R' Zalmen Shtzerbiner and preparations for Pesach (and the Niggun "ומלך גיבור")

00:04 If you would like to sponsor an episode, you can email us at mosheweinfeld@gmail.com. In Chag HaPesach 5710, the Frierdiker Rebbe related, "The avoda of the hachnosas to Shabbos Kodesh and Yom Tov in general, and to Chag HaPesach in specific, took up by my father a very important place. Many times my father, the Rebbe Rashab, spoke praises of those who are oisek in the hachnosas to Shabbos Kodesh and Yom Tov, and especially the inyonim of Pesach. The hachnosas Chag HaPesach started in Lubavitch in the middle of the summer before. About 30 kilometers away from Lubavitch, on the way to Dubrovno, there was a place named Shtyrbina, which was the place where we will bring the wheat for the shmurah matzah. In Shtyrbina lived a Chasidishe lamdei chacham which was on a high level both in mochin and in midos tovos. And since Chassidim are not medayak in titles of honor, so despite the fact that this Yid named Reb Zalman from Shtyrbina, despite the fact that he was a baki beShas Bavli, and he had a lot of knowledge in Yerushalmi and in Tur. He was baki in Zohar and Kesav HaAriza"l, and in all the printed sifrei Chassidus. Besides for that, he was a balz doko meforsam. Nonetheless, he was just called Zalman Shtyrbiner. "When I knew him," says the Frierdiker Rebbe, "he was already 70 years old. His hadros ponim is not something that could be described bechsav. His face showed signs of gadlus hamochin and a good heart and a yosher nafshi. He

01:46 is from the most important chashuve figures in the zichronos of my childhood. Reb Zalman Shtyrbiner asides for the fact that he was an exact example of a chacham from the yishuvim of the previous generation, a chachme haemes and baal midos tovos. He was one of the chashuve ungeleit by the father of my zeide, meaning by the Tzemach Tzedek, and he was from the biggest mekusharim of the zeide, the Rebbe Maharash. I heard tens of stories from him. Those stories reflected of many types of Chassidim and darkei Chassidus in the fourth and the fifth generation of Chassidus Chabad. When Reb Zalman used to relate a story, besides for the fact that he was very medayak in the actual story without adding any details and explanations, just the actual fact as it happened. But before he would say the story, he would first describe the place and the time of the story. That way, the listener will get a perfect description of the whole entire story with the proper context. The listeners would feel them as if they were in that place and that time amongst those Chassidim, and the listeners to Reb Zalman's stories will be able to picture as if they are actually seeing the Rebbe, the alter Rebbe, or the zeide, whoever the story was about. "Each person," says the Frierdiker Rebbe, "has in his heart and mind things that were engraved, memories which he will not forget for the rest of his life. And wherever he will be, wherever the Hashgacha Elyona will

03:14 bring him in the stream of life, whatever country, whatever svivah he will be, when that person remembers those memories, it disconnects him from his mundane life and puts him back in those sincere and shiny childhood memories. And during this hustle and bustle of life, years later, he's able to relive those beautiful, shiny days." So in the fields of Reb Zalman Shtyrbiner, that's where we cut the wheat for the shmurah matzah, and there was a set seder for it. In regards to choosing which field to cut it from and also choosing which day the cutting will happen, the conditions were as follows: It needed to be a bright, shiny day. Another condition was that three days before the day of the harvest, it wouldn't rain. The proper time for cutting was from 12 o'clock noon until 2:00 or 2:30. When the time for the harvest came, so Reb Zalman would come to Lubavitch to make the arrangements, which included, since you can't know exactly which day we'll be able to cut because you needed those, uh, mentioned conditions of three days without rain and a shiny day. So he would actually bring to Lubavitch a few wagons of his own in order to bring to Shtyrbina all the people who were going to do the cutting, so they should be ready in his house, so when the right day comes, they're already there, ready to cut. Sometimes it will take a whole entire week waiting for that bright day. For Reb Zalman, this whole avoda was

04:48 a big simcha, a double and a triple simcha. Number one, cutting chitim for the shmurah for the Rebbe. Besides for that, he also had guests for a few days, which is something that he really liked. He had a special chush for that. And above of that all, the fact that the zeide, meaning Rebbe Maharash, and during my times, my father, used to actually come in person to the harvest, which is something that gave Reb Zalman chayus for a few years. From the day where Reb Zalman traveled with the shlucha mitzvah back to his place, and until that bright day over at the kadesh shmurah matzah, every single day when they stayed in his place, the topic of the talks throughout the whole day was all about the weather. They would look up to the sky. They would feel the wind. Is it dry? Is it moist in the air? And the tens of hours were spent every day all about the weather that's going to be tomorrow, the next day. What's the forecast? And every day, they were waiting for the special shliach from Shtyrbina that will give the news that today we will harvest. The trip to Shtyrbina, which took two hours, and all the arrangements around that made on me a big impression. As a kid at my age back then- I found in my thoughts for every event, for every occurrence, a similar story in Tanakh or in Agadas Hazal that I knew, and it's all written more or less in the

06:19 memories of my childhood. The cutting, the threshing was done with tremendous simcha. At the same time, together with, uh, seriousness that was on everybody's faces, everybody were wearing a gartel, wearing hats and yarmulkes. It was very hot, and they did the work very quickly. They did it like people who had a lot of experience in field work. The old Hasid, Reb Zalmen, which had a wide, beautiful beard and shiny Sefer upon him, happy face, had, uh, the tool to cut in his hand. He was very quick, as if he was a younger man, and you could tell that the simcha's literally making him jump. Sandals and the white socks were, like, flying up in the air in a spiritual way, like the feet of Naftali going on a godly mission, something which could only be in a person which is Avodat Elokim, that even his heels feel the big pleasure that's in the mind, and the inner ratzoin, and the inner will that's in the desire of the heart that's in this Avoda. Some people were cutting, some people were singing. The singing spread in the air with a special gishmek, and it was heard to a very far distance. A hadras kodesh was spilled everywhere. The women and the children of the families who lived in Szerbinó used to stand from far and watch the great simcha. All of them were wearing Shabbos clothing, and you were able to read on everyone's faces that something very special is happening today. Right after the work

07:52 of the harvest and the threshing, a part of the crowd, Reb Zalmen amongst them, went to wash themselves to take a shower. On the way back from the bathhouse, Reb Zalmen would wear Shabbos clothing, and they started Mincha. Reb Zalmen himself will be the chazan, and he will daven in the nigun of Simchas Torah, and they will not say Tachnun. Oleinu Leshabeach, Reb Zalmen would sing in a special freileche tune, and for Eishet Chayil of the Kadeshim, Reb Zalmen waited for somebody to flip him over as the known minhag on Simchas Torah. And if people refused to do so 'cause they had their echeret towards him, remember, he was a 70-year-old Hasid, so he would say, "Nu, nu?" And he would wait in the stepping back three steps of Eishet Chayil until somebody, uh, actually flipped him. And after Eishet Chayil, Reb Zalmen would burst out in a dance with the whole crowd. During the dance, Reb Zalmen would sing the psukim which are said after Oleinu, the Al Torah, et cetera. And when he will come to the end, "Vayach tzadikim es panicha," he would perform a jump, and then he would roll three times back and forth, and then everybody sat down for the seudah se simcha, which was prepared outside in the garden. Big table filled with milchige foods of all types, baruch Hu. During the seudah, my father, the Rebbe Rashab, would say a ma'amer chassidus and would farbrengen for a few hours with the crowd. Afterwards, they davened Maariv. My

09:24 father would go to rest in a special room which was prepared for him, but the rest of the crowd would continue to farbrengen the whole entire night. The next day, they davened, and 10 o'clock will travel back home to Lubavitch. Reb Zalmen and the other Hasidim would come in the evening to Lubavitch and bring with them the sack of wheat which was hung in a special room. But when Reb Zalmen passed away, so this Seder stopped, and we started to take wheat for shmurah matzah in other places, amongst them also from the Hasid, the gvir, Reb Nachman Dolinski. We'll finish off with a nigun and the words, "Umelech gibor lo yivrivam le'ovlei zevanim," which ends off with "Mitzrayim gealtanu." You're gonna hear in the end of the recording that we also sing the regular "Mitzrayim gealtanu" 'cause it attaches itself nicely to the end of the nigun, but it's not actually part of the first part of the nigun. It's two separate nigunim, meaning that this part, "Mitzrayim gealtanu ve'etz avadim endisano, Mitzra-" uh-huh, that is part of the original nigun. But at the end, end, when we sing the, the famous "Mitzrayim gealtanu," that is already a separate nigun. Umelech gibor lo yivrivam. Umelech gibor lo yivrivam. Umelech gibor lo yivrivam. Umelech gibor lo yivrivam le'ovlei zevanim emes. Umelech gibor lo yivrivam. Umelech gibor lo yivrivam. Umelech gibor lo yivrivam. Umelech gibor lo yivrivam le'ovlei zevanim emes. Mimitzrayim gealtanu ve'etz avadim endisano. Mimitzrayim, Mimitzrayim. Mimitzrayim gealtanu ve'etz avadim endisano. Mimitzrayim, Mimitzrayim. Mimitzrayim gealtanu ve'etz

12:18 avadim endisano. Mimitzrayim. Oy, Mimitzrayim. Mimitzrayim gealtanu ve'etz avadim endisano. Mimitzrayim. Oy, Mimitzrayim. Mimitzrayim gealtanu ve'etz avadim endisano. Mimitzrayim. Oy, Mimitzrayim. Mimitzrayim gealtanu ve'etz avadim endisano. Mimitzrayim. Oy, Mimitzrayim.