Ep. 40: My Zaidy, Reb Dovid Raskin with Rabbi Bentzion Pearson

00:00 Speaker 1 A grandfather right away told Leibel what happened, the Rebbe Goriner, and Rebbe Leibel told him to, um, write to the Rebbe right away all the details, and he'll bring it in as soon as he can. And he wrote to the Rebbe a very, very heartsick, uh, pan that, uh, the doctors are not giving her much help. Rebbe Goriner told me that his Zayde wrote into his pan then that he's giving her over as a daughter to the Rebbe.

00:29 Speaker 2 I'm Yossi Kamin. Welcome to Among Chassidim by Der Her, an ongoing fablangen about life as a Chassid, our vibrant connection with the Rebbe, and inspired living shaped by the way he teaches us each and every day. Shalom Aleichem, Benji. How are you?

00:47 Speaker 1 Baruch Hashem Aleichem. Shalom, Yossi.

00:49 Speaker 2 Thank you very much for taking the time out of your very busy schedule to be here.

00:54 Speaker 1 It's my honor and my pleasure to, uh, sit here today with you.

00:59 Speaker 2 Okay. And, um, in general, you've been very helpful to Der Her over the years. First of all, contributing, doing interviews for Der Her, and also the topic that I want to discuss with you is about your Zayde, Reb Dovid Raskin. And many, many times Der Her has published documents, pictures, answers from the Rebbe from the Raskin family archive from your Zayde. So that's also a very big contribution that you, uh, have had in the Der Her.

01:33 Speaker 1 Yes. Um, it's a big zechus to be able to, uh, share all that information with you. Um, firstly, I want to take this opportunity to publicly thank you, all the work you do for Lubavitch, that Der Her is a household name in every mesit, in every Lubavitcher house. And, um, I understand what it takes to get something published, and, um, the fact that you get this going out every month for about 15 years now is very, very impressive. Um, I happen to have every single Der Her from Kislev 5780, if I'm not mistaken-

02:17 Speaker 2 Wow

02:18 Speaker 1 ... until Adar 5780. And, um, yeah, it's a, it's a real treasure.

02:24 Speaker 2 Okay. Yeshekayach, Benji.

02:26 Speaker 1 Um, so about the, um, about my grandfather. So it's interesting. I actually didn't know him that well, uh, growing up. Um, he got sick, um, a few years after Gemilut Chassidim, um, when I was a kid. And, um, I mean, I only got to know him after he passed away. It's interesting. Um, looking through his archives, speaking to people, firstly the week of Shiva, that's how it really started. Um, but, uh, growing up, my memories of him were more or less, um, him always asking to, to say the Yubos Psukim. Whenever people called the house, we'd always, uh, pass the phone around. Everyone had the opportunity to say the Yubos Psukim to him. And, um, as well as Pesach. I remember one year Pesach, I'm talking about when, um, he was on Na'atan, the Rebbe's parents came. I couldn't understand much 'cause of the language barrier, and I was young. But, um, you know, I was too young to fully appreciate, uh, who he was. Um, yeah.

03:44 Speaker 2 And you're saying that after he passed away and you really started delving into both the, the archive that he left and also talking to Chassidim, which I know that you, you have a knack for speaking to people that are many, many years your senior, and you know, you know, you know, you know their language, so, uh, you learned a lot about him from that.

04:05 Speaker 1 Um, yeah. The, um, the interesting thing is, um, from, I would say from when he... From when I was a kid, I would always get the-- whenever I would s-say my name, I'd always get the response, "Pssh, Reb Dovid's einikel." I never understood what that meant. For me, he was Zayde. I never got to-- I, I, I never understood what the reaction was. I thought maybe everyone gets that. It's the way how you, you know, communicate with a kid to, uh, kind of praise his grandfather. But, um, only o-once I grew up, I started really appreciating on, um, what people meant by, like, who, who this man was, you know? Um, yeah.

04:57 Speaker 2 So I wanna focus on that a little bit. So you, you are right that, oh, Reb Dovid's einikel. I mean, there's something about Reb Dovid Raskin that everyone, every person in Dinashvi that knows what's going on really talks about him with a certain level of respect, and, like, he, he takes up a very, very prominent role in Dinashvi. So before we get into the details of, you know, I guess the history of, you know, where he came from and, like, what, what, what is that? What, what is the-- If you, if you had to put it in one or two paragraphs, what is it about Reb Dovid Raskin that makes him such a central figure?

05:40 Speaker 1 Firstly, whenever I would approach someone about, um, working on this book, as you mentioned, uh, about-

05:45 Speaker 2 And I think, and I think we mentioned, I mentioned the book?

05:47 Speaker 1 Uh, maybe before the podcast, yeah.

05:48 Speaker 2 So w- you're, you were working for the last few years, all of the archives and everything that you had. The end result is going to be, Be'ezras Hashem, a beautiful sefer, a book about Reb Dovid Raskin called The Avdi Dovid, and you actually printed a few, um, tatfisn A few, uh, excerpts-

06:09 Speaker 1 Excerpts

06:09 Speaker 2 ... of, of the future book that people have really, really enjoyed so far.

06:15 Speaker 1 Yeah. So, um, when I would approach people for an interview, it's funny, I would get a, um, a variety of responses. Some people would say, "A book on Rav Dovid? Like, how's that, how's that shaya to put that pers-- a larger than life personality in a book? How can you confine him in a book?" And, um, other people would say, "The Rav Dovid, there's, there's... He didn't have any other life besides for the Rebbe." Others would say, "Ha, Rav Dovid, his schwiel sh'al Pesach habringens." So that, that was everyone had different responses or a funny, interesting s- uh, episode in when they were bochur in Tomche-Twemdy or they got involved with the Pul De Tzarch. The interesting thing is, virtually almost every single bochur in Lubavitch went through his or ha- interacted with him at one point or another, um, throughout their bochur years or even, you know, uh, the first years of living in Crown Heights. Just because the role that he, the central role that he played in the mosdos, um, everyone, I mean, I once can't say everyone, but almost anyone that I approached had a memory or a interesting story to say about him.

07:22 Speaker 2 Right.

07:22 Speaker 1 Which was, uh, very, very meaningful.

07:23 Speaker 2 And he had, he had multiple roles. He was the rosh yeshivah timkimim, then there's Tzarch, Madam Sadler, he was also part of Aguch. I'm saying there's, uh, many roles that he, many hats that he wore.

07:33 Speaker 1 Many hats, yeah.

07:34 Speaker 2 That's the famous joke, right? That there was a meeting of Aguch, Tzarch, Timchet Mimim, Madam Sadler, and maybe another organization, and there was only one person there, the Rav Dovid. Okay, so let's, let's, um-

07:48 Speaker 1 I actually heard someone once said he wanted to organize a, uh, mitzvah tank parade, this, this bochur. So, um, because of the two roles Moysedey played, he responded to him, "Mitzad-"

08:02 Speaker 2 What was the question?

08:03 Speaker 1 Nah, if he can arrange a mitzvah tank parade for, I forgot which shul of the paguer it was. So Moysedey answered him, "Mitzad, um, Mitzad Tzarch, um, this, it's not a problem, but mitzad yeshivah, there's no rashas." How he would use those two roles in one, you know, it was, it's interesting.

08:24 Speaker 2 They say a story about Rabbi Chadikov. Isn't there a story of Rav Dovid about it? That Rabbi Chadikov had a simcha in his family, and he called, maybe it was a ha- uh, I don't know exactly what it was, maybe it was a shidduch, and he called to give the answer from askiris, that the Rebbe answered, you know, for, for, let's say, for the shidduch. Then he hung up the phone, Rabbi Chadikov, and he picked up the phone again, and as a father and said, "Mazel tov," you know? Two, two dif- two different roles.

08:54 Speaker 1 Yeah. These were the, these were the Rebbe's people.

08:59 Speaker 2 Yeah.

08:59 Speaker 1 That's incredible.

08:59 Speaker 2 Okay. So, so let's talk about, let's get into a little bit of Rav Dovid, where he comes from, where he's born, and obviously who his parents and zeides were, and then, uh, we'll, we'll, we'll do it like that.

09:13 Speaker 1 So he was born on Yud Beis Nisan, Taf Resh Be Zain. It's April 1927, in Bobruisk, Belarus. His parents were Rabbi Yaakov Yosef Raskin. His mother's name was Dreiza, and her maiden name was Kaplan. She was a daughter of the Hasid, Menachem Mendel, Reb Mendel Kaplan. He was known as Reb Mendel der Hasid. There are many interesting stories about him. Actually, the Dehare printed an article, uh, about him, which, um, I think Mandy Greenberg prepared, and, um, I was zechar to, um, assist him with, uh, with that article. But, um, yeah, he was a legendary Hasid. There's, um... We can talk about him later. But that's on one, um, that's on his mother's side. Then the other side, um, his other zeide was the Hasid, Reb Chaim Ben Zion Raskin, my namesake. Um, and he was known as Reb Bencha, Reb Bencha Raskin. Um, both sides, they go, their lineage goes all the way back, um, I don't know so much about the Kaplan, but definitely the Raskin side, um, goes back all the way to the times of the Maguid, even the Baal Shem Tov, actually.

10:34 Speaker 2 Yeah.

10:35 Speaker 1 But the first Raskin is, um, Reb Dave Bear. That was his name. And he was born a few years after the Maguid of mezcalcas.

10:45 Speaker 2 He was a Hasid of the Alter Rebbe?

10:47 Speaker 1 He was... Yeah. I'm, I'm not sure if the Alter Rebbe yet was Mekubal Mesias, but he been at Kufim. Um, I think he lived in Gorky or so. But, uh, yeah, both sides, um, his father, his zeide, Chaim Ben Zion, was, uh, Bal Mesiras Nefesh Hagid, uh, especially for Chinuch. If you dig up, it says in a sicha once, uh, he once spoke in a sicha about him that there's a Yid that lives not far from Moscow. Um, he wakes up every morning, I think maybe he said four AM or so, and he says Tehillim with bitter tears. Vos veyn ter, what causes these, these tears is that he asked the Aibish there that, uh, his children and enkelach grow up, uh, to be Eretz Yisroel. Um, in those times, communism, et cetera, it was a very big challenge to have all your children go and be, you know, Derech, uh, Yisharon. And, um, to have, to have that berakhah, um, if you dig up, I give a berakhah that, uh, you know, maybe it should help, that it should be that way, and you take a see that all of his children on an enkelach, they were all, um, Kanei Noharam. They were all Am HaSechar Siddim, Bal Mesiras Nefesh. Behulu, behulu. Um, yeah, we still see the peyres today. So that's, that's, uh, Ben Cheraskin. There are many interesting stories about him as well. Uh, you had here Reb Shlema Zarchi a few weeks ago.

12:22 Speaker 2 Mm-hmm.

12:22 Speaker 1 He's a cousin, he's a relative of ours, and, um, he says some stories, um, about... I think he spoke about Ben Cher a little bit. But, um, I remember he one time, one, one of my interviews with him, he mentioned to me Reb Yisroel Jacobson, um, once told him, once told Reb Shlema that he remembers Ben Cheraskin once in a train station, and Reb Yisroel didn't doubt yet. And he was, like, uh, hesitating if he should, uh, take out tesfilin now, maybe it's a sakana, you know, goyim will see and, you know, start harassing. So Ben Cher, he had, he had, like, you have to... Maybe you've seen a picture of him. He had these balding eyes and, and, like, a very intense, like, look of a Hasid. He said, "Stell ze chap yetz," like, "Right now, s- uh, stop what you're doing and put on tefilin now." Don't, uh... Maybe it was close to the shkiya, whatever it was. But he said the reishim it had in him, like, don't be nishpal from your, you know, s- the surroundings here. Put on tefilin now, and, uh, as ayin put on, uh, put on tzitztzalit and tefilin, whatever it was, and don't be nishpal. And, um, yeah. I remember Saraki Raskin, a relative in Kra Chabad told me that, uh, she's also an eynikl. She married her first cousin, my zayde's brother, Mendel, in Kra Chabad. She said one Friday night she came home, this was in Leningrad. Uh, Ben Cher came back from Kabbalat

13:42 Speaker 1 Shabbos, and she was, she was a kid, maybe four or five years old, playing with some toys. So he said, uh, "Good Shabbos," told the eyniklach. "Good Shabbos, good Shabbos." And she was, she's like, "Tell them good Shabbos," and she got back to what she was doing before. So, like, he got up in her face and said, "A good Shabbos." She, he wanted her to say a good Shabbos with, with a gefil. He wanted that, that reishim to be in her, you know, in her consciousness, that it's not stam, uh, s- tzu meyet zayn, but today's Shabbos kodesh, and we, we mark it, it's... And he went on a great mesirat nefesh that his kids shouldn't go to, the eyniklach shouldn't go to shkolah, the communist school system then. They actually moved to cities, it's a whole arikhes, um, in order to escape that and, uh, to make sure, ensure that his kids and eyniklach have a Chassidishe chinuch al ha'aretz hakodesh. But, but this was the background that my zayde grew up in. Um, this was the, um, the, uh, you know, life circumstances and his, you know, his roots. But, um, my zayde was born in Peh Zayin, Nisan Peh Zayin, so you need to remember this is, uh, this is just a few months before the Frierdiger Rebbe's arrest on Tish'a b'Av Sivan. Um, and, um, during that time in general, Chassidim were really being persecuted. Uh, the via sexia was really, uh, going down on them. And, um, you know, Yaakov

15:14 Speaker 1 Yisro writes in, Rabbi Yaakov Yisro writes in his Yeman-

15:16 Speaker 2 Your zayde.

15:17 Speaker 1 Our-

15:17 Speaker 2 Your elder zayde

15:18 Speaker 1 ... how they, um, the mamish took him out one night for, uh, you know, to give edos on whatever it is.

15:25 Speaker 2 They took who?

15:25 Speaker 1 The Yaakov Yisro out, and they beat him. Broke his glasses. They, they really beat him. They tortured him, and the k- the family had no idea where he was. Um, they didn't know if he was still alive or if they took him somewhere. They ended up bringing him back the next day. They just brought him in for, um, you know, to give them information. But it was, it was very, very tough times. Um, yeah. So everything was mesirat nefesh. His bar mitzvah was in 1940 in Leningrad, and at my, uh, uncle's bar mitzvah in Taf Shin lamed gimel, 1973, I have heard on a recording of him talking there. And he says, "My bar mitzvah was in Leningrad in Taf Shin," in his, I think in the house of his, um, aunt, Mama Sara. Mama Sara, the famous Mama Sara, was my, um, other zayde's sister. And, um, "It was such a matzav then," he says, "we couldn't know where, where we will be the next day." So they were constantly on the run. And, um, bechesed Elyon, the family escaped Leningrad in the summer of Taf Shin alef, 1941, when Germany was invading Russia. And, um, before they bombed the last tracks out of Russia, the Raskin family, um, was in-

16:43 Speaker 2 Not out of Russia, out of... Saying out of Russia proper.

16:46 Speaker 1 Yeah.

16:47 Speaker 2 Mm-hmm.

16:47 Speaker 1 The Raskin family, um, Baruch Hashem, managed to escape, and, um, almost on the last train.

16:53 Speaker 2 Mm-hmm.

16:55 Speaker 1 So Baruch Hashem, this is... And then from there, just so now we can, in each section we can talk hours about, but, um, on each period. But, um, they, they made it to Almata in Kazakhstan on Chol HaMoed Sukkos Taf Shin beis. This is still 1941. And, um, they were there for the next, uh, two years or so.

17:18 Speaker 2 Most of the Chassidim went into Almata.

17:20 Speaker 1 Yeah. It's actually an interesting point you're bringing up. Um, a lot of Chassidim, I think, went to, ended up going to Samarkand or, um-

17:28 Speaker 2 Tashkent

17:28 Speaker 1 ... Tashkent from that point. Um, there probably were cities in between, of course, but Rabbi Yosef, Yaakov Yosef writes in his Yeman, which Mishel we'll get to soon, that, um, ki limich, ki limich shelcha, shelcheini Hashem, like it says by Yosef, the Aibishter sent him to be mechaya his brothers and Bnei Yisroel. That's why, uh, Yosef was sent to Mitzrayim. That's what Yosef tells his brothers. "And I, you, you didn't send me. The Aibishter sent me to be mechayaim." And he writes that beyachas to, um, the great zechus he had, him and his family had to be meshamash the Rebbe's parents.

18:06 Speaker 2 Okay. So they came before, they came to Almata before the Rebbe's father came, right?

18:12 Speaker 1 Two, two years before, yeah.

18:12 Speaker 2 Two years before. So they, so when the Rebbe's father came, they were already, um Like they knew the territory?

18:21 Speaker 1 Yeah. The Rebbe's family came-

18:22 Speaker 2 But the Rebbe's father only came after-

18:23 Speaker 1 After Pesach taf shin daled.

18:25 Speaker 2 Right. So a-

18:25 Speaker 1 The Rebbe's parents only lived Amata from after Pesach taf shin daled till, till chaf av.

18:30 Speaker 2 Basically, after his sentence was finished-

18:32 Speaker 1 In Chile, yeah

18:33 Speaker 2 ... he was in Chile. Then, then after the sentence was finished, then he moved to Amata.

18:36 Speaker 1 True.

18:37 Speaker 2 And then that was, you said Pesach taf shin daled?

18:39 Speaker 1 That's when they arrived, yeah.

18:40 Speaker 2 So from Pesach-

18:41 Speaker 1 He was already involved in, in part of the team bringing him from Chile to Amata, where some few of them lived. But, um, but yeah. But he was, um, he already had a yachas. Actually, the first time he met Reb Leivick, I think, um-

18:53 Speaker 2 Yaakov Yosef

18:53 Speaker 1 ... yeah, was in a Sefas Harabonim in taf resh ayin zayin. This is, uh, 1917 or so. He actually wrote the... He had a beautiful sef. You have to see some of his, um, his yemanim. He has a, every letter is like an art. Anyway, so the, the Reb Leivick asked him to write the minutes of the meeting of Rabbonim. And, um, the minutes or a psak that, uh, whatever it was, maybe the protocol, whatever it was that, um, that was discussed then. And, uh, yeah, I think either may-maybe he copied over to so-more people. There was no copy machine then, obviously. So maybe he copied over the, whatever it is. It's in the, it's in the yemanim. But the, the point, that was the first encounter that he had with him, uh, first interaction. And then afterwards, um, yeah, I mean, in taf shin daled, of course, him and his sons and his daughter had a great zechus to, um, be there with, um, to serve him, him and his, uh, Rebbetzin, Rebbetzin Chana. Uh, zechus that the Rebbe was, um, treasured very much. And, um, there's a lot more to talk about. And once Mezaishe came to America.

20:09 Speaker 2 One of my few memories of the Rebbe, I mean, I had many, I had many memories of your grandfather, but the problem is that he was physically not well when I was old enough to remember everything. I mean, I saw him every Shabbos, but he wasn't in his prime.

20:23 Speaker 1 Mm-hmm.

20:23 Speaker 2 But one of the things I do remember is him talking in '77, the Anuf Av stories of, uh-

20:29 Speaker 1 Yeah

20:29 Speaker 2 ... of the Rebbe's father. That's one thing I do remember. Um, what's the story with the, the shofar of, uh, the Rebbe's father, uh, has to do with your grandfather?

20:41 Speaker 1 So when Reb Yaakov Yosef and his family was, uh, living Amata, this was, um, late taf shin daled or so, maybe early taf shin daled, um, I think he was going to Moscow then. He had to get out because they wanted information about, uh, the Rebbe's father, authorities, et cetera. Um, anyways, so-

21:04 Speaker 2 Uh, not long a-after the histalkus of the Rebbe's father?

21:06 Speaker 1 Yeah, it's after the histalkus. Okay. So the histalkus itself, Reb Yaakov Yosef was a shliach vanash to find the, the makom menchase for the, uh, for the Rebbe's father-

21:17 Speaker 2 Mm-hmm

21:17 Speaker 1 ... in the, in the cemetery.

21:19 Speaker 2 So the whole, the whole thing in Amata, that was arranged by your, by your-

21:22 Speaker 1 Yeah

21:23 Speaker 2 ... by your fa- your grandfather.

21:23 Speaker 1 He was the shliach of the Chabad HaKadisha or the Anash there, Rabbi Rabinowitz. Um, um, Novaiten, there were a few Anash living there then, but he was the, um, he was the shliach vanash, he writes in his yeman, to find, uh... He made a, he had an arrangement with the Chabad HaKadisha to block off the, um, the plots around where Reb Leivick would be, and, um, to make sure that zemikhah would take a place. Were you ever, were you ever there, Amata?

21:52 Speaker 2 No, but it was described to me that it's like in the middle of-

21:54 Speaker 1 So yeah, I was, I was zecher to be there, uh, twice. And, um, it's, I mean, it's literally, there's no other words to describe in galus, shebadeich galus, bashvegashmis, seeing all the, all the kevarim and where he is, like deep in a, in a, you know, Jewish cemetery. And, uh, this one part blocked off where there's, there's Anash, and then later they built a ohel for him. But, um, you know, we see in Sichas the Rebbe talking about that he passed away in galus. Until you go there, you, you, you full- you don't really understand what the Rebbe means until, like, you see mamash galus b'seich galus. So, um, and yeah, it's a big zechus that he had. I think he was an aluza tader as well. Um, so after that, so as he was leaving, uh, as the Raskin family was leaving Amata, um, he asked Rebbetzin Chana that he doesn't know where he's gonna be Tishrei, if he'll have a shofar. And the Rebbe's father had a, um, black shofar, I think that belonged to the Marash, that he actually got from his father, from Chabad Sadek. And he asked if he could, uh, you know, ha- use it or have it, whatever the arrangement was. So she was maskim. And then in taf shin yud, uh, and it's actually the letter printed in Igris, chaf alef of taf shin yud, the Rebbe writes to him to, if he can please send the shofar to him, um, through Berel Chaskind, who was coming

23:23 Speaker 1 then from Eretz Yisrael to New York. Um, and, um, as a matana, he would give him a handkerchief that belonged to the, um, Pida Rebbe. Uh, there was some hesitation on, um, Reb Yaakov Yosef's end. It's w- it's the prize item. I mean, you have to remember also, uh, he never met the Rebbe, s- and I think he was actually a year even older. So you have to put things into context. It's like, obviously it's, it's a son and it's, it's, uh, the Rebbe was before messias. But there was hesitation in the fact that, and the Rebbe wrote to him that the, um, that the handkerchief is getting, uh, it's getting thinner and thinner. 'Cause, uh, I'm, I don't... Either people were taking, uh, you know, material from it. I don't know exactly what the, uh, the issue was then. But yeah, I actually have a little piece that Mezaishe took out for himself.

24:14 Speaker 2 Well, what was the Rebbe saying? That Rebbe's giving a timeframe for it.

24:18 Speaker 1 Yeah. I, I ac- I saw in a interview with my uncle, Reb Levi Raskin, alav ha-shalom, from Morocco, how he's describing it. You can see it on Gem. Um, it's actually one of the first of my encounters of, uh, of Gem is the interview with Reb Levi Raskin. So he's metirah there that, um, es veilt kleiner and kleiner, that the, that the material, the napkin, whatever it was, was becoming smaller and smaller, and, um, basically to chapper ayin with sending the shofar. And in that same letter, he actually writes to Yaakov Yosef as well, uh, to send zichronus of his father. This is a hemshech to... Rebbe asked Mezaishe two days earlier, the day before the chaf av fabringen, to write zichronus, to tell him zichronus of his father. Mezaishe wrote-

25:08 Speaker 2 The Rebbe, uh, this is in taf shin yud?

25:10 Speaker 1 Yeah.

25:10 Speaker 2 The Rebbe asking about his father.

25:10 Speaker 1 And he told him he's only 17 years old, so he doesn't remember much. But the Rebbe should ask his father, Reb Yaakov Yosef, 'cause he definitely remembers more. So the following day, the Rebbe sent a letter asking Reb Yaakov Yosef to send him Zichronos. Um, the Rebbe actually spoke in that Fabringen in Chaf Chaf Taf Shin Yud, uh, various, um, nekudos the mezayda told him that he remembered from his father, Teires, papulu.

25:37 Speaker 2 Hmm. And so ultimately your grandfather, your great-grandfather sent the shofar, and then the Rebbe would... One of, one of the various shofars that the Rebbe would come down every Rosh Hashanah-

25:46 Speaker 1 Every year, yeah

25:47 Speaker 2 ... was that black shofar.

25:48 Speaker 1 Even the Rebbe didn't blow from it. He brought it down-

25:49 Speaker 2 Yeah

25:49 Speaker 1 ... just to have it on the bimah.

25:51 Speaker 2 Yeah.

25:52 Speaker 1 In that same letter, actually, the last paragraph, it's a beautiful letter. The last lin- the Rebbe writes, uh, "Biz davvenu zo," I would like to take this opportunity to express to you the great hanoah that I have, "mehagas bnei Marine Rebbe David Shiria."

26:08 Speaker 2 Hmm.

26:09 Speaker 1 From the conduct of your son, Rebbe David, and, uh, may all the brachas of the fitreglebe be mikoyim in him and in the rest of your children, amilun in its entirety. But it's, uh, it's was a very powerful bracha, and it's, it shows him, you know... You have to remember, they didn't know what the kid is up to. You have to think about it. They're living in Eretz Yisroel. The son is in Brooklyn. Plot to give a background. Meyzed left, uh, departed from the family. You wanna get into that now?

26:40 Speaker 2 I just wanna ask you one question before that.

26:41 Speaker 1 Yeah.

26:41 Speaker 2 What is the, what was your grandfather's involvement with the Rebbe's father?

26:46 Speaker 1 So during the time in Amata, Taf Shin Daled, he was zecher to, uh, put on tefillin with him, to help him with tefillin. He writes, Meyzed wrote, wrote to the Rebbe that he was very medayek, uh, Reb Levi, that the, the kasher of, of the shorre should be on the eytf, like mamash on the, uh-

27:05 Speaker 2 He was very, he was unwell then, so-

27:07 Speaker 1 Yeah, yeah

27:07 Speaker 2 ... it would help, yeah.

27:09 Speaker 1 Um-

27:11 Speaker 2 They wa-

27:11 Speaker 1 They spent time together. They each, each son, I think, had another, um, shift that they would, uh, spend time with him. It's a famous story. Mendel Raskin, my great uncle from Chabad, had a famous story on Erev Tisha B'Av when, um, Levi held him for a ex-ex-ex- extended period of time, and real- later he realized that the reason was, um, because they came looking for him. The authorities came to look to draft him for the war, and they understood only afterwards why Levi kept on, uh, holding him.

27:41 Speaker 2 Hmm.

27:42 Speaker 1 Um, the fast already started and, you know, it's, it's, uh, it's a lot of details to that story and other stories from that, uh, period, which Hashem will be in the book. Um, yeah.

27:53 Speaker 2 So he helped him with tefillin, and that's, that's what I remember your grandfather speaking about, actually, about the tefillin.

27:59 Speaker 1 Yeah. Tefillin was a big one, and, um, in general, just being there preparing tea, whatever it was, um, unfortunately, Rebbe Levi was very, very, uh, unwell then. He remembers him talking to Teira constantly. Teira was always, uh, his, his lips were, were always moving. Um, I think at the end, he was heard saying, "Ei ikis bimashiach." I think maybe Reb Tchanan writes about that, how he would, uh, you know, to himself. But, uh, but yeah. I mean, it's a big herut, tremendous hos, him and his siblings and his sister, Tzvia Bratin. Um, and that relationship continued with Reb Tchan, of course, through- throughout the years till her stalkus on Taf Shin Chaf Hei.

28:43 Speaker 2 And like you said, throughout the years, the Rebbe was very, very miyakir. The Rebbe cherished very much anybody that had anything to do... I think the Rebbe, the way the Rebbe said it, people that helped in kibbudav, in the Rebbe's kibbudav.

28:57 Speaker 1 Yeah. They were malei kibbudav for the Rebbe.

28:59 Speaker 2 Yeah.

28:59 Speaker 1 They, they were his shluchim.

29:00 Speaker 2 Yeah. The Rebbe, the-

29:01 Speaker 1 In that sense, yeah.

29:02 Speaker 2 The Rebbe really, really appreciated anybody that had anything to do with that. Um, which is something that was discussed on the interview I did with Reb Levi Gralik. Um, okay. So-

29:14 Speaker 1 One year, actually, at a... Maybe he mentioned this. Um, at Chaf Chaf Fabringen, the Rebbe called over my zeide by the negunim and asked, um, to ask Gershon Mendel if he was Meshwam with his father. Uh, I think it was Lamed Daled, Shanah, Shanah Shelishim. Anyways, so, uh, my zeide went over to him. Gershon Mendel sits over there on the left side, and he asked, he gave over the message. The Rebbe will listen, Meshwam with the tatn. So Gershon Mendel, kedarke, he, um, he smiled. So, um, he said, "The Rebbe," the Rebbe's, like the Rebbe's waiting for an answer. So, like, you know, he looked at me with his shoulders, and he smiled. Anyways, my zeide went back to the Rebbe, and the Rebbe said like, "No." So he said, "Gershon Mendel." So, like, that's how, uh, that ended. But, um, but yeah, every Chaf Chaf Fabringen, the Rebbe would tell him, my zeide, to say l'chaim. Um, and if his brothers were there, then they should say l'chaim as well. He sent to Yahchi Kala every year to say Zichronos of his father. Yahchi Kala went to Yahchi Kala for years, but he, he came in for Chaf Chaf. Um, and yeah, the Rebbe, the Rebbe was miyakir like you can't, uh, you can't imagine. He gave the mezainis and the mashgiach to Yahchi Kala to Yahchi Kala and his sons to, uh, to share anything they could, uh, about his father's life.

30:31 Speaker 2 Yeah. Okay. So, so how did he leave Russia?

30:38 Speaker 1 Um-

30:39 Speaker 2 He went with the, the Shalom and with everyone else? Like, how'd that, that work?

30:42 Speaker 1 What year are you referring to?

30:44 Speaker 2 I'm talking when they, when he, when he... Yeah. So what, what's the continuation of his journey?

30:48 Speaker 1 So from Taf Shin Hey, he was in Samarkand. There his mashpia was-

30:54 Speaker 2 The family moved or he went to yeshiva?

30:56 Speaker 1 Yeah, he went to, you know, with the family together.

30:57 Speaker 2 They moved to Samarkand. Okay.

30:58 Speaker 1 Yeah. My z- uh, his mashpia there was Rabbi Chaim Reidplot. Um, could be Rav Nissim was there as well. Um, and there he, um... This is the first, you have to remember, this is the first time he was in, in a yeshiva. He was on the run his entire life, uh, till that point. He's 18 at this point, and this is the first time that he was really in a yeshiva, um, Taf Shin Hey.

31:24 Speaker 2 See, by the time it was old enough for him to be in yeshiva, they're already running away from the Nazis.

31:29 Speaker 1 Yeah.

31:31 Speaker 2 Mm-hmm. So he didn't do the underground thing like in Ru- I mean, he did it in Samarkand, but not in, not in, uh, in, in Russia.

31:39 Speaker 1 Yeah. I forgot to mention earlier, when the Frierdiger Rebbe was leaving Russia on Um, 1949 or 1950. Probably it was 1950 early.

37:13 Speaker 2 Two months before Yutrat, Tachin Yut.

37:15 Speaker 1 Yeah. And, um-

37:17 Speaker 2 And meanwhile, his parents already went to Israel. That's later.

37:19 Speaker 1 Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

37:20 Speaker 2 Before this.

37:20 Speaker 1 His parents already went to Israel, Tachin Tes.

37:22 Speaker 2 And he stayed in Paris, whatever, the one.

37:25 Speaker 1 Him and his brother Sean there.

37:26 Speaker 2 Stayed in Yeshiva.

37:27 Speaker 1 Was married there. Yeah, he got married there.

37:28 Speaker 2 Mm-hmm.

37:30 Speaker 1 Yeah. Um, but Maizeh's entire shifa then was like David HaMelech, the original David writes in Tehillim, um, "Achash'alti meisas Hashem. Shivti b'yis Hashem kol yomai chay. Ve'achaz et shem Hashem levaki bicholi." That was his, that was his only, that was his only wish, his only dream, and that's how it kinda happened. The next 60 years was, um, you know, kol yomai chay, ekipshuta. He was his, he was in, um, he was in 770. And yeah, when he-

38:01 Speaker 2 When he arrived, he had a yechidut with the Fidik Rebbe. Wasn't there a thing with two yechidutim?

38:05 Speaker 1 Yeah.

38:05 Speaker 2 And he asked the Rebbe about it? I remember such a story.

38:08 Speaker 1 So he arrived, as I mentioned, Zais Chanukah. He asked, um, the Gabbi then, uh, Reb Eliyahu Simpson for yechidut. He was granted yechidut, um, a few da-days later on Hei Teves, actually. He went to yechidut. The Fidik Rebbe welcomed him and, um, asked him how his father was doing, how the family was, whatever. Just, you know, more, uh, technish fikilu kavayachol. And then, um, and then asked, gave him, gave him a bracha ve'histadrut teva. So, um, after the yechidut on Hei Teves, he went downstairs to, to the Rebbe, our Rebbe, and, uh, he was very mavul. He wasn't sure what the Fidik Rebbe meant. Histadrut-

38:58 Speaker 2 Histadrut teva usually means like marriage, no?

39:00 Speaker 1 Yeah, he came to learn. He didn't understand. So the Rebbe called Eliyahu from upstairs, and Eliyahu said he'll, uh, there's no reason for him to be m-m-mavul.

39:11 Speaker 2 Our... Who, who called?

39:12 Speaker 1 The Rebbe.

39:13 Speaker 2 Our Rebbe.

39:13 Speaker 1 Known as the Ramash, yeah.

39:14 Speaker 2 Mm-hmm.

39:15 Speaker 1 He, um, he called upstairs and wanted to... He said there's a bochur here, Raskin, that just arrived, and, um, he wanted to know what the Shverer just told him. He has some, you know, he's, he's a little, uh, difficulty understanding what the Fidik Rebbe's kavana was. So Eliyahu just told him that there's no reason for him to be mavul. The Rebbe, Zalakol, told him that, um, he wanted to know how his father was doing in Parnasa v'chol. And histadrut doesn't n-necessarily mean work. It also mean, you know, to be settled. Um, and-

39:47 Speaker 2 Settle in.

39:48 Speaker 1 Yeah. And Maizeh wasn't a young bochur then. He was already 23 years old.

39:54 Speaker 2 Mm-hmm.

39:55 Speaker 1 He was born beZais, the Tachin Yud. And, um, yeah. Um, this was the first yechidut. This, and his first chidduš, his first interaction with the Rebbe that he records in his, in his yiman and his letters to his father afterwards. Um, yeah.

40:15 Speaker 2 Maybe there was a story that the rest of the group came from, from Paris, from whatever, from France.

40:19 Speaker 1 Yeah. So on, um, on Rosh Chodesh Shevat, a few weeks later, the rest of the group arrived. The group was, um-

40:27 Speaker 2 Shalom Arzov.

40:28 Speaker 1 Shalom Arzov, Berl Yunik, uh, Shloime Yitzchak Pevzner, and Gedaliah Korff. The group was five bochurim. They arrived a little earlier, but it was five boys. And, um, they were known as the Rusische bochurim. You have to remember this was an American yeshiva, and you had these five, uh, Russian boys arriving, which-

40:47 Speaker 2 The Russians arrived

40:48 Speaker 1 ... which is the whole sogya of Tznium, how that worked out. But, um, and it did work out. It was a revolution that till today we, we... The second Timcheh Tznium is because of that group that arrived then. But, um, when they arrived, um, they asked for yechidut right away. Remember, this is the first time seeing the Fidik Rebbe in their lives, besides Reb Shalom Arzov, who basically grew up in the Fidik Rebbe's house because of his father, Reb Chaim. So what happened was, um, the Rebbe, the Ramash, was, um, prepared them for yechidut. They had no idea what yechidut meant, so they never went in. He said to put on a gartel under their jacket, uh, that Shechiyanu. Um, they asked a few other things, and, um, they went into yech- They asked, uh, Reb Eliyahu then was in, I think he was in Florida, uh, fundraising. He was a shadar as well. So, um, Meshuleb Rotstein was the maskir for that yechidut. When he brought them in, um... So they asked, uh, Meshuleb for, um, for yechidut, and they arrived on Thurs- Let me go back again. So they arrived on Rosh Chodesh Shevat, and they want... This is on Thursday, and they wanted to go into yechidut right away. So Meshuleb told them it's not the seder. The seder is first we hear dach, and then you go into yechidut. That's the seder of a Chassid. Uh, and they told him respectfully that the Rebbe's not saying yechidut anymore. The Fidik Rebbe

42:24 Speaker 1 then is namash a few... This is literally the week of the, of the hisztalkus. So, um, they said the Fidik Rebbe is not, um, is not saying yechidut at this point. He said, uh, he said it's not negeia, um, if we hear, if we don't hear. The Rebbe's at yechidut. And, uh, those who hear, hear whatever the lashon was.

42:44 Speaker 2 Shabbos.

42:45 Speaker 1 And yeah. Shabbos, the Rebbe was at yechidut. And you go into yechidut after that. So they take them on yechidut on Sunday, Dalet Shevat, which that was their tradition for years afterwards, the fabregen on Dalet Shevat. That was their, like, you know, Chassidish im oledes. Um, and Fidik Rebbe told them then, um, you know, "Welcome, and, um, it should be well. Everything should go well." And he, he told them, "Today we see each other, and from time to time, um, each one of you will go and, um, come in separately into Yechidas." Um, the Frierdiker Rebbe told them then, um, wanted to know what the seder was, and he gave chassidus and niglah, everything like that. Uh, he spent his before davening. And Frierdiker Rebbe told them that, uh, learn and daven, learn and musman. Sorry, uh, learn and daven, daven and musman, or learn and daven. Um, you have to learn, you must daven, but you have to learn as well. So they understood that to mean, of course, chassidus before davening, davening, and then niglah after davening. Um, and, um, yeah, until that point, chassidus, everything then was only a half hour or so, only started later, maybe eight thirty to nine, and they introduced a whole new system in the yeshiva system. Um, chassidus should be an hour, there should be time for you to spend it before davening, mikveh before. The, an entire spiel how it was in, in Paris and how it was in the original Tomchei Tzimim. And then

44:21 Speaker 1 there was the Yeshiva of Guzman. I don't know if you wanna get into that now.

44:25 Speaker 3 Second, and if, if I recall correctly, there was a dilemma that your grandfather had if he's allowed to go into Yechidas with the group because he already went before.

44:33 Speaker 1 Yeah.

44:33 Speaker 3 He had Yechidas already, but-

44:34 Speaker 1 So-

44:35 Speaker 3 But he has a gr-- that he's part of this group, so he asked the Rebbe, right?

44:38 Speaker 1 He asked, uh, Moshe Leib Rochlin.

44:39 Speaker 3 Moshe Leib? Okay.

44:40 Speaker 1 Yeah. If he's allowed to, if he can go in, and

44:44 Speaker 3 Yeah.

44:45 Speaker 1 He didn't ask him. Moshe Leib told him, "You're not going in. You already went in a few weeks earlier." But he, you know, this is what's in his nature, that he didn't, didn't take no for an answer. Um, you know, it's ayin action that he wants to go in. This is the pr-- we're, we're all sent together from Frierdiker Rebbe to come here, and we're part of one group. But I technically got the papers early, but it's not n-- we're all part, you know. And, um, Frierdiker Rebbe acknowledged each one of them when they came into Yechidas. When they came to Shalom, Frierdiker Rebbe like gave a little punctatata with Primus or Pratenius, something like that.

45:17 Speaker 3 What, uh, punctatata?

45:19 Speaker 1 Yeah. Chania was, was the, the famous masker. And then, uh, for each one, uh, I think for Berel Yonick, Frierdiker Rebbe said, "Ah, Naftali "" Like there was a, a beautiful yachas between each, uh, between each bachur, and a very warm welcome. This is how it was, uh, for the first tekufah or so, and then the his talkas came to the shock of ev-everyone. Uh, everyone knew the, the health condition with Frierdiker Rebbe, but no one was expecting a his talkas, uh, Yud Shvat, Shabbos morning. That Shabbos, they went in Sunday night, that Shabbos was the Yechidas. Shabbos Yud Shvat, uh, I think it was ten to eight in the morning. Um, the Mezida's mattir describes in his yeman exactly what happened, and it was a devastating Shabbos, um, to learn about the Frierdike- the Rebbe's his talkas. Can't imagine the, yeah, feeling of the bachurim then.

46:18 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm.

46:18 Speaker 1 Finally came to Frierdiker Rebbe. You have to put, you know, try-trying to imagine yourself in their shoes. And all of a sudden, this happens. It's like s-

46:27 Speaker 3 Shake, shake, shake

46:28 Speaker 1 ... a few weeks later. Yeah, big shake.

46:30 Speaker 3 One of the integral components of being a Hasid are the Chassidishe Yamim Tovim and Yemei Depagra. Whether it's Hey Teves, Yud Shvat, Yud Aleph Nisan, or Gimmel Tammuz, these days give us an opportunity to connect with our Rebbeim, to connect with each other, and be better Hasidim. What is the story behind each of these days? How did the Rebbe commemorate and celebrate these days? And most importantly, what are the lessons, the takeaways, and the action items, hamayzehu iker needed for each of these days? All of this and much, much more are answered in the new set recently published by Der Her. Our Days is a journey through the Chabad calendar in story, meaning, and practice. With over seven hundred beautiful glossy pages with elevated content, beautiful, beautiful photographs, you, your family, and friends will enjoy and live with each Chassidishe Yamim Tov. This book is a must for every Lubavitcher home, for every shul, for every school. It is a perfect gift item. This will not collect dust. It will be used day after day, month after month, year after year. You can have this set. Go to derher.org/ourdays, order your set today, and start living the Chassidishe Yamim Tov. So maybe talk a little bit about the tekufah after this talkas of the Frierdiker Rebbe, and when the Rebbe, you know, that year before the Rebbe accepted the Nasius officially, openly, um, I understand that the bachurim played a very big role in, uh, in that process.

48:29 Speaker 1 Mm-hmm.

48:29 Speaker 3 'Cause the bachurim right away connected very much to the, to, to the Rebbe, eh. Understand that your grandfather was part of that.

48:40 Speaker 1 Yeah. Um, so from the moment of, um, Frierdiker Rebbe's his talkas, um, Lo HaShamesh, the Zohar HaShamesh, the bachurim, uh, instantly atta- instantly attached themselves to the, to the Rebbe. There was a sl- there was, like, an automatic, um, attraction between the bachurim to the Rebbe, especially the Russian bachurim, um, which is a fascinating fact for its own. Um, and-

49:13 Speaker 3 Oh, so the Beis Yehudah showed up. That's another element.

49:15 Speaker 1 Beis Yehudah showed up a f- I think two weeks later.

49:17 Speaker 3 Yeah, right a- right after this talkas.

49:18 Speaker 1 Yeah, yeah. After the shiva even. So this is, um... So already during the levaya, I know my f- my grandfather was, uh, um, involved over there with the, uh, the mourning of. I think he was sent, uh, to help prepare the, the kever. Um, during the week of shiva, you know, the, him and his friends made sure to be there at all the minyanim and to hear all the sichas the Rebbe would say after each, uh, after each day of shiva, which is later printed in

49:56 Speaker 3 The stories. That's, uh-

49:59 Speaker 1 The stories, et cetera. Yeah. Um, and then about, uh, about, uh, what was it? This was Beis Nisan. Beis Nissan tav shin yod. My Zayde, this was two, two months after the hisdalkus. My Zayde and his friend, Gedalia Korff, um, approached the Rebbe to fabreng for the bochurim on, uh, chavde Rebbe Rashab's, uh, yom hillula. Um, so the Rebbe asked them, why don't they ask the mashpi'im of the yeshiva to fabreng? Reb Yisroel Jacobson, Reb Shlomo Witten. So they told the Rebbe that, uh, they already fabrenged the night before, and now they want the Rebbe to fabreng, which was a strong statement.

50:53 Speaker 4 They said the Rebbe.

50:54 Speaker 1 Yeah. So, um, the Rebbe asked them a few questions for all the bochurim, which is the Russian bochurim, for the Alter Rebbe bochurim, for the younger. There was, there was a few questions. You can see how serious the Rebbe took them, that he was actually, um, inquiring who the fabreng was for. Then the Rebbe took out a calendar from his, uh, drawer, from his desk drawer, and, um, looked through it and said, "Bli neder, in a cheydet zait," in Beis Ear, he would, uh, bli neder make a whole fabrengen.

51:23 Speaker 4 Rebbe Maharash.

51:25 Speaker 1 For, yeah, Rebbe Maharash's, uh, yom hillula. But, um, but that was the f-- Yeah, this is the first time the Rebbe would fabreng on a weekday. Because I th- I think the Rebbe, when he arrived to America, he fabrenged, uh, yeah. But at that point, the Rebbe would only fabreng shaliach bochurim. That's, uh, But this would be the first time that the Rebbe would fabreng on a, uh, on a weekday.

51:51 Speaker 4 It was a breakthrough.

51:52 Speaker 1 Yeah. Um, in general, there was a lot of breakthroughs in that tekufah in the Lubavitcher bochurim. There was friction also, of course, from the regular, you know, structure and standard how things were before. But, um, it was actually the rosh yeshiva then, uh, Harav Gustman, Gustman, um, who was actually a very talented magid shiur, rosh yeshiva. The bochurim enjoyed his shiurim very much. But he didn't grow up with the, uh, you know, Chassidische culture and the, you know, the Chassidish for davening and daven ma'arichis.

52:24 Speaker 4 He was a Lubavitcher rosh yeshiva.

52:26 Speaker 1 Yeah, Lubavitcher rosh yeshiva. Um, and basically, th-this, this new hanhaga didn't, uh, didn't, uh, fit well with him.

52:36 Speaker 4 And the, and the, the new hanhaga of the Russian bochurim.

52:39 Speaker 1 Bochurim, yeah.

52:39 Speaker 4 Mm-hmm.

52:41 Speaker 1 Um, yeah, and he didn't stick around for too much longer. Um, Rabbi Pekarsky later took him over, and, uh, he stayed rosh yeshiva until his passing, I think in nin gimmel or so. But, um, but the bochurim then created a revolution. Uh, there was just no question about it. So Beis Nissan, the, the yechidus was, uh, was very interesting that they got the Rebbe to be maskim, and the Rebbe fabrenged Beis Ear then. And in that yechidus, uh, the Rebbe really laid out the wor-- In that, uh, fabrengen of Beis Ear, the Rebbe really laid out the work for, um, what he expected from bochurim and what he expected from this young new generation that he was now molding to be his soldiers in the army that the Rebbe envisioned to build. This is, um, this was, you know, literally day one from, uh, from, you know, from everything the Rebbe wanted to create later on.

53:38 Speaker 4 Okay.

53:38 Speaker 1 The Rebbe spoke in that fabrengen about the concept of avodah zim'at zemei, avodah zim'azulas, that the bochur has to know the, uh, the keichis that, uh, that the Rebbe invests in our bochur, the cha yechidah, and the, and the cheyd that a bochur has to repay that, um, those keichis with his own cha yechidah. And, um, the Rebbe spoke very strong about chazzanichus in shuls and learning with bochurim while he shivas. This was in the beginning of shlichus. You know, today, Ken and Harry, you have meistes and shluchim, you know, thousands and thousands around the world. But this was literally the building blocks of, uh, what shlichus would become. The, the whole concept of, uh, you know, reaching out, going out of your comfort zone, and, uh, br- connecting Yidden to the Rebbe. The Rebbe then talks about, uh, what a Rebbe is. He There was a, a bochur that wrote-- that came to yechidus, a not Lubavitch bochur, and he wanted to know what a Rebbe was. So the Rebbe, uh, so the Rebbe described to him what the, what the concept of a Rebbe is, and he was taking notes. The Rebbe told the bochurim in the fabrengen that, uh, they have a, that boch- that guy had a Rebbe on paper.

54:44 Speaker 4 Mm.

54:45 Speaker 1 That's not what a Rebbe is, of course. Uh, it's something much deeper and much more personal. But, um, that was at the fabrengen of Beis Ear. And then, um, on Beis Ch even, a month later, um, my Zayde had a yechidus, I think his first yechidus with the Rebbe. Um, and then a follow-up yechidus on Rosh Chodesh Tammuz a month later. But, um, those yechidus in general from Beis Ear until, um, in those few months, the Rebbe was addressing many of the sichas then to the talmidai yeshiva. Like Bimer, there was a, uh, re- a very sh- uh, chshmache fabrengen then about, uh, the say this of a, of a, of a bochur, and he said of a Yekkasheris and all that. The Rebbe was very much educating a generation of what Yekkasheris is. And, um, those few months really, um, molded my Zayde and all of his chaverim for, for the rest of their lives in a very, um, fundamental and, uh, personal way. So the Reb-- My Zayde went to yechidus on Beis Ch even. Beis Ch even, the Rebbe then spoke to him about, um, he asked then, he clarified a few things from the fabrengen, and he r- he told the Rebbe then that, um, there's some issues, uh, when it comes to I think Chassidus before davening, he always, uh, he, he has, he, he had, he doesn't-- he, he was asking the Rebbe for a drochoh of how many times to think about a certain things, and the Rebbe

56:16 Speaker 1 answered him on that. Then he-- Then the Rebbe told him something very powerful. He, he told the Rebbe, he complained that, not complained, he just as a Chassid does in Yechidus, he said that he learned Chassidus, and it's not pel on him. So the Rebbe answered him that now it is as if you're walking with your eyes closed. Um, this is the Hanochoh, uh, in the Yechidus that I'm reading now from. Then the Rebbe adds in his Ksav Veyad: "Avel Hashamesh Zerech"-

56:49 Speaker 4 He ga-he gave in the transcript of his Yechidus to the Rebbe to, to edit.

56:52 Speaker 1 Yeah. So that's, yeah. So actually, after the Yechidus of Yitzi the Rebbe, the Rebbe of, uh, when the Bachar went in the second, my Zaidy's second Yechidus, um, on Dalet Shvat Taf Shin Yud. So the Rebbe, my Zaidy went to the Rebbe afterwards, the Ramash, and the Rebbe t- and the, the Rebbe told him basically, um, to make sure there's a copy of that Yechidus, um, with the Yitzi the Rebbe, with the schwer, and, um, make another copy a-as well. So I'll bring it in when the opportunity, uh, comes up. Unfortunately, stalkers happened a few days later. But my Zaidy, I think, learned from that Yechidus from the, uh, with the Rebbe then to, um, always, um, to send in to the Rebbe a copy, a nochah of the Yechidus.

57:38 Speaker 4 So on that Yechidus, the Rebbe added in Ksav Veyad, uh, what?

57:40 Speaker 1 So on that Yechidus, um, so my Zaidy wrote a nochah and he gave him to the Rebbe, and, um, he wrote to the Rebbe then, he doesn't always feel that Chassidus is pel on him. So the Rebbe wrote to him that now it's as if, uh, you're walking blindly. Um, then the Rebbe adds, "Avel Hashamesh Zerech", but the sun is shining. Meaning to say is, you know, sometimes we feel that, uh, we learn Chassidus and we, we stay the same, uh, as we were before. The Rebbe's basically telling him the, the effect is happening, um, whether, whether you're conscious of it or not.

58:20 Speaker 4 The formula is working.

58:21 Speaker 1 Yeah, it's working, you know. And, um, yeah, sometimes we have the, we feel it more than others than other times, but E-Emes is Emes, and it will, uh, eventually, uh, you know, hit home. So this was Beis Sivan. He went to a Yechidus again on Rosh Chodesh Tammuz to, uh, discuss, to follow up from that Yechidus and to discuss things that were said in farbrengens in during that, uh, period. This, this was his whole life, basically, just to carry out what the Rebbe spoke about by farbrengens, and this, this was his guide for the next, uh, you know, sixty plus years. His whole life really consisted of just, um, peulah after peulah of just carrying out the Rebbe's will, um, to the best of his capacity. And, um, yeah.

59:17 Speaker 4 So is there anything else from that year that you wanna share in particular? 'Cause before I go to my next question.

59:26 Speaker 1 Taf Shin Yud. Um, I mean, there's so much. There's, it's, uh, it's entire at least fifty pages or m- or more, probably even a hundred pages in the book just about this. Um, there's so many interactions with the Rebbe. The Rebbe wanted to know about certain people. How come he, does he come to Melavah Malka? Does he not? Dachs from Rashi did come to... You know, he w- the Rebbe would check in, uh, with him about, uh, different people and the different, uh, things that were happening, updates. Um, and then there was the Vaad LeHazarah Stach that was established then.

1:00:00 Speaker 4 Okay. That's my next question was the Hasgadus of your grandfather, I believe, started when he was a bachur.

1:00:08 Speaker 1 Very much so.

1:00:09 Speaker 4 So how did that, how did that start? What was the first thing? And, uh, I guess that's the Vaad La, la, la Hazarah Stach.

1:00:15 Speaker 1 Yeah. So there was this, uh, committee of bachurim, of course, um, called Vaad LeHazarah Stach. Um, they were responsible, uh, to send out yeshiva students from seventy-seventy to Hazar Chassidus to establish-

1:00:30 Speaker 4 So who established this committee, the bachurim?

1:00:33 Speaker 1 Um, the Rebbe himself.

1:00:34 Speaker 4 The Rebbe himself did it. So this is what you were talking about, the Rebbe speaking about Hazar Chassidus and, you know, teaching Chassidus in other yeshivas. So the Rebbe made the Vaad to implement that.

1:00:45 Speaker 1 Yeah.

1:00:46 Speaker 4 And your grandfather was-

1:00:48 Speaker 1 So, um, my grandfather was part of it, Reb Yael, um, Moshe Pesach Goldman, and could be one of the Bumgardens, I'm not sure. But, um, but yeah, I interviewed Reb Yael about this, um, extensively, and he shared a lot of interesting, uh, details about that. There was a y- there was a Yechidus. Rebbe spoke very strongly. He, he, he called them in once, "How come more p- more bachurim are not mishtatef? I'm getting a reshimah of those who, uh, there are such and such amount of boys in zal, and I'm only getting, you know, a very small percentage of that that are actually going out on, uh, on Shabbos afternoons to Hazar Chassidus."

1:01:27 Speaker 4 So what were they doing? They were, they were going to shuls to Hazar Chassidus?

1:01:30 Speaker 1 Yep.

1:01:30 Speaker 4 Like, and then also going to, to other yeshivas to teach Chassidus?

1:01:35 Speaker 1 Both, yeah. They were going to Chai Berlin, Tederadash. Um, they were refer-- You remember, you have to remember this also. There was yeshivas in Crown Heights. On President Street, there was yeshivas. There were the kollels. There were... But yeah, they would go to, uh, various shuls in Williamsburg, in Borough Park, in Lower East Side. Many, many Anash families, um, I personally interviewed a few, that were neskar dik to Lubavitch from these, um, from these bachurim, from these Tanya kivvesin.

1:02:04 Speaker 4 Yeah, I'm saying, uh, that's the story of everyone-

1:02:06 Speaker 1 Of Metzker

1:02:06 Speaker 4 ... Moshe Felder. All these people, they talk about-

1:02:08 Speaker 1 Yeah

1:02:09 Speaker 4 Um, the Bachrim and the Yuds that would come to the yeshiva to-- We just interviewed Rabbi Serota on the Deharei magazine, talks about the Rebbe Rashambit coming to teach Tanya in Yeshiva University. So this is all part of this, uh-

1:02:22 Speaker 1 Right. That was much later though. Yeah. But it's, uh, it's, it's very important, I think, that Bachrim should know that the, the revolution of Lubavitch really started from... You know, Bachrim never undermined his, his keichas-

1:02:35 Speaker 4 Underestimated

1:02:36 Speaker 1 ... underestimated his keichas and, uh, his capabilities. Everything, uh, ultimately, um, started from the Bachrim and th-their hashpa, their c- uh, their sense of influence is tremendous.

1:02:47 Speaker 4 Right. When the Rebbe wanted to get it done, he went to, he went to the Bachrim.

1:02:49 Speaker 1 That was, that's how it worked all the years. It was always every mitzvah, every pula, everything started from the Bachrim. They were the, um, you know, center nerve of Lubavitch. But, um... They still are. But, uh, in, in regards to the , um, yeah, the, the Rebbe was, Rebbe was very on top of that. And then, um, , um, the Rebbe set a maimer in his room for the Rebbe then was turning 50. Um, Shem Sovet Tiftoch, and, uh, the Rebbe wrote on it a Rishon, um, who was allowed to enter the room for the maimer, about 20 people or so. So my Zayde and were on the, uh, were on the Rishon. Rebbe Yoel told me that the Rebbe noticed him at the, sort of like on the zeit. The Rebbe said, "," like, like as like a kid of if you can c- you please come in as well.

1:03:45 Speaker 4 To the .

1:03:45 Speaker 1 Yeah. Um, it wasn't clear for me if he was on... I'm assuming he was on the Rishon beforehand. But, um, he was chazaring the, the sichas and amaram all the time. But I guess it was a kid of that, um, that he got then. But yeah, then Erev Pesach that year, it was actually that same day on , the Rebbe, uh, called in . I actually have the original, the original Hagada right over here of that yechidas. And the Rebbe said, um, "Before the Bachrim leave for, you know, Pesach break for the zman, um, I want, um, you to give over to them that they should use out the time to . And I wanna hear from, I wanna hear back from you what was done," and, uh, et cetera, et cetera, on that, uh, on that subject. It was, it was really... It was-- That was the Koch then. Anytime someone was going home from Montreal, the, the whole Koch then or Buffalo, whatever it was, stopped in this shul, stopped in this shul in, in who-- who knows where, in, in Upstate New York, wherever it was. Um, the Rebbe always asked people to ch- to stop in various shtetlach to . That means anything from the , from the . You remember th-there was no sichas then. Could the sichas only started in or so.

1:05:04 Speaker 4 Well, that's how the sichas started, the, could the sichas-

1:05:06 Speaker 1 Yeah. The-

1:05:06 Speaker 4 The chazin, the chazin in the shuls. That, that's how-

1:05:08 Speaker 1 My Zayde's brother was... Rebbe Yoel was, was involved with that, yeah.

1:05:10 Speaker 4 Yeah, that's how the Rebbe started-

1:05:12 Speaker 1 In the comments

1:05:12 Speaker 4 ... to be the sichas for this-

1:05:13 Speaker 1 Yeah

1:05:14 Speaker 4 ... for this project.

1:05:15 Speaker 1 They told Rabbi Chaitekev it's pruchnafish, a famous story. But, um, but yeah, that's how things really started. Uh, so my Zayde was a v- like you mentioned, he was a... His hasganas really started in the first moments of when he, um, arrived in America. Um, he attached himself heart and soul to the Rebbe and the Rebbe's causes, and, um, that was his, um, behalach till his last breath.

1:05:46 Speaker 4 So when did he get married?

1:05:49 Speaker 1 He got married in z- on Zain Nisan, , 1954.

1:05:57 Speaker 4 And the Rebbe was mesader kiddushin.

1:06:00 Speaker 1 The Rebbe was mesader kiddushin. Uh, it was actually the first chasuna in, uh, at 770. That was the first chasuna the Rebbe stopped, um... The chasuna before the Rebbe stopped, uh, traveling to, um, to chasunas-

1:06:17 Speaker 4 To the wedding halls

1:06:18 Speaker 1 ... to . Yeah. And, um, my Zayde's chasuna was the very first to take place in Crown Heights. It took place in the, with the Kalos today in the Farban building. Later it was called the Faraz building, which Tzach purchased. But, uh, you see the roots already, uh, a few years earlier. Um, it's actually a year or so before Tzach was in the . We got too soon. But this is in Yedid, um, his chasuna was upstairs in the Farban. And on the way home, um, the Rebbe, instead of taking... The Rebbe then lived on New York and Brooklyn in the Parham building there, 346, uh, New York Avenue. So the Rebbe took Kingston that night instead. Um, and when he passed through the, the Farban building, the Rebbe made with his hand to the of the chasuna. They all went to the window. Zayde, of course, also. And that was the, um... The Rebbe asked Bero Yonok that night, "Did the-- My-- Is my mother there? Is my wife there?" And she said-

1:07:20 Speaker 4 The Rebbetzin.

1:07:21 Speaker 1 Yeah.

1:07:22 Speaker 4 Hmm.

1:07:23 Speaker 1 She said that, um, Rebbetzin Chana was there. The Rebbe's, Rebbetzin Chana Mushka wasn't. But the Rebbe wanted to know how she came, who she coming back with. This is only two blocks away from... This is Union to the President block away. But, uh, the Rebbe wanted to know how his mother got there, how he was gonna, how she's gonna get back. Which is something I didn't get to now, uh, to get to yet about his relationship with Rebbetzin Chana in America.

1:07:45 Speaker 4 Can you talk about that?

1:07:47 Speaker 1 Yeah. So Rebbetzin Chana, of course, arrived, uh, in , um, three years before my Zayde came. Uh, but from when my Zayde came in , he started, uh, reconnecting with the Rebbetzin again. Uh, they of course knew each other from, uh, you know, six years before that.

1:08:09 Speaker 4 In Manhattan talking.

1:08:09 Speaker 1 In Manhattan. Yeah, in talking. But, um, the Rebbe told him- Uh, he want, he encouraged him, encouraged him to visit her and, but he told him not to mention the, um, period of Tamata because it's gonna be gadol magbis nefesh, and that's one thing of course we know how, uh, careful the Rebbe was in regards to his mother.

1:08:28 Speaker 4 He didn't want your grandpa to talk-

1:08:30 Speaker 1 From that period

1:08:31 Speaker 4 ... to the Rebbetsin about that tzukafa, about that period.

1:08:35 Speaker 1 At, at de kak, the Rebbe never asked his mother what time the histalkas happened. It was, it was a shekosafik if it was chaf or chaf alef. Um, no, the Rebbe always marked chaf from taf shin daled, of course, until, uh, till that point, but the Rebbe never was kida- kavyachol never sure if it was chaf or chaf alef. So he never... H-how do we know this? Because when Yakir Yosef came on, uh, he came for Tishri tezain. So when he entered yechidas on Erev Rosh Hashanah tes vav, the Rebbe asked him, um, what time the histalkas was, and Yakir Yosef was able to tell him based the c- the candle was still lighting. It was, um, it was taf shin chaf. It wa- it wa- it was, uh, on chaf, um, chaf av. And, um, the thing the Rebbe even told him that I never asked my mother 'cause, uh, I didn't wanna be, uh, gadol magbis nefesh. Such an important factor at de kak. Um, so he would visit her pretty often, and I heard from Rabbi Krinsky that the Rebbe one, one time said that, told his mother, "If she ever needs anything, um, she can always ask three people." Uh, himself, Rabbi Krinsky, Berel Yonick, and Meiseda. Um, vekak avah, those were the three, uh, I'm seeing from the men, they were the three closest, uh, to the, um, to the Rebbe's chanah. I'm, I'm saying any physical, uh, help, assistance that she ever needed, uh, the three, they were always...

1:10:10 Speaker 1 And Meiseda was there, uh, pretty often. He'd visit her pretty often, read Megillah for her every year. And, uh, she would host a fabringen I think twice a year on, uh, Chasmas Teira and Chaf Av. Seem to be often Nisan a few times also. And, um, Meiseda was the one that would arrange that. And, um, yeah, many interesting, uh, encounters, uh, and interactions during those visits. Interesting conversations.

1:10:37 Speaker 4 For example?

1:10:40 Speaker 1 Um, I know for example, um, she would write letters. Her and Yakir Yosef had a correspondence going on. Many of the letters were already printed, and one of the letters that she wrote to, to Yakir Yosef was, "Mizman, Mizman Mizman, I see your two children, uh, Dovid and Leib." Meiseda and his brother Leibol. In K'nei Nehara they're, sh-she's very impressed from their hanhaga. And, uh, you know, she want, she wants to update the, uh, father how their kids are doing. And, um, when it came to, uh, Bedikat Chametz, they helped her then also. The Rebbe one time came in, um, while they were visiting her, and they, you know, they hid, either they hid in the closet or they, you know, just backed out of the house. They went to give them privacy. And the Rebbe said, uh, "Chazerta tos, uh, ir hat chashve guest." So, uh, I think this is when Yakir Yosef visited actually. So, uh-

1:11:40 Speaker 4 So your, your grandfather was there with his father, and the Rebbe said, "You have, you have chashve guest." Okay.

1:11:46 Speaker 1 This was, uh, yeah, uh, this Erev Rosh Hashanah tes vav. Um, what else? I mean, there was a lot. There was a lot of, uh, interesting, um... She one time wrote to Yakir, to Yakir Yosef that it was Chedish Av. I think it was Taf Shin Chai or so. "Whenever it comes, uh, Chedish Av, I think about those who were with us in that, uh, you know, in those times." And, uh, just showered him with brachos for him and his children. Um, yeah. It, it was a great zechus they had, and, um, it's a zechus that, um, you know, we don't take lightly in the family.

1:12:27 Speaker 4 Mm-hmm. Okay. So your grandparents got married, and so he stayed in New York because the Rebbe gave him a position in the yeshiva? Like, what happened then?

1:12:46 Speaker 1 So he, he was already working in the yeshiva as the mashgiach and learning with bochurim, um, from, I would already say from Yud Gimmel or so, maybe even earlier. Um, not in the offi-official capacity as a chavrah hanhalah. That was only later after the whole, uh, episode in Teves Yud Zaiin. The Rebbe said, "Chil hav min to mention hanhalah." But, um, he was a, he was a yungerman. Him, Rebbe Elchon Minhazov, they were, um, they were helping out just, you know, with, with the bochurim when it came to hasgacha, when it came to, uh, assisting bochurim with learning, making chavruses and all that. They were, they were like the ruach chacham of the yeshiva. Um, yeah, I mean, this was, um... And then I think he asked the Rebbe later on before his, before his chasuna, after the chasuna if he should continue, and the Rebbe encouraged him to continue his work in yeshiva. And, um, yeah, at a, a few mon- a year or so later, that's when his work in Tzach began, which took on a whole new chapter in his life.

1:13:55 Speaker 4 So talk about Tzach. Wha-what is Tzach?

1:13:58 Speaker 1 So on Shabbos Mevarchim-

1:13:59 Speaker 4 Tze'irei Agudas Chabad.

1:14:02 Speaker 1 Yeah.

1:14:03 Speaker 4 The Bobov youth organization.

1:14:05 Speaker 1 Correct. So on Shabbos Mevarchim-

1:14:08 Speaker 4 I remember on Meztayim once.

1:14:10 Speaker 1 Mm-hmm.

1:14:11 Speaker 4 We used to give out pamphlets, I don't know, L'Chaim, whatever, the Bobov youth organization. And we gave a woman some, one of the, one of the brochures, and it had like a, an advertisement for like an event.

1:14:25 Speaker 1 Yeah.

1:14:25 Speaker 4 And like we told her you could come to the event. So she looks at it, she says, she reads Lubavitch youth organization. She says, "I wouldn't call myself exactly youth." But, uh-

1:14:36 Speaker 1 The Rebbe act- the Rebbe actually addresses that. Youth not only in, in age, but also in, uh, knowledge.

1:14:43 Speaker 4 Right.

1:14:43 Speaker 1 Jewish knowledge.

1:14:44 Speaker 4 But Tzach in general, that's something the Rebbe said, said a lot.

1:14:47 Speaker 1 I think the Yachas Tzach, if I'm not mistaken.

1:14:49 Speaker 4 Okay. So what is Tzach? What happened and how the Rebbe started?

1:14:51 Speaker 1 So on, um, Shabbos Mevarchim Iyar taf shin tes vav, it's the end of Nisan, taf shin tes vav. At the end of the fabringen, um, the Rebbe ended the fabringen by saying there is a organization in Eretz Yisrael by the name of Tze'irei Agudas Chabad, um, and spoke about the work that they do spreading Yiddishkeit.

1:15:18 Speaker 4 Right. And then Rabbi Gansburg from, um, Toronto spoke about it when I interviewed him, that it was a Kadish Chabad, and then the Rebbe made Tzira Kadish Chabad, which are the younger Anash, younger-

1:15:29 Speaker 1 Yeah

1:15:29 Speaker 4 ... Chassidim that the Rebbe tasked them with various puros in Eretz Yisrael.

1:15:34 Speaker 1 Mm-hmm.

1:15:34 Speaker 4 And I guess there was success, and the Rebbe then spoke about we're gonna do the same thing here in America.

1:15:39 Speaker 1 Interesting.

1:15:40 Speaker 4 I'm, if I... I'm paraphrasing from memory what he said, but something along those lines.

1:15:44 Speaker 1 Yeah. So the Rebbe says in the sicha that, uh, they're doing the work that they do, and that, um, the Rebbe said it's a pela that for some reason, um, it's not being done here yet. So he asked that it should be, uh, that a mesivta should be established here with the same name, and not that it should just be another, uh, stationary, a letterhead, you know, but it actually should be an active organization with puros, um, spreading Yiddishkeit, um, Chassidus, Chassidut Hayyados, Chassidut Yonus. And, um, this is ma'amad chatam defregen. That Motzei Shabbos, my zayde and his chaverim organized a meeting. This was actually in the... It was specifically down in Eastern Parkway, so that's where the meeting was. Just a historic fact. Um, I have Meshulam Pesach Goldman was ex-describing it to me. So a lot of, uh, you know, yungerleit that were basich on him, that cared for the Rebbe's causes, uh, participated in this meeting. Um, who should serve, you know, as director, who should, you know, just, um, what it, you know, how to split up the different various, um, tasks, tafkidim. And, um, at that meeting, Rabbi Goldman, Meshulam Pesach Goldman, who just passed away, uh, recently, a year or so ago, he, um, he was chosen to be the maskir, and, um, my zayde was chosen to be the, um, the menahal. Just, you know, the person to get it running, to keep it running.

1:17:15 Speaker 4 So that the original board of Tzach was created then also. Rav Katzman and, uh, Meshulam Gansburg.

1:17:21 Speaker 1 So ul- whoever-- A lot of people moved out. L- Berel Baumgarten was extremely involved, um, in the early stages of Tzach, later moved to Argentina. Um, Reb Yael was, was a chaver. There was a lot of... You, you have to see the early documents of those meetings. Later on, it became more of a official va'ad. But then it was whoever was willing to, you know, contribute time and, um, you know, effort into making this, uh, cause, you know, up and established. Um, you know, everyone was more than welcome to join. There was no official, uh, va'ad or anything like that. That's how the bechal everything started. It was a grassroots pro- uh, effort. You know, anyone that cared for, you know, the Rebbe's call and whatever it was that he expected from Chassidim were, um, were invited to participate. And, um, it's very interesting actually. A few people who wrote to the Rebbe about shlichus. I know, for example, um, Reb Heskel Gansburg was a yid nefesh for my zayde for many, many years, and Reb Arye Yonah was also a yid nefesh for my grandfather. Both of them, um, they both wrote to the Rebbe about, uh, potentially moving on shlichus, and the Rebbe said their shlichus is here in Tzira Kadish Chabad, and the Rebbes would, uh, get involved with Mishmeres Chabad. Um, it's interesting. Mishmeres Chabad was the first mesivta I think the Rebbe was going to be asked to be chalom. And then the Tzira Kadish Chabad in America, I think,

1:18:49 Speaker 1 was the first. So, um, interesting. Rebbetzin Chana actually had a very, very, uh, strong chavivus to Tzach. She wanted to know what was going on, the activities. Um, Reb Leibalevsky, who served as the first, um, menahal of Tzach from Tachna Chabeis, he opened up the first Tzach office. So on the first day of his, um, appointment, my grandfather took him to, to Rebbetzin Chana. He already knew Rebbetzin Chana before, and his wife was very close with her. She's actually a cousin as well. Um, she's a, a Kaisen. My-- Her, her father, Zalman Kaisen, my zayde are first cousins. So, um, so Rebbetzin Chana wanted to, uh, was very, uh, impressed about this, and she wanted to know how, you know, she would want to be up- uh, updated on all of the activities. And Reb Leibl would, uh, bring her the reports on Tzach, the dochas, like, and she would have a lot of nachas. That was, say, that was her son. That was the Rebbe's mesivta. And the other mesivtas, you know, were the Rebbe was, uh, of course, running, uh, Merkos and, uh, Machneh and Kol Hassen, but Tzach was the first mesivta the Rebbe himself established. Um-

1:20:03 Speaker 4 Right. And that-- And Tzach became the vehicle for any... I mean, shlichus was being done through Merkos L'Inyani Chinuch.

1:20:10 Speaker 1 Mm-hmm.

1:20:10 Speaker 4 But any new initiative that the Rebbe over the years would launch, uh, the Mivtzoim or, or, or any of the, you know, the, the, the Pagisha, all, all of these things that were happening that were new, they were all being launched under the banner of Tzach.

1:20:27 Speaker 1 Yeah. Already from, um, the first-- One of the first big puros of Tzach was the Chol Hamoed Sukkot. It's what was called the Eidot HaElomim, the Tzach convention on Chol Hamoed Sukkot, where representatives, um, guests that were coming from around the world to spend Tisha with the Rebbe, they would report about, uh, the puros of Tzach and their, um, in the location where they're from. Where they're... And, um, from Eretz Yisrael, from Australia, all around America, from Canada, you know, you name it, and everyone would talk about what are they doing in the chum of, uh, of hafotza. Which was under the umbrella of Tzach. Um, for the first, the, the idea was the Rebbe's idea actually to make a convention where people could report. This is before the Kinus Hashlachim, of course. This is, uh, Tach Shon Yud Zayin was the first one. This is 1956. And the Rebbe told, um, Rabbi Chadakov told, uh, Rabbi Goldman, my zeide then, that the Rebbe's told him that, that beemes, Habba Chaled y'da af kumen. The Rebbe himself, uh, would really have to, you know, participate in this, um, convention. Aber, you know, mis hatzibus, he's sending Rabbi Chadakov as his shliach. And for the rest of his life, Rabbi Chadakov would address Chassidim twice a year, on Beis Iyar and on Chol Hamoed Sukkos, the two events of, uh-

1:21:59 Speaker 4 Two Tzach events

1:22:00 Speaker 1 ... two Tzach events, and then of course later on the Kinus. But, uh, throughout all the years, that was the, um, you could just see the chavivus the Rebbe had to, to Tzach was in the sha'ar. Yoff Nissan Cha Beis was 60 years of the Rebbe's, uh, yom huledes. Tzach then made a big, uh, shturem. It was called, uh, Keren Hatshushim. I think the Rebbe himself named it. And when money came in, uh, in, in numbers of 60, the Rebbe one time wrote Sha'eych the Keren Hatshushim, which was a huge, huge breakthrough because they weren't sure how Yud Off Nissan should be marked. The Rebbe never farbrengted then on Yud Off Nissan, and he wouldn't farbreng for another 10 years till Lamed Beis. So, um, I think Rabbi Leib Alepsky led those efforts and, uh, with shtiller heit. The idea came up-

1:22:45 Speaker 4 It was sensitive

1:22:46 Speaker 1 Yeah. The idea came up, basically every mitzoi Shabbos and Maariv, Tzach would have a Melava Malka where the community would come, and everyone would pitch their ideas and how to continue the work and, you know, what, uh, what needs were, uh, what, what things, you know, what, what was necessary, um, steps to take, et cetera. Anyways, um, when it came, uh, close to Yud Off Nissan Cha Beis, so, uh, you know, they were taking the steps very, very slow how the Rebbe would, uh, would react. You know, they were getting Chassidim to, uh, to learn amounts of 60, 60 minutes, 60 hours, um, send in money in the months, amounts of 60 to the Rebbe. And then, uh, finally, um, a letter arrived 770 addressed to, um, for this, for this initiative, and the Rebbe wrote Sha'eych the Keren Hatshushim. And the simcha then was, is, you know, she'ein the sha'ar how excited Chassidim were that the Rebbe was actually accepting their matana.

1:23:52 Speaker 4 Mm-hmm.

1:23:53 Speaker 1 And beder chatava, the Rebbe farbrenged then because of the segitas Chassidim. Um, yeah, which was a big breakthrough. Um, that was, that was the early stages of, uh, of Tzach. And the pekishes, like you mentioned earlier, thus started then, um, in Cha Beis, Chaf Gimmel, Chaf Daled, '62, '63, '64, when college students... One of the big, uh, initiatives with Tzach was, um, sending bochurim and yingerleit to communities and campuses, uh, for Shabbosim. And you need to remember then there were, there were no shluchim. So, uh, you know, let's say you wanted a place in, uh, in a community in Maryland or New Jersey, wherever it is, somewhere on the, the East Coast, um, who want to experience a Shabbos or a campus throughout anywhere throughout America who want to experience what Shabbos is. So Tzach would either reach out to them or they would reach out to Tzach, and they would send a couple there, um, for, uh, for Shabbos, for Yom Tov. I know, uh, Shimon Balipsker, Abba Haber and his wife would, uh, often participate on these, um, Shabbatons. And a lot of people-

1:25:12 Speaker 4 Right. And that, there's a lot of-- I mean, the, the whole pekisha started from that, I think, 'cause, uh, Reb Shmuelu and, um-

1:25:18 Speaker 1 Yeah. That's how they found, uh, Yaakov Hanoka-

1:25:20 Speaker 4 Yeah. The-

1:25:21 Speaker 1 ... in Penn University in, uh, Cha Beis.

1:25:23 Speaker 4 Right.

1:25:23 Speaker 1 A group of bochurim went to spend Shabbos there, and they brought him back, and I think he asked, uh, "Why don't we do this on a larger scale?" Or something like that. And, you know, pekisha became what it was. Not just pekisha. For example, this Shabbos you have, you have Sit-In and with thousands, kind of hundreds, thousands of, uh-

1:25:41 Speaker 4 So that was the beginning of Chabad on campus

1:25:43 Speaker 1 This was the first time people, groups are coming to New York, and it was, it was, you know, it was a huge breakthrough-

1:25:50 Speaker 4 Right

1:25:50 Speaker 1 ... just to connect Yidden with the Rebbe.

1:25:52 Speaker 4 So throughout this time, your grandfather becomes, since he's the menahal, he's the one writing to the Rebbe, getting, uh, and getting the answers and, and heroes from the Rebbe on everything that Tzach is doing.

1:26:07 Speaker 1 Everything. Every, uh... Tzach would send out mechtabim klalim, general letters to the, um, Lubavitch community, and, uh, the Rebbe would magiah every one of them, um, at least till the mid-lameds. I saw a letter in Mem Zayin that the Rebbe was magiah, um, full of hagois. But, um, but I think even throughout, uh, throughout all the years. But in the early stages, the Rebbe would magiah every single letter that went out, um, b'shem Tzach. It said on the, on the stationery, the letterhead, uh, Tach Chassidis of the Rebbe. So it was, you know, everything that went out was really, um, on Reb, on Reb Zacharias. Uh, what Tzach was learning from Chassidim then, what was, what was the new thing to get involved with. They did it, um, very often, be-before every Yom Tov, before every Yom Tov Pagrah, um, or many Yom Tov Pagrahs to get a Nash involved with, with the Rebbe's ingyanim, that it should be alev haDeGeizach.

1:27:08 Speaker 4 And l- l-- I mean, anything that was happening then, I mean, talucha was a Tzach Endeavor and all of every time the Rebbe launched the Miftza, right? Your grandfather's always getting the mezainis

1:27:23 Speaker 1 Yeah. So Tzach was the address to every time the Rebbe spoke about something out of Fabrigen, Tzach was the address to go to.

1:27:29 Speaker 4 To implement it.

1:27:30 Speaker 1 To implement it, yeah. Um, they would give resources. There would be-

1:27:34 Speaker 4 So every time the Rebbe, uh, uh, launches something, your grandfather goes to the Rebbe, the Rebbe gives him the mezainis, you know, for the-

1:27:40 Speaker 1 Mashgiach, yeah

1:27:41 Speaker 4 ... the mashgiach for that pula. There's always... Anything that the Rebbe needs-

1:27:44 Speaker 1 Sometimes, yes. It's interesting 'cause people told me that sometimes the Rebbe would talk about a certain thing, then, like, after the sicha, the Rebbe would turn to his left. That's what my zayde's place was, the Rebbe's left for all the years. And, um, it was, like, almost like a automatic, uh, you know, thing, a gesture c- I mean, if you can say that 'cause whatever. I mean, either he was the one that, you know, he really took the, you know, the Rebbe's, uh, yan very seriously, and the, the Rebbe trusted him to, uh, to get it done, and he had his unique way of, of doing things, you know? Um, but, uh, at the end of the day, this was very trusted. And I heard from a lot of people that, um, they didn't like the fact that, you know, his position of power and, you know, how he was the one that, uh, that would, that, that got the mezainis to the mashgiach, and he was the one that, uh, was in charge of imple- implementing the Rebbe's causes. But they told me that later on in life, I heard this from multiple people, they started appreciating who he was, that, you know, everyone knows what it en- entails to, um, put together a program to publish something, um, to fundraise for something, to get some... And he, he was willing to do that for every single pula. And Rebbe said, "Well, zen mach a fabrigen, uh, so, so how many people came to

1:29:03 Speaker 1 the farbrengen?" Everyone had a farbrengen. I mean, the, it wasn't that, uh, you know, no one was interested. It was just, it was, this is part of life. This is how the Rebbe would always end farbrengens, and my zayde would take a bottle of mashgiach and, and make a farbrengen that, that night or the next night. I organize everything in, in my zayde's archives according to topics. There are many documents I'm, I'm not even sure what topic is under. Hayim histarti, uh, sadarti hisvadus. Today, I, uh, organize a farbrengen, uh, apir hei ras klei kidush Hashem, according to the Rebbe's instruction, uh, instruction.

1:29:33 Speaker 4 These are addresses to the Rebbe?

1:29:34 Speaker 1 Yeah. And, uh, this amount of people were shtatef, and we, I hope it was gernach zurach. Which organization is that? He, he, he, he wanted to implement the Rebbe, what the Rebbe said, so he wrote in that he... So this was his, um, this is was how he, um, operated. Everything, his whole life just consisted on just, you know, this what, this was his fuel. This was his energy. Just whatever the Rebbe wanted was the Rebbe's koch was his koch. Yeah.

1:30:02 Speaker 4 And what you're describing is like, uh, you know, maybe if it makes sense, if it's a bachur that, that has that, you know, enthusiasm and iben gebenkheit, that we can understand. But he's a person that, uh, has responsibilities, and he's married, and I understand also that there was many hardships, personal hardships that he had in, in this-

1:30:24 Speaker 1 Yeah

1:30:24 Speaker 4 ... apho, apho pikein. He was s- you know, so iben again. Maybe you can talk about that a little bit.

1:30:31 Speaker 1 So another main reason why he's so respected, um, in my opinion, um, is because people who knew, um, him up and close, his personal situation, um, knew that he, his entire life, literally his whole life was, um, he endured imaginable hardships, personal hardships. Um, a number of his, uh, family members, um, dealt with, um, health issues, which he was constantly, um, involved in dealing with, doctor's appointments, et cetera. Um, and the Rebbe was very, very, uh, aware of it. He would update the Rebbe on, on everything. Um, one of his daughters who wasn't well passed away, um, uh, a few years after he passed away. The, well, all the bochurim knew who she was. You know, she showed up to zal. And the bochurim told me that when she would make a fuss, he wouldn't lose himself. If he was talking to a bachur, uh, he'd have to... His place was always by the bimah in zal. He would have his hands on top of the bimah, call up a bochurim or, you know, about seder, about shidduchim. My zayde was always dealing with another matter. Uh, we can talk about that soon, how he dealt with tzach in yeshiva, how he ba- juggled, juggled two. But, um, but he excused himself from the bochurim and dealt with it. If it was an issue in the chutz or if someone's family, whatever it was, and this is, this is zayde's and alte zayde's telling me that as they get older, they got older, and they're

1:32:13 Speaker 1 dealing with their own, uh, you know, issues, whatever it was, it remains such a strong reshim on them how level-headed he was in, in dealing with these issues, of not losing himself, holding his composure in, in the sense that this is, this is my life. I need to deal with this. He wasn't embarrassed. He wasn't ashamed. I mean, obviously, it was, it was very uncomfortable for him to deal with these things, but especially in a public setting. But, um, but he didn't... He dealt with it, it very maturely and very, um, and very fatherly, you know? And people recognized that and really, really had a strong reshim.

1:32:55 Speaker 4 Right. And a number of his kids passed away th- during his lifetime.

1:32:58 Speaker 1 Yeah. He had six children. Uh, four of them, uh, four had passed away, three in his lifetime. Um, and yeah, I mean, it was, it was... You can just imagine what kind of, uh, what kind of life, uh, what life that is, and his public life on the side, or not on the side, but literally on the same, uh, you know, uh, same period. Um, it's actually amazing to see how in the midst of big pullers in Lubavitch, I'm talking about when tanks were, were taking off for the first time, Tammuz Lamed Heh, updating the Rebbe about different, um, destinations the bachurim were going, how many tanks getting minused nonstop. The same exact day, he wrote the-- he obviously wrote dates on every letter. So the same day, he was also reporting about, um, how he was dealing with, uh, doctors and, uh, and, uh, appointments, et cetera, for his, for family members. And it just, it, it, it really hit me then, uh, how amazing this, this man is of that. That, you know, it wasn't like, you know, often a person is dealing with something, his whole life is on pause. Can't deal with anything else, you know?

1:34:06 Speaker 4 Right.

1:34:06 Speaker 1 This is his... The same day he was reporting about, you know, what the brigade

1:34:22 Speaker 4 It's amazing. I mean, um, you know, it, uh, But I recall once having like for a few weeks, I had, uh, to deal with something personally with one of my children, a health matter. Baruch Hashem, everything is okay.

1:34:41 Speaker 1 Okay.

1:34:41 Speaker 4 But I remember that during that small period, it's like your life is on pause. And, and for me, that was my experience. And to hear, I mean, to hear about somebody that was able to carry that, you know, for life, and yet what does the Rebbe write about Reb Dovid? Is it Like to juggle all of that is, uh, is, uh-

1:35:07 Speaker 1 That's outstanding, yeah.

1:35:09 Speaker 4 Did he ever speak about it to anyone?

1:35:11 Speaker 1 No. Um, I mean, I'm sure he had his, he had his very close chabadim, Zal Katzman, alav hashalom, Rav Yonah Kessle Ganzburg. Um-

1:35:19 Speaker 4 I don't mean like talking like-

1:35:21 Speaker 1 No, they, they knew. They knew what, what he was doing.

1:35:23 Speaker 4 Did he ever, did he ever like in a way of when he was talking to people about how to conduct themselves, speak about his own experience?

1:35:31 Speaker 1 There's one story I saw that they printed a, um the family of Reb Yossele Bomovsky, alav hashalom, printed a, uh, booklet of stories that he would say and the me-memories of him. And, uh, they write there that he was once dealing with a certain issue. He was the cook in 1414 for many years, biksuras. Um, and for many years, he, um, uh, at a certain point, he had enough of the work. He de-- he was dealing with a certain issue there. Anyways, so he told Meisela, who was the menahel yeshivah, that he's done, um, and to find someone else to replace him. So he-- they write there, Meise-Meisela took him out. This was in Meisela's office in 770, right down the hallway from the Rebbe's office in the sekiras. So he, um, he calls him out to the chatzair and tells him, "Look in my eigan. Look at my eyes. To my yissurim, kum zikh nisht nont. To my hardships, you don't come close, whatever it is," uh, however you translate that. Um, "Mit a taf kand arbit. You know, we have to, we have to do the work. You know, it's not gonna... It's not-- life's not easy. It's not gonna be a easy ride." But, you know, he, he described to him what his, you know, what his j-him j- an importance of his job and how he has to continue. And he writes that that gave him tremendous chizuk to continue. Until, until his last day, mamash, he was ibur gamur levav

1:37:08 Speaker 1 venefesh to the, um, physical needs of the bachurim, the, the food, um, he prepared-

1:37:14 Speaker 4 Yossele.

1:37:15 Speaker 1 Yossele Bomovsky, yeah. But yes, talk about the physical needs of the bachurim's physical needs. My, uh, Meisela was always very on top of getting the bachurim the medical care that they needed, um, um, and getting them the, um, doctor's appointments and making sure they get, uh, if they were sick in the dorm. I know personally, a few guys told me how he would deliver chicken soup to them, um, and how they're doing and, you know, find out how they're doing and all that. And he, he really cared for bachurim. He really, really cared about the bachur

1:38:53 Speaker 4 Um, and I'm just going back to his personal hardships that, you know, ultimately also he himself, um, the last long period of his life, you know, he was very unwell. He had Parkinson's, like he suffered a lot tremendously, you know.

1:39:10 Speaker 1 Yeah.

1:39:10 Speaker 4 Him, you know, himself personally, not only with the, with his family members.

1:39:18 Speaker 1 So yeah, um, the summer of 1984, Tammuz Lamed Heh, he was diagnosed with, um, a type of yenemach on his skin, on his foot. Um, and, um, he had a f- number of, uh, operations to deal with that. Um, there's a lot of, a lot of dochas and a lot of answers from that period. Um, every single, um, thing that the doctor told him, he asked them to... And how do I know this? 'Cause I have all these, all these, um, papers. Dear, Dear Rabbi Schneersohn with the, on the doctor's letterhead updating the Rebbe with his condition. Rabbi Raskin, uh, came to the office today, and then we're thinking about doing this procedure and this treatment. He want every single thing to be written to the Rebbe, and he, um, of course, brought it in right at, at the first opportunity. Um, lot of, lot of answers to which, which doctor to use and, and a lot of ask questions from that to cover, uh, many broaches at the bring in of, of Pinchas Memdalid. The Rebbe said "Sheita atomim with all my list from atomim." And he's worried about a, uh, mizzen- mizzen up upon him. It is Whatever it is Whatever it is. There's no reason to be, um- He's worried about the Rebbe- He's worried about the operation. He's worried about the operation. Yeah. And Mizzen was, was, was talking what he was going through then. And the Rebbe said, "There's no reason, especially since it was already done, and it was

1:40:55 Speaker 1 about Stocho." Um, we're at this Mincha time, and yet when he feels, when he feels it, There's no need to, to look this way, especially on Shabbos, especially on such a, such a holy time like now. Um, and that was just a very powerful statement. There were a few times throughout the years that the Rebbe testified on his, um, character. Yeah. Could you, could you mention some of them? The one I mentioned about maybe talk about that. First thing I can remember is, um, Rebbe, Rebbe told me it was some and I think the Rebbe was speaking a very misractions about, uh, those who are asking him to be Mekubal Mesius. This is a few months before the Rebbe Mekubal Mesius, and it was a very hard to get Sikha. My dad was crying a lot, so people were shushing him to... He was, was just, uh, Sikha. So Rebbe noticed this and said, "It is Keilim Nish Mivavom. Mer Ez nit Mivavom- Yeah. "Un es narashod az ez Mivavom Sikhalen." Gil, he has this a few times to me. He's not disturbing anyone. Me, he's not disturbing, and it's only Ashod that he's, um, disturbing himself. Whatever. That could have a lot of meanings. Um, and another time, the, the Mizzen was once blocking somebody out of Hebron. Um, I heard this from someone who was there, and, um, the host said, "David to Pashtelst." And either he repeated it a few times, whatever. The Rebbe heard, overheard this. It wasn't too far. It

1:42:37 Speaker 1 was only a few, few feet away from the Rebbe. And the Rebbe said, "David Pashtelst nit." David doesn't block. Um, and then- I remember, uh, we did-- me and you together did an interview with the Dahar, I believe, with Rabbi Guerrieri in Detroit, and he had a whole thesis on this word that the Rebbe said that David Pashtelst nit, that David doesn't block. Right. And Rabbi Guerrieri was explaining the way he knows how to, I think a twenty-five minute explanation that there's different types of Bittle. There's a Bittle, the Rebbe used to Yesh, and then there's David Neeman, there's David Pashet. There's all these things, and the highest level of Bittle is David Pashtelst, that the whole Mitzius of David was that he was so given over to the Rebbe that he's not even a, a, a Mitzius. He cannot, he cannot be a Mitzius that, that is blocking. He's only-- He, he, he's totally batul to the Rebbe. He was, he was, uh, going on about that. It's interesting that you mention about, um, about any other Evid, uh, in addition to the title about David. Uh, Rebbe would often talk, speak about, uh, when he would talk about him, that you have to remember who he was in his Mahoz. Mizzen was a Talmud Ribnison. He was educated by him. That was the real prop-- First proper chinuch Mizzen got under Amishbia's, uh, influence was Ribnison Emanov. And Ribnison's Koch was, of course, in Yanam of Kabbalah El, Escafia, and Davin Barichas and

1:44:14 Speaker 1 all of that, the Spaniards before Davining. Um, and Rebbe would say what touched him very much, what he noticed, um, that Mizzen was able to channel that Aveda of Kabbalah El and, you know, a vexed on Zichatin Zeit, Hanakos Atsmusi, and to channel that for the Rebbe's Yanam. To, to carry them out without ask any questions. To, to, you know, it's not, it's not, uh, if we can do it, it's how we can do it. You know, that, that's how, that's how my, my grandfather operated. He was doing the Farazta- He was doing- With Kabbalah El. Yeah. He was-- Yeah, exactly. Well, very well said. So, um, that was, uh, I mean, that's, that's a, that's a pretty good, uh, Agdalah. Rebbe was good at that. Rebbe Magdi somebody. But, um- So what else, uh- Agav, he would be masking every single year that I would, I would ask Rebbe to bring for his yard site on Zion ear without fail. Every year, he would be masking anytime I asked him. Mm-hmm. Which was very rare. He would walk from his house next to some seventy all the way down to, uh, seventh at least three times, and then there was other locations to Levi's library. But, uh, I don't think he did. I mean, I don't think anyone ever asked him to bring for their, uh, you know, grandfather's yard site. But, um, but he, he felt a certain chavivus to him. He had two different ways of operating. No, uh, two, uh, minds

1:45:48 Speaker 1 are the same, especially in that caliber. But, um, but yeah, I mean, he had a tremendous, uh, respect. There was mutual respect. Both of them respect each other, one another very, very much. I was told by, um, Mandy Groner, uh, Levi Groner's son- That after the tekufa of Lamed Ches, my grandfather was appointed by the Rebbe, together with, uh, Rebbe Leibl and, uh, two others, Rav Zam Gerari and Rav Moshe Pesa- Moshe, uh, Moshe Pinchas Katz, to serve as the Badam Masader. Those who were involved with organizing the, the structure in 770, the, the Seder, how it was by the Tudors and by the Fabringans, all that. Anyways, so after Lamed Ches, Reb Yael, uh, he... So Rabbi Groner was telling me he was once in my zayde's office while Reb Yael and, and, um, my grandfather were going at it about if they should allow people to stand behind the Rebbe by Fabringans. Because back in the day, um, there were windows behind the Rebbe's, uh, place by his Fabringans, and to allow, uh, luften, fresh air in, um, you wouldn't-- no, people wouldn't, wouldn't be able to stand there. Um, so Reb Yael would say, "B'shum eifem, people can stand there in order to, uh, allow air to come in." And my zayde was saying, "Adiraba," that the Rebbe wants more people to be there and everything's gonna continue now. You know, hesaf bavichulu, bavichulu. Um, kidua, when the Rebbe d- was not happy with people who wouldn't show up by Kehillah Brachah

1:47:30 Speaker 1 bavichulu.

1:47:31 Speaker 5 Or stop people from going.

1:47:32 Speaker 1 Stop people. V'zhe the sheitim, there was-

1:47:34 Speaker 5 The Tipshim, I think the Rebbe said

1:47:34 Speaker 1 ... Tipshim. Th-they were very strong, uh, l'shainis about that. The Rebbe wanted everything to continue and not just continue, but thrive, um, bavichulu, uh, as it's known. But, um, so finally, my zayde tells him, "Just as, uh, the Rebbe gave you the keich of chazarah, or just like as y- just as you were given the keich az- of chazarah, um, I was given the keich of Adam Mesader." And that had a very strong, uh, resham on, uh, on the Groner. He saw like... Obviously, Reb Yael, there's, I mean, there's no one to be compared to him, his gdanus is, you know. But, um, how did my, how my zayde saw though, you know. Tache, you have the keich of chazarah, and no one's gonna even, you know, compete with you. But the Rebbe gave me the keich of Adam Mesader, and therefore... And Reb Yael accepted it.

1:48:31 Speaker 5 Mm-hmm.

1:48:33 Speaker 1 There were a few, you know, differences between them. Reb Yael didn't want a lot of people going, showing up in one place in Talucha. And my zayde said, "Adiraba, the Rebbe wants more people." And, um-

1:48:41 Speaker 5 And I've seen Reb Yael had an opinion strategically that it's not good to have the whole-

1:48:47 Speaker 1 Yeah. There, there were, there were multiple

1:48:47 Speaker 5 ... the whole, uh, Lubavitch landing in one place. Okay.

1:48:53 Speaker 1 Or multiple pe- maybe Reb Yael, Reb Yael only wanted two people to show, and that's how it was. I mean, if he was a bachur, you know, two bachur would show up, not more than two. Whatever it was. But there was, you know, there were multiple, multiple differences in opinion on many matters in how yeshiva should run and how different pulas should be done. But the two of them had a very deep, uh, mutual respect for each other. That's for sure.

1:49:12 Speaker 5 Mm-hmm. What are some of the other, um, things that the Rebbe said about your zayde?

1:49:20 Speaker 1 Um, on Zayin of Tav Shin Mem Hei, um, a month or so after the Rebbe, after the Rebbe first spoke about the, uh, the Tzarim on Y"B Tammuz, the Rebbe appointed four new members to Aguch to replace those who, um, passed away. Um, my zayde was from the four. Um, the Rebbe wrote his name then. Um, and next to-- for each member that was added, the Rebbe wrote like a quality, um, about them.

1:49:58 Speaker 5 Like a reason why they're being added.

1:50:00 Speaker 1 Yeah. So for his name, the Rebbe wrote, "Merits la'aseh b'peal." He's energetic to get the job done. And with those three words, I think the Rebbe was really, uh, you know, magder his personality, um, you know, very well. That's, uh, that's who he was. He was full of energy, and he didn't stop until, until the job was done.

1:50:27 Speaker 5 Right. And I think, um, what I remember discussing in that phone call that we had was that it wasn't necessarily... You know, he wasn't like building infrastructure and a five-year plan and, you know, you know, building a... He wasn't a CEO. He was m- merits la'aseh b'peal. He was the one that will actually just do and get it done.

1:50:48 Speaker 1 Yeah. So there were, there were complaints to the Rebbe about, um, why was he given the power and all, and, you know, all the meisters, um, say to be the yeshiva rosh of Tzach and say to be the menahal of yeshiva and say this and say that. And, um, I know there was someone who spoke to the Rebbe about, um, having someone replace him as the menahal of yeshiva. And the Rebbe told him, "Er is meiner." He's mine. Um, and then the Rebbe said also, "Who are you gonna find to, uh, replace that?" I think the Rebbe knew what's the yeshiva's in 70, uh, what, what it entails to run a yeshiva, especially, uh, the sort of in 70. But, um, but, um, yeah. And when it came to that, and then when it came to, uh, Tzach also, some people felt that he wasn't the most qualified, um, candidate for that. And, um, my grandfather actually wrote to the Rebbe, "I have answers if you should continue in yeshiva." And he got positive answers to continue. And he wrote in... One time to, he wrote to the Rebbe that he wasn't sure he should take on Tzach because he was already very involved with yeshiva in Taf Shin Tes Vav. And the Rebbe, he write, he writes this to the Rebbe, and the Rebbe told me to, uh, take it on, take on the, uh, position of Tzach. Um- I mean, there's, there's a lot of details in that as well. But, um, and

1:52:17 Speaker 1 also on Sukkos Tachshuin Beis, one of the, um, things that Rebbe asked me Zaid to do was to, um, bind his Arba Minim on Sukkos. Wait, when? To bind the Arba Minim. So you said a year? Tachshuin Beis. Tachshuin Nun Beis? Nun Beis. Mm-hmm. So when after my Zaid gave back the, uh, the Arba Minim to the Rebbe. Right, 'cause Zaid was the one every year that would- Yeah ... make the lulav, the lulav for the Rebbe and the Rebbetsin, right? And the Rebbetsin, and Rebbetzin Chana. But, um, so when he gave the Rebbe the Arba Minim, um, after he put them together, the Rebbe told him, "Ir histach David, un David zikh zay gezheyt to David Malko Meshiach." Your name is David, and David is, uh, connected to the, to Meshiach. Meshiach ben David, of course. But, um, I heard this from a, a relative of mine who my Zaid told this to, but he didn't want to make like a, a Rash from, a peers from it. But, uh, in general, that Tishrei, there were a lot of, uh, interesting, uh, you know, expressions the Rebbe w- uh, told a few Chassidim. And the Rebbe told his brother, Leib, then that, um, we're after 40 years now, and at 40 years Among Chassidim is brought to you by Chassidishe Der Her. We live in a chaotic world, a world where for us Chassidim, as they say, nu, lo ra'inu, we do not have the ability to hear and see the Rebbe on a

1:56:13 Speaker 1 daily basis. Yet we know that the Rebbe is very much with us, and Chassidus Chabad is alive and thriving more than ever before. One needs to only tap into it. Chassidishe Der Her provides you and your family with the tools necessary to tap into all of this, whether it's the monthly magazine, the way it all began, whether it's Der Her books, Der Her online content, and so much more. Men, women, and children throughout the world benefit and use these tools on a daily basis, whether it's children enjoying the children's magazine that comes along with the regular Der Her or enjoying the children's podcast, whether it's bachurim in yeshivas receiving the Der Her, whether it's girls in high schools enjoying Der Her Club in their local high school. People all over the world and from all walks of life enjoy and utilize these tools and take advantage of it. If you're not already subscribed to Der Her monthly magazine, do so today at derher.org. That's D-E-R-H-E-R.org. Der Her is a dynamic organization which is committed to continue providing these tools, grow on a constant basis, and do all that we can to help this effort. Baruch Hashem, it takes a lot of resources and finances to make this all happen. You can be part of 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. So this was, um, Adar Alef, Tachshuin Am Gimel.

1:58:07 Speaker 1 Um, my mother then was a student at Bais Rivkah in ninth grade. Uh, Bais Rivkah then was located on, uh, Stone Avenue, uh, near Church. Um- The street Rabbi Chadika would refer to as Yanagas. Um, and, um, she was 13 years old at the time, uh, when she was leaving school one day, um, around four o'clock. Um, as she was crossing the street, uh, a zooming either truck or a van, uh, drove by and, uh, hit her. Hit her hard. She flew in the air a few feet, um, landed I think on her head. Um, it was a terrible, terrible scene. This was in front of all the girls. This was by dismissal. Um, she was rushed then to, um, Kings County Hospital right here. And, um, yeah, she was unconscious. Um, when my Reb Pinchas, uh, Kunin, who was the principal of Yeshivka then, contacted, um, my grandfather and told him what happened. And, um, my grandfather right away ran to Seven Seventy or went to Moskitas. He was probably in Seven Seventy already. And he wrote, uh, he told Leibel what happened, Rabbi Leibel Groner. And Rabbi Leibel told him to, um, write to the Rebbe right away all the details, and he'll bring it in as soon as he can. So he wrote it. He wrote all the d-details and that the doctors, uh, don't, uh, don't give her much time. They already, uh, saw her condition right away that, uh, the, m... her condition was, um, almost, uh, almost done. And,

2:00:18 Speaker 1 um, so Rabbi Groner told me that's Mezita wrote into the, his pan then that he's giving her over as a daughter to the Rebbe. Um, the story I always heard growing up, but hearing that from someone that was there, um, really, really, uh, had, uh, hit me hard. And he wrote to the Rebbe, he wrote to the Rebbe a very, very heartsick, uh, pan that, uh, the doctors are not giving her much hope, and that he's g- That he, he's giving her over to the Rebbe entirely. Anyways, um, the Rebbe then t- When Rabbi Leibel went in, the Rebbe told him, um, to contact a, uh, Dr. Robert Richter, and he should, um, treat her. I'm sorry. The Rebbe's told him to call Dr. Richter and, uh, tell him that he wants to meet with him.

2:01:16 Speaker 5 The Rebbe wants to meet with him?

2:01:17 Speaker 1 Yeah. I heard a little from Manny Groner that the Rebbe told his father that, uh, David resembling him, but David wasn't Epstein from. But, um, that's interesting. Um, he, he said, I think he, he remembers that detail, but, um, which is a very, uh, you know, fascinating thing to hear. Anyways, um, so Rabbi Leibel called, um, Dr. Richter. He was a surgeon at Brooklyn, uh, Jewish Hospital, now called Interfaith, but, uh, just, you know, near Atlantic Avenue. And, um, Dr. Richter got back to him, and, uh, he said he'll be over in Seven S- Uh, he'll be out at our Seven Seventy very soon. He came over to Seven Seventy right away. The Rebbe's calling him in the middle of the day. It's, uh, obviously a very important matter. And, um, the Rebbe basically told him what, uh, the report that he got about, uh, my mother, and told him that he, uh, wants him to look after her aft- for her recovery. So Dr. Richter told me that I told the Rebbe that it's not my, um, it's not my field, what, uh, I think was brain damage. Um, and number two, it's, I'm not, I'm not blunt on hospital, so h- I won't, uh, that won't, uh, work out. So, um, so the Rebbe told him that atifsadem, Tada Kings County, it's, it's, they didn't, it's, it's done. It's over. They can't really do, uh, they said they can't do much anymore at this point. They're just, you know, waiting for the worst.

2:02:56 Speaker 1 So what would they care if you come in just to, uh, you know, look o- look over her situation? So he, um, the Rebbe then told him, "I want you to come in every day to report to me." Um, um, I asked him if the Rebbe gave him any guidance on treatment. He told me, "No. I just want him, I want you to come back every day and report and, um, call her name." So he did that every day, um, for about two weeks. And the Rebbe told him, and also this was I think on a Wednesday or, or maybe on a Thursday. Anyways, the Rebbe said, "When it comes to, uh, Shabbos, uh, when, after you're finished, after you finish the resembling with your family, um, I would like you to visit the hospital and then come back to me. Uh, I'll be at my office." And he did that. He told me he kept the, uh-

2:03:50 Speaker 5 Where did he live?

2:03:51 Speaker 1 I think he lived, he lived in Manhattan.

2:03:53 Speaker 5 Mm-hmm.

2:03:54 Speaker 1 But, um, Upper East Side. But the interesting thing is he told me when he came Friday night, he's a Shomer Shabbos, so he kept his car running, uh, because he didn't wanna have to restart it afterwards. So he told me he asked some Yeshiva students to watch his car. You know, crime then in Crown Heights, uh, you can imagine. But, but, um, but then he told me that's when it really hit him that his mom is the Rebbe Shlicha for her refuah, for her recovery. The fact that the Rebbe took on Shabbos to, uh, see, to see. That's when he realized basically this is not just, this is Rebbe's working through him. He actually refused to meet with me because he didn't wanna be considered a hero. I told him, "My family, you're like a, you're a hero." And he's like, "I don't wanna hear any of that hero talk. I was the Rebbe Shlicha, making sure this girl gets, uh, a f- f- full recovery. I'm nothing more than a Shlicha of the Rebbe." He made that, that point very, um, emphasized that point very strongly. Anyways-

2:04:53 Speaker 5 His relationship with the Rebbe started in Lamdres? You don't know?

2:04:57 Speaker 1 I actually saw on a Rebbe response, a letter to him, I think from earlier, even from the Chaf's.

2:05:01 Speaker 5 He had a relationship. Okay.

2:05:03 Speaker 1 He's married to Mendel Kunin's granddaughter.

2:05:07 Speaker 5 Mm-hmm.

2:05:07 Speaker 1 So it's, you know, so this relationship started much earlier. Um, long story short, which is, there's many details. There, there are many letters in between Yichidas and... But on, um, on Purim day-

2:05:22 Speaker 5 Why, why are you making it short? He had a Yichidas. Your grandfather went to Yichidas in the middle of the scene.

2:05:26 Speaker 1 Yeah, by Shabbos HaGriz, um, the Rebbe, he want-- he approached the Rebbe once, and the Rebbe said, "You should ask for a bracha again till she comes home." Um, on Purim, so this happened on Tes Adar. On, uh, maybe it wasn't Ad- it was Adar Sheni in the stam then. So on Purim, a week later, um, Reb Shimshon Stock, who was a close family friend, lived in the same block as my grandfather, and her, and my mother, of course. He decided to, um, arrange for a minyan to ask the Rebbe for a bracha for her. She was still in a coma then. Um, so I heard this from Shlomo Zarchi. He was one of the, uh, part of the minyan. Actually, I have the duch right over here, the pan that they gave the Rebbe then. Um, it was three Kohanim. Shimshon wanted, uh, himself, Zelda Katzman, and Shlomo Zarchi, and, um, and ano- another seven, eight, um, friends of my grandfather, who a-after Mincha on Purim day, this is Purim Tachna L'Gimol. They approached the, uh, they were first standing by the door where the Rebbe left, left the room to the, left his room to the, um, to the zal from Mincha. The Rebbe didn't mention anything. On the way back, the Rebbe asked, uh, Leibel Groner, "Vos shteen zeido?" What are they, what are they standing here for? So, um, Leibel answered the Rebbe that, uh, "Ikume bet na bracha for Reb Dovid's tochter." Now they're here to ask a bracha for,

2:07:07 Speaker 1 uh, for my mother. Um, so at that point, they presented to the Rebbe the pan, uh, with all the signatures, together with, uh, Ayin Beis Shin. It was connected, it was, uh, corresponding to the Rebbe's years then, seventy-two. And, um, for the pan. And they wrote in the pan that, um, "Us, the undersigned, we're asking the Rebbe, uh, bracha for our friend, um, Reb Dovid, that he should, uh, should have a tzlocha," whatever it is, all the meistes and all the responsibilities that he has in yeshiva, and in tzarch, in maadim basader, especially now that he has, um, the situation that his daughter's in, that the doctors say that it's Beyade Hashem, in God's hand. They did everything they could, and now it's in God's hand. And we're asking the Rebbe on Purim, on this Purim to, uh, they should have a, ufrsh name a krevo in all the, you know, and it shouldn't be no Reishim afterwards. So the Rebbe read it. Um, after the Rebbe read it, the Rebbe says, "Tach Purim heyntz." Um, "S'dad din kol haPeshiyad nisen lei. On azayn psurus teyves. Purim diz a din that anyone, any person who, uh, stretches out his arm for a bracha, you, uh, grant him the bracha." Or for moys, it's, it's literally about money, but, uh, the Rebbe says in the context of a bracha that, um, "In shvir psurus teyves." So, um, the following day, um, she opened her eyes. Um, so Dr. Richter said then when he f- visited her

2:08:54 Speaker 1 that day, he called her eyes, and, um, and to my shock, and he's not an emotional guy. He's a sur-surgeon. He's a, you know, real professional, uh, Orthodox guy. Um, the Rebbe, he-- so he got all, uh, shaken up, he told me, that, "I got goosebumps. I had-- I did not think there was a chance that she would, uh, open her eyes." And, um, he, as the rest of the doctors, were basically, basically expecting the worst. And she opened her eyes, and, um, my Zayde said with her then, "Medani." Um, she-- he showed her a picture of the Rebbe, asked her if she knows who that is. She said, "Of course, the Rebbe." Um, during that whole tzukova, um, my Zayde was writing very, very hartzike Adam here, um, duchas and panim to the Rebbe on Hashem Ishono about what he was going through, besides for all this, and especially this now. Yeah, this tzara on his, uh, on his back to deal with. And, um, there was a lot of encouraging answers. But, um, but there was continuous updates from every time he Zayde visited her, which was every day. He would-- that night, he would report to the Rebbe what the doctors are saying and the updates and that, uh, you know, there's more and more of a chance that she may wake up. Th-you know, there was always a, there was always hope in all that. Uh, so Dr. Richter told me that one thing that really impressed me about this whole

2:10:25 Speaker 1 ordeal was that her father, my grandfather, um, how he never lost himself. He said, "Whenever I dealt with, uh, similar cases, parents were always, you know, losing their minds, going in a, in a craze. My Zayde, he never lost himself at any moment." And, um, there were times that I heard from those who were there that the doctors, uh, it was one time especially, doctor asked him, uh, they need parental consent about giving over, um, some of her limbs, organs to, uh, scientific research. If my zayde would be willing to do that. And he had to, someone had to translate for him. And my zayde said, "Shma Yisrael, the Rebbe says she's coming before Shlomo." And, um, and this is not even up for discussion. Obviously, halachically, it wouldn't even be possible. But the concept of, uh, if she's going to make it, um, he was, he was, you know, very strong about there was no other option. Um, and Dr. Richter said that really made a big impression on him, seeing this, um, this mental strength that he had. And then, so later on that month, at the end of Adar, my grandfather and his wife, my grandmother, and their son, Mangol Yitzchak, went into Yichidus for my zayde's, my uncle's, um, bar mitzvah, which would take place on Zionism. And, um, I have a transcript of that Yichidus where the, uh, my zayde writes that they asked the bracha. Chava, Chava's my grandmother. Chava bikish bracha for Chaim Mushka, my mother. V'omer hakadash

2:12:08 Speaker 1 tzum Pesach v'zizan tzum seder. Pesach she'll be at the seder. Um, my uncle Yitzchak-

2:12:17 Speaker 5 She was already, uh, conscious then?

2:12:18 Speaker 1 Yeah, she was up already. Um, she had a, she still had a long journey for recovery, but my uncle Yitzchak also asked the bracha that he should be at his, uh, bar mitzvah. Um, and that was the Rebbe's, uh, answer. And the whole block remembers her come, uh, ambulance coming up, um, Montgomery Street at a Pesach after Birchat Hamotz. Uh, and she was, uh, carried off a stretcher in, uh, into the house. Um, she was with a wheelchair, uh, I mean, uh, she was a walker, in a wheelchair, in a walker for the next, uh, few months, of course. And, uh, as the Rebbe was leaving, I saw on a doch, my zayde wrote to the Rebbe at the end of Sivan, uh, when the Rebbe spoke a sicha to the messianists then, um, my mother was there with her walker. And he writes, the Rebbe, as the Rebbe was leaving shul, the Rebbe made an idud with his hand to her, in her direction, and it, uh, really raised her spirits. Interesting that my zayde wanted to make sure that the Rebbe was aware of that.

2:13:28 Speaker 5 Hmm.

2:13:29 Speaker 1 That's, that's interesting, uh, detail of the story that I know now because he wrote the, uh, dochim. But, uh, as the Rebbe was leaving the shul, he, um, I guess he just made, he waved with his hand to my mother, like, uh, acknowledged you. And, you know, Dr. Richter told me that, um, at the end, uh, when the Rebbe, so when he told the Rebbe that she woke up, and the Rebbe told him that it won't be necessary to make his daily visits anymore, he said, "I couldn't contain myself but to ask the Rebbe, 'Rebbe, did you know the entire time?'" So you need-- he told me the Rebbe didn't say yes or no. The Rebbe made like a twinkle with his eye.

2:14:08 Speaker 5 Hmm.

2:14:09 Speaker 1 Like , you know, I'm even young. But, um, yeah, she, uh, she lives for another 30 years, and Baruch Hashem, I'm here to tell the story.

2:14:23 Speaker 5 Yeah.

2:14:24 Speaker 1 Um, but, um, yeah, it's a, it's a tremendous story, and it's a story that I live with, um, my family lives with. And it's, um, you know, I wouldn't be here without it, without, without that bracha, which is very b'gashmiyus. And, um, it's, it's only mechayav, of course. But, um, I'm sure there are many, there's so many other details that, um, it's not coming to mind right now, but that's the story in a, uh, in a nutshell. During that whole tekufah, the, the girls were always visiting her and saying Tehillim at her be- at her bedside. Reb Shimshon Stock was always, uh, bringing groups over of girls to drive over, and sometimes he would shake the bed for her to wake up, you know, in his, uh, typical fashion. But, um, but yeah, it was, um, that was a very traumatizing, uh, tekufah for the girls. These are 14-year-old girls that, uh, in front of their eyes, they saw this. The whole recovery was, it was, they weren't at ease that entire, uh, you know, till the end of the year, till the beginning of the next, this was Adar, you know. But yeah, the Rebbe takes care of his boys. Um, yeah. Uh, Dr. Richter was very happy. I sent him the picture of my, of him and his wife at, uh, at my parents' chasuna in the Malach, and he, uh, was very thankful to see that. Um, I think in the doch of the chasuna, he, he, my zayde mentions that he

2:16:05 Speaker 1 was there. Um, in general, my zayde reported to the Rebbe about everything, everything in his life. Uh, um, I, I, I don't know if I c- like, if this w- is necessarily true, but I can maybe be meshared that he probably has, from the most answers of any chassids, just from his roles that he played and how frequent he would report. Um, would, for example, when ev- any time he had to leave town for whatever reason, if, uh, let's say for a chasuna of a talmid or whatever it is, he wrote to the Rebbe then his entire itinerary, when he's taking off, when he's gonna be back, and then he would always ask the Rebbe to be mezakeh him with the shlichus. It was like an employee employ, uh, reporting to his boss that he's taking off for a day or so. That's how, that, that was his relationship with the Rebbe. It wasn't, you know, it wasn't, he didn't take off for a week. He didn't take off for a extended period of time. It was back at the, "I'll be back at the office at, uh, this and this amount of time," you know? This time. But... And it's, uh- You know, it really, it's just reading these dochas really show you what it means to work for the Rebbe. Now everyone, of course, works under the Rebbe and, you know, as Chassidim, we belong to the Rebbe, but to work directly under the Rebbe, that's, uh, to see that up close, that's,

2:17:23 Speaker 1 it's, you know, it's fascinating to see. Um, yeah, that's that story.

2:17:30 Speaker 5 Thank you for sharing it. Um, it's a very special story.

2:17:38 Speaker 1 One thing I actually want to add, um, which is connected to what we spoke about earlier, about his other hardships that he was destined to face. Um, during that Purim, I heard this from two talmidim who were there, Rabbi Goldberg, who's today in, uh, Miklaimech, and, um, Rabbi Yossi Gerlitzky, who's a shtech in Tel Aviv. They were both by the fabringen of, uh, Chassidim fabringen the night before Leil Purim. This is either Purim or Yoff Nissan. Um, definitely the period where my mother was, uh, in the hospital. Um, he was fabringen. It was a very, he said it was, they both described it as a very hard shtech fabringen. And he was saying, "Vos heys a bocher tayneh, hat problemen?" Because he didn't say the lamid properly at a, like a navel lamid.

2:18:22 Speaker 5 No, it's a, it's not a, it's not a, it's not a speech impediment.

2:18:24 Speaker 1 No, no, that was a-

2:18:25 Speaker 5 It's, it's an accent.

2:18:26 Speaker 1 Yeah, yeah.

2:18:26 Speaker 5 See his brother Leib was talking like that also.

2:18:29 Speaker 1 Yeah. So he would say, "Vos heys a bocher tayneh, hat problemen?" What do you mean a bocher says he has problems? You have a Rebbe, there's no problemen. Like a chassid doesn't have issues. You have a Rebbe, everything Rebbe will take care of. There's no... And he was saying this beis rachshus. And like throughout the fabringen, he would, he was repeating this theme. And, um, they all knew that he was referring to himself. He was speaking to him, you know, "Af mir zogt, af a bene, af shi hoy zet dich ret tsu zich."

2:18:53 Speaker 5 Right.

2:18:53 Speaker 1 Now for this was next leak that he was mamash talking to himself in a sense like, "Why is it I'm, I'm doubting that she shall have a recovery? I mean, why, why don't I feel that there's problems? The Rebbe will take care of it." You know, his, his rachshus to Rebbe was, you know, like it says in Teyre, "Navshik shub ben avshik." There was no, it was one thing. It w- there was one entity. And, um, it's something that he really tried to be mushmash in his children, his einiklach, and I hope I can, uh, embody those traits of his. Um, but, uh, yeah, that's just one thing I wanted to add, which was a very, you know, hard to take a, a moment.

2:19:39 Speaker 5 Thank you. We can't speak about the David Raskin without mentioning a few things. First of all, he was the balkayre during the week of the Rebbe. That's something that, uh, he's very known for. And also, he al- he had a minik to fabringen every year, Shvi Shal Pesach. When we stay up all night, he always fabringen. What was that about? It's for talucha?

2:20:11 Speaker 1 So the first thing you asked about, about his, um, learning for the Rebbe, that actually already started Taf Shin Yud. I think one time, uh, the regular balkayre wasn't there. The Rebbe turned to him, "Du kanst dach lenen. Du kanst dach lenen." And from then on, he, uh, started learning. The Rebbe, the Rebbe was then in Shas Aveilus with the Rebbe, of course. So he started learning in the Rebbe's minyan. And that yechid that I mentioned earlier from Taf Shin Yud either was in the, the Beis Seven, uh, Yechid or the Rosh Cheider Stamos Fabringen of Taf Shin Yud. The Rebbe said that the learning from the Teyre is also a school for psich zamechen. That's a bracha for psich zamechen. That, you know, he should be able to, um, process information and, you know, learn better, et cetera. So the Rebbe's learning, uh, learning from the Teyre is a school, which, um, I'm sure was connected to the fact that that's what he, uh, ended up doing. Um, he saw that as, he saw that as a shlichas. His mamertus in late, late years, um, that he was learning in the Rebbe's room. This was in the mid-Samachs. Unfortunately, he was going through many, uh, health issues then, as he did the last 15 years or so of his life. And, um, he would have to go for treatment and, uh, many doctor, uh, appointments and, uh, you know, to maintain his health. And, um, he was very careful that the appointments shouldn't be

2:21:39 Speaker 1 on a Monday and a Thursday. Um, you know, he didn't want to take, have that shlichas taken away from him to, to be able to learn in the Rebbe's room.

2:21:48 Speaker 5 Right.

2:21:49 Speaker 1 So, uh-

2:21:50 Speaker 5 I remember vividly him, uh-

2:21:52 Speaker 1 Him learning in the room, in the Rebbe's room

2:21:53 Speaker 5 ... him learning in the Rebbe's room. I mean, like-

2:21:55 Speaker 1 Yeah

2:21:55 Speaker 5 ... with, with the, with the latzte keches, like-

2:21:57 Speaker 1 He was mamertus doing it to the end.

2:21:57 Speaker 5 He couldn't-

2:21:58 Speaker 1 He couldn't, until the point that the, the people mamertus near him couldn't even hear. He was, he was, he was... I think, you know, before I get to the Shvi Shal Pesach, uh, these things, um, really kept him, um, together as a person. You know, with all, considering his life circumstances and his health issues, um, the fact that he was able to be memali the Rebbe's shlichas and, and his herois gave him chayis gashmiyus. The fact that Monday, Thursday, he was able to call up the Rebbe, which agav, I heard he was the first one to, uh, call up the Rebbe, uh, with that title of Adineim ben Rabbeinu. In the sense it was, it was lower. I think it was Teyre, uh, LePeel, Yachan Gordon called out, uh, the Kel. But, um, but, uh, as a shtiler heyt, he was calling up the Rebbe already then in Taf Shin Yud. Uh, Ya'ameid, he would go lower than Ben Avraab ben Eliyitzak. In general, the way he did it was very royal. Ya'ameid, it was like a-

2:22:59 Speaker 5 Adineim ben Rabbeinu ben Eliyitzak

2:23:02 Speaker 1 Yeah. And he would like turn to the side in order not to have his back to the Rebbe as the Rebbe would come from the, either from the upstairs in the zal- And then, uh, Monday, Thursdays, and later on when the afternoon "" downstairs, then later on mamish in the front of 770. But, um, but that, um, I think his health started deteriorating after Nimol Tammuz for that reason. Um, of course, he would fabringen about that the Rebbe's still with us, and a, a soldier doesn't give up his work if the general isn't, uh, you know, giving him orders necessarily at that moment. He would fabringen this, this ikkar nonstop. Um, but, um, in the BeGashmius, the Rebbe was his support system, and the fact that he knew that he's showing up every day to work in Yeshiva and Tsach, Albaz Balkaire, Albadam Asada, whatever it was, all of his tafkid in Agach, that gave him sustenance to, uh, to carry on. And, um, as the years were going on, in Hei, in Vav, in Zayin, his health was, um, only declining, um, unfortunately. But, um, he was, wasn't that old even. He was in his, uh, early seventies. When it started. Mid-sixties even. Yeah. Okay. And Shvi Shal Pesach? Um, Shvi Shal Pesach. So first, I think Rabbi Sorrel Jacobson would fabringen before the- Sure, I remember him. I, I, I was-- I attended one of these fabringens. Oh, yeah? Yeah. I mean, he was- Yeah ... like you're describing, he was very not

2:24:37 Speaker 1 well. It's one of my earliest memories of him, of sitting there by his, uh... I didn't appreciate it then, of course. I just was by Zaidis fabringen, I didn't realize what was happening. It was just Shvi Shal Pesach, like there's nothing happening. Like he-- like this was his night. Right. Almost anyone that I interviewed, like I mentioned earlier, that I asked, everyone would always say, "You c-- Shvi Shal Pesach, Rabavich was, was Rav Dasken." That was his, that was his day to shine. Um- I remember when, I remember when he... I just remember, like, what happened. There was, this when I was a young bachur, so you fabringen. He came in middle of the night, upstairs in Zal, oranges there. Oranges, bananas and wine. Something like that. And he was fabringing. It's very hard to hear anything. So afterwards, he left, and then Rav Shalom Brachsat came up. He's like, "Who's he? Was-- did he want to know? Did Rav Dovid fabring?" Like, like, "Is this Rabavich still going on?" I said, I think it was I or someone else told him, "Yeah, yeah." I said, "We weren't able to hear so much, but, you know." So he like- I mean, yeah ... I remember Shalom Brachsat was like, "Amov like the shrine v'alib." When like he used to scream at like a lion by the, by these fabringens. I remember that, uh, moment. Yes. So his main... I remember Reb Yael was once saying at his, one of the, um, his yarzeit fabringens that

2:25:55 Speaker 1 Shvi Shal Pesach bechiddim was Kiryas YamSof, all the hiskalus, all the things that, uh, was niskal then by, uh, beez Kiryas YamSof, which Chassidus talks about, that the Rebbe talks about. But what was the Kocher Rav Dovid? The Mergen Daf Ao again, Talucha. That was his that's Kiryas YamSof. That's Yiddishkeit. That's Yetzmitzrayim, the whole thing. Talucha. Is, um... I think the, one of the main reasons why he's such a, like, big Koch and Talucha, 'cause Talucha is the only, um, activity that we do that really shows on the, the concept of soldiers, soldiers march, marching. My Zaidis' entire, uh, mehuss was a soldier. The fact that there was one aspect within this whole framework of, of the Heshvi, which literally, um, you know, personified that, that idea of just, of walking like soldiers, I think that's, that was one of the things that really, uh, resonated with him. Daf gain tzvei, tzvei, like the behemoths, mitsva mikdash. He was very into saying Daf gain as a- Tzvei, tzvei ... when we leave Semhasamdi, especially when the Rebbe was at the front door being a melaveh, all of the, um, all the chassidim. He wanted the chassidim to line up down Isa Parkway, tzvei, tzvei as a, um- And then there's the famous line he would say, "Till-" Yeah. Not about- He would say that the seder of Hava Bachar would, uh, leaves the derech of Yiddishkeit, echmalitzlan. So he would say he first stops, you know, keeping seder. Then he stops b'chalal coming to Yeshiva.

2:27:39 Speaker 1 Then, uh, you know, he would enumerate a few other, you know, things. Chabad, these fabringens, he was very, uh, very open. Everyone's heard that the Rebbe told him that to speak about things that bachur can relate to. I heard from a nephew of his that told him, told me that he told him once. But, um, but he was, he was very, um, he was very, um... That was his, that was his line. He started with, um, not coming to seder and, uh- And he goes level by level ... well, there's, there's-- I'm not sure if it was in the same sequence of, uh, of, of the seder that he would say or it was other times, basically he would say, "Amegaidem abaya balabos." You, you eat abaya balabos, and then he started eating, uh, good machalim, good foods. Then we would-- you drink Mayim Chayyim, which is soda. Jump- Mayim Chayyim literally means jumping water. But, uh, you know, Schwarzwasser Coke or Grünewasser Ginger Ale or Sprite, all these different, uh- Yeah ... Elhanan Hazan didn't, uh, you know, wasn't, he wasn't, wasn't taken by him at all. Like, he didn't, uh- Yeah, I heard from Shloime Zach. He's like, "Soda?" He never drank it. He di- the whole thing. Meat, it wasn't... I mean, Gashmiyus wasn't part of his life. He says, "Until," nu, you go- So he would talk about that, uh, all this, and, uh- He says, "You go to, you go to balabos and, um, es gut machalim und the brych

2:28:55 Speaker 1 vaks and what, hashems are gonna mikvah." Until- Bachur's gonna mikvah because he, because he ate so much baya, baya balabos. Until, until- Until he stops going on Talucha ... till he stops going on Talucha. That's the- That's the- The cliff ... that's the, yeah, most grave sin. Um, Talucha by him was, was, you know, teme sinei. It was no missing, uh... I heard from somebody even after he was now back in a wheelchair, they saw him on Coney Island once, um, someone pushing him going to shul. He w- he was, he was just, he was shocked. Like, "Really?" Like, like, "You know, you did your time here. You know, you can sit at home. You don't have to." Right. No. He was- They say Rav Dovid would say he hopes it rains on Talucha. Yeah. So that the, the chassidim can go on to his nevach. He says in Temim, "Chokhei se'elechu v'nesatech shmechem itam." If you go my ways, I'll give rain at its time, and he said this was, this is Talucha. So wh- when is nesatech shmechem itam is Talucha? When it rains on Talucha? He'll say, like, "It's time you go. It's a nice weather." Like, what's the, what's the kons? You go when it's pouring rain, your hats, the mold, the hat, the, the dye of the hats- Would come down your face ... would drip down, and people would come back to him standing with black faces, and the shirts were totally, uh, you know, full of black ink.

2:30:07 Speaker 1 Um, I say that, that's kiddush. Like, every, every one time give l'chaim for all those that went on Talucha was very, uh, was a very... The Rebbe didn't the farbrengen, um, of Simchat Torah. Or I'm sorry, at the end of the farbrengen of Simchat Torah, before hakafot, the Rebbe would always ask, um, my zayde, "Al ha tziriq?" That was one of those- If everyone came back from talucha, yeah. Yeah, he was, uh, the Rebbe was wanting to know if everyone- 'Cause the farbrengen would officially went till, till everyone's back from talucha. Yeah. I mean, most guys, most all the bochurim, unless you were with chazara, everyone missed the, the first chunk of the farbrengen. Right. You're lucky you got to the end, and, uh, most guys, a lot of guys missed that entire farbrengen if you went further. The Rebbe on "kidduš" one time spoke about the smart boys, those who go to closer locations to come back earlier. Right. Obviously, the Rebbe said it's not the kavana, of course. But yeah, talucha and him were, uh, were synonymous. Another, another major tikkun in his life was, was in the mid lameds when the Rebbe was coming out with Meforsim, one after the, one after another. Right. I would say if there was ever a period in Derashvi that he shined the most was during those really started from summer lamed gimmel, lamed daled, lamed he. Um, during that period, it was just a marathon of new he'erais in the Meforsim, in the tanks, and

2:31:36 Speaker 1 the ufaratzta. Everything just took on, on a whole new level. Every other the week of my farbrengen, the Rebbe was coming out with new initiatives and new things that should be implemented. And of course, like I mentioned earlier, Tzach was the address for all of these, um, for all of these, um, activities. Um, when in the summer of lamed gimmel, the Rebbe was koching very much in Bnei Limyeinkim. The Her has a very nice article on that. Um, months before the Yom Kippur War, uh, which happened on Yom Kippur of 1973, taf shin lamed daled, um, the Rebbe was shtirring very much to do, uh, pullas with children. Um, to gather children, to do, to learn Torah with them, that children should, should have re- they should host, hold rallies, savah lekoison, say, uh- By the way, it's interesting. We printed that article in the Her, the Tishrei of October 7th. Oh, wow. Yeah. So my zayde was then, uh, he went to actually Srul that summer. I think two of his daughters was in, uh, was in school then in the Pyesruvka there. Um, so before he went, he asked the Rebbe what he should speak about, and the Rebbe said it's a, uh, it's never been more of a appropriate time to, uh, to basically ayenem the velt with, with Yiddishkeit in the sense of, you know, Torah and mitzvahs. And Bnei Limyeinkim to talk about, to, you know, encourage the various moses over there to get involved with these pullas. Um, in

2:33:16 Speaker 1 general, any time my zayde took a trip there to Srul, which was around three, four times, um, his... There was no vacation time. He was meeting one, one Menashe to another Menashe, to, to... "Yashala, take care of God. Back to Chabad. You have to see this." And he wrote to the Rebbe literally s-ste- his step by step by step of everything he did, uh, during the day. Um, meeting with Rabbi Ephraim Wolf, meeting with Itche Gansburg, meeting with Zercho Milowski, meeting with Shmuel Chefer, and, uh, you know, all the other haskonim in Srul then. Um, but nonstop, and making sure that they were on top of, uh, of the game and fulfilling all the, all of the Rebbe's he'erais. Um, so that, that summer was, uh, the beginning of a, I guess before, like a, a marathon of, of nonstop pullas. And then Hanukkah came around. I mean, that Tishrei was, was like a ferliche Tishrei. You know, about the kiyas and by Bi Malcheinu was a very, uh, very, very hartzik, uh, moment. And then Hanukkah was the, um, was the first time that the Rebbe wanted to make a shturim for, uh, that there shouldn't be a single Jewish home without the lichtkeit of Hanukkah. So my zayde then, uh, found this guy, um, he's actually still around. He's in... It's kind of hard. He's mid to late 90s now. He came to visit our office once. Oh, yeah? Um- Was it the same one that made the Neshek? Yeah. Yeah. It was

2:34:53 Speaker 1 Tiber Kuperstein. He made the meneras, the, the mitzvah meneras- The Menorah Nis Chason ... that we have today, and also the Neshek candles. So he was, um, he was manufacturing equipment for the war efforts. So he had like a metal, uh, factory. So you have to know my zayde worked. He heard of this metal, and he, he knows that everyone needs a, everyone needs a menera, so maybe we can contact the guy that does that manufactures metal to design, uh, um, k- menera kits, tin meneras. This is the meneras that we're using till today from- Yeah ... mitzvahs. The same menera. I mean, that looked a little different, but- Look different, but the same i- the same idea ... same idea. Yeah. So s- so he wrote to the Rebbe about this. Um, my zayde wrote to the Rebbe, and the Rebbe wrote a beautiful bracha for, to him. Unfortunately, a year or so before, um, his son was killed in a, um, in a, in a mugging, uh, attack. They got the wrong guy, the people, the, you know, the attackers. Uh, long story short, uh, he was killed. And, uh, the Rebbe wrote that through the- Through his efforts in, um, making these Mneres, Shiyor Mazole, uva-ava-in the mazal of the Bnei Besai, um, you know, for all good things, as it's explained in Teder Er. And the Rebbe mentioned a few other sefarim with the name Er in it, and underlined each, uh, each let-each word of Er. Um, Ashrei Chalkei, v'kol

2:36:31 Speaker 1 zechusei, chol u'cholum. So my zayde and all those who were, you know, who involved with that, who was involved with that mitzvah. It's just very, uh... It was a beautiful bracha. And then that continued, and from there, uh, he's able to write that, uh, let's say, the shliach in, uh, Shlome Kluni needs this amount, and Shomre Liviton needs this amount, and Shimka Lazov needs this amount. This is how things operated. Tzach, um, what started in Tzach eventually spread throughout, uh, America and then, and throughout the world, of course. Um, I didn't mention earlier, in the early years of Tzach, in the, in the '50s, in the yuds, there were different branches of Tzach everywhere. There was Tzach of Boston, Tzach of New Haven, Tzach of, uh, Rochester, Tzach of, uh, multiple places in New Jersey. Uh, till today you have Tzach in Montreal, Tzach in Paris, Tzach in Argentina. Uh, then it was in Brazil. I remember seeing letters from Herschel Khitchrik then. Tzach in Brazil. And then, um, there was also, um, I'm missing s-a few locations, but yeah, Tzach was a Milan. I saw a few letters to Rivkesha Mendel where it's addressed, um, Milan. So, you know, Tzach was the, um... That was the operating arm for all yanim of Afatza. Yeah. Tzach, Tzach of, of Morocco. Of course- Eventually, eventually things changed, and like the shluchim became merkz, and then- Yeah But then in New York area, everything is still till today, Tzach. Till today. A few places, and first one

2:38:08 Speaker 1 Israel, of course, that was the original place. But in Montreal, it's remained that way. In Paris. Right. The Lubavitch is- Australia, I forgot to mention, of course, Melbourne, it's the shluchim are Tzach. Tzach. Uh, Toronto was Tzach, is still Tzach. Um, but yeah, those, uh, but those years, lamed dalet, lamed he. I, a few years ago, for Tishka, I arranged a panel, um, with four, five Hasidim who were for the Vaad Talmidim of a few, of Hasidim who were bachurim then, of course, who were involved with Pulas. And, uh, the reason why I did that is because reading these duchas and, and hearing these zecheres from people was like... I felt like these, it was titled, um, When... What was it called? Mivtzaim Hit the Streets or something like that. Um, Lubavitch Hit the Streets. The Mivtzaim Era When Lubavitch Hit the Streets. It's on YouTube, actually. You can watch that. But it's, um, it was a fascinating, uh, era in Lubavitch when all these things, uh... So one very powerful answer my grandfather got then was, um, he, he wrote to the Rebbe that, um, we had a meeting about, um... This was after the incident in Malot, which I think the Heir wrote about as well. Fortunately, there was a, there was a, uh, school, I think, from Tzfat that was, uh, on a field trip to Malot- Right ...a town in northern, uh- And I just wanna mention that, uh- ...Israel ...Pirsum Rishon over here, that the Heir is actually working on

2:39:44 Speaker 1 a new endeavor, a new book, which is going to cover the time of Tzayim. It's beautiful. Plus other campaigns that the Rebbe launched. But, uh- Looking forward And you mentioned Malot. I'm saying it's gonna have the history, it's gonna have everything that a Chassid needs to get fired up about, about the Mivtzaim. Very good. I have the zechus of doing the interviews for the Mivtzaim column, which is ongoing now. This mon- this year. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. It's, uh- Definitely that element to that is gonna be included, for sure. Yeah. Um, the nice thing about the Mivtzaim column is not just the, the history, but it's als-also the ongoing impact of these Mivtzaim, how- The practical implication of it ...practical implication of them which- Yeah, exactly ...everyone can relate to. If you're not- And, uh- If you don't, if you don't know what- Chayav ...if you don't know what we're talking about, make sure to subscribe at theheir.org so you could read these columns as they, they're coming out in the next few months. So yeah. So getting back to lamed dalet, uh, and lamed he. So he wrote to the Rebbe that we had a meeting, uh, after the ma'ase of Malot, and the Rebbe spoke about very strong about Mitzvah Mezuzah and Bechalal about, um, increasing in all yanim Yiddishkeit and to go into the streets and, you know, encourage Yidden for tefillin. Tefillin already existed from Chavzayim. So my zayde wrote to the Rebbe that, um, we had a meeting about it, and

2:41:02 Speaker 1 we're planning of following up, uh, I think the following week or so. So the Rebbe writes like this, which is a very fundamental answer for every ma'ase and, and every Chassid to, um, you know, to always have in mind. The Rebbe wrote as follows: "Harei ad oz," until the next meeting that you mentioned, "yicholis ve'efshar la'hamivtzaim shlitah," it would be possible for those who do Mivtzaim, "lichpish es kol New York ve'sivuysehu uvidarchinei hem be'shalom." To conquer the entire New York and its surrounding areas in a peaceful and, uh, pleasant, uh, manner. You know, today, I think one of the, one of the, um, areas which, you know, it's kind of hard to retrieve from, you know, before Gemilut Chassadim was the sense of urgency that there was a fire burning under every single one of us to, to get the work done. There was no Let's talk about it Monday at 9 AM. Uh, you know, let's follow up about the next... Everything had to happen now, in here and now. There was no you know? Now everything obviously became much professional and much more, uh, developed over the years, but this was the Rebbe's general approach. Every-- If it's important, it has to be done now. And that was, uh- Today ... and that was Reb Dovid's MO. Yeah. My zeide was-- I mean, I think that's from that, uh, thing, from that day on, there was just didn't stop. The reports were coming in, and, and Rebbe, he was, he was finally went

2:42:44 Speaker 1 to various locations, and the day was writing mezuzahs and tefillin, and the Rebbe came with . That's how it started, and later on, the Rebbe came with . Uh, that whole summer, the Rebbe gave $5 whoever, uh, whoever did in Merkos L'Inyonei Yeshurun or, uh, the state in Kircheneisen did mitzvot. Whatever it was, the Rebbe gave $5 to, uh... I know a lot of people that still have the $5 bill, uh, whoever got connected to Chamishas Mitzvos then. But, uh, I me-me-me mentioned before, in Taf Shalamadalet, the last day of Hanukkah, the Rebbe, uh, told my grandfather that, uh, anyone that, uh, through Rebbe Chadikov, anyone who was mishtatef in Mitzvah Hanukkah, uh, will receive a dollar from me. This is before obviously- Dollars ... this was, uh, yeah, 12 years or so before the Rebbe started giving me dollars. So the Rebbe in his sokapaza gave out, uh, dollars. You had to first get a letter from my zeide that you're mishtatef in Mitzvah Hanukkah, give it to maskirus, and then you were able to go. It was like a whole process, and then you were able to receive a dollar from the Rebbe. Um, so the Rebbe wrote about this on when they, uh, wrote about Ch-- when he wrote about Hanukkah Lamadalet, and the Rebbe gave every person who was mishtatef. This is how mitzvot started in Purim. Again, the Rebbe told my zeide that after Rebbe Chadikov, whoever will be mishtatef in Mitzvah Purim, they will receive a dollar. So anything

2:44:09 Speaker 1 like last Tachten, the Rebbe wanted these things to take off into incentive it would be to receive a dollar from him. And, um, Mitzvah Purim that year really started earlier in the army bases. Tzach would send out bachurim and couples to army bases in the mid to late Chaf's, uh, during the Vietnam War to, um, to be there for soldiers, um, that would have no other way of celebrating Purim. They would come with the Megillas, Mishleach Manos, Matanos L'evyonim was, like, a very big... And by the Purim you hear in the audio, them saying that, uh, they just returned from Fort, uh, wherever it is, and, uh, we're-- and the Rebbe would say , and it was a very, uh, it was very special to the Rebbe that guys went out, uh, to these army bases, which was obviously done under Tzach, Rabbi Castel. He should be gezunt. Um, he would was the organizers, the organizer of the visiting the Shabbatons and, uh, s- arranging people to go to, to visit the, the, it was Arab with, the Arab with, uh, eating with Chabad, having guys go over to people's apartments and homes to learn with them. Um, in various yeshivas and Shabbatons, that's all, it was all Rabbi Castel. So he started working for Mitzvah Mis- Mitzvah Tehillim. My zeide approached him once to starting, uh, when the Rebbe came up with Mitzvah Tehillim, if he would like to get involved. He was a young man then, and that's when the rest of his,

2:45:38 Speaker 1 uh, work in Tzach started. Mm-hmm. And there's a lot of, lot of, a lot of, uh, hadracha that he received, many, many minas which, Mr. Sham, will be printed in the book, and hopefully I can be zecher to give the, the deher as well. Yeah, and I also hope to have him on the podcast at a certain point. Yeah, he would, he would be great. Makes a lot of chutzpah. Um, okay. So there's a-- You actually have on the table here a lot of binders with pictures and answers, and it's so vast we didn't even get it yet, and we covered, I mean, we were, we were here for a long time. So, um, I wanna ask, I mean, this is act- this is why you're writing a book. And there's more, there's more binders in, over there. This is why you're writing a book- Mm-hmm ... because every element in every area that we covered, there's much more to write, and there's details, and there's documents, and, you know, you're just giving really the rosh haklach of it all. Um, is there any- anything else or any closing thoughts that you wanna share that's, uh, important for those that are gonna be listening? Takeaways. Everyone has what, uh, to contribute to the Rebbe's kavanah. My grandfather was not the, many people would say not the most qualified in the sense of professionalism to, um, to run various organizations, but that's not what the Rebbe looks for in a, in a Hasid. The Rebbe wants

2:47:10 Speaker 1 loyal soldiers, and, um, if you're a soldier ready to carry out the general's command, um, you know, we need you. We need you to, uh, to be there. Um, we need you for the work. Um, it's irrelevant a person's background, um, their knowledge. This was the whole idea of Tzidkas Chabad that, um, first, there was no such a thing in Derush Veyisra as getting old. The Rebbe made it very clear in day one, you know, right in the beginning. Tzidkas Chabad where this is a young gener- Youth This is youth. The whole Derush Veyisra is youth. You know? You could be saying it's a Tzach. It's still, it's still being... That's not, um, Reb Shimon Aron Karzanovsky when he would talk about, um, when he would speak at the Chalomoy Veyidos Haylomis, the convention, he would say, uh, you know, make with his white beard, "It's a, uh, faggan iggon to, uh, speak here at Tzidkas Chabad." Like consider-- he would consider himself a tziddim for the youngsters. But, uh, that's, that's, that's a message that I learned from his life, and I think everyone could, uh, can learn from him and that, you know, it's, it's not about capabilities. It's about, uh, being committed to the cause, and it's about being loyal, first of all, who you represent and what you represent. Um, and the keichas are there. The Rebbe said that, uh, countless amount of times that you have the k- you know, the Rebbe and give the keichas. The Rebbe gives the

2:48:47 Speaker 1 keichas, and we just have to, uh, want to, to tzushtellen, like they say, to, to come up to bat. And, uh, it's not, it's not optional. The Rebbe said it on day one that it's we need every single Hasid, every Yid to, to participate in this effort, and the will help him that, uh, our efforts should, uh, bear fruit to, to the gola. Amen. Thank you very much. and a lot of hatslacha with getting it done. And, uh, appreciate, uh, everything that you shared. It's my, uh, pleasure.