you know, bachurim didn't speak to the Rebbe and, and, uh, so I said it very quietly. So the Rebbe said, "L'chaim u'bracha," and, and I moved on. So later on, I got a, a bottle from, uh, Rebbe Groner. He gave me a bottle for, for the bachurim from the Rebbe's, from the collection of the, of the bottles. Like, by the way, I went back to Eretz Yisrael and I packed up, traveled around and I gave, uh, gave a chazara v'chol v'chol. It was really-

1:12:00 Speaker 4 It's very special because, you know, you, you could have just came home for Pesach. Obviously, it would be by the Rebbe, but then you're coming home. And then because of this whole experience, it was like, "Wait a minute. I, I came through by the Rebbe." It's also like the idea some people go- growing up in Crown Heights can, you know, quote-unquote, "take it for granted." And here it's like, you know, you're coming from Eretz Yisrael to the Rebbe as a Zecher Hagoydel. It's like it was probably a whole different experience for you.

1:12:26 Speaker 1 It was a, it was amazing. It was a different experience. Now, the truth is after, um, being a whole year in Eretz Yisrael, even... A- again, I can't imagine, but I'm, I'm saying it was a little bit the first time coming to, to the Rebbe was a, it was a big deal. The first time actually traveling to the Rebbe. Um, you know, and even going, you know, we had, we had Yechidus earlier. But, but going into... Yeah. So tap into Zecher Hagoydel, uh, definitely. I remember a, a tiny anecdote of, uh... So I-- Zayde was over the... Shabbos, I think. And, uh, Zayde was over Sunday, Bas Mitzvah. I had a ticket to go on Thursday, Mashchaza. So I asked, uh, the hanhalah if I could go, if I could go a little earlier. So he told me, "Yes, but you have a tnai. Before I go, I have to chazam Sefer Beit Zabata."

1:13:22 Speaker 4 Hmm.

1:13:26 Speaker 1 I did it. Yes, I did it. I did it in the Sefer Beit. Like, you know, he could push me to do it for the three days that I went early. And gratitude, I came, I came early and my, and my Zayde passed away Bas Mitzvah, Matzah Shabbos Bas Mitzvah, and so it was because of that that it was, that was by the levaya. But I'm just being nitzaya what the, how this mashpia pushed us and, and got us to do things like, you know, chazam Sefer Beit Zabata to come there two days early to, to Crown Heights, New York. Um-

1:13:53 Speaker 4 That's it.

1:13:57 Speaker 1 Good times. So, yeah.

1:14:02 Speaker 4 So what... I'm just the chronological, uh, history of here. So you were in Tetes Emes, and then what?

1:14:10 Speaker 1 So Taf Shin Mem He, and then things fell apart over there and a lot of guys left from Tetes Emes. And that was the whole, a whole group of, uh... It was Shloime Viznitzer, Levi Shemtov, um, David Moonshine, Asher Farkash, Mordechai Farkash, uh, Fleiman. A lot of, uh, great Chassidim were all part of that. We all, they all left. They went to Montreal 'cause, 'cause to follow this mashpia. I went back, I went back to Crown Heights, Aloteca. Life was not the same. It was, uh, it wa- it was, uh, different. Um, but I had a g- a, a certain appreciation more about the Chassidus and Rebbe and so on after that whole experience in Eretz Yisrael. Um-

1:14:59 Speaker 4 Um, so this is like Mem Vav, Mem Zayin.

1:15:03 Speaker 1 Vav, Mem Zayin, Mem Ches. And then at the end of Mem Tes, I went back to, as a, as a shliach to Tetes Emes.

1:15:13 Speaker 4 Wow. Okay. So, okay, so I wanna go back... Let me go back to your mother for a second. I guess that we're holding mem ches now. That's-

1:15:23 Speaker 1 That's right

1:15:24 Speaker 4 ... all. And, and it was just Chaf Teshvat. Um, I understand your mother was also part of the Chevra Kadisha.

1:15:33 Speaker 1 Yes. So we-- she was part of the Chevra Kadisha, and we found out about Chaf Teshvat one thirty the night before. And I, I think the bachur found out from, from my brother, a sister-in-law, brother-in-law from Texas. Um, yeah, we got a call that, uh, the Rebbe's passed away, and they have to go, go to the hospital with her to get, to get her. So my f- my uncle drove my aunt Cooperman, his name is Cooper, the Coopermans, and my mother and some other women, and they went, uh, to take the, the Rebbetsin. And when they, when they left the hospital and went to the Rebbe's house, their c-- before they left, their car broke down, so they couldn't, they couldn't make it. So when they came, when the Chevra Kadisha came to the Rebbe's house, they weren't there. But my father did go there. He came from the house. He went there to the Rebbe's house. I always regretted... I told my father, "If anything's happening, if you're going anywhere, wake me up." And, uh, I always regretted not staying up that night. I, whatever. It was... Yeah, I didn't do it. I went to sleep, and then for the next day it was a b-b-levaya.

1:16:52 Speaker 4 Right. And you said there were people that were outside the whole night, front of the Rebbe's house.

1:16:55 Speaker 1 People were out, the Rebbe was, the Rebbe was outside. It was a hoyum diker toym, a very mourning. The Rebbe was really, really, uh, you know, of course, distressed and very, very difficult time to see. But the, the adam came and came to the, to the, to the house and so on.

1:17:15 Speaker 4 Okay.

1:17:16 Speaker 1 So she was, she was involved also with the whole, yeah, with the whole Chevra Kadisha there. She did it.

1:17:21 Speaker 4 So I wanna ask you about, um, you have another so-

1:17:24 Speaker 1 She-

1:17:24 Speaker 4 Yeah, go ahead.

1:17:25 Speaker 1 No, no. My mother, she was very, uh... She had many yichudison, especially as a, as a girl. She was Beis Yaakov and the Rebbe, um, she helped bring young people to, to Crown Heights, the fabrengens. And the Rebbe gave her like a specific advice about dating. At one point, uh, she was dating somebody and, and, uh, she says that, "But he's not really-- It doesn't feel like a connection." So the Rebbe said, "What? He's not playing ball?" She never understood what he mean, not playing ball. She didn't know if the Rebbe meant like he's not, like, involved or like he doesn't play ball. She, she never understood what it meant, but the Rebbe used the term, "What? He's not playing ball?" The Rebbe advised her to, while she was dating him, to put him on pause and date my father, and afterwards advised her to, to marry my father.

1:18:26 Speaker 4 Hmm.

1:18:26 Speaker 1 So it made an impact on me that, in that whole sense of, of, uh, dating and so on early on. She... Yeah. So in the yutz, in the yutz.

1:18:37 Speaker 4 Yeah.

1:18:37 Speaker 1 The Rebbe took care of people.

1:18:40 Speaker 4 Yeah. I'm saying the, those times was especially people that, like your mother, that comes from a different background and then, you know, the Rebbe mom just take care of the, took, took care of the people.

1:18:53 Speaker 1 She has a story with her mother that her mother was having issues with her son. Whatever. It was a bit of a vilde chaya, vilde, you know. He was a little wild. So she took on a taanis. She was like, she used to fast like Monday, Monday and Thursday. So she came to Yechidas and she told it to the Rebbe, and the Rebbe says, "You don't have to, you don't have to fast. Better do, do a taanis dibbur. Do a taanis dibbur, nisht fasten." So Monday and Thursday she's like be more careful about the taanis dibbur so they had-

1:19:29 Speaker 4 Taanis dibbur doesn't mean not to talk. It means to be more mindful.

1:19:31 Speaker 1 Yeah, right. Right. Be more mindful of what you say. Be careful what you say and not, not don't speak anything. Correct. Be careful, mindful, think about. So they had a joke that, uh, in the-- when they want to say a lashon hara, "It's Tuesday. It's Tuesday." You should say In their house, they would say Tuesday, they would say, because Monday and Thursday they weren't allowed to say any lashon hara because, yeah.

1:19:50 Speaker 4 Yeah. Okay. I wanna ask you about, um... I know that, uh, besides your, uh, learning in yeshiva, you also got involved in a few interesting things, even as a bachur, um, that involved the askanus of Lubavitch. I think, so when you were in Eretz Yisrael, I think was, wasn't the first Chanukah Live, you were there Taf Shimon?

1:20:17 Speaker 1 Yes, we were at Taf Shimon. So we were at the Taf Shimon. It was a nice group of us. Um, Rabbi Moshe Steinberg, M-Mendel Azimov, Mendel Feldman, um, Zalman Zurkins, Zalman Volovik, Yosef Vogel. Okay. A whole group of shluchim. And we found out that Yosef Vogel was inv- you know, speaking to his father, there's gonna be a Chanukah Live and it's gonna be in London. And we were shocked that it's not gonna be in Eretz Yisrael. So we started speaking to some askanim and they said, "It's, uh, maybe if you take it on, you could do it." Uh, whatever. I don't exactly wanna know why, but it was extremely expensive. The downlink, just to get the satellite downlink was twenty-five thousand dollars. And a huge sum in those days. So we're gonna get twenty-five thousand dollars to be, to have the down link. But it was so important the Rebbe like how could you have a Hanukkah Live witho- without Eretz Yisrael? So at that time, Rabbi Yossel Gutnick was in Eretz Yisrael working in

1:21:25 Speaker 4 That was after the whole, uh, Tagir HaMasiah, that whole story, right?

1:21:29 Speaker 1 It was before 'cause Tagir HaMasiah was on, was Nisan that it was spoke about.

1:21:39 Speaker 4 So he was there, something else

1:21:41 Speaker 1 No, no, no, he was there pa- maybe it was part, it was the same time. It was this, it was that time. Yes. I know it was before. Yes, it was, it was right after. Yes. He was putting together the, the government. He was stay- he stood his-- He stayed in one of the hotels that didn't open up yet. He had a, he had his whole floor. He was there for months. The Rebbe didn't let him go. The Rebbe told him to stay there. So it was during that time. Yeah, it was that time. He-- So they told us-

1:22:04 Speaker 4 Yeah. I'm saying I, I remember when, which month the whole story happened of Tagir HaMasiah, but I know when-- I know that-

1:22:12 Speaker 1 It was after

1:22:13 Speaker 4 ... after, after the government was toppled because, because the Rebbe said that he's not-

1:22:17 Speaker 1 Right

1:22:17 Speaker 4 ... for Peres, and then the two Knesset were hiding-

1:22:22 Speaker 1 Bozachin

1:22:22 Speaker 4 ... you know, for the vote. Bozachin and, uh, what's his name?

1:22:25 Speaker 1 Verdiger.

1:22:26 Speaker 4 Verdiger. So afterwards, I think the Rebbe sent, uh, Yossel Gutnick to Eretz Yisrael 'cause he now, now you need to build-

1:22:34 Speaker 1 Okay

1:22:34 Speaker 4 ... I mean, he needs to build the coalition. So he w- he was involved-

1:22:36 Speaker 1 Okay. So it was right after. Correct. It was-

1:22:38 Speaker 4 I don't know. Yeah. I don't remember the dates but yeah.

1:22:40 Speaker 1 You're right. Yeah, you're right. You're right. You're right. You're right. You're right. So we were backing, we were involved. Like it was a, it was a exciting time. And I remember on that note speaking to Lubavitchers in Yerushalayim, and they're explaining to me why it would make sense for Chabad to be involved and make a coalition with the, with Peres, Peres.

1:23:02 Speaker 4 Mm-hmm.

1:23:02 Speaker 1 It was mind-boggling. It was mind-boggling. It was like Am-- the regular Hasidim were talking about that whole process, and that was a normal thing for them. They weren't g-- It was, it was shocking. Any case, um, so they told us, "You know what? Why don't you go to ask to visit with Yossel Gutnick and, uh, see if maybe he'll sponsor it." So Yossi Asevolgo, myself, I went out. We went out to his hotel. Kasriel Shemtov was there. He was, uh, helping him.

1:23:33 Speaker 4 Yeah, I was gonna say that I only know about what I just said 'cause I heard it from, uh-

1:23:37 Speaker 1 Kasriel

1:23:37 Speaker 4 ... Kasriel Shemtov. Yeah.

1:23:38 Speaker 1 Spent a lot of time, worked hand in hand with him. Spent a lot of time and, uh, Yossel Gutnick said, okay, he'll sponsor it. So we got the main, the main thing covered. And we started working to try to get, to get this going. The set up, we had to get permission for the Kosel, and it was never was there a video at the Kosel. Never. Never was a satellite projection of a video. Now, obviously we're not gonna project it on the Kosel itself, but even to have a c- a video at the Kosel was unheard of. And we went to the Rava Kosel. You know, the, the

1:24:53 Speaker 4 So he's hiding so he's not available, you know.

1:24:54 Speaker 1 He's not available. We couldn't stop him. They couldn't stop him. He was hiding.

1:24:57 Speaker 4 So hi- hiding in 5700 in Eretz Yisrael was the theme.

1:25:01 Speaker 1 It was a theme.

1:25:02 Speaker 4 Yeah.

1:25:03 Speaker 1 So he-- But when we had it, it was amazing. I mean, for the first time,

1:25:37 Speaker 4 It's amazing. I mean, the whole phenomenon of, uh, Hanukkah Live that people are seeing the Rebbe live and the Rebbe seeing them is an amazing feat.

1:25:47 Speaker 1 Unbelievable.

1:25:47 Speaker 4 But then that you were able to make it happen in Eretz Yisrael, that, that's very special.

1:25:52 Speaker 1 Unbelievable. Uh, from what I understand is there was at that point, there were four satellites around the world. Only was four satellites, four international satellites, and all four were hooked up for this, uh, Hanukkah Live.

1:26:06 Speaker 4 Mm-hmm.

1:26:06 Speaker 1 Derich Agav, you watch the video, it's very, it's very interesting of Hanukkah Live. I just recently watched it. And at the end of the sikha, um, the Rebbe speaks about giving Hanukkah gelt, and you see Rabbi Groner goes over to the Rebbe and wants to know the say that how it's gonna be, because the Rebbe wants to give dimes to the kids and dollars to the adults. And he asked the Rebbe if the Rebbe's gonna give it alein, if the Rebbe's gonna give it himself or through the thankistim. And the Rebbe sa-- So the Rebbe says, "Alein is besser. Alein is besser." I mean, alone, to do it himself is, is a lot better than, than, than to give it to thankistim. And then the Rebbe's like, like, like, what's a child like? It's amazing they could see it, the way the Rebbe's committing to give every single kid in that ha- in that place, thousands of kids, four dimes himself. They were not prepared for it. They were doing it in the Rebbe's hand. If you-- It's a, an incredible video. But the, the, the, the And I have to say when I went there to Seoul the first time after this, I, I, it, it-- I can't, uh, not mention the amazing, uh, Greenberg family who, uh, took me in when I was, uh, when we were spach already. My mother-- my brother was already married to a Greenberg, and they really opened their home. So when I had free Shabbosim or Reb

1:27:31 Speaker 1 Zusha Gimik picked me up in the airport and, you know, kind of had a beautiful big family, and they embr-- they took me in like one of their own, and it was very, very, uh, moving to, to have that special place. So I have a special place in the heart for them.

1:27:45 Speaker 5 Okay.

1:27:47 Speaker 1 So subsequently, when I came back to the, to the-- then Chaim G- Chaim Greenberg was involved with Machane Israel Development Fund. He got involved because Rabbi Berel Shemtov got his son, Gedalia, to get him to be involved, and Gedalia got Chaim Greenberg. Chaim Greenberg needed someone to do some-

1:28:03 Speaker 5 'Cause they're also brother-in-laws.

1:28:04 Speaker 1 They're also brother-in-laws. And they wa-- he needed someone to do something in English, so he knew me, so he asked me if I could help him out. So I started getting involved.

1:28:11 Speaker 5 So, so de-describe a little bit what Machane Israel Development Fund is.

1:28:15 Speaker 1 Okay.

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1:29:50 Speaker 1 So in the early, early years, I believe... No, in the early, early years, the Rashag would bring some s- the Fidik Rebbe would meet with some Balabatim between Rosh Chodesh and Kippur, and then the Rashag would, would bring them to the Rebbe. And l'chayei, this concept of bringing m- donors and gvirim to, to have a yechidus with the Rebbe is connected to that idea, I believe. Uh, but this is going back much, much later in the Tavshin, um, Vav Zayin when, um, a group of shluchim brought Balabatim to seven seventy between Rosh Chodesh and Kippur and, and also betw- right before Yad Alf Nissen, twice a year. And surprisingly, the Rebbe gave-- s-set a sikha for them. The first time they weren't even planning to. And, uh, there was-- they started a, a, a fund, Machane Israel Development Fund, to help shluchim develop and to raise bigger money from m-wealthy donors to give to the general kupa to give Machane Israel, and from there to the shluchim. So at some point, there was, there was other people running it, and then they left, and then Gedalia Shemtov was looking for somebody to run it. He asked his brother-in-law, Chaim Greenberg. Chaim Greenberg started. He was, uh, very organized and very well-suited for this, but he didn't know English, so he needed somebody to help him. So he asked me to get involved, and it entailed mostly to-- for the, the two events that took place, two yechidusin. Usually, it was like Sayan Tishrei, and the

1:31:33 Speaker 1 other one was like Chaf Vav Adar, twice a year. They had to first do-- first it was for a higher amount. Then it was like a hundred thousand dollars over five years was the, was the, uh, amount they had to contribute to. And it was a whole vaad. It was Rabbi Hirson, Rabbi Berel Shemtov, Rabbi Simcha Zurkin, um, Rav L'chaim Toiv, like I said, Rabbi Shemtov, and, uh, a few other shluchim.

1:32:05 Speaker 5 We wrote, um, quite a number of years ago, we wrote a very nice article on it. I believe in that article there's the, uh-

1:32:12 Speaker 1 List

1:32:12 Speaker 5 ... list of the vaad, yeah.

1:32:15 Speaker 1 So I started, I started helping out around, uh, the, the events, around the yechidusin. And later, slowly, I was getting more and more involved until Chaim Greenberg was getting married, and he asked the Rebbe if he should stay on and do this and continue Machane Israel or go to Eretz Israel. And the Rebbe told him right away to go to Eretz-- continue Machane Israel, like out. And he went to yechidusin, that's when he told me, "Berel, you're taking over." So I was still a bachur then, and I was like, "How can I run this important place?" So we were working, of course, with Rabbi Krinsky was there and Rabbi, um, Katlarsky. But, and you know, throughout the year, people would make donations, and they would have to get receipts, and they would have to be recorded, and other shluchim would want, want, wanted to sign up people. And it was a whole office. And then after the yechidusin, that means sending them letters from the Rebbe and g-giving them the pictures. People would order pictures of the-- when they were, w-were at yechidusin and so on. So there's a little office in seven eighty-eight, room two-0-six, and we had a little office there. And at, at a certain point later after Has-- after Hazzai and other, with Shalom Cement also got involved. But for like alm-- for, for like eight, eight months. So I was, I was responsible as a bacher. And, um, so I got to be by the Yechidas as well. At that

1:33:44 Speaker 1 time, the Yechidasen were in seven-seventy downstairs, and we cleared out the whole seven-seventy, set up some mechitas around, made it look a little more presentable for the, for the, for the shluch- for the balabatim, uh, interact with the balabatim, interact with the shluchim, and so on. Um, so also very amazing, amazing privilege to be part of it. Um, I remember one year-- so one year, I mean, the last year where the Rebbe came to the Yechidas was Tishrei Taf Shin Bet. And they asked the Rebbe when to do it, and the Rebbe said to do it Sunday. I believe it was Zion, but Sunday between Rosh Hashana and Kippur. Now, Sunday they was giving dollars and all the f- all the, all the b- all the guests were there. So it's gonna be, um, definitely a long dollars at that time. And they, they panicked. They wanted to change it because how could the Rebbe-- why should the Rebbe have to do dollars and then Yechidas Machanisro? But the Rebbe wanted it, uh, specifically that date. So they decided that they're going to ask only the h- top donors, like make a small group, not a full group, only the top donors, and ask Rabbi Krinsky to ask the Rebbe. The Rebbe said, "Vashumeifen, they should do it." Everybody was there. Everybody should be there. And, uh, that was a b-- it was large, it was big, it was growing. Baruch Hashem, there was more people getting involved and more, uh, balabatim and-

1:35:25 Speaker 4 Because the, the donors would also have like a, like a Yechidas, like a mini Yechidas with the Rebbe.

1:35:32 Speaker 1 Right. So that, that was the point. They would, they would have the opportunity to say, to share. It was Mama SheYechidas, a few minutes to share an i- to share with the Rebbe, just to talk. So at first it was upstairs in seven-seventy, and they would just walk over without a, you know, no order or just speak a few minutes with the Rebbe. And the, it, the made it gets here where the Rebbe's like putting all the envelopes in his pocket, and his pocket's being big. It's like there's not-- it wasn't really coordinated well in that sense. It was supposed to be like a quick, uh, Yechidas. But then when it came down to, especially when Chaim Gumer got involved, it was very, very organized. They-- we put a-- we made a step up, you know, a higher s-step and, and put the Rebbe, the Rebbe's table and organize a, a special way of going. And we even made-

1:36:16 Speaker 4 By the way, in, in this month-- When did he get involved? Taf Shin Bet?

1:36:22 Speaker 1 Yeah. Taf Shin Bet, Taf Shin Bet. I think it was Taf Shin Bet even.

1:36:25 Speaker 4 It's like if you look in, um, the upcoming The Her magazine, in the section Rebbe to Rebbe, there's a whole slide of pictures from Machnisro, and you already see how it's developed, and it's a nice, uh, event at that point already.

1:36:39 Speaker 1 It was... Yeah. He, he, he did a lot. And at that time, I remember we, we even scheduled when people should go and gave them like a general sense of when they're gonna go. And I remember-- Yeah, and it, and it was, it was, it was hard for the Rebbe. I mean, it's like the whole day of dollars, especially that one Taf Shin Bet base. I remember it was, um, Taf Shin Bet. I-I'm sorry. It was a whole day of dollars, and then the Rebbe came down. The Rebbe left the Yechidas at one AM.

1:37:18 Speaker 4 Hmm.

1:37:18 Speaker 1 And I don't think there was even a break between dollars and, and Yechidas. And the Rebbe spoke a sikha. The Rebbe gave a s- spoke a sikha, and then the balabatim went together to the... And the Rebbe said a sikha for the, for the shluchim. And the shluchim-- Then the Rebbe gave dollars to everybody, all the shluchim and anybody who was there. I never felt comfortable taking a dollar by as a bacher there 'cause I, I didn't really feel that I belonged there. As a bacher, you know, asking whatever, what are you doing over there? So I didn't, I never, I never took a dollar or at, at Machnisro Machlal. I remember once I, uh, there was two balabatim wanted to sign up. It was probably Taf Shin Bet. And I wanted to-- I told Rabbi Krinsky to tell the Rebbe that these two balabatim wanna sign up. So y-y-it were friends of Ami Pakovsky. So they told us. So I-- Rabbi Krinsky is always out, you know. He was-- So I sent him a fax, so my fax machine to his fax machine. And it said that these two people are writing to, to asking for a bracha that... And I wrote, I signed my name Berel. So he shows me the fax afterwards that the Rebbe answered on the fax. and something else. and something else. Three words. And I was shocked. I was like, "You gave the Rebbe my paper with my Berel?" Like, I, I wasn't-- I meant did you to

1:38:51 Speaker 1 tell the Rebbe, what are you g-- I'm, I'm not supposed to be giving the Rebbe like papers like that. But anyway, that's, that's, that's... But he did it anyways.

1:39:00 Speaker 4 That's what happened.

1:39:01 Speaker 1 That's what happened. So I, I was a little more careful then. Um, but again, I wasn't working there officially. I was a bacher, and I had a, a key to an office in seven-seventy, and I-- whenever, you know, I would do-learn and take a few minutes and then work over there. I was, I was still in yeshiva, I was doing smicha, whatever it was. Um, I, I remember like, you know, after s- after tekias, so you, you Yeah. We have, we have some of them ar-around. I've seen them. Right. So-

1:40:05 Speaker 4 It's like the, on behalf of Machnisro Development Fund, Lubavitch Headquarters. That, that was a whole interesting lesson in the letters.

1:40:12 Speaker 1 It was on the Machnisro stationery?

1:40:14 Speaker 4 Yeah.

1:40:18 Speaker 1 Was it on the stationery?

1:40:19 Speaker 4 I don't remember. I don't remember.

1:40:20 Speaker 1 Or was it Rebbe stationery? No, no, no, no. No, I'm sorry. It was the Rebbe stationery. No, it was the Rebbe stationery. Uh.

1:40:25 Speaker 4 They're around, so we have some of those then.

1:40:27 Speaker 1 Yeah, right. Right.

1:40:27 Speaker 4 Okay.

1:40:28 Speaker 1 So, but I was-- it was just-- I, I was into computer, so I was able to make what's called a mail merge. I know today it's like a few clicks. In those days it was before Windows. in 1991.

1:40:45 Speaker 4 MS-DOS.

1:40:46 Speaker 1 MS-DOS. So I was able to do... I knew how to do, uh, a mail-

1:40:49 Speaker 4 You knew how to use that. You knew how, you knew how to use MS-DOS?

1:40:52 Speaker 1 I knew how to use MS-DOS. Exactly.

1:40:54 Speaker 4 I would have, I would have to have someone else load the game for me. I didn't know how to do it.

1:40:57 Speaker 1 And everything. So we, uh, I would have like a first-- one of the first computers in, in, in Chabad. I had a, a T1 line to chabad.org. I helped them out, so I was involved with those, with the, uh, with the computers and so on. Uh, I, I, I gave Pinto his job. The, the famous Pinto what took over my, my computer.

1:41:15 Speaker 4 Who, who ran the IT for 770.

1:41:18 Speaker 1 Right. I, I-- It was my job. I gave him. I gave it over to him.

1:41:21 Speaker 4 Ah. So you were the first IT.

1:41:23 Speaker 1 I was, yeah, I guess. I made the first network within two rooms, and I didn't know what I was doing. Um, so yeah. So I was mail merging, and it was, it was very sensitive. I have to make sure I get it right 'cause the Rebbe's gonna-- is signing these letters. This is not a, this is not a joke. So he went once, and I had a mistake. I have to make it over again and do it over again and printing and it was a, it was a, it was a, a process. So the Balabatim were getting the letters, and there was one guy who came with someone else, with Joe Kerry. I don't know if you know the name is, uh, Joe Kerry. He's a, Avram, Avram Shemtov. Avram Hecht. Avram Hecht's Balabas. Did the videos. The Rebbe tells him with the Yechidus that ma- he danced around the video.

1:42:02 Speaker 4 Uh, it's him.

1:42:03 Speaker 1 The video. He, he's a video producer, and the Rebbe tells him to dance around the Moscow in Chanukah Live around the video. So he brought a, he brought a, a friend of his. So he, uh... We didn't make a letter for him because he doesn't, he doesn't-- he's not a Balabas.

1:42:21 Speaker 4 He's not a donor.

1:42:21 Speaker 1 He's not a donor. He made a, he made a donation, but he's not a donor, so we didn't make a letter. I prepared it, and I gave it to Rabbi Krinsky, Rabbi Krinsky. And he says, Rabbi K- Rabbi Krinsky comes in and he says, "Beryl, the Rebbe's asking, where's the letter for so and so?"

1:42:36 Speaker 4 Hmm.

1:42:37 Speaker 1 I was like, "Oh my God."

1:42:40 Speaker 4 You're saying the one time you made a, a decision, you-

1:42:44 Speaker 1 No, just play-- you know, you're playing, you're playing games. I, I mean, like I've-- of course, he didn't deserve it. He wasn't a Balabas. So I'm gonna argue the Rebbe's asking, "Where's the, where's, where's the letter?" If we're playing him a play knee. I'm like, "Okay. Coming right, coming right up."

1:42:56 Speaker 4 Mm-hmm. Wow.

1:43:00 Speaker 1 Um, another time there was somebody, Berkoval brought someone, a, a, uh, friend of Chabad from India. He's, he's known. I think his name is Rupan Bansali, and Ber- Rabbi Berkoval, the famous Rabbi Berkoval brought him. And we're very nervous to... It was someone who wasn't Jewish. How was, how was the Rebbe gonna respond? Is the Rebbe gonna be okay with it? And the Rebbe was very warm to him. The Rebbe was very nice Yechidus, and he made his donation. And I remember on his letter, the Rebbe wrote on top a few lines about Sheva Mitzvot Bnei Noach. B'ksav Yayd in English.

1:43:40 Speaker 4 In English?

1:43:41 Speaker 1 In English. I don't, I don't, I don't have it. I don't... That's-- that was my, my memory, and it, it's probably around. I mean, he probably has it, but, uh, and but the, the Rebbe specifically wrote something about Sheva Mitzvot Bnei Noach.

1:43:52 Speaker 4 Hmm.

1:43:54 Speaker 1 Um, so yes, I, I, I hung around there. And at one point in Tafsh- in Yichvat Taf Shin Beis, they were filming... Jerry Levine was filming the Rebbe for Jem. So we had a-

1:44:19 Speaker 4 So Jerry, so Jerry Levine is involved with Rabbi Shlomo Lipskier in the Aleph Institute, and he was the anchor at Chanukah Live. So he, so he gave his-

1:44:30 Speaker 1 Jem, Jem hired him. Jem hired him to film the Rebbe.

1:44:36 Speaker 4 To produce some type of film or some... I don't know. I'm asking.

1:44:40 Speaker 1 I, I don't know what... Yeah, I don't know what the end, end result, but, but Hilda Krinsky hired him.

1:44:44 Speaker 4 Mm-hmm.

1:44:44 Speaker 1 And they gave him equipment, and they gave him money, and they gave him... He was going around, and he was, like you said, he was the anchor of the Chanukah Live.

1:44:52 Speaker 4 He also went to Machane Israel, by the way.

1:44:55 Speaker 1 Yes. He went to Machane Israel. That's correct. A hundred percent.

1:44:58 Speaker 4 There's a video of him telling the Rebbe that, um, in honor of the Rebbe's 40th, the Nasi's, he quit smoking cigarettes.

1:45:05 Speaker 1 Yeah. That's it. Wow. Okay. Yes, he goes to Machane Israel. Rabbi Lipskier was very involved in Machane Israel. He brought a bunch, a bunch of people. Um, I just remember we're dealing with Rabbi Shlomo Lipskier. He was an am-- he was not major, but not many interactions, but the few-- I was a bachur, and he was very, very, um, respectful, respectable. And it was like even though he was far superior, you know, um, a major Shliach and so on. Anyway, so, so they were t- they were filming, and the Rebbe gave permission. And if you see the major, major amazing, amazing footage from the Rebbe davening, the Rebbe coming in, the Rebbe Jedekia Lucas and so on. But-

1:45:48 Speaker 4 So, so, uh, proper very modern cameras. So I mean, uh, those videos look like they were taken today. It was very, very high-end equipment that they were using.

1:45:57 Speaker 1 The Betacam. Betacam, Betacam footage, yes Betacam footage and the, they were Yutshvat, they wanted to go to the Ohel to film the Rebbe at the Ohel. So after davening by Yutshvat, I was in the office, and they said they need someone to go with the camera crew. To go with them? Pashto to go. So Rudy asked me if I wanna go. I'm like, "Okay, I was never, I was never by the Ohel when the Rebbe was there." Although Yutshvat and every restaurant of people were allowed, I never did it. Was-- I don't think it was, it's, it's respectable. So but there was enough here, they needed someone to help, so I, I went to help. So I remember, so, so we, we set up... They had a cameraman, these goyim they don't know much about. So they're standing outside seven seventy waiting for the Rebbe to come out. And I remember like in a little anecdote, I told him the Rebbe secretaries are gonna come out with the, with the bags and put it into the car before. So they, they see this is going on. They, they didn't recognize. They're like, they told me they were expecting a few women to come out, the secretary. They say secretary. They were, they were, they were waiting for some like secretaries to come out. They don't have secretaries.

1:47:10 Speaker 4 Right.

1:47:11 Speaker 1 Anyways, the Rebbe comes out and immediately-

1:47:13 Speaker 4 In Lubavitch, a secretary is a different, different definition, yeah.

1:47:16 Speaker 1 Different. Masgidis. Masgidis, secretary.

1:47:20 Speaker 4 Secretariat.

1:47:21 Speaker 1 Secretariat. Masgidis.

1:47:24 Speaker 4 Yeah.

1:47:24 Speaker 1 The Rebbe comes out, and he immediately sees them, and he goes straight to them and, and gives stuck, and he gives them coins. I, of course, stepped away, but the camera crew gets this thing. And then we went into the, into our van and followed along. And as the footage is available, it's a incredible footage. It was-- It gave me such a different perspective of somebody like seeing the Rebbe going to the oil and the Hannes that I was making to the oil and, and, and the quietness and, and, you know, at first I was bothered like this traffic, why is he not zooming and running and going fast? And then I'm thinking like, the Rebbe is here, and there's no, no way to rush to. This is a quiet time, and it's, you know, it's a difference, um, going or going. So it was a very driving the whole alongside the Rebbe and, um, uh, being front and the back and the, and, and sp- go-going, going with was really, really powerful. And at the oil itself, I, again, I stayed outside, but the f- the f- video is there. And then everybody clears out and leaves, and the Rebbe is there himself, and it was so eerie, like it's getting dark, and the Rebbe is himself at the oil, and we're standing over there behind some matzevas ready to take the film of the Rebbe going to his mother. And it was wow. So then he walks down the, the, the pathway and

1:48:56 Speaker 1 stands. It's dark and there's a few lights, and the Rebbe stands right on the shvil to his mother, says, uh, you know, says something, a couple of tilim or whatever it is. And then the Rebbe goes back to, to the car, and he stops by the Rebbe sitting over there, and I see the Rebbe bending down. I, I wasn't sure what it was. And, and, and then the Rebbe goes and picks up, rips out some, some grass. You're supposed to rip out the grass before you leave a, a, a cemetery. Okay, base haChaim. Once, twice, and the third time the Rebbe keeps it, holds it. But as the Rebbe gets up, the Rebbe loses his balance and catches himself on the, on the wall of the oil. Now, I noticed on the, on the, on the official, on the official film, it's missing that, that section. But I remember now I got so scared I was gonna... Rebbe gain, regained his balance and goes into, goes into the car. Right before he goes into the car, he throws in the last bit of, uh, grass. Uh, uh, I mean, to me, it meant like picking up, ripping out grass is so important that even if it takes a lot of effort and it, it, it's something important. We went back to seven seventy. I, you know, as someone who as bachur, we, we didn't go much to the oil, so we didn't really know the way directions to the oil because who, you know, you

1:50:17 Speaker 1 just fat maybe and not even. And we go to the, the... We didn't spend much time by the oil. So we didn't get, get back in time. So when we came back, the-- we went upst- it was, it was a shachre to go take the whole camera crew to the down to seven seventy. We went upstairs to Rabbi Krinsky's office, and in Rabbi Krinsky's office, there was a, a vid- a closed circuit TV, a TV monitor. Again, we can-

1:50:41 Speaker 4 Of downstairs.

1:50:41 Speaker 1 Of downstairs, which there were a few people on the block who had... This thing is wireless, and this thing is internet. So you don't even, can't imagine what it means to have like-

1:50:50 Speaker 4 Well, I just found out a few years ago, I was sitting talking to, um, the rabbi, I think his name is Rabbi Zalman Wilhelm in Sh- Shlichei Hermont. He's a son of, um-

1:51:00 Speaker 1 Yeah, Baruch.

1:51:02 Speaker 4 No, son of Rabbi Itzhak Wilhelm from the library.

1:51:04 Speaker 1 Itzhak Wilhelm. Baruch's nephew, yeah.

1:51:05 Speaker 4 So he, um, my parents live in Eastern Parkway. They're back to back with the Kazins, Yossi Kazins. So he, so this, uh, Wilhelm tells me, "Oh, by the way, we also had a live circuit because, uh, Yossi Kazin worked in WLCC, and there was a wire. They, they, they wanted the live-"

1:51:23 Speaker 1 Across Brooklyn Avenue?

1:51:24 Speaker 4 They yeah, they, they took a wire from seven seventy through all the backyards, through it across Brooklyn Avenue.

1:51:30 Speaker 1 Wow.

1:51:30 Speaker 4 And it was run, it was run to... So he says, "If you, if you would have known about it, your house could have also had it 'cause it was running through your backyard."

1:51:36 Speaker 1 Wow.

1:51:37 Speaker 4 But the technology then, they just threw wire over-

1:51:39 Speaker 1 Wire

1:51:40 Speaker 4 ... uh, un, over the street, you know. It, it, it blend in with all the other telephone wires, you know, running through the backyards. Yeah, so, so Rabbi Krinsky had, um-

1:51:48 Speaker 1 Right. So, so we're watching the Rebbe go to the amid for Mincha, and the whole day the Rebbe's hunched over. But here, the Rebbe walks straight up, very straight. And I remember Rabbi Krinsky saying, saying to me, to me, he says, "Berl, is this the same Rebbe we just saw?" When it came to Mincha, it was very strong, and it, it w- it was, uh, Pella, Ramasha Pella.

1:52:22 Speaker 4 No. And also, they also came Chavishvat, this crew.

1:52:26 Speaker 1 They came Chavishvat, and also you see that, and it's-

1:52:28 Speaker 4 Which is also interesting 'cause I was listening last night to the two Sichas.

1:52:31 Speaker 1 Yeah.

1:52:33 Speaker 4 And, um, there's a Sicha, Leil Chavishvat in Matzei. It's also-- it's, it r- it reminds me of what you're saying because the Leil Chavishvat before the Rebbe went to Kuntres, the way the Rebbe's speaking, Rebbe's tone is very, like, quiet. And then the next night, the Rebbe says another Sicha, and the Rebbe sounds totally different. Like, very, s- very, like, much louder and like... It was like... And what, what you're saying, like, resonates. Like, it's within twenty-four hours, th-this thing.

1:52:59 Speaker 1 A-a-a-and, uh, and then when you watch the videos, the raw footage of, uh, the f- uh, the Kontreysem was the night, first night?

1:53:08 Speaker 4 I think so, yeah. Chavishvat, yeah.

1:53:10 Speaker 1 You can't imagine the Rebbe's gonna give out Kontreysem now. The Rebbe stands there and gives out thousands of Kontreysem, the pink Kontreysem. And it's superhuman. There's not much... I mean, it-- begoshmin, how is it possible as... If you look at the sia, the Rebbe was, you know, it was challenging those days. It was very, very difficult. Behalot be-be'Kontreysem, I mean, if, if you watch all the, how much effort and time the Rebbe took to give you those Kontreysem. I remember, uh, one of the first Kontreysem that became regular was V-Vav Tishrei Taf Shin Nun. So that year, I mentioned that time already was Taf Shin Mem Tes at Rosh Hashanah. The night before Rosh Hashanah, the Rebbe gave out Kiturnu Ha'aros, a thick book. It was the first time, and it wasn't shrink-wrapped 'cause no one had the idea of doing a shrink-wrap to just give it, and it was hard. There were at least, I think, six thousand they said the Rebbe gave out that time. Then comes Rosh Hashanah, three days of Rosh Hashanah. Not three days, I'm sorry, Rosh Hashanah and Samga Dalia. And Samga Dalia, of course, is, is dollars. And then there's, I think there was already s- um, Lakach already once. And kapaim Vav Tishrei, the Rebbe wants to give out a, a Kuntres. A Kuntres, a Shacharit, Mincha, Arvit from Temach Tzedek, and a letter from Vav Tishrei, and Lakach, and a dollar. And I remember as bachurim, they, they w- we, they had it in, in m-

1:54:47 Speaker 1 yellow manila envelopes. But apparently, the Rebbe told it to them very late, and they had very little time to print it. And as the Rebbe is giving it out, we're packing it upstairs in the Bible school, and even stapling some of the things, and we're putting and putting and putting. And, and the numbers, they were like nine thousand Kontreysem. And this is after... I'm sorry, this is after Keshra Bracha. So this is Thursday night, the Rebbe is giving out say six thousand books. M- uh, Motzei Rosh Hashanah, the Rebbe is giving out Keshra Bracha. Then there's a Sicha of Tzemach Dalia, the Rebbe is giving out dollars. Then the Rebbe is giving out... And the Rebbe still wants to give out more. And this is the whole Ohel. There's a whole bunch of guests, and the Rebbe is giving out these manila envelopes. And it wasn't, again, it wasn't easy. It was like nine thousand of them. It's, it's, it's i-i-incredible. And then there was again, Sunday of, uh, uh, that Sunday, there was dollars, but there was also, there was Lakach and the dollars. The Rebbe gave out dollars and Lakach at the same time. Thousands of Lakach and dollars. And then if you-- And then there's a Sicha almost every single night, Taf Shin Nun, literally every single night. And then if you look at the thing, I, I noticed all of a sudden that there's a Halukos Keshra Bracha, Chaf Tes Tishrei. Like, what's a Chaf Tes Tishrei? Wh-when is the Keshra

1:56:14 Speaker 1 Bracha? The Rebbe gave out Keshra Bracha on Shabbos Bereshit. Shabbos, Shabbos Bereshit, which is a week after. So not slowing down, but actually giving more and more and more. And, and so I have my, my thoughts and my feelings. Where are all these Kontreysem? What are people doing with these Kontreysem? Are we, are we learning these Kontreysem? Are they... These obviously are very important Kontreysem 'cause the Rebbe chose these to give out. So there were four Tanyas. Three, the Rebbe gave them himself, and one, the Rebbe gave through, through the, the Kollel yungerleit. Then there's so many Kontreysem. These should be the high, these should be, like, high on our bookshelf, and we should use it every single day. Either, you know, as, as kids, we also got Siddurim in, uh, Shavuot Taf Shin Lamed Tes. The Rebbe gave all the kids Siddurim. I still have mine. I use it every day. There's so many. There's... Kiturnu Ha'aros is interesting stuff also, and I, you know, Shaftu Maim is an interesting Maim too. And just so many Kontreysem the Rebbe gave us. So we have a chayav to, like, use it and give it to, uh, you know, te- study it, pass it on to our children, but also le-learn it ourselves.

1:57:34 Speaker 4 The Rebbe himself said a number of times before giving out a Kuntres that he's giving out the Kuntres to learn. That's the purpose of it.

1:57:42 Speaker 1 When he gave out in Taf Shin Mem Beis, he said he hopes that the Tanya, he hopes they're gonna use it so much, they're gonna have to give another one soon. And Taki gave out Taf Shin Mem Dalet through the, through the, through the Kollel. And then in Taf Shin-- Yud Chet Taf Shin Nun, the Rebbe gives out the turquoise, the c- the, the green Tanyas. At that time already, they shrink-wrapped it to make it a little easier. And then Yud Tes Kislev, less than a year later, the Rebbe gives out another one, which means the Rebbe expected that that one should be so used and spent, we have to give another one. It begs, it begs. We have to-- these are the kuntresim that we have to use. Now, not all the Bochurim took every kuntres. Of course, Dallas, not everybody went every time, but also kuntresim, not everybody took every kuntres. It was, it was-

1:58:25 Speaker 4 You didn't, uh, go every time?

1:58:27 Speaker 1 I did not go every time. I was there, we stayed there, but I didn't, uh, we didn't take every time.

1:58:31 Speaker 4 You're saying you didn't go because?

1:58:34 Speaker 1 Because it was a lot-- very taxing on the Rebbe to, to give out these kuntresim, and Bochurim felt or like felt that the, that we have to care about the Rebbe's gezunt aseh.

1:58:49 Speaker 4 Mm-hmm. Okay.

1:58:53 Speaker 1 So I have from my, I have from my father, and I have, uh, you know, father alav ha-shalom, my mother alav ha-shalom, and my wife has them, and I, I use them every, you know, now it's the Chaf BeShevat, the, the pink kuntresim.

1:59:05 Speaker 4 Yeah.

1:59:05 Speaker 1 I mean, the Chaf BeShevat.

1:59:09 Speaker 4 Okay. So, so you continued this work with Machneh Israel and your, your work in the, in the offices for a few years, right?

1:59:24 Speaker 1 Yes. I, uh, I was working Machneh Israel, and then I was also did some hagah of some sefarim for my brother-in-law, Rabbi Eli Elimelech Saf, the Midrash HaMa'aram. So I compared it to Guf Ksav Yad. It was also very amazing work to have the Guf Ksav Yad of, of the Midrash Rebbe and read it and, and compare it as a just a, a, a fun work, fun, fun ideas to see, to actually be able to read the Ksav Yad. And then, um, at that time, Zalman, Zalman Schmatkin was working in, in the LNS, Lubavitch News Service, and he got me involved there as well, uh, helping out with some media, with some, you know, when they had to go around to Crown Heights and, uh, or interact with them. I had some interviews. I-- He, he trained me a little bit to be a little bit involved with the media. And then I started helping out Bechol in, in, in, uh, headquarters. And I have to say that, uh, Chavzeina there and Gimel Tammuz was a bombshell for them. It was extremely, extremely difficult time. They felt it like direct hit because they had no idea what's gonna be. No one knew what's supposed to happen, who's supposed to take control, what's supposed to be happening, and we basically felt the Lubavitch was collapsing. I mean, and I, I'm assuming that's certain feeling that it was by Shluchim as well. But I'm-- this is the office that took the Rebbe's Heyder to us, and they're

2:00:59 Speaker 1 working with the Rebbe, and all of a sudden they're on their own, and they have no idea, no clue. Uh, they're picking up bits and pieces, and no one-- I can tell you from inside that no one had an idea how it's going to continue. The Rebbe, coming from the Rebbe s- did, did what he did, and the Rebbe continues doing what he, what he's doing. But begashmiyus, the people on the ground at working in the Chabad headquarters does not really have, have it toge- for sure did not have it together. It was the Rebbe, the Rebbe, the Rebbe did himself. We had no idea, like, what's supposed to happen, like we're supposed to... Um, I remember even, like, going home from the hospital on Tuftshin in a, you know, following the ambulance and, uh, Gimel Tammuz. So, like, we were like, "What, what's, what's, what's supposed to happen? Like, w-what's there to do?" So finally, Zalman Schmatkin put it in perspective. He calls me up, he tells me like, "There's gonna be media who are gonna be coming, and they're gonna wanna have a good perspective 'cause there's some negative things happening over there, and they're gonna wanna focus on the things that are, you know, on, on the negativity. And we have to make sure that they get a good understanding of what happened, of what Lubavitch is and what the Rebbe was, that the Rebbe is and, and so on." So I remember we were fielding calls from-- I was in Rabbi

2:02:24 Speaker 1 Krinsky's office, and they call from Israel. So I was this is before the levaya, and, uh, and there are people then, uh, "What's going on? Who's there?" Like, w-w-what-- I said, I told him like, "What do you want? I mean, there's a lo- you know, what do you want me to say? What's there to say? There's nothing to say." Um, and then, you know, we went, we went to the ohel. I was inside by the, by Gimel Tammuz. And after coming home, I was already married then. I was the last, second to the last wedding from the Rebbe in '77. I was, I married Adar Chaf, Adar Taf Shin Nun Daled. Uh, that was a Thursday night. Monday, the Rebbe went to the hospital. I, uh, I and your, uh-

2:03:12 Speaker 4 Before, before the, before Chavzeina there.

2:03:15 Speaker 1 The second Chavzeina there. Before the second Chavzeina there. The second Chavzeina there, I was also, I was at by the-- I saw them trans-transporting the Rebbe from one hospital to the, to Beth Israel. So in the morning, like, finally went to sleep, and it was like there was-- You know, we stayed by the, by the, by the, by the ohel for a lot, a long time, and then came home, and then, like, there was, like, nothing. Like, what's gonna hap- there's nothing, no, no reason to wake up. So then I got a call from Rabbi Yossi Friedman, and he told me that he says, "You know, Berel, they're gonna be opening the Rebbe's room for davening. And because everything is open, they need a few people to hold Sifrei make sure no one takes anything or walks off with anything." So he asked me if I could come and help out. So that, that's what got me out of bed, you know. And we, we came, we opened it up, and we-- And then later, we kept it open for, uh, we kept it open twenty-four hours for, for shiva and for other times. They wanted to know who to take, who's gonna take responsibility. Aguch wanted to know who, like, who's gonna make sure. So it was Rabbi Elchanan Schmatkin and I. We said we'll take care of it, and that's why we kept it open for there was-- You know, they learned and davened there for, for s- I think for, for the

2:04:28 Speaker 1 shiva and for other times. But it was, it was extremely, extremely, uh, difficult. I mean, call yourself, but I'm telling you from, from, from the headquarters itself, no, no one had really a, a sense of what's gonna be. Then came the Kness of Shluchim, and also was like Shluchim like, "Why should we come? What's there to come for Kness?" We had to make phone calls and, and beg Shluchim and tell them that, you know, Lubavitch is this, there's still a point to come and still be here and so on. And slowly it, uh, it, it grew back, but it took some time, took some effort.

2:05:05 Speaker 4 Oh. We're still figuring it out.

2:05:10 Speaker 1 We have to allow the Rebbe to, to do it because we're, you know, just like, "Ka'as ba'a mishtet nisht," not gonna stop the Rebbe. The Rebbe will continue because no one really has it all figured out.

2:05:23 Speaker 4 Right. So you're sitting in a beautiful Chabad house, which is your Chabad house, the Rebbe's Chabad house, that you're the shliach to, uh, make it happen, Chabad of Santa Fe. So obviously, uh, you took it quite literal that, um, if, you know-

2:05:42 Speaker 1 Um-

2:05:42 Speaker 4 To do the Rebbe's work, and I'm sure you see, uh, the Rebbe's hands in your, in your stichus as well today.

2:05:50 Speaker 1 Some amazing-- First of all, I wanna, you know, using the term Santa Fe, I just wanna clarify something because kidua the Rebbe was against using the word Santa, and, uh, clearly. And I-- when I lived in, in a block what's called S. Mateo, I called it S. Mateo. So why do I use-- why am I so easy using the Santa Fe? So I asked the Rav. So this is the point. Um, Santa means holy. Santa Fe means holy faith. So when you say Santa with a name of a person, Barbara, Diego, Jesus, they're all saying these people are holy. Santa Fe means holy faith, Emunah, Emunah Kadosh. So the Rav said I could use-- I'm okay using it Santa Fe, but still I'm still-- sometimes I write S. Fe just to-- I'm still not comfortable with it, but the etym-- It's, it's different than the other Santas. Just wanna make a clarification on that.

2:06:45 Speaker 4 Okay.

2:06:46 Speaker 1 Also, the way we say it over here, Santa, so we could-- we skip that. The other side of the etym. Um, we-- It, it, it was a whole long Hashgacha practice and a miracle that we came here. I wasn't planning. I had other ideas. I was almost gonna stay in Crown Heights. I had-- I was, I was doing-- working with Chabad headquarters, and I was doing a f-- I felt major, major work. A lot, you know, it got busier and busier, but Hashem started to grow, and people more, more people were coming in. And, um, I felt, I guess, I, I was gonna do it then. I even got-- It went from a one-bedroom apartment to a two-bedroom apartment, and I invested a lot of money to, to, to making it over. I thought, uh, I wasn't sure if I'm gonna... And then I was on a trip in California, and then I got a call from, uh, Rabbi Mintz that there's a sudden opening in San-- in, in something called-- place called Santa Fe, New Mexico. I'm like: "What is that?" He says: "You're already in California. Why don't you go out to see it?" So I went to see it, and I'm like, "I don't know. Whatever." So Rabbi Chaim Shmulewitz, the head shliach in, in New Mexico, in Albuquerque, and he took us around. We looked around. I'm like, "Okay, whatever." We were told there's like a bunch of kids, and there's a, there's a, um, there's a place for a school

2:08:06 Speaker 1 and whatever. We had some seed money, and we got out. We came out here. We had no idea. It's a beautiful, beautiful place. It's not your typical city. I wanted to go just like a regular city in New York, in, in the ma- United States. It's not your-- It's called the City Different. It's what? Second oldest city in the whole country. It's beautiful architecture, beautiful, uh, beautiful scenery, and so on. But it's extremely challenging as far as Yiddishkeit goes. Extremely challenging. Very, very, uh, liberal, and people come here to run away from all the big cities and from all the Yiddishkeit. So we're, we're make-- We made-- Baruch Hashem, made quite a bit of progress here and had major miracles, and keep seeing major miracles. I know you had a, a write-up of one of, of this one, but this is like, uh, the, one of the main poi- one of the main stories I have was we were, we were looking to build and build a Chabad house and renovate a Chabad house. We owned a Chabad house. We wanted to, like, tear it down and build it. And we had a major donor who was, who, who committed to, for us to do it, to give, uh, quite a bit of money. And... But they, they had some t'na'im. They had very specific t'na'im, and they-- for good intentions that it should work out a certain way. And they wanted us to use specifically that place and this contractor, and we felt that

2:09:35 Speaker 1 it was tight. It wasn't really good for us. I was by the I-- I went to the IHLL one time, and it was a Shabbos Yuchvat, and I really, like, this-- I was like: "I don't know what to do. I'm pashtut stuck. I'm tzedakah and I have a nice pledge and such, only it's coming with a lot of restrictions, and I don't know what to do." And I came home, and I remember my daughter was having a Bat Mitzvah, and I decided to take out, to give her something that I got from the Rebbe. And I took out my package. And out of the package, out of the stack of stuff, came out, fell out a tzetl. A tzetl with a original ksav ya'ad from the Rebbe, about two inches by two inches, a square, ripped. And it had a circle like a b- like a text bubble, if you wanna... And it had four words.

2:10:22 Speaker 4 Saying where, from who? From what? From when?

2:10:23 Speaker 1 Oh, so what, what happened? It was my collection, and I'm assuming it came to me from my father's yerusha, like, you know, like I got that part. I don't remember getting it. Like, you know, when we divided the things of my father. Baruch Hashem, my father collected things. He had letters that he got or stam stuff. He was a bachur mimoshe, you know. So he had stuff he got. And a tzetl comes falling out, and it's a guf ksav ya'ad from the Rebbe, original. Not a copy, but original guf ksav ya'ad from the Rebbe. Looked like from the early years, the handwriting, and it had four words on it. It had, "B'me'etz v'hispashtus l'vli cheys." With widespread energy, without fear. Incredible, like just came out of it, like at, at Shabbos. I'm like, this is a clear, clear, clear directive. I-im- we immediately moved out of the Chabad house. We immediately did the groundbreaking, and the pil- and then the donor was so inspired that they made their donation even without us, um, getting to the point we're ready to have the other money. And then at the end, we ended up ditching that whole program and buying a building in downtown Santa Fe, a ma- three floor, three stories, sixteen thousand square feet in the heart of Santa Fe, in the heart of the hist- historic, and it's such a big Kiddush Hashem. It's like the biggest Jewish or Jewish, Jewish building. It-- Baruch HaShem, we did very nice renovations. We opened a deli,

2:11:53 Speaker 1 which brings in m- tons of Yidden, connection to people we never imagined. We brought another Shliach down, my son-in-law and daughter, uh, Rabbi Shmuel Itzkan, doing amazing work with the people. And I, I'll give you a little, uh, story that happened just a few days ago. Someone made a donation at the end of the year, someone, a name I didn't recognize. So I called him up, and I said, "Uh, you know, what is this? I did it for, in honor of this and this person, a doctor who's on your list of people who've, you know, your, your end of year do- ka- campaign." So I asked him, "Are you Jewish?" "No, I'm not Jewish." So I said, "You know what? Let's have lunch. Let's talk." So he comes, he comes to lunch, and we have a long conversation. He's-- tells me about this church and about how, uh... And I tell him about Chabad and how Judaism works and so on. Mamash, like from beginning, it was a beautiful conversation. Amazing. He's a, he's into marketing. And I asked him, so shailah. Anyways, at the end, at the end, at the end, at the end, like we're ready to go. And so then he says like I said the word bubbe, and he says, "Uh, bubbe? Bub- bubbe means grandmother." "Oh, 'cause like I said, because my great-grandmother was like a Ashkenazi Jew from France." I'm like, "What did you just say?" He says, "Yeah, I had some medical issues. I have to do some

2:13:09 Speaker 1 lineage. And my mother is so and so, and her mother is so and so, and her mother is so and so." And she- I'm like, "You're Jewish." Like, "What?" He didn't understand. He didn't know. We put on tefillin and we benched, we connected. This is all a mamash, a, a fishemaise from, from, from the deli. This is

2:15:43 Speaker 4 Beautiful. Okay. Thank you so much. Very, very yishmak, and, uh, the way it all sums up. And, uh, and, yeah, yasher koach. Yasher koach. I think we, I think we're good.

2:15:58 Speaker 1 Thank you very much. Uh, keep up the good work. And, uh, also I w- uh, l- with, with chutz my mother, ala shalom Bracha Levitt, uh, the her, she has a big, big part in Chassidish of the her. I know the, it was, her house was an incubator of the early, early days, early days of the her. Spent, many people spent time, my nephews and their friends spent time together. Um, maybe they even discussed things with her, so who knows? But, uh, she has a big chutz for that.

2:16:26 Speaker 4 She's, she-- Bubby Levitt is definitely a major force by the bathhouse.

2:16:30 Speaker 1 Yeah. Okay. So gotta give it to her.

2:16:34 Speaker 4 Okay. Yasher koach. Thank you so much.

2:16:37 Speaker 1 Okay. Thank you.