[Re-release] Tishrei With The Rebbe with Rabbi Yisroel Noach Vogel

00:00 Speaker 1 I have never, ever seen a dance like that. And there was jumping. I mean, vagashmi, so how's that? So shememes, how's that? It's Prusha jumping. I will not forget at one point, I saw the Rebbe's shoes in the air. He was jumping so much.

00:25 Speaker 2 As we enter the new year, secure your family's daily tzakah with Keren Hashanah. Founded by the Rebbe in nineteen fifty-three, taf shin yud daled, under Machneh Israel, Keren Hashanah ensures that every single day of the year, including the tzakah given in honor of Shabbos and Yom Tov, will be given on your behalf. The Rebbe urged everyone to enroll every family member, men, women, and children, by contributing for each day of the upcoming year. It's the ultimate way to draw down continuous brachos for you and the entire family. I'm Yossi Kamen. Welcome to Among Chassidim by Der Her, an ongoing farbrengen about life as a Chassid, our vibrant connection with the Rebbe, and inspired living shaped by the way he teaches us each and every day. If you've been enjoying this podcast, please like and subscribe so that others can enjoy it as well. In addition, if you've benefited in any way from Among Chassidim podcast and would like to give something back, you can do so today at derher.org/donate. Bruchim habaim. Thank you, Rabbi Vogel, for, uh, making the time to, uh, have this discussion.

01:50 Speaker 1 Thank you.

01:51 Speaker 2 Okay. So I felt it would be appropriate to leave, uh, the Olam that is listening to the podcast with, um, basics. And what I mean by basics is Tisha is the time where one of the primary focuses of Chassidim is, uh, Tisha with the Rebbe, and that everything that that entails and that the, the experience. And the best way to do that is to speak to Chassidim that, uh, have experienced it and know how to give it over. And I think that's very beneficial for me personally and for thousands of people throughout the world. Uh, whether they know that it's beneficial for them or not, maybe this will help in that effort.

02:38 Speaker 1 Mm-hmm.

02:39 Speaker 2 Sounds like a plan.

02:40 Speaker 1 Yep.

02:41 Speaker 2 Okay.

02:42 Speaker 1 Ez ashashem.

02:43 Speaker 2 So I think you could, you know, I'll, I'll fo-- I, I don't know. I think what, what we can do is start off just going through in a chronological order. So-

02:55 Speaker 1 Tosh Lamadzaim, it's the first time I was here for Yom Kippur. They've a-

02:59 Speaker 2 For Lecha Chazak V'Shachaz.

03:01 Speaker 1 Yeah. They asked, um, the Olam not to take more than one, not to ask for anyone else. So from then I think that stopped the asking for someone else. But, uh, sure, they gave numbers and the Rebbe thanked the Vadim Sadde afterwards because the numbers, it came easier.

03:22 Speaker 2 There was numbers for Lecha?

03:23 Speaker 1 Yeah, that year anyway.

03:24 Speaker 2 You got a ticket.

03:25 Speaker 1 Yeah, a ticket with numbers. You see, it went easier 'cause if you know what number you are, you're, you're less hesitant, you know. You go. So it, it made, it made it faster for the Rebbe. And the Rebbe would always tilt before Lamatces. So the Rebbe would-- the, the tray of cake, tray, loads of trays, would be inside the room. And for every person, the Rebbe would take a piece and give. They would look, take a piece, give Shante Musuka. But each person, like they would look at them, turn into his room, take the pieces, you know, backwards and forwards. They claim, this is what I heard once, a Svara that person-- the Rebbe's not like a, a waiter or server, you know, serving food. But it was a lot easier when later after Lamatces, so the tray's in front of the Rebbe, and the Rebbe was just-

04:16 Speaker 2 Are you saying-

04:16 Speaker 1 Giving from the tray to the person

04:17 Speaker 2 ... things with Padaska like that, that I've, uh-

04:19 Speaker 1 Yeah. It seemed like, you know, the Rebbe's not giving you-- He's not a server giving food. He's like-

04:23 Speaker 2 Right.

04:24 Speaker 1 But, uh, Lamatces it came easier.

04:26 Speaker 2 To have the tray in front of the Rebbe.

04:27 Speaker 1 The tray in front of the Rebbe. The Rebbe just gives you a piece, so he doesn't have to turn that much and-

04:31 Speaker 2 Mm-hmm

04:33 Speaker 1 ... so it went to a certain ex-extent, it went faster. So the, when are we still in line for Lecha? When you have the Tsitas, then you come back to push for, uh, catch a place for, um, the Bracha to the Bachram. Okay, after the Bracha downstairs.

04:54 Speaker 2 The Mincha.

04:55 Speaker 1 After Mincha is the Bracha to Anash. They say the Rebbe didn't-- Those years the Rebbe didn't like the microphone. They say those years the Rebbe went like that to the microphone, should take it away.

05:05 Speaker 2 The whole thing changed 'cause it used to be Mamsha Bracha.

05:08 Speaker 1 Used to be a Bracha. Mem Beis was the first time was a Sicha.

05:11 Speaker 2 And then became a Sicha and a regular-

05:13 Speaker 1 Yeah. And then became a long Sicha. Mem Vav, I think, or Mem Zayin.

05:16 Speaker 2 I mean, the earliest Rebbe would get on top of the table, no?

05:19 Speaker 1 Yeah, that's, uh-

05:20 Speaker 2 Pictures of that.

05:20 Speaker 1 And then there's a video of a Chavav Chabad.

05:22 Speaker 2 It's not actually a table. Whatever, it's higher.

05:24 Speaker 1 He go- went up onto something. Yeah, it could be. I heard there was a table. But afterwards, um, the Rebbe would-- It became a Sicha, in Mem Vav, I think. It was a Sicha, like, over an hour.

05:36 Speaker 2 Yeah.

05:36 Speaker 1 You know, everything Kippur is like People barely had time personally to go run home, eat Tzon Osekas and come back, you know. You wanna go to Mikvah before coming there again. It was like But anyway, Lamad Zayin, the Bracha So, um, after the Bracha to Anash, tell me that they held the microphone at the side And as the Rebbe went to the side of the shtender, and as he closed his eyes to say the bracha, then they put the microphone close. He was holding it, whoever it was, Kaisen maybe. He was holding it close to, to Rebbe, on a stick, so he doesn't have to be close to the Rebbe, you know. And, uh, Rebbe said the bracha. The tone is different. The tone of a bracha is different than a sicha. The Rebbe you know, I think the Rebbe stressed that many years. And right after that, he ran upstairs to the to catch a place for the bracha.

06:44 Speaker 3 For the microphone.

06:45 Speaker 1 For the bachurim. For the bachurim. So he ran up. And, um, okay, you know, so they're opening the door a certain time. It was, I think, fifteen minutes before Lech Menuchon, because they didn't want too much pushing. There's a whole other story. I'm not gonna get into that now, but those years when the Rebbe complained that the bachurim pushed for so long that they, they didn't have time to eat, uh,

07:09 Speaker 3 Yeah, 'cause the bachurim were wait-- Ah, he's saying a mall was open and people would rush and sit there the whole day.

07:15 Speaker 1 Yeah.

07:15 Speaker 3 And the Rebbe was not happy about-

07:16 Speaker 1 The Rebbe was not happy that-

07:16 Speaker 3 ... the fact that bachurim are not eating, but, you know, 'cause they were happening a place.

07:20 Speaker 1 Right.

07:20 Speaker 3 So they made a rule that the door is locked.

07:23 Speaker 1 Right. So they would open it up like fifteen minutes before Lech Menuchon.

07:26 Speaker 3 Right. That's that whole thing where everyone stampedes into, into the room.

07:30 Speaker 1 Into the chutzor.

07:31 Speaker 3 Yeah.

07:32 Speaker 1 Because Tasha Mem was another thing. So you started using the chutzor. You know, when the bracha Erev Kippur moved, first it was in Rebbe's room for the first ten years, nine years, until it became impossible in there. What happened was the light switch went on and off. So, um, it mamash disturbed, so next year went out to so there's more room standing there and on the stairs, until it moved into the zal Tasha Lamed Aleph. So it's like every ten years they had to make a change 'cause impossible. And I just wanna describe what it's like, bachurim like when I describe it . Going into the bracha Erev Kippur, and, uh, people just coming in and coming in and coming in. And they took out all the furniture. The only piece of furniture which was left was like two tables or four tables in the, um, what do you call it? Uh, tzafen side I would say. Next to where the Rebbe came in, so they had the Rebbe shtender on top of the tables. Put a carpet on top of it also, and the Rebbe would go up and stand on the tables. Besides that it was, place was empty. Only the bimah which they, I think they couldn't take it out.

08:46 Speaker 3 bimah.

08:47 Speaker 1 No, not just the the, the bimah.

08:50 Speaker 3 It was stuck to the floor?

08:51 Speaker 1 It was too big to go out of the door.

08:52 Speaker 3 Yeah, okay.

08:52 Speaker 1 I don't think they could move it. So they put it near the second door, you know, near the chazan. I think it was there, and guys would stand on there. But, uh, besides that, there was, uh, empty. And there's like six huge fans. I mean, the air conditioner there was not strong enough for such an oilem. And so three huge fans on both sides. Makes such a noise. But you need it is to blow the air through, and just, place is just filling up and filling up and filling up and filling up. And I'm short, so I'm trying to catch my hat 'cause my hand's like this, and I'm catching my hat. And the place is getting fuller and fuller and fuller. And I feel my hand is like squashing my chest, like it's hurting. I, I feel like, you know, the, the-- I don't know. I managed to move it a drop. It's crazy. You know, it's push, pushing, pushing, pushing. It, it's, it's not pushing, it's just squashed. And the guy right next to me, don't forget, you're not standing in lines. Wherever there's a, a centimeter of space, you know, there's somebody there. And the guy right next to me, his hands were down, and there's no way he could pick his hands up. And, you know, shvitzing this, his glasses just slid off, and they fell down. It doesn't go onto the floor. It, it dropped down over here. He says, "Do me a favor. Could you put my glasses on?"

10:20 Speaker 1 So I'm like, you know, barely able to move my hand, and I pick up his glasses and manage to hook it onto this ear, which is close to me, but I can't reach the other ear . I tried a few times, and it's like in the end he said, "Forget about it." Took it, threw. There's nothing you can do, you know?

10:38 Speaker 3 Yeah.

10:38 Speaker 1 It's like your hands are wherever-- they're locked. Your ha- you cannot pick your hands up. Your, your hands are squashed. I mean, like no moving. Then the Rebbe came in. The Rebbe came in. As soon as the Rebbe came in, they unplugged all the fans 'cause you wouldn't be able to hear a word. So they unplugged all the fans, then it got hot . But it, uh, whatever, the, the Rebbe's there. I wasn't able to see anything, but at least I'm in the same room as the Rebbe.

11:04 Speaker 3 You can hear the Rebbe?

11:05 Speaker 1 Yeah, I could hear. I could hear. I can't say I caught the bracha 'cause I wasn't used to this type of pushing. Takes a different type of concentration to be able to listen even though there's pushing. But the words are very interesting. I'm gonna listen over to the recording afterwards. That was the first year the Rebbe allowed a speaker, so they hid the microphone under the shtender. There was a speaker in the hall and then maybe in the chutzor-

11:46 Speaker 3 To hear

11:46 Speaker 1 ... they started using the chutzor. Could hear something.

11:49 Speaker 3 I think in the chutzor it's for the younger bachurim, no?

11:52 Speaker 1 That started later. Then they pushed in the chutzor should be room.

11:54 Speaker 3 Oh, so those years it was every bachur was allowed in?

11:56 Speaker 1 Every, yeah. That's why I was a young bachur. I was fifteen.

11:59 Speaker 3 Uh-huh.

11:59 Speaker 1 I was in there.

12:00 Speaker 3 The whole thing that only the older bachurim-

12:01 Speaker 1 Only after Lamed Heh started.

12:03 Speaker 3 Yeah.

12:04 Speaker 1 Then they changed the seder. So Tasha Mem when I came, I was in the chutzah outside. It was a disaster. And the, and the p-pushing there for an hour before. And even that doesn't help me 'cause I'm not good at pushing, and I found myself on the outskirts. Could not-- And also there we came out very late. Tasha Mem came out, I don't know, maybe te- uh, I don't know, seven minutes, ten minutes after Lech Manchin. There we came out very late. And the-- Whoever's inside, they disconnected the microphone 'cause they thought it's, they thought it was, uh, you know, it's gonna be shki already. So there's no microphone. The Rebbe spoke louder than usual. The Rebbe heard there's no microphone, no speaker. And the Rebbe spoke louder than usual. I just heard in the chutzah, I just heard the hum of the Rebbe's voice. All I remember at the end, I heard, "Amen keini hi rotzon" that I heard clearly. Besides that, I couldn't hear a word. But they recorded it. They say whoever held the, held the, the tape recorder. So he said, "The Rebbe finished two and a half minutes before shkiya." Okay. We'll rely on him. Tape came out, so obviously it was before shkiya. And, uh, there's a recording. But, uh, you hear the Rebbe crying in the middle of V'rachecha. Remember starting one of the bachur was screaming. I don't know. It was on top of the roof. The, you know, souchach. Didn't have souchach yet, but the beams

13:33 Speaker 1 were there.

13:33 Speaker 4 Sukkah.

13:34 Speaker 1 And he was on top of the beams, and he was like, I don't know what happened. Just some screams. So the Rebbe stopped in the middle.

13:41 Speaker 4 Middle of the Sukkah.

13:42 Speaker 1 In the middle of the V'rachecha.

13:44 Speaker 4 Hmm.

13:46 Speaker 1 But, um, anyway, it's, that is it. Talking what's gonna happen. But one of the things that came out from then, that they would block the sukkah also no more than fifteen minutes before Lech Manchin.

13:58 Speaker 4 Right.

13:58 Speaker 1 Shouldn't have, shouldn't have pushing like that like it was. Pushing for an hour, it's crazy. Before Yom Tov. Before Yom Kippur, I mean, you know. Anyway, what happened different, uh, for me, the best was Mem Daled. I was already tw... from the age twenty-two, and the kritzah could be in the back room. Chedoshini was the best. They took out that window where the Sfarim are, and, uh, they put in all the benches from the, from the zal into the Chedoshini, put planks of wood on top of them. So you're standing high. It was so high, I could see so well.

14:38 Speaker 4 That's interesting. That's the best place.

14:40 Speaker 1 For me, that was the-

14:41 Speaker 4 Unless your mom is in front. Yeah.

14:42 Speaker 1 Yeah, for me, that was the best. So I was up-

14:44 Speaker 4 Right

14:44 Speaker 1 ... so I could see. And the Rebbe came in. For some reason, I don't know why, they put a, a microphone in front of the Rebbe. I was like, "Why are you putting a microphone there?" I mean, as the Rebbe went up the stairs and he came to, onto the table, and the Rebbe sees a microphone right in front of the shtender, and the Rebbe like stopped and, you know, like made with his shoulders, uh, you know, like, "What is this?" There's a video of it. And immediately, a bachur came up and-

15:09 Speaker 4 So what's the problem? 'Cause the Rebbe, the Rebbe is Yom Tovdik.

15:12 Speaker 1 The Rebbe wasn't Yom Tovdik, but it's, um, but for Ches, yeah, after Lech Manchin.

15:17 Speaker 4 Right. Mm-hmm. Okay.

15:18 Speaker 1 So it was like, so immediately, bachur jumped up and pulled down the microphone. But there was another hidden microphone under the shtender. I don't know what he was trying to prove, but whatever. But there, there is a recording, but I'm saying he shouldn't have done that. Put a microphone there. Anyway. Some years, the Rebbe would pull the talis over his face, and some years, the Rebbe just left, um-

15:41 Speaker 4 Mm

15:41 Speaker 1 ... his talis on top just, uh, without putting it down. But it, it always felt very special there, the bracha to the bachurim. And you see the Rebbe's misyasachas to the bachurim in a way like, uh, I don't think it was another yasachas during the year davka to bachurim like that. Okay, later they said it's klalos, but that's to talmidim from outside New York or outside America.

16:06 Speaker 4 I mean, the first year the Rebbe said, the Rebbe started it, the premise for doing it is the Rebbe said, "The zeidech of the Rebbe's kinde."

16:15 Speaker 1 Right.

16:15 Speaker 4 The leinedech of the Rebbe means Yeshiva.

16:17 Speaker 1 Yeshiva, zeidech of the Rebbe's kinde.

16:18 Speaker 4 The zeidech of the Rebbe's kinde. So this is the Rebbe's kinde.

16:20 Speaker 1 Yeah.

16:20 Speaker 4 That's ba-basically what it is.

16:22 Speaker 1 It was a very, very special feeling for that. And Yom Kippur itself was very peaceful, I say calm, you know, especially the night of Yom Kippur. They had the Negun aim, I think. They're very calming.

16:38 Speaker 4 And they held the Torah by, uh-

16:41 Speaker 1 Yeah, but I didn't really see-

16:41 Speaker 4 ...

16:42 Speaker 1 ... because after the bracha, I didn't 'til I got down-

16:44 Speaker 4 Right, right

16:45 Speaker 1 ... and then I didn't see much, but... Well, the Rebbe, you know, he did Lamed Zayin, which is a kinda interesting thing. It's a separate story, but I probably printed once, I don't know. 'Cause a few days before Yom Kippur, the, the Arabs went into, um, M-M-Maaras Yaakov Avinu. They destroyed the place. I think, Rachmanus, they ripped up two Sifrei Torah, and they were, mamash, I mean, the Churban. And the Rebbe was very upset about it. They say this was written down with, um, Gershon Bey Jacobson when he went by the Rebbe for Lekach on Yom Kippur. The Rebbe told him it's still before Lech Manchin. That's he said, "I'll see if you can get some more details what happened over there." And it seemed to bother the Rebbe very much, and the Rebbe continued to talk about it, both, uh, um, whatever, I mean, Le-Le-Lilshaminian Tzaros and then, uh, Simchas Torah by day and Shabbos Breishis. But there was a, a whole hemsha, but it began in Yom Kippur. The night of Yom Kippur, so after davening, you say Tehillim, and usually the Rebbe would go out after the Ailim finished Tehillim. I hear the Rebbe stood maybe half hour after the Ailim finished, uh, um, Rav Chaim Tadshkenter was the chazan for- For, uh, Tehillim. But after he finished, he didn't go especially fast, but the Rebbe seemed like he was going very slow. Like not much half hour after the Chazzan finished, the Rebbe was still saying Tehillim. And, uh, again, the,

18:23 Speaker 1 during Yom Kippur day, there's not much happening. The Rebbe didn't even have, uh, Maftir on the, on the Kippur day.

18:28 Speaker 3 Shacharis. Whatever, Shacharis.

18:29 Speaker 1 Shacharis. So by, um, so there's nothing much happening during the day. But then like-

18:35 Speaker 3 Sha- Shacharis on Musaf Yom Kippur is like the lowest key-

18:37 Speaker 1 Yeah

18:37 Speaker 3 ... point in Tisha b'av with the Rebbe.

18:39 Speaker 1 Yeah, it's a-- No, it's still a zechuk to be a whole day with the Rebbe. It was-

18:43 Speaker 3 Yeah

18:43 Speaker 1 ... it's a little bit peaceful. Then-

18:45 Speaker 3 The Rebbe did the, and then the Rebbe did the, the Keilim a few times.

18:48 Speaker 1 Yeah.

18:48 Speaker 3 Yeah.

18:48 Speaker 1 But after, I mean, I loved the Nigun, um, uh, Ki Yanah Necho.

18:54 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm.

18:55 Speaker 1 The ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya. The Rebbe would go,

19:01 Speaker 3 Yeah, there's a certain, uh-

19:02 Speaker 1 So by this note, there was a ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya.

19:05 Speaker 3 There's a certain Siyum HaShachar Chabad house that the Elul and the Chabad house wants to know what time is Kiano.

19:11 Speaker 1 Yeah .

19:12 Speaker 3 You know, it's, uh -

19:13 Speaker 1 But it's, uh, I love the way the Rebbe would Moidi that Nigun especially. Then, um, then, uh, tr- after the break or during the break, start hopping places for the march 'cause that was the, the highlight. This time, it was the middle of Neilah, Tashlamim Zayin, and something happened with the, with the kids. I don't know exactly what. And the Rebbe turned, and he asked the

19:39 Speaker 3 Or stop Raskin.

19:41 Speaker 1 He misunderstood. He thought that the Rebbe wants everybody to leave the area of the Amud. So he screams out, " " The Rebbe says, "" And tell everybody to go away. In the end, they understood that the kids who were there, the Rebbe wanted them to come onto the Rebbe's Davening Bima. So a bunch of kids, maybe like thirty, forty kids, I don't know exactly, and they stood on near the wall. Now, usually, when the Rebbe is Moidi the Nigun, so he bangs with his left hand on the Stender so the whole Olam could see. But here, because the kids are standing on the right, so with his left hand, the Rebbe banged on the Stender. With the right hand, he turned to the kids. I think it was Wu Lekeno, but At Wahratanu for sure, right? That the Rebbe made them very strongly with his hand. So the kids, they should sing. And, um, at the end of, um, Sim Shalom, after the Chazzan Soshatz, the Rebbe asked the Chazzan to wait. And the Rebbe asked that all kids under Bar Mitzvah who are able to Daven should come to his place. Started a, a whole homutomu in, in the back. I was, like, more near the Kriesetirer Bima. So the message didn't get there exactly. Heard the, "Alakinda." He started Shlab-- kids, you know, even before option, I remember . And on the table, which is blocking the Olam from pushing too close to the Amud, they're Bachur standing on there holding

21:04 Speaker 1 kids, and they have to send them back to the parents because the Rebbe wanted only kids who could Daven.

21:09 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm.

21:10 Speaker 1 And the Rebbe waited, but they say that the Rebbe was then crying. I heard that in the name of Rabbi Groner. He never saw the Rebbe crying like that, like five minutes, Marshall sobbing. And, uh, one of the kids who was there says, uh, he saw the Rebbe crying like that. He started crying . So the Rebbe heard him crying. The Rebbe looked at him and smiled . But, um, and after all the kids gathered, he started Avinu Malkeinu. I mean, I would say there wasn't a dry eye in the Shul. It was like you could s-sense something happening. The Rebbe started Avinu Malkeinu again and again. You know, as years went on, the Rebbe would say the thing Avinu Malkeinu by Neilah over and over.

21:51 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm.

21:52 Speaker 1 It was like, uh, by the, by the, sometimes like five times. By the fifth time, the Rebbe was throwing himself backwards and forwards. Ya, ya, you know, and the, the Olam was like this air. And after Avinu Malkeinu, right, so then the Chazzan starts Kaddish and the march. So the, um, so here, because all the kids are there, so they were grown. Instead of having the kids should push around the Rebbe from all sides, so he pulled the Rebbe Stender all the way to the left. So the kids are near the wall, and they're only on one side of the Rebbe, so the, you know, 'cause it's... So the chair was right at the edge of the Bima, closest to the Chazzan than the Rebbe Stender. And they noticed this punct, so somebody told me, he said, he put the chair with the back of the chair to the Olam so the Rebbe went like this. He should turn the chair the other way, so the Rebbe should be able to get up on the chair.

22:51 Speaker 3 Napoleon's March.

22:52 Speaker 1 Yeah. And it comes to Napoleon's March, and the Rebbe goes like this, his hand on the Stender. They should, um, start singing Napoleon. And the Rebbe was standing, and the Rebbe was straightening his Tallis, straightening and straightening and straightening. It looked to me like the Rebbe was... It's hard for him to go up. I don't know. A long time, he was just straightening his Tallis, straightening, straightening. Finally, the Rebbe put his left hand on, his right hand on the Stender and stepped up onto the chair. And a little bit, the Rebbe Moided, waved his hand backwards and forwards a few times, and then the Rebbe went down. It was, like, very short. Even though I'd never been there before, it still sounded to me like it was short, lo fiero, what I heard from pre-

23:37 Speaker 3 In other years

23:37 Speaker 1 ... from previous years. Other years was a lot, lot longer.

23:40 Speaker 3 Long, yeah.

23:43 Speaker 1 I mean, uh, I remember later years, I don't know, I'm not sure what year they started putting the stairs there. It's a lot safer for the Rebbe. They put the stairs, I think Mem Daled. Anyway, the Rebbe went up on the, on the stairs. I, I just remember that sear. The, the Rebbe was most of the Rebbe's, uh, the Tallis was covering the Rebbe's face completely, and the Rebbe would clap, like almost from inside the Tallis. There was a Moedike, electric electricity in the air, you know. It's like the, the Olam was like the march was unbelievable. And so this time was short, and I'm not getting to this whole story, but

24:28 Speaker 3 No, no, we're getting there now. So then it's Matza and Kipper, um-

24:31 Speaker 1 It's Matza and Kipper, the Rebbe would say with the, you know, Kadiyantu three times.

24:35 Speaker 3 Yomtu, Yomtu.

24:36 Speaker 1 With the Samachto. I think it was almost always with Samachto.

24:39 Speaker 3 And, uh-

24:40 Speaker 1 The Rebbe starts with Samachto

24:40 Speaker 3 ... the last few years was, um-

24:42 Speaker 1 By the way, Lamanzain was the only time that the Rebbe made people fast a little longer because of this thing with the kids.

24:49 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm.

24:49 Speaker 1 Otherwise, the Rebbe was very Makpid.

24:51 Speaker 3 Makpid, yeah.

24:51 Speaker 1 They say the, the Rebbe would have a watch on his Stender.

24:54 Speaker 3 Right.

24:55 Speaker 1 So he shouldn't go over the time.

24:56 Speaker 3 And, um, no, the, the later years, it was, um, Rebbe started singing, uh, his father's Nigun.

25:04 Speaker 1 Father's Nigun.

25:05 Speaker 3 It was practice. And also at the, and also the Rebbe would come into Mincha with his hat, right?

25:13 Speaker 1 Yeah, most times. Even though heard that Mem Hei, I wasn't there. I was learning by a shliach. I heard that Mem Hei, the Rebbe actually walked into Mincha with a tallis, not with a hat. So right after Rebbe reached his place, right after Merona, um, actually, he had to bring in the schlapa.

25:31 Speaker 3 Mm.

25:31 Speaker 1 What we call a hitel schlapa.

25:33 Speaker 3 Schlapa, yeah.

25:34 Speaker 1 So he said, so he said, "Jetzt?" I guess he was thinking make him... Rebbe said, "Ei, ei beykh nit shver."

25:41 Speaker 3 Yeah.

25:41 Speaker 1 The Rebbe would always say-

25:42 Speaker 3 "Ei beykh nit shver."

25:42 Speaker 1 ... "Ei beykh nit shver." Even says in Chason Sofer when the Rebbe was having a heart attack, leolaynu. So the Rebbe was, "Ei beykh nit shver," he had to bring in the wengel. "Jetzt."

25:50 Speaker 3 Mm.

25:51 Speaker 1 And always the ei beykh nit shver.

25:54 Speaker 3 Yeah. And then the Rebbe would, um, the Rebbe would take the hat off and put it in the, in the drawer and-

25:59 Speaker 1 Yeah

25:59 Speaker 3 ... stand there and take it off in hebrew, yeah.

26:01 Speaker 1 Yeah.

26:02 Speaker 3 Okay, so-

26:02 Speaker 1 There's differ- there's differences from the year when the Rebbe put on his hat. Some years the Rebbe did take it off till after the Tehillim, after the Ne'ilah.

26:09 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm.

26:10 Speaker 1 In later years, he started putting on early, sometimes even by Kaveh already put-

26:13 Speaker 3 Put on the hat

26:14 Speaker 1 ... put on the hat.

26:16 Speaker 3 Um, and to Neshamas, I think the Rebbe writes in Neshamas, this nekuda that the Friediker Rebbe would come into Mincha with a sh- and he writes schlapa. If I remember correct.

26:26 Speaker 1 Yeah.

26:26 Speaker 3 If I remember correctly, this hanhaga to come in with a schlapa is recorded by the Rebbe in Neshamas.

26:31 Speaker 1 Uh-huh.

26:32 Speaker 3 And with, with that word, with schlapa.

26:33 Speaker 1 Could, could be. But it's interesting, in the Neshamas, the Rebbe spoke about it in one of the sodas also, that the-- a year which I s- guess the Rebbe was especially meticulous in writing down the Friediker Rebbe's hanhagas, says Asher Walitzin from Ne'ilah, his tallis was not on top of his head.

26:51 Speaker 3 Hmm.

26:51 Speaker 1 So even though in Zamani, his oyrus, people, Chassidim cover the-- put the tallis on the head here, the Friediker Rebbe didn't. The Rebbe Fri- the Rebbe says, "I didn't know if there was a minhag for Barabim or not, so I didn't write it in the Menahagim." But nevertheless, it's a-

27:10 Speaker 3 Right. And the Rebbe will go upstairs and there'll be Kiddush Havdalah.

27:14 Speaker 1 What?

27:14 Speaker 3 There'll be Kiddush Havdalah.

27:16 Speaker 1 Yeah, Kiddush Havdalah was outside. I don't know what Kiddush Havdalah is. There's a picture the Rebbe actually wrote on it. Um, Rebbe was smiling. I don't know exactly what happened. And the Rebbe wrote on the back of the picture, "Motzei Kipper

27:28 Speaker 3 It's the one from down.

27:31 Speaker 1 Could be.

27:32 Speaker 3 The, the, the angle is from down.

27:34 Speaker 1 Yeah, maybe.

27:34 Speaker 3 Yeah.

27:34 Speaker 1 The Rebbe was smiling 'cause of his angle. I don't know exactly what happened.

27:36 Speaker 3 Yeah, there's a story about it, yeah. Okay.

27:39 Speaker 1 But I saw the Ksav Yeah, I don't know. Motzei Kipper.

27:42 Speaker 3 We prepare for the new year. There's an essential campaign for every single one of us to make sure is marked off on their checklist, and that is Keren Hashanah. On Shabbos Bereishit, Taf Shin Yud Daled, the Rebbe founded Keren Hashanah under Machane Israel to ensure that every single Yid has the zechus of giving tzedakah every single day. The Rebbe explained that Tishrei is a chodesh haklali. It's the general month that sets the tone for the entire year, and by securing our daily tzedakah right at the beginning, we will be able to draw down continuous brachos for the rest of the year. There's a few points to Keren Hashanah. First of all, it's for the entire family. The Rebbe urged that every single person should contribute for their family, men, women, and children, so that everyone in the family is covered. And the idea is that it's calculated by the days of the year. You give a set amount corresponding to the numbers of days of the year, whether it's a dollar a day, fifty cents a day, or eighteen cents a day. It's multiplied by the days of the year, and especially in a year like this year, which is a leap year, you have to calculate the days of the year for a leap year. And it's a daily thing. Through Machane Israel, the money is physically dispersed on your behalf twice a day before Shacharis and before Mincha, and before Shabbos and Yom Tov, and when it's actually physically given. The Rebbe encouraged

29:08 Speaker 3 everyone to take care of this as early as possible before Rosh Hashanah, so the year starts with this, with the complete zechus. Take a minute right now, calculate the number of days of this year, count up your family members, and head over to mykerenhashanah.com. That's M-Y-K-E-R-E-N-H-A-S-H-A-N-A.com to secure your daily tzedakah and continuous brachos for the entire year to come. Okay, fine. So we'll move... So now we have, uh, the Dalet Tamuz Shemini-

29:44 Speaker 1 Shemini Kip or Sukkot

29:45 Speaker 3 Shemini Kip or Sukkot. Which is, uh, everyone's-- It's a lashon. Es kin bemitzvot or-

29:53 Speaker 1 A lashon hamitzvot

29:54 Speaker 3 ... Sukkin bemitzvot.

29:55 Speaker 1 So Rishon LeChodesh Elul, this is only the first day, uh, Sukkot.

29:58 Speaker 3 Right.

30:02 Speaker 1 Um, again, before Lamed He-- before Mem Ches, those days were quite unevent-uneventful, I would say. Um-

30:14 Speaker 3 Before Mem Ches. Oh, you're saying 'cause the Rebbe-

30:17 Speaker 1 When the Rebbe changed and-

30:18 Speaker 3 You didn't see the Rebbe, right

30:19 Speaker 1 ... a lot of things changed. Didn't see the Rebbe too much.

30:21 Speaker 3 So now we get-

30:22 Speaker 1 In the morning, the Rebbe came up Mincha Maariv

30:23 Speaker 3 Okay, so now we get to the highlight of Tishrei.

30:25 Speaker 1 Yeah.

30:26 Speaker 3 At least in my view.

30:27 Speaker 1 But I want to go over, uh, whatever, the first time I came to the Rebbe was day after Yom Kippur.

30:34 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm.

30:35 Speaker 1 Lamed Vav, it seems like the Rebbe started a new hanhaga. The day after Yom Tov, the Rebbe started to go to Ohel. So the day after-

30:46 Speaker 3 The day after every Yom Tov

30:47 Speaker 1 ... every Yom Tov. Besides Rosh Hashanah 'cause it's in the day, the Rebbe didn't go on a fast day. But, um, day after Yom Kippur, the Rebbe went to Ohel, Lamed Vav. So I remember when I came to 770, somebody said, um, actually, somebody picked us up from the airport and said then the Rebbe already done for the, uh, was in the Ohel, already went home. So I'm not gonna see the Rebbe that night. So the first time I saw the Rebbe was with Beis Tishrei. But, uh, and there were Esro Chag Simchas Torah also, and from then on, I think all the years from Lamed Heh, the day after Yom Tov, Torah would go to Israel. So, um, um, let's just describe the f-- I mean, I described it in the, the forum for the Dehe.

31:36 Speaker 5 The original Dehe, Labe-Labem with the Rebbe.

31:38 Speaker 1 The Rebbe, or the, my first twenty-four hours by the Rebbe. It was like, whatever, it's interesting. I think, I think it's archived. You can get it online, I think. Anyway, seeing the Rebbe the first time, my father admitted to me when the Rebbe came into Mincha, he was looking at me, not, not at the Rebbe . He wanted to see my reaction. But, uh, funny thing is, I'd never seen a video then, a film of the Rebbe before I came to the Rebbe first. So I'd never seen the Rebbe walking or anything. I saw pictures, but I'd never seen a, a video. So I see the Rebbe walking in downstairs . It's Tishrei, so all the tefillahs would be downstairs. So that's Krias HaTorah. From Tosh Lamed Zayin, Krias HaTorah also started to be downstairs during Tishrei. You know, the big Ohel. It wasn't hard to ask the Rebbe to come downstairs, that I noticed through the years. 'Cause I remember one time a bus of tourists came. Half the bus was boys, half the bus was girls. I don't think they were from... But they asked the Rebbe, those girls in the, in the bus. So the Rebbe down-downstairs Mincha, even though it's quite empty. But it wasn't hard to ask the Rebbe to down downstairs. If there was an excuse, the Rebbe went down downstairs. Even the, you know, HaTevis, the Danatso, the Rebbe down downstairs-

33:04 Speaker 5 Downstairs

33:04 Speaker 1 ... 'cause a big Ohel. Anyway, um, so the Rebbe down-- Rebbe came into Mincha. I remember seeing the Rebbe for the first time. I would say he looked different than I ever saw the Rebbe before that or after that. I mean, before I didn't see, but after. The Rebbe's face seemed like glowing. It was like, I don't know, it's different look. And the Rebbe goes to his place, um, puts on the gartel during Ashrei. Not sure why that stopped. I think after Minchas-

33:34 Speaker 5 Yeah, discussed this on a different, uh, podcast with someone. I don't think we came up with an explanation, but the Rebbe had this own hug, uh-

33:41 Speaker 1 Yeah

33:41 Speaker 5 ... to Daf to put on the gartel and shawl-

33:43 Speaker 1 Put on gartel during-

33:43 Speaker 5 ... by Minchin, and later the Rebbe stopped that.

33:46 Speaker 1 And to Ma'ariv the Rebbe would come in with a gartel on.

33:48 Speaker 5 Mm-hmm.

33:48 Speaker 1 But only by Mincha. And, um, oh, yeah, I'm gonna cut out a few details . Don't have to go through every single detail. But just seeing, seeing the Rebbe right after Mincha, Rebbe turns round and the Rebbe goes over to Aron Kodesh, touches the parochas, and Le- uh, Freidin, Levi Freidin, the photographer, was there. That was his first year at Tashlam Tav. First year as official, uh, photographer .

34:20 Speaker 5 Mm-hmm.

34:21 Speaker 1 So the, as Rebbe saw him standing there next to Aron Kodesh, the Rebbe gave him a beautiful smile. And I see, and I have to learn the Hanaggas. I see the Rebbe smiles, everybody smiles . Anyway, the Rebbe walked, and the Rebbe was going. And somewhere near the bimah in the middle of the shul, the Rebbe suddenly stops. The Rebbe stopped, everybody ran over there. By the time I got over there, the Rebbe was already out of the shul. But the Rebbe asked then, uh, Bachar, who's taking pictures, was learning Tanya, "How much Tanya do you know about Peh?" And we went on, went over there and heard him tell the whole... The Rebbe asked me for how much Tanya I know about Peh.

34:58 Speaker 5 This is an English guy you wanna hear, like when-

35:00 Speaker 1 No, no, no.

35:01 Speaker 5 Another Bachar.

35:01 Speaker 1 No, American Bachar. Eight years later, the Rebbe spoke about it. Chaf Ches van Tashmem Daled. It's a Mincha time to Freidin. I asked him if he learned Tanya. He says, "Also Tanya? Photography is a Dvar Choshev. Learn Tanya can by day and by night, look at the-

35:17 Speaker 5 There's a Knaked Photographias. Uh, is it same Sikha?

35:22 Speaker 1 Maybe. I don't remember that one.

35:23 Speaker 5 In English, the Knaked Photographias.

35:26 Speaker 1 No, but this is, this I remember. I was like Mincha time.

35:29 Speaker 5 The Rebbe did this a few times.

35:31 Speaker 1 Yeah, but this was like Mamish a Sikha about it was-

35:33 Speaker 5 Ten years referring to that time.

35:35 Speaker 1 Yeah.

35:35 Speaker 5 Okay.

35:36 Speaker 1 Eight years later the Rebbe speaks about it.

35:39 Speaker 5 There's a video by Shacharis, the Rebbe walks in-

35:41 Speaker 1 Yeah

35:41 Speaker 5 ... straight over to someone learning Ta-Learn Tanya.

35:44 Speaker 1 Um, Birchas HaChamah.

35:45 Speaker 5 Yeah, that morning. Yeah.

35:46 Speaker 1 Yeah, the morning Birchas HaChamah. What's interesting, the Rebbe asked the person who's holding the pho- the camera, not the one who's holding the video.

35:54 Speaker 5 Hmm. Interesting.

35:56 Speaker 1 Personally, I feel that video, you have more to learn. One of the things the Rebbe says, "You took a picture yesterday, you took a picture the day before. Why are you taking a picture again? What are you gonna get from it?" So the Hanaggas which people, um, they write down, they saw such Hanagga, different Hanagga. But what do you get from just taking a picture again and again? That's what the Rebbe was... So, I don't know, my own when it comes to videos, the Rebbe was not so against it, 'cause a video does have a-

36:24 Speaker 5 Mm-hmm

36:24 Speaker 1 ... you know, the, there's something more you could learn from it.

36:26 Speaker 5 And maybe I'm thinking about them, theorizing about this more. There was opposition from the Rebbe for pictures and the Rebbe, the Rebbe was told that's a sh- ruling the shot to Parnasa, said Rebbe let. But video, I mean-

36:39 Speaker 1 So the Rebbe mentions that Sikha about Parnasa.

36:42 Speaker 5 Right. But the Rebbe video later when, uh, when, uh, Hilдав Krinsky went to start the videos. I mean, the Rebbe and Yudl was doing the videos in Lamed. I think the Rebbe wa- liked it, you know.

36:51 Speaker 1 Even though in that Sikha also the Rebbe says, "Not a satellite."

36:54 Speaker 5 Mm-hmm.

36:55 Speaker 1 Uh, didn't say, the Rebbe didn't say it in a positive way, but-

36:59 Speaker 5 Mm-hmm

37:00 Speaker 1 I remember when, uh, Hilдав Krinsky, I think it was, you know, the one who started JEM, and he was like, uh or maybe it was Friedman. Uh, one of them, anyway, one of the family was saying, uh, the first time the Rebbe mentions the satellite it wasn't positive.

37:16 Speaker 5 Publicly, yeah.

37:17 Speaker 1 Yeah. So like Anyway, so I was just saying that this is what happened that first Mincha, I mean, I was there. That night there was Ichud between Yud Beis and Yud Gimmel. It's the last time it was Ichud at, uh, between Kippur and Succoth. So my father asks Reb Yerach M'Klein, "Are you going to Ichud?" So Yerach says, "You just came, you already wanted to go to Ichud?" But later, later years, I found out there was a nahaga.

37:42 Speaker 5 Before and afterwards.

37:43 Speaker 1 No, no, no. It was a nahaga. Be-first you hear Tahara and then you go to Ichud.

37:47 Speaker 5 Mm-hmm.

37:49 Speaker 1 Even the first, the Bachurim who came before Yud Cheit, uh, Tasha Yud, and, uh, they wanted to go to Ichud as soon as they arrived, and the Friediker Rebbe said, "After Shabbes." And they were wondering, and, uh, Rabbi Simpson then, uh, he explained. He says, "Shabbes, the Rebbe's Ichud." I now we don't hear. We don't hear the Ma'amar. The Inyan Sha-first comes Tzitzit and then Ichud. So maybe that was the Inyan. Well, probably I didn't have Ichud that year because, uh, our ticket was the day after Esrog Ha'ayim. There was no way we could change it. So, um, we're talking in here and, uh, and, um, my father's asking there was, there was nothing to do. I mean, Chol Hamoed already we-- There was already Mediah, he's going to the aisle Esrog Ha'ayim. So I didn't have Ichud, but probably because of that, my father sent me the next year for Tishrei, so I was like I've done half Tishrei.

38:41 Speaker 5 Because you didn't have Ichud.

38:41 Speaker 1 Because I didn't have Ichud then, so-

38:44 Speaker 5 Mm-hmm.

38:44 Speaker 1 I came the next year, so I had Ichud Lamed Zayin.

38:47 Speaker 5 Just by yourself?

38:49 Speaker 1 Yeah. I mean, yeah, I went to Rebbe's room by myself, yeah. I was twice in Ichud. Lamed Zayin and Tasha Mem. Very short, but it was Ichud. Um, where are we up to? So, um, it based Tishrei, Gimmel Tishrei. Actually, so that night was Ichud. So I remember the Bachurim discussing, uh, if the Rebbe, um, usually after Ichud, the Rebbe would come at one o'clock in those years. But because the Rebbe has to go to the aisle because it's Gimmel Tishrei, so Mistamah the Rebbe will come at twelve o'clock, and they were right. Okay, I already told you before about the, the Goimel, so I'm not gonna-

39:26 Speaker 5 Goimel?

39:27 Speaker 1 About me mentioning Goimel earlier-

39:28 Speaker 5 Ah, yeah

39:28 Speaker 1 ... I'm not gonna repeat it again. Anyway, that night was farbrengen. The Rebbe came back from the, the Rebbe came back from the ay- from the aisle, so the Rebbe had Mincha downstairs. Till Ta- the end of Tasha Mem Daled, there would always be a break between Mincha and Maariv, even though Mincha was late, it was after Nacht. But, uh, nevertheless, there was always a break between Mincha and Maariv. After Mem Daled, Elul Mem Daled, that changed, the Rebbe started having Mincha and Maariv together. And even Shabbes by farbrengen, if it was late, also Mincha and Maariv together. That's a new nahaga that started Elul Mem Daled. Uh, so after Mincha, the Rebbe went upstairs to his room, and there was Mediah that, uh, Maariv will be, I think it was at nine fifteen, whatever, and then a short farbrengen. Usually a short farbrengen meant two hours, barech. Two, two and a half. Excuse me. Um, as the Rebbe comes in the farbrengen, and, uh, I told this already before about L'Chaim, when I said L'Chaim first time. Okay. Anyway, it was Ma'amar. The Rebbe said that he wants all Archim to go to, um, especially Archim, to show that Yidden are Balabat in the world. So Archim should go and be Mesameach Yidden on Chol Hamoed Succoth. So to show that Yid wherever he is, he's comfortable, he's Balabat. So Archim especially should go to all the different places. It's a big shturm than going to Chol Hamoed.

41:03 Speaker 5 Someone says the Sheva in other, in other place.

41:05 Speaker 1 Someone says the Sheva, be Mesameach. The Rebbe stood up by, um, the Rebbe g- then the Rebbe gave out dollars. It's the first time we're getting dollars from the Rebbe. I mean, it was thankist. So I went over. By the time I went over, in the early years of dollars by farbrengen, it would still be in the middle of farbrengen, and the thankists would go around and give dollars. It was hard You had to climb over the people, and especially I wasn't used to it. When I came to the Rebbe, so the Rebbe gave me a pack of dollars, but as soon as I went off, somebody says to me, "Everybody has dollars already. Take for yourself and, uh, give me the rest. I'll give back to the Mezuzah." 'Cause especially there were loads of thankists.

41:48 Speaker 5 Mm-hmm.

41:51 Speaker 1 Anyway, I tried to squeeze back inside, and it was, uh, interesting, um, it was a freilech farbrengen. And the Rebbe said to a few Nigun to whistle. I remember Yossi Tifer from Ello Shalom was next to me, and he's whistling. I think the Rebbe said two Nigun one after another to whistle. By the third Nigun, he's still whistling. He has his eyes closed, and he's whistling with all his Kayach. And the Rebbe looked at him and smiled. He was like in a different world. Anyway, at the end, the Rebbe said, um, like, you can sing Kivha Simcha, Inyan of going out of Galus. The Rebbe-- So the Rebbe started the Kivha Simcha, and the Rebbe stood up and made freilech hosts. All right. It was very unusual in those years, but it was still an interesting, uh, thing. That's really the night before Succoth. And Succoth used to be a peaceful for a long time before Succoth was a Sheva. It was a fierech, uh, Succoth. The only real freilech night was the second night Succoth. Besides that, it was, um-

42:56 Speaker 5 Why the second night?

42:57 Speaker 1 Second night is always farbrengen Succoth with the Sheva. It was a normal thing. Officially, the second night of Succoth is Succoth with Sheva because in the Beis Hamikdash-

43:06 Speaker 5 You always have the Iniyans

43:07 Speaker 1 So the second night was always farbrengen, loads of farbrengens. Randall Footfass used to farbrengen the... There was a big, always a big farbrengen. The house where, where I was staying, Randall Footfass was the uncle, so he used to come to that Succoth always to farbrengen And, um, anyway, so, um, I remember just, uh, the second night, every time-- most times when the Rebbe came in that Sukkos, they were singing, "Ah, ai, yai, yai." And the Rebbe came in, and Rebbe was Moed on the way to his place in the start of Maariv or whichever tefillah it was. Second night Sukkos, they were singing And the Rebbe comes to his place, Rebbe puts down his siddur, turns around, Rebbe started clapping. Turn around to the Ohel, and it was like, "Wow." It's like a really exciting, um... It's very unusual that a regular tefillah, Rebbe should Moed it like that. Well, later Lamed Heh they Rebbe did that every tefillah. That was, uh, they say a siman because of what happened afterwards in Simchas Torah the Rebbe wasn't with the Ohel. That was unusual. But even Mem Alef also the Rebbe did that. And, um, I'm trying to remind myself now, but, uh, Chal Med Sukkos Tasha Mem Alef, and there's Moed every tefillah, especially before Maariv. So one of the times they're singing and the Rebbe comes in, and it's not meshlam, very dedicated. If you look at the video, it's on, um, the Tishrei video, which Gem came out-- gave out. The black and

44:36 Speaker 1 white one. There's a Freidin video, but it's not that good. The black and white one push focuses on the Rebbe you see. The Rebbe's seriously happy. It's like-

44:45 Speaker 3 Yeah

44:45 Speaker 1 ... hard to explain. Serious for Simcha.

44:48 Speaker 3 Chal, that's the Rebbe's Simcha, you see him like that.

44:49 Speaker 1 But it's that particular thing, I mean, that looks like what the Rebbe looked like on Simchas Torah. That, um, uh, the Rebbe's shoulder slightly as he's clapping and And as the Rebbe turns around, nigun's over, and, uh, Hakafos used to be the same way. As soon as the Rebbe turns around, the nigun's over, Hakafos over.

45:10 Speaker 3 Then the-

45:12 Speaker 1 Yeah, the, the-

45:13 Speaker 3 Top nigun.

45:14 Speaker 1 Yeah. They say one of the years-

45:15 Speaker 3 Not sure why

45:16 Speaker 1 They say one of the years Tasha Lamed Gimel maybe early Lameds. So the Rebbe Mincha was upstairs, Yom Simchas Torah. The Rebbe came into Mincha, and they were singing The Rebbe got up on his chair, and Posh Moed it for ten, fifteen minutes. They say whoever was there will not forget it . People saying, "Ah, I missed it. I was there," and that, but everybody remembers that.

45:38 Speaker 3 I think it, I think it has something to do with the, the, the, with the nigun. I don't know, I'm saying.

45:43 Speaker 1 I mean, you could say a bunch of nigunim that the Rebbe really liked, but, uh, the Rebbe liked

45:47 Speaker 3 Also, like the, it also works very well-

45:49 Speaker 1 Yeah

45:49 Speaker 3 ... musically . I don't know, like, I don't know. I don't know.

45:52 Speaker 1 That's a very Yiddishe

45:53 Speaker 3 I thought about it over the years, like, what's, what's this nigun?

45:56 Speaker 1 I wouldn't know why, but anyway, that's... But, but there's a bunch of nigun the Rebbe really liked, so. Also, is one of the ni- nigunim that, um, many Lubavitch would sing it by Hakafos, one of the nigunim. The Kavod nigunim.

46:09 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm. Yeah.

46:11 Speaker 1 Um, uh, Where's the others? Not too many more. I mean, the Hakafos nigun, but that was changed, uh, sometimes the Rebbe changed it, especially when he danced by himself in the later years. Um, but generally, I'd say Sukkos is a peaceful Yom Tov. I'm not gonna go into the Chorengim, the second night and sort of. Lamed Vav was a strange thing. It poshed from the second night of Sukkos. It poured until Shemini Atzeres. Posher almost did not stop raining. I don't remember a single meal that we were able to eat. It was like run in with your coat and s-eat fast and go out. It was posher pouring the whole time. And Satel from the Rebbe then, it's printed in

46:54 Speaker 3 That, uh-

46:55 Speaker 1 That, uh, somebody asked the Rebbe, "How can you have the nigun of Simcha if you, if you, um, with such a matzva raining?" And it says in the Mishnah, it's So how could you have a Simcha? So the Rebbe said, "Since you already made the berakhah Leishav Basukkah," which is the Rebbe's chidush also, to say Leishav Basukkah even though it's raining. Say Shabbos Chal Med Sukkos Tasha was pouring. The Rebbe came in, and the Rebbe Davka said Leishav Basukkah loud. So Ohel should hear you say Leishav Basukkah even though it's raining.

47:29 Speaker 3 So I think that the Rebbe also said the Fabling inside, right?

47:31 Speaker 1 So there in the Satel the Rebbe says, "Since you already said Leishav Basukkah that day, so it can't be that the Mishnah doesn't accept your, uh, sitting in the Sukkah." And so Siman that his should be or whatever. The Rebbe So it's it's a hard-- We're in the Bachar, we're discussing, and it's hard to understand this because we do continue to Fabreg in the Sukkah also. Whatever, it's-

47:55 Speaker 3 I think that year they did. They did, they didn't eat, but they, uh-

47:58 Speaker 1 Yeah. It's, uh, whatever

47:58 Speaker 3 ... but they Fabreg inside.

48:01 Speaker 1 Actually, Hoshana Rabbah night-

48:03 Speaker 3 I think someone described it, and Mendel's Fabreg in the zal, and he was-

48:05 Speaker 1 Yeah. I heard about that

48:06 Speaker 3 ... sticking his head out the, I don't know.

48:07 Speaker 1 Yeah, I heard about that. The Hoshana Rabbah night, so after Tehillim, so the Draskind announces, uh, because the, the Rebbe said to him it was sameach, whole yin all over, somebody suggests, "What about here?" So should we Fabreg here also. I wasn't there. I know my friend. I was a young boy. My, my father took me home to sleep after Tehillim. But the guys went into the Sukkah, Fabreg. It's pouring. And they say before the Rebbe went home, the Rebbe would go home-- Hoshana Rabbah, the Rebbe would go home by Kabbalat Shabbat. So the Rebbe looked inside the Sukkah and saw them Fabreging, and the Rebbe said,

48:43 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm.

48:46 Speaker 1 Anyway, so it was raining so much the Hoshana Rabbah, the Rebbe gave out Lekach next to his room-

48:53 Speaker 3 Yeah

48:53 Speaker 1 ... and not in the Sukkah. So I got Lekach next to Rebbe's room, so it was the, it's the only year that happened. It was posher pouring.

49:00 Speaker 3 In later years it happened.

49:02 Speaker 1 On Hoshana Rabbah?

49:03 Speaker 3 I think in the Beis it was in that, that other room.

49:06 Speaker 1 Don't think so. I mean, I don't know. I have to check. I don't know.

49:10 Speaker 3 Okay.

49:11 Speaker 1 But usually, uh, usually the Rebbe gave up in the Sukkah.

49:14 Speaker 3 Okay. One of the integral components of being a Hasid are the Chassidishe Yamim Tovim and Yemei Depagra. Whether it's Heh Teves, Yahrzeit, the Alef Nissan, or Gimel Tammuz. These days give us an opportunity to connect with our Rabbeim, to connect with each other, and be better Chassidim. 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, HaMa'aseh Hu Ha'Ikkar 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 like a Chassidishe Yamim Tov.

50:49 Speaker 6 Okay.

50:49 Speaker 3 So Simchas Torah, you were by the Rebbe-

50:51 Speaker 6 Yeah

50:51 Speaker 3 ... from Lamed Heh Vav till-

50:53 Speaker 6 I just want to mention one more thing. Something was interesting. Um, uh, second day Sukkos. So the first day you use Lulav and Esrog. And, um, the Rebbe would always stand and wait until the Olam does their Hakafah, and then they would start continuing to dance. So the Rebbe would first go, make Hakafah, and every-- behind the Rebbe, the Rebbe would stand and wait every single day. He would always look, the Rebbe, it was all the years. So he was standing, he was waiting. The Chazan, well, he didn't know or whatever the reason was, he screams, "L'maan daz." The meaning is that you put back the Sifrei Torah, and as you put back Sifrei Torah, the scream-- the Chazan screams, "L'maan daz," and everybody else repeats the passuk. And here he screams, "L'maan daz," and the Rebbe, and there was this big Esrog in his hand. The Rebbe turns to him like, "What are you doing?" So that was, uh, when the Olam finished going around the Bima, so the Rebbe himself, as he turns ar-turns around, the Rebbe started himself, "Shehechiyanu." Like, uh, unusual. Anyway, uh, you see. Okay, let's get on with Simchas Torah. As I said, Sukkos was, um, uh, peacefully Yamim Tov then till Mem Alef. And Simchas Torah, I remember, um, the Rebbe, um, Adel Jacobs called me up the first time. He said, "Describe..." It was the end of the Nuns. Maybe not so much the end, on Zayin, on Ches, somewhere. "If I describe Tishrei for him." I

52:31 Speaker 6 said, "No problem, I'll describe Tishrei." And then speaking about Tishrei or Shmini Kippur or Sukkos, it comes to Simchas Torah, he says, "Now what about Simchas Torah?" He's interviewing me on the phone. I said, "I can't describe Simchas Torah." He left me alone. The next year he calls me again. He says, "You have to help me. Nobody wants to talk about Simchas Torah. Everybody ask, they all say you can't describe Simchas Torah." I said, "You know, I'll try as much as I can, but i-i-it's indescribable." So I, I usually give the three Hakadamas. And I say very quickly, in the Kuntres B'reim it brings down Rebbe Pinchas of Koretz explaining the Yechidus Hakafos with the Alter Rebbe. He said the first time he was with Yechidus Hakafos with the Alter Rebbe, the Alter Rebbe used to do Hakafos first by himself with the -- So it's the family and Yechidus Kula, and then he would come out to the whole Olam. So the Yechidus Hakafos, the Alter Rebbe himself said the whole Atzeres. He was Chazan, like, for the whole Atzeres, and he was Chazan for every Hakafah. Rebbe Pinchas of Koretz writes, "The first time I was zoche to be by the Yechidus Hakafos, I started to have a little understanding what a Yid must have felt, felt like when he went to the Beis Hamikdash leros u'lehira'es." It's the first time I had such a understanding. That's, uh, one, one inyan. Another inyan, I'll tell you like this. There's a-- I would say

53:57 Speaker 6 Rebbe Pinchas of Koretz had a... Rebbe, a Chassid of Rebbe Pinchas of Koretz had a dream. A Chassid who had already passed away, he came to him in a dream. So the Chassid who's in this world says, "How is it up there?" He says, "It's very good. There was a kumt nisht to a Shabbos by Rebbe Pinchas of Koretz." So this Chassid wakes up, he's wondering, "Well, what do you mean kumt nisht? A Shabbos in Olam HaZeh? It's in Gan Eden." Then he th- he thought to himself like this. It says a Shabbos is me'ein Olam Haba. So for every person, Shabbos is me'ein of his Olam Haba. When you come to Rebbe Pinchas of Koretz, he invites you to his Shabbos. His me'ein Olam Haba is more than your whole Olam Haba.

54:38 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm.

54:40 Speaker 6 I was thinking the same thing. The Rebbe invited us into his Simchas Torah. And that's probably, maybe, whatever, the reason why you can't describe it. You push it, you felt like you're in a different Olam. There are certain times that people tell you that in Yechidus or even the moment you're getting a dollar from the Rebbe, you, you're suddenly in a different dimension. Time has a different meaning over there. Everything has a different meaning. So Hakafos by the Rebbe has this-- It, it-- The Rebbe partially invited us into his, his, uh, his Olam. Now, they printed in, uh, five thousand four hundred, I think it was, a book called HaRebbe. Um, Tzach Nechsi-- Um, whatever, not Tzach, uh, Kahas Nechsei Israel. Articles, just articles, uh, from people about the Rebbe. I don't have the book, but I saw in that article somebody writes like this, an Israeli, um, a reporter, you know.

55:34 Speaker 3 Reporter.

55:34 Speaker 6 Reporter. So he writes like this: "For years I've been hearing that you can't describe Ha- Simchas Torah by the Rebbe. Now, I'm a reporter. My job is to describe things. Until one year, I decided I have to go there just to describe Simchas Torah by the Rebbe. But what should I tell you?" He says. He's writing this in, uh, this article. He said, "What should I tell you? It's the first time I see something you cannot describe. What should I tell you?" They, they describe the bleachers of the Beis Hamikdash- Up to the ceiling, jumping up and down. If I described to you the of the Rebbe, the way he's the niggun, none, none of this will give you the, the atmosphere, the, the, the which there is by the Rebbe's Hakafos. It's, it's of course the... You can't Moshe the first, he says, "First time in my life I see something you cannot describe." And I'll tell you something else, when I was on shlichus in Bogotá, a meshulach used to come. It's a little yeshiva. He's, uh, he tells me for whatever reason it was, one year he was here Simchat Torah. Says, "By the Rebbe." He said when he saw Simchat Torah by the Rebbe, a little . He says, "How could I prevent my son from experiencing the same, the same experiences as..." He's traveled specially to the Rebbe another time. I figured that was whatever. I traveled to the Rebbe specially just to give my son the opportunity to

57:00 Speaker 6 be by the Rebbe's Hakafos. So, uh, I don't know how to say it, eilkeit, whatever, but, uh, understanding-

57:06 Speaker 3 The herd

57:06 Speaker 6 ... the feeling of the herd. It was amazing just to hear that from him. And after saying that, you can start explaining, but you can describe whatever you can describe, but you cannot-- You can't describe Simchat Torah by the Rebbe. I'd say most years, you know, before the Rebbe comes in, the night of Simchat Torah, I mean, it's all the same Simchat Torah. They all do different differences. Simchat Torah is where basically, um, Maariv would be at 7:00, 7:30, and Hakafos will start 9:30. Simchat Torah is after Lamavchet started at 9:00. Same thing with the Farbrengen, lil Simchat Torah. They try to make things a little easier to make the half hour earlier. But in general, when we're describing the Rebbe coming into Hakafos, which was more than... So a lot of the years that I remember, tens Simchat Torahs. In the later years, so as I generally would sing, um, So there would be a circle, people dancing. Once it got fuller, there's no room to dance, so people, you know, singing on the place. And the Rebbe comes in, and they make a shvil for the Rebbe come through. And the Rebbe's comes in with Siddur. Everybody I've spoken to says the same thing. You know, usually, the Rebbe comes with a Siddur, and he puts down the Siddur on the stand there. But everybody remembers the Hakafos, the Rebbe puts down his Siddur with both hands to, uh, to no one. And then the Rebbe turns around, And suddenly the whole simcha

58:35 Speaker 6 assembly is like one shtik. It's not separate people anymore. Everybody controlled by the Rebbe's hands, by the Rebbe's movements, and everyone's together. It was an amazing feeling, just all together. And then the Rebbe starts Atchala Uresah. I mean, uh, there was scream Atchala Uresah. The recording there is from Meshiach Sefer Torah from the-- is nothing compared to that.

59:01 Speaker 3 Well, now we have another recording.

59:03 Speaker 6 Yeah, it's... I don't know if it's, uh, I'm sure it's not Laratan's. I don't know should we mention the public or not, but the, the, the, the way the Rebbe sang the, the... You could hear the Rebbe over most of the shul. The Rebbe screamed so loud. I remember people even saying Lamavchet, I wasn't here, but the people saying the way the Rebbe in the beginning was screamed Atchala Uresah also all as . Atchala Uresah is loud. It comes to the it's like way louder. And then after each Atchala Uresah, the niggun. Simchat Torah night and Simchat Torah day is also Ofratza. The Rebbe would say the pasuk Ofratza three times. There's a letter from Rashak to the Rebbe asking the Rebbe to continue saying the Ofratza.

59:54 Speaker 3 Oh, so that the letter is to continue it?

59:56 Speaker 6 Yeah. That's if I remember correctly .

59:59 Speaker 3 I thought, I thought I remember that it was like . Okay, interesting. Okay.

1:00:02 Speaker 6 Well, I thought, I thought it was asking the Rebbe to continue.

1:00:04 Speaker 3 Okay.

1:00:07 Speaker 6 They say the people have been saying that the Rebbe used to add a pasuk in on there at Sof Zman.

1:00:12 Speaker 3 Sometimes yes, sometimes no, yeah.

1:00:14 Speaker 6 It's, uh, um, uh, on Hakal.

1:00:16 Speaker 3 Yeah.

1:00:16 Speaker 6 But then they figured out it was only one time that the Rebbe added on Hakal.

1:00:19 Speaker 3 Right.

1:00:20 Speaker 6 So maybe the other time was because of the Rosh Yeshiva and . But it was interesting, um, 'cause on Lamavchet they printed, um, they printed the Hakafos, you know, to give out. Everybody should have copies.

1:00:33 Speaker 3 They put that in?

1:00:34 Speaker 6 They put it in.

1:00:35 Speaker 3 But the Rebbe didn't say it.

1:00:35 Speaker 6 The Rebbe didn't say it. I remember first the Rebbe did not say it. Anyway, then the Rebbe to go to Hakafa, the first Hakafa. And the Rebbe got the Sefer Torah, go to the middle. Whoever was close by would wish the Rebbe . Rebbe would say, "Gam atem." That's the main reason people would say that, so the Rebbe should say, "Gam atem." One time by day, day it was-

1:01:00 Speaker 3 It can't be for the Rebbe. It has to be for yourself.

1:01:03 Speaker 6 We're all, uh, we wanna cash in as many berachos as we can.

1:01:07 Speaker 3 Yeah.

1:01:09 Speaker 6 So one year, I ac-actually kissed the Sefer Torah while the Rebbe was holding it by day. By day it was less people. Simchat Torah day was less people than by night. By night it was like... I remember the first time I was there, they were trying to catch a place, and I, I got the most dangerous place in, uh, Lamavchet . It was between the Russians and the Frenchies.

1:01:31 Speaker 3 Danger zone.

1:01:32 Speaker 6 Yeah, it was like was a little closer to the Russians in the middle of Simchat Torah's night. It's Shabbos also. In the middle of the... Well, no, one of the Hakafos. I blinked, I'm telling you. One second they were there, 200, 300 guys just So one second they're there, next second they're not there. And they all jumped down again, and they landed on top of one bocher. Had to give him oxygen. Before Lamavchet there used to be, near the chet in the middle where the Rebbe would dance, two huge bottles of oxygen, the green, you know, whatever you call them.

1:02:07 Speaker 3 The fratel?

1:02:07 Speaker 6 The metal. Yeah. Label Potzotsky standing next to them. They was like And they had to give him oxygen, this Bachar, it looks like. And they see one Bachar standing there. The, the benches were empty. There was somebody they all cleared, cleared out, went to the Hakafah. And they see one Bachar minus his hat, minus his jacket, minus one shoe. He bends down, picks up two tzitzits, rolls them up, puts it in his pocket. They were wild, those guys. Anyway, the Russians had from one of the beams on the window of the viber shul, the king's inside. So they had a rope. So the last guy, 'cause it's a drop, so they had a rope there to hold onto. Uh. The Simchat Torah eq-equipment. Everybody had their own. And those years, I don't know why, until Lamasachas they would block the king's and the viber shul. So if there was any ladies in there, they couldn't see a thing. But I was on top. Rasham, I had my sweater on because, uh, the air conditioner was blowing right onto me. So I turned it, you know, the flaps, that it should blow somewhere else. So they said, "What are you doing? Everybody there. Don't close it there." Yeah. So I, "I'm not closing it, I'm just turning it." Especially me, I'm freezing. But it was good. I mean, so Shmini Atzeres night, Lamasachas the Rebbe comes in, it was quiet. And the Rebbe turns around, "Todai, todai, yai, yai, yai." And then the whole... Remember the

1:03:38 Speaker 6 roar of the crowd, like this was terrible, again. Um, what should I say? Uh, Lamed Heh before the Fab regen, before Hakafos. I don't know, I was sitting there for the first time with my father. Whenever I sat down with my father on the first table in Lamas opposite the Rebbe. The Rebbe came, we didn't go to tell the Chabad there. I didn't even... I don't know if I knew about it or not. It doesn't make a difference, I was there. It's the only time I saw the Rebbe make Kiddush by night. The Rebbe came in, he made Kiddush. So I suddenly realized, I see the Rebbe like sitting or holding the chis. And suddenly I see the Rebbe going lower. So I guess the Rebbe was like sort of on his knees. He wasn't sitting- ... but he didn't wanna stand. After that he go- No, the whole Kiddush. Mm-hmm. He didn't wanna make the whole Elul stand probably- But you thought the Rebbe was sitting and then- I thought he was sitting. Yeah. And suddenly I see the Rebbe going lower. Yeah. Uh, he made Kiddush. Very frail Fab regen. And the Rebbe explained that to Raisa. Usually, the Rebbe explains the psukim to Raisa. And, um, in middle of Fab regen, the Rebbe says to the honor, all these little Fab regen, I mean. Uh, in the middle of Fab regen, the Rebbe says, uh, should sing a nigun of Tzvva Hasamadina with words from Tzvva Hasamadina. So they started singing from

1:05:04 Speaker 6 seven, seven, they, you know, marching out. The Rebbe didn't move, as if they're not singing. So they realized the Rebbe doesn't want that nigun. So they're quiet. Of course, I guess the Bachar discussing what nigun to sing. So the Rebbe looks to Berl Zaltzman. Zaltzman, "Zing in, so fruzish." So he sung a song. I don't know the, the words for sure, I don't know. He sung in Russian, uh, and the Rebbe was moied a little bit. And after he finished singing in Russian, they have to sing something in English. So the Rebbe, "Nu, vu zaynen dem a madrichin fun dem nachnis." Finally, he start singing, "Just one tiger, just one shark. There's just one ." And we sing. I knew the words from a different song from England. I didn't know the tune. It's an American tune, Yankee Doodle. Ah, okay. I, I didn't know the song. And so, uh, I'm trying to catch the tune as opposite me is old, old Hasidim on the other side of the table. "Nu, nu, zing, zing." I was singing the word. I don't know the... I knew the words, I didn't know the nigun. The Rebbe was clapping, it was wow. Mamash clapping. And then, um, the Rebbe said they should sing a song in French. A French song with French words. It was the Sabu Hatzir, the Rebbe always used to show him to whistle. Me. So he had to hand the Roshon there. He had a huge hat then. He was like sort of a

1:06:29 Speaker 6 leader of a group of, uh, Frenchies next to him. So on the Rebbe's right, the Rebbe looked at him. They sung the national anthem with an extra piece which I hadn't heard before. It wasn't in the, uh, the Resh Monah. Right. They added it later. So they sang the, they sang the anthem- Sung the whole anthem with the words- With, with French, with the French words ... yeah, French words. Every- And the Rebbe was looking, and the Rebbe was moied and like that, you know. It was like Then the Rebbe says, "Zing a nigun of mamaloshen." He says, "Sol shall zing the yidl," uh. So the Rebbe was moied to the nigun, but not as much as, uh, the first nigun. Not as much as- Not as much as the- ... the English one. The English one. Yeah, not as much as the English one. But the Rebbe was moied then. The Rebbe says, "Zing a nigun of Loshen Hakodesh," was his aim, Kol Hasafas. So I figured the Rebbe meant Loshen right from a Loshen. Before he said mamaloshen. Mm-hmm. It was Loshen Hakodesh, it was aim Kol Hasafas. So the mother of all languages, so they sung it Mipi Keil. And the Rebbe was moied up to his head. And it came the end of Fab regen, so they have to announce the Rebbe should leave the, should leave the shul to be able to- Set up, yeah ... set up for Hakafos. At that time there was, uh, no Kiddush yet. I

1:07:41 Speaker 6 think that started in Dalet, something like that. Maybe Gimel maybe. The Kiddush after- Kiddush between the Fab regen and- Uh, okay ... and Hakafos. Nachman Kovitch still does it till today, you know. Oh, the outside. Yeah. Mm-hmm. So, um, anyway, the, the... So he got up, uh, the old Talshersky to announce. I guess it's a, a tradition in Lubavitch, before you make an announcement, "Shaz dilla." I don't know exactly what happened at that moment. I didn't notice, but I see Libel Groner telling him to get up onto the table. Like he's okay. He got up on the table. He starts again, "Shaz dilla." The Rebbe says, "Zuck zemer shlochim." Oh, it's a l'chaim. He starts again, "Sha, still there." He says, "Zog dry mall as if you call Nidrey."

1:08:26 Speaker 3 Dry mall?

1:08:27 Speaker 6 Say three times sha, stilla.

1:08:29 Speaker 3 Oh, okay.

1:08:29 Speaker 6 Just like call Nidrey. He was the cousin from Call Nidrey always. So he says, "Sha, stilla. Sha, stilla. Sha, stilla." It was a zog dry mall, yet a mall of him to call. Say three ti- Each time he says, "Raise your voice." This is not really chazzanus. "Sha, stilla. Sha, stilla. Sha, stilla." And the Rebbe is smiling the whole time. So while all this is going on, there was p- beautiful smile. Then he announced everybody should go out, remember. And then there was a Bracha Freyna. That's the only time I heard the Rebbe sing this niggun. It's Yontif, there's no recording, but And then the Rebbe left. It's the only time I've ever heard the Rebbe sing this niggun. Without words, it was just like-

1:09:18 Speaker 3 You heard the Rebbe singing it?

1:09:19 Speaker 6 I heard the Rebbe sing it without, without words.

1:09:20 Speaker 3 They sing it front of, front of the Rebbe.

1:09:22 Speaker 6 Yeah, most times.

1:09:23 Speaker 3 Yeah.

1:09:23 Speaker 6 And here they heard the Rebbe sing it himself. And, uh, that Rebbe came to Hakafos. So, uh, Hakafos, well, it's, I mean, freilech, they're good and I'll get into some of them, but one of the, uh, um, uh... Okay, at the end of Hakafos, lilts and chasteer. So the Rebbe, instead of the Rebbe going out the way the Rebbe came in from the side of the tables, they went in the middle of the tables towards L'ches, where he danced. So he comes to the end, there's a table in the way, which seemingly the Rebbe would do that every year until Lamed Heh. So I, I, I don't know, I was dreaming for a second, and my friend says, "Look, look, look." And I see the Rebbe's like climbing up onto the table. Seemingly, the Rebbe pulled a box from under the table, stood on the box, stood on the table. So suddenly the tables are quite high, but stepped up onto the table, and as the Rebbe-- the Rebbe jumped down, and as he jumped down, he went like this. And, um, and so they-- I don't know what niggun it was, but the Rebbe was like-

1:10:34 Speaker 3 It was blocking the Rebbe?

1:10:36 Speaker 6 The table, 'cause-

1:10:36 Speaker 3 Yeah

1:10:37 Speaker 6 ... the Rebbe walked to the middle, so the table was blocking the Rebbe.

1:10:39 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm. Yeah.

1:10:40 Speaker 6 So the Rebbe stepped up. They say other years the Rebbe like swung himself over-

1:10:43 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm

1:10:43 Speaker 6 ... but here was a box and the Rebbe stood on the table and jumped off. But I remember as he's jumping off, the Rebbe went like that. And then they had to schlep Rashag, the, the Yamen and label both side. Schlep Rashag-

1:10:55 Speaker 3 At the

1:10:56 Speaker 6 Schlep Rashag over the table

1:10:57 Speaker 3 Over the table

1:10:59 Speaker 6 Chabad, whatever. Anyway, that was Lamed 12. Um, I noticed something interesting in Lamed 12 during the day Fabregin. And, um, it's a long Fabregin and the Rebbe wash with Hoshkiov, say around seven, seven thirty, something like that. And the-- I remember twenty-five to one, 'cause I was standing behind the Rebbe then. Came a little later, so I didn't have a place. I stood behind. And so I was seeing the clock the whole time. And like twenty-five to one, the Rebbe, the Rebbe started the Naymer. I was like, "Yeah, it's a long Fabregin." It's not a six-hour Fabregin. In the middle of Fabregin, it was, uh, we got freilechers, um, one Yid over there. His name is, uh, Kok, Yisroel Kok from Klachamad. They said he was very, very active in Mivtzet Film. So, uh, the Rebbe told him to say l'chaim quite a number of times. At one point, I see the Rebbe-- I don't know how the cup got to the Rebbe, a plastic cup. The Rebbe opens the water, the pitcher of water, which was for the Rebbe, and the Rebbe poured a little bit of water inside the cup. And the Rebbe handed it to Leibel, fill up with wine. And he gave it to-- Leibel handed it to Yisroel Kok. I guess this was the last cup. He was, he was quite, uh, whatever. So he stands up. Says , "Yisroel was zogging ze vel nisht legen ken film. Biz de ayl bavisher vid chun tzeyt Yisroel." And the Rebbe with

1:12:34 Speaker 6 a big smile, like, "Sit down." It was like, it was very, uh... After a little bit, I don't know, noticed something in-- It was like, oh, again, I don't want to be meir, but there was a whole maise that Rebbe Siliker once told us against a maise of, um, how the, the Rebbe once sort of explained that the Rabbeim come to the Fabregin.

1:13:00 Speaker 3 On Simchas Torah?

1:13:01 Speaker 6 No, no, in general.

1:13:01 Speaker 3 Ah.

1:13:01 Speaker 6 In general. It was like you could look it up. And, uh, he, he said then they realized the first time the Rebbe straightened his tie or to raise himself up, they realized the Rabbeim are coming. So having heard that, here I see something interesting. Like at one point, the Rebbe's like clapping to a niggun. Middle Rebbe goes very fast. It's like almost you shouldn't notice. Like a half a minute or a minute later, the Rebbe's like raise himself up I mean, I saw the many-- the Rebbe many times passing from one side to the other, say l'chaim. He didn't raise himself up. But here, like half a minute after he straightened his tie, the Rebbe raised himself up. So, you know, it tells you something-

1:13:44 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm

1:13:44 Speaker 6 ... different. In Yiddish like that.

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1:15:51 Speaker 7 And I should say, there are different Simchas Toiras every, every year has its own, uh, tradition. Tosha Lamed Zayin is the first time the Rebbe said a simcha, a sicha in the middle of Hakafos. Then like I mentioned before, the Indian of the, was going on in Hevron. So, um, before Haka- Hakafa Heh, I think it is, Melech Elomim. So the Rebbe turned around to Reb Moshe Pinchas Katz, who was announcing the, who should go to Hakafos. So the Rebbe looked towards him, the Rebbe started saying something. It looked like the Rebbe wanted to give him an instruction. It became quiet, but the Rebbe started a sicha instead. The Rebbe stepped forward and started saying the sicha. The whole Hakafos there was leaning on his stander and was moedet. And here the Rebbe stepped forward. "Azal vesaz man gerama tzur praven Hakafos in Hevron ir ha'avos." Basically, the Rebbe said that all Levim should go to the Hakafa. It was Ozinga DeMarsha Yedua to show that Hevron belongs to, belongs to us, belongs to Levim, belongs to Edom. Ozinga DeMarsha Yedua. In a sense, I would say, one of my friends was saying, it looked like the Rebbe was paying back for what he didn't do by the march. There was, the march was so short. He, the Rebbe was like moedet ma misru. But the biggest surprise was after the Rebbe finished the sicha, the Rebbe took his siddur, the Rebbe started saying the psukim Melech Elomim so high pitched. I don't know how

1:17:16 Speaker 7 the Rebbe be able to reach so high. Melech Elomim Heshiyanu. Haneinu. It looked so high, like ma misru, very, very high. The Rebbe screamed the psukim. And the Rebbe was, uh, saying the psukim quietly, you know, the small psukim. And some people started to sing, and some people were shy, you know. So as soon as the Rebbe finished the psukim, "Nu, DeMarsha Yedua." They started singing. The Rebbe was moedet so much. There was actually a Yid without a beard right in front of the Rebbe's davening bimah. And he was going to the Rebbe like this the whole time with his hand. So the Rebbe made to him also very strong a lot, but it was very strong Hakafa. Simchas Toirah night, again, even though it was a Fabregan before, before Hakafos, but in the middle of Hakafos again, before Hakafa Heh, Melech Elomim. So again, the Rebbe started the sicha. And this time the Rebbe said that all those who are, um, in the army, Tzeva, the Mishmar Hagvul, and the all different types of, uh, Mishmar Hazrachi maybe, all those different types of the Israeli army should all go to the Hakafa. Then the Rebbe said again, Melech Elomim. In other words, he was chazan for that Hakafa. But the Rebbe didn't go to the middle. The Rebbe was on his davening place. They didn't know what nigun to sing. So after the Rebbe finished the quiet psukim, so the Rebbe started singing Heshiya Samecha. Um, that was Lamed Zayin. Lamed Ches Simchas wasn't

1:18:58 Speaker 7 here. Tosha Mem. But that was, I mean, it was Simchas Toirah was, I think, one of the special ones, um, Mem Daled.

1:19:06 Speaker 3 I think your Hakdama is-

1:19:07 Speaker 7 What?

1:19:08 Speaker 3 I think your Hakdama is very important. Give the context.

1:19:12 Speaker 7 Yeah. Yeah. Um, I should say Mem Daled was a very interesting, um, Shemini Atzeres night. Usually, Shemini Atzeres is like a little contained. The simcha's not all the way as big as usual. Shemini Atzeres night, Tosha Mem Daled, the Rebbe was like so moedet and such t'nuit. I remember Al HaSelah Hoch, the Rebbe was almost bent over double. His hands stretched out for his bending, and his hands stretched all the way forward like so freilech the, the Hakafos. And the next night, the Rebbe spoke about it. And the Rebbe said that, um, I saw the Tkiyas with, um, with Stam of the Tkiyas with the Alter Rebbe when the, when there was a machlikos, who should win the war.

1:20:07 Speaker 3 Yeah.

1:20:08 Speaker 7 The, uh, the Alter if, um, Napoleon or, or, um-

1:20:12 Speaker 3 Tzar

1:20:12 Speaker 7 ... Tzar. And, uh, it was the Sign of Shamayim, whoever blows the Tkiyas first. And the Rebbe told a story. The Rebbe didn't say the name who was the other. The Rebbe just wanted to stress he was a person, Nisch Stam a person. So he said, "Hiven an Admor," the Rebbe says, like stressing. And he says, um, so the other, this Admor, he told his people right away to get there. They're damn fast and then. And when he got to shofar, he picked the shofar in his hand and he said, I remember the Rebbe saying this like loud, "I, the Litvak, Ot Farchapt." Like the Litvak, the, he did it first.

1:20:49 Speaker 3 Alter Rebbe did it already.

1:20:51 Speaker 7 The Alter Rebbe was called a Litvak, and he, he blew for it. What the, what did the Alter Rebbe do? He said, "Well, the, the Iker shofar should be before davening, just like Lulav is before davening." Then later, you take it in davening again. So same thing, shofar should be right in the way in the middle. Then you blow again in Musaf. But they stopped, there was a takanah because, um, the Romans or whoever it was, was getting nervous. They-

1:21:13 Speaker 8 I think, uh, because the I was reading, I think it says you're not supposed to do it, uh, that early.

1:21:19 Speaker 7 Not supposed to do that early? Wait.

1:21:20 Speaker 8 It's just late.

1:21:20 Speaker 7 Okay, well, the main reason-

1:21:21 Speaker 8 Right. I think now it become the mitzvah. Whatever, that you do later, yeah.

1:21:26 Speaker 7 Yeah. But the main reason is the Chachamim said not to because the, the Goyim were afraid of making an uprising.

1:21:33 Speaker 8 Right.

1:21:33 Speaker 7 But once you do it in the middle of davening, you see it's part of a ceremony. It's not a- an uprising, not a rebellion. Anyway, that was the main reason, but they said that now Zot HaBerachah went back to the original thing, and you do shofar first. So you see from this, says the Rebbe, that sometimes you have to be makdim a inyan before the actual time. So here we will makdim. There was a simcha-

1:21:53 Speaker 8 Um, the simcha of Sefirat HaOmer

1:21:53 Speaker 7 ... before the actual time of the simcha. So it's like the thing. And so at the end of this farbrengen, the Rebbe says that because of the Eseret Yemei Teshuva, the time before Hakafot, so every Yid is able to, to bench another Yid. So everyone should bench, and then at the end, mamash at the last sicha, the Rebbe says, uh, to, to be, um, to, to and the Rebbe said, said Hashem's name and then you say and we scream Amen. Didn't say, didn't say Hashem's name. Everybody said Amen. The next day, the Rebbe explained why he didn't say the whole only . So Rebbe said, has to do more with the klal. But the Yid should bench everybody. It was after, between Hakafot, between farbrengen and Hakafot. Everybody's going around benching each other. It was like and this Kiddush outside and everybody's eating, but people are going to each other and everybody's benching, benching each other. It was like a seer. I mean, they were just benching and they were hugging each other also.

1:23:08 Speaker 8 Yeah.

1:23:09 Speaker 7 It was like . That's the one thing,

1:23:14 Speaker 8 Um, it's an interesting thing that I'm noticing from your tir, and everyone talks about the Rebbe, but, but I-- two things you mentioned, I mean, the, the story of, uh, of the berachot and also the way you started it, everyone felt like one.

1:23:31 Speaker 7 Mm-hmm.

1:23:32 Speaker 8 So it's like the type of the feeling of Simchat Torah brought out, you know, the like it's, it's all together. So-

1:23:42 Speaker 7 Yeah, yeah.

1:23:43 Speaker 8 Interesting.

1:23:43 Speaker 7 Simchat Torah had this feeling which is... Yeah.

1:23:48 Speaker 8 You were saying a mefors that you saw.

1:23:50 Speaker 7 I saw a mefors. It was the night of Shemini Atzeret, And, uh, it was before, around Lech Lecha time. You know, the, the, the Rebbe's davening bimah would be moved out for Hakafot-

1:24:02 Speaker 8 Make place for the Sukkah

1:24:03 Speaker 7 ... make place for the Sukkah and there was two benches in there. And I saw somebody suddenly screaming, "Hatsalah." It was around Lech Lecha and the Rebbe wasn't there yet.

1:24:11 Speaker 8 So the, the space for the Sukkah was in the front of Mizrach?

1:24:14 Speaker 7 Um, no, um, the right side, uh, let's say Darum.

1:24:17 Speaker 8 Mm-hmm.

1:24:20 Speaker 7 And they was calling Hatsalah. The-- Rebbe saw a labor of the head of Tzach. He was, um, I guess he had something, maybe a heart attack, whatever it was. So something was going on. I remember as they were sh- taking him out to the they took him on a stretcher, and as he passed by me, them, I was standing, like, towards the front of the shul, uh, oppo- let's say opposite Rebbe's davening bimah in a sense, to the left side of Aron Kodesh, but, uh, near the first beam. So he came out opposite, and as, as, as they took him out and I see Rabbi Leibovitz's face, he was on the stretcher. His face was white like a, what should I say? Like a white tablecloth, like a white shirt. It was, it was white. He had oxygen on, you know. Anyway, next part I didn't see obviously, but, uh, they say that they took him into the ambulance and they told the Rebbe, "The Rebbe, he's not well, and they have to take him to hospital." The Rebbe said, "Don't take him to hospital because I won't be able to take care of him. Leave him here. He should be by every davening, every Hakafot, everything." That night I didn't see him. I don't think he-- they brought Hakafot that night. But from the next day, davening, farbrengen, everything, he was there.

1:25:36 Speaker 8 Hmm.

1:25:36 Speaker 7 By the farbrengen before Hakafot, they pushed aside two benches where the Sukkah would sit behind the Rebbe, and he was on there on a wheelchair behind the Rebbe. By, um, Hakafot, he's on the Rebbe's bimah on a wheelchair. Now, the Rebbe's bimah would be, let's say, it wasn't packed, but it was full of people. You know, anybody who felt he had a excuse to be there would be on the Rebbe's bimah. They would bend down so not to block everyone. It would be full, like whatever. And he's on a wheelchair, a little past the Rebbe not to block the Ohel. He's on a wheelchair. In the middle of one of the niggunim, and I see the Rebbe was like looking through the people to catch his eyes, and the Rebbe starts clapping towards him. And suddenly, he was like schwach, his, his hands were hanging over the edges of the, of the arms of the wheelchair. He was like his face is white. And the Rebbe was looking for him. The Rebbe was like, "Hmm." The Rebbe was like clapping towards him. And somebody pokes him like, "Look, the Rebbe's looking at you." So he looks up. And the Rebbe's like, "Hmm." So he starts clapping. I remember my eyes were popping out. I see part of his face, which is white, start to get red He starts to come back to himself. Anyway. And then after Simchat Torah, I saw him walking around regular.

1:26:59 Speaker 8 You perhaps had saw this with your own eyes.

1:27:00 Speaker 7 Yeah, I saw it. It's the only-- I'd say the only time I saw a mefors with my own eyes I, I, like, the Rebbe was making a wave in front of everybody . Most people I talk to don't remember it.

1:27:12 Speaker 8 Yeah, I never heard this. Um.

1:27:15 Speaker 7 There's-- If you look in, there's a Yoman of, um, Rishum, Rishumes Shushana, Tashmin Dalat.

1:27:20 Speaker 8 Yeah, that story.

1:27:21 Speaker 7 And they don't have the whole story. They just mention the Rebbe.

1:27:23 Speaker 8 But I've seen the reference to it, yeah.

1:27:25 Speaker 7 They're, uh, they asked about him, yeah. That's one thing. Anyway, um, and hey, navav. And here's actually the first time I saw the Rebbe showing to whistle on Yontif. There was somebody in the whole Kafas was whistling on the le- on the left side of the Arnkidesh, you remember.

1:27:44 Speaker 8 It happened before.

1:27:45 Speaker 7 The bleachers.

1:27:47 Speaker 8 Yeah, so the first time you only s- you saw the Rebbe there.

1:27:49 Speaker 7 But here, at the end, after-- It was after Elena already, mamash the end. Rebbe said, "Niet, niet." They returned to the wall. Rebbe showed to whistle, and I was like, "On Yontif." I remember I was talking to somebody on the phone, a shliach, after Yontif, and I told him, "Rebbe said to whistle." He said, "Wow." 'Cause in this famous Sicha, Purim Tosha Lavotov, the Rebbe says, uh, not Shabbos and Yontif.

1:28:12 Speaker 8 Yeah.

1:28:13 Speaker 7 So here, it's Rebbe said to whistling Yontif. Okay, it's in Chushtair, and so it was a big chidush.

1:28:18 Speaker 8 It's kind of the same thing as clapping. I don't-

1:28:20 Speaker 7 Yeah, I don't know. It happened even, uh, more than that. Tosha Nun Beis, there was one time the Rebbe said to whistle on Shabbos. This is even bigger chidush. I wasn't here then. Anyway, um, Ah, nemhe, navav. Navav was the Rebbe told turned over the cup. It was also a very, like, uh, scene. Middle of Hakafas. And that's also the Mishpach of the Sfarim was, like, looming in the background, you know?

1:28:47 Speaker 8 Mm-hmm.

1:28:48 Speaker 7 I can't say mamash thinking of it the whole time. But middle of, uh, middle of Fabregin, the Rebbe suddenly turned over his cup. I can't say mamash noticed this. Somebody tells me he saw the Rebbe going like that to take out every drop. But the Rebbe turned over the cup, and the Rebbe starts showing to both sides. And I can't tell what does the Rebbe want. They say Yael Kanf was the first to chap, and he turned over when the Rebbe was next to him. Then the Rebbe said something about, uh, to empty the keel and not to pour out, but not to waste it.

1:29:20 Speaker 8 Then there's the, the Mais of the Rebbetzin afterwards.

1:29:22 Speaker 7 Yeah. Then the Rebbe said the Rebbe held the Cois Bastama for, like, an hour. A Sicha, a Nigun, everything. And I think also they sung the And the Rebbe, the Rebbe's holding the Cois in his hand and like-

1:29:38 Speaker 8 The upside-down Cois.

1:29:40 Speaker 7 Upside down, and the Rebbe was waving the Cois and making freylech. The Rebbe was explaining the Sicha. There was what's the name of cup upside down. So just like on the Menora, the sear, the, the Rambam puts all the cups upside down. What's it upside down? Just like the windows of the Beis Hamikdash- The light goes from outside. It's the same way. Then you know Hashba comes from the Beis Hamikdash to everywhere. That's why the cups are upside down. So Meilez, they need to have, holding a cup upside down. It was like who next to me, Shimon Hess was next to me. As the Rebbe said, he goes, "Wow," like, "What a beer." That was the explanation. Anyway, I remember in the middle-- I'm, I'm saying I'm-- My place for Fabregin was more on to the Rebbe's left, closer to the back of the shul. And I see on the bleacher on the, the other side, the Arnkidesh side, I suddenly happened to notice a kid, a bachur, whatever it is. Maybe he's 15 years old, something like that, 15, 16, around that age. Standing, there was a bachur, he's, he's ho- he's holding a cup with something in the Mashka wine inside his cup. And he's, like, standing and holding and smiling from the situation. And I think to myself, "You're supposed to turn your cup over." What are you doing? There's no way I can get a message to him. The split second I thought that, the Rebbe, like, turned to him with,

1:31:03 Speaker 7 like, an emergency, showing his cup, showing the Rebbe's, the Rebbe's showing his bachur to him, like, "It's supposed to be upside down." And the bachur really-- Um, by the way, from where I was standing, I was standing on top of a high bench in that Fabregin. There was no Mekomei Mescavua by, um, Simchas Torah before Hakafas. It was special. There was no Mekomei Mescavua. And, uh, I saw from down there people are bringing in bottles and bottles. I figure the Rebbe said to empty the bottles. It's, uh, maybe the Kzayer is off, whatever. I saw bottles, all different kind, whiskey and Drambuie and Benedictine. It was sort of like bottles flying in.

1:31:40 Speaker 8 So there wasn't a lot of, uh, drinking in Simchas Torah.

1:31:42 Speaker 7 Generally not. In front of the Rebbe, you know, 'cause you wanna see. You wanna know what's going on.

1:31:47 Speaker 8 Yeah.

1:31:48 Speaker 7 But here I think it was, uh, a little more because-

1:31:51 Speaker 8 Yeah

1:31:51 Speaker 7 ... Simchas Torah Hakafas was quite... I'd say the island. I mean, they always, island was always freilech, but... Anyway, so nem hav. But Mem Chess, so there's nothing like Mem Chess. It was the last time I was here at Simchas Torah. There's nothing like Mem Chess.

1:32:10 Speaker 8 Everybody talks about Mem Chess.

1:32:11 Speaker 7 Everybody. One of my wife's uncles, uh, Tennenbaum, Oliver Shalom, Eli Tennenbaum, he said to me, "I remember Hakafas from Tosha Yud Dalet." I said, "I remembered all the years." There never was Hakafas like Mem Chess. Never. I mean, it's remembering enough from Tosha Yud Dalet. Never was like Mem Chess. Some say that the Rebbe, I couldn't notice from where I was standing. Some say the Rebbe brought down an old kapote which the threads were coming out, like ready for work. All I remember is the first night. But I don't remember too much from the first night. But the, um, the Rashag was complaining it was cold. The Rebbe always gave him the second pasa of Kinat Resa. So this I was told later, and it-- He was like, whatever, uncomfortable. So the Rebbe asked Beral Yannick, "What does he want?" And he was cold. "Am I cold? If it's cold, we'll go upstairs." And when they're taking him out during a Nigun between our Resas- And I felt bad for him as they're schlepping him out, and the Rebbe starts to be meoid, the, the, the cr- the crowd was going like, wow. And, um, anyway, this is the first time. Usually a niggun simchas Torah would be five, seven minutes. In Mehaz, every niggun was ten, 15 minutes. The Ohel could not keep up with the Rebbe. Pushka felt it, that there was no koiche. The Rebbe's eyes were burning. He was, like, looking to everybody and, like, schlepping out of you the koiche

1:33:46 Speaker 7 which you never knew you had . It's like, it was, um, it, it's unexplainable. Now, the place where I was standing in later years, I couldn't see the Rebbe when he danced in the middle. And mostly, you know, I'd seen the Rebbe a few times dancing with Rashag. Rashag, uh, he didn't have koiche later years. He would dance for a minute.

1:34:07 Speaker 8 Yeah, I read in one of the Umán in, um, Zayin that the Rebbe, the Rebbe, Rebbe basically cut it short.

1:34:12 Speaker 7 The Rebbe cut it short?

1:34:13 Speaker 8 Yeah, it says, like, the Rebbe, like-

1:34:14 Speaker 7 Uh-huh

1:34:14 Speaker 8 ... the Rebbe didn't wanna be . Whatever, it was hard for Rashag to keep up, yeah.

1:34:17 Speaker 7 It was very hard, very hard for him. And even the first time I remember I saw Lamed Waw, his h- uh, Rashag is dancing, his face is white and, like, almost like catching his breath, you know?

1:34:28 Speaker 8 Mm-hmm.

1:34:30 Speaker 7 Actually, I heard from Rabbi Sodak, he said during the Kippur War, the, um, by day, so the Rebbe threw his tallis over his face, and the Rebbe was like, . You see, the Rebbe was not in this world. The Rebbe was like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah." And, and Rashag could, could n- he tried to stop the Rebbe, but the Rebbe wasn't in this world. So he says two guys, Pushka, went and held Rashag to help him go around. He didn't have koiche. But generally it was very-- So the later years, it didn't bother me to I still had a place in the front, so I'd be able to see the Rebbe there. So I'm standing, there's a whole bleacher. I was at the bottom of a bleacher, but it was like... And the, the whole bleacher could, uh, all the way in the front on the left side now. We, we couldn't see the Rebbe in the middle. There was no chance. So we're singing, we're not s- you know, don't see the Rebbe. Suddenly one of us says, "Look, look, look." Says, "What?" Says, "See over there on the one side," and everybody's screaming. The faces are red screaming, all the-

1:35:29 Speaker 8 Oh, that's how it worked. The people that saw-

1:35:31 Speaker 7 And then-

1:35:32 Speaker 8 Yeah

1:35:32 Speaker 7 ... and then I suddenly see them all catching their breath . On the other side, they're red in the face. They're screaming.

1:35:40 Speaker 8 As the Rebbe turned around.

1:35:40 Speaker 7 It's a minute, minute and a half, and then the Rebbe was turning around. We could see the Sefat Emet. He was holding the Sefat Emet in his hand, you know, meoidit. You know, the Rebbe was starting his father's niggun simchas Torah. I don't remember exactly. But the other hakafos, the, the Rebbe made us work hard . I remember the Rebbe's eyes, like, burning. You know, everybody said the Rebbe has blue eyes. I never noticed it . But anyway, the Rebbe's like... I remember it black. I don't know. The Rebbe's eyes are burning, but not sharp. Like, I don't know, pulling, pulling a koiche out of you. It was like looking at everybody. But the most, which I can't forget, is after the seventh hakafa on liltsin simchas Torah, and the Rebbe came back, and instead of giving back the Sefat Emet, I remember Kogan was standing there. Everybody tells me I'm wrong, but I remember, uh, Kogan, you know, from, uh, Leningrad.

1:36:30 Speaker 8 Which we just had a feature article on him-

1:36:33 Speaker 7 Yeah

1:36:34 Speaker 8 ... in the ］, yeah.

1:36:35 Speaker 7 Uh-huh. So, um, so I remember he was standing there to take the Sefat Emet from the Rebbe and put it back in the Aron Kodesh. But the Rebbe came back to his place. Instead of giving the Sefat Emet, he went up with the Sefat Emet in his hand, and he went up on his bimah. And the Rebbe's waited for the mashbakim, whatever, all the guys on the Rebbe's bimah to go down, bend down, and the Rebbe started Ufaratzta. I have never, ever seen a dance like that. And the Rebbe was jumping. I mean, v'gas ba mitzva . How's the Rebbe? Especially on Mehaz, how's the Rebbe? Uh, he's pushka jumping. I will not forget, at one point, I saw the Rebbe's shoes in the air. He was jumping so much. It was a long time. I didn't look at the clock, but it was a long time, this niggun. And the Rebbe was jumping and jumping and jumping and Sefat Emet to all sides and being meoidit. Then after the niggun was over, so Kogan reaches for it. He wants to get the Sefat Emet, and the Rebbe run, "Ah, get away. Get away," 'cause he saw the Rebbe wants to sing another niggun. The Rebbe started Yek Yek. It wasn't as much as Ufaratzta, but still, um, freilach. And then the Rebbe takes the Sefat Emet-

1:38:01 Speaker 8 Mm-hmm

1:38:02 Speaker 7 ... and he gives such a kiss. I, I'd never seen the Rebbe kissing anything. I mean, the Rebbe kissed Sefer Torah. You don't see it that much. It was such a ahava. I mean, everybody who saw it, you saw it. You never seen a kiss in your life.

1:38:16 Speaker 8 Never kissed a Torah, yeah.

1:38:16 Speaker 7 He kissed the Torah-

1:38:17 Speaker 8 With his mouth

1:38:18 Speaker 7 ... before-- With his mouth before he gave it over to Kogan. I, I'd never seen a kiss like that. It brought tears to my eyes. I'd never seen anything like it. He gave such a kiss. It was like you see the ahava Sefer Torah. It was unbelievable. Anyways, a meir dikke, a meir dikke simchas, simchas Torah. Guys told me, uh, later I was in shlichus. I wasn't able to be here, and the guys told me, "If you had to choose a simchas Torah to be the last one, that was a good choice," you know. Whatever. Anyway, Chaim Shemezalech agen.

1:38:51 Speaker 8 Amen,

1:38:52 Speaker 7 Yes.

1:38:52 Speaker 8 Shekhech.

1:38:52 Speaker 7 Yeah.

1:38:54 Speaker 8 And, um, this year.

1:38:56 Speaker 7 Amen.