Rabbi Shimon Raichik A"H - Cultivating Hiskashrus In Our Classrooms

00:00 Speaker 1 Hi, I'm Zalman Schner. Welcome to the Everything Chinuch Podcast, brought to you by the Menachem Education Foundation. Here, you'll find fabrangens, workshops, live interviews, and more, all to inspire you, the Chabad educator. In this episode, one of my dear mentors, Rabbi Shimon Reichik, alav hashalom, shares a powerful perspective on cultivating our students' Yiskashas. We hope you enjoy today's episode.

00:31 Speaker 2 To start off, I wanna start off with a sicha of the Rebbe. Yesterday was Gimmel, uh, Gimmel Shvat. Gimmel Shvat, tav shin daled beis, that's nineteen ninety-two, six weeks before the Rebbe had his stroke, the Rebbe's connected the Frierdiker Rebbe to Moshe Rabbeinu. We know that when Moshe Rabbeinu-- When Hashem appeared to Moshe Rabbeinu by the sneh, by the burning bush, and Moshe Rabbeinu said, "I cannot speak." "Kvadpeh, kvad loshon." And Hashem said, "I'll be with you." And Moshe Rabbeinu saying, "Shlach no betaria tishloch." So by the end, Hashem said to Moshe, "Okay, you will speak, but Aharon will be your translator. He'll be Neviecha, that you'll, like, speak once to parah, and, and Aharon will explain it." And in Parshas Va'era, Moshe Rabbeinu says that, "Ani al af hasama cannot speak at all." He connected to Frierdiker Rebbe. Frierdiker Rebbe we know, the last years, the Frierdiker Rebbe suffered very, he had strokes and so forth. He wasn't a well person physically, and it was very hard for him to speak. So a lot of the memorium in those years, in the last few years of the Frierdiker Rebbe, the Frierdiker Rebbe took memorium what he spoke already once before. Let's say like Basse Legani, what the Frierdiker Rebbe gave out to learn that Shabbos for the Yahrzeit of his grandmother, Rebbetzin Rivka, was bas-- was really a maimer what he said in nineteen twenty-three, taf tes bet gimmel. And over there, he, he changed it, and he edited it, and it was given

02:13 Speaker 2 out to learn for that Yahrzeit. And that's why Basse Legani is the main theme for Yahrzeit. So the Rebbe then said that one of the doctors, a professor, asked him, "How could it be that the Aibishter hampered your speech? Since you're a Rebbe, and the way how you can communicate to your Hasidim, to say Hasidus and so forth, is by speech. So how could the Aibishter take away from you that power that was very hard for the Frierdiker Rebbe to speak?" And the Rebbe then said that he didn't wanna, he want-- didn't wanna pain the Frierdiker Rebbe, but he wanted the Frierdiker Rebbe to demand from the Aibishter that he should get back his speech. But lepiyol, the Frierdiker Rebbe, it was very hard for him to speak, and he gave out memorium to learn. So at the end is, "Aharon achicha yahi neviecha," that the Hasidim had to go and explain and learn and teach the Frierdiker Rebbe's teachings because the Frierdiker Rebbe didn't farbrengen. So now Frierdiker Rebbe says a memorium farbrengen, there would be re-repetition, then there would be-- they'll write out the hanhaga, and then it would be, uh, edited or it wouldn't be edited, but there would be much more Hasidus. And this hampered. So, but lepiyol, "Aharon achicha yahi neviecha," that the Hasidim had to take the memorium and teach them and learn them. Six weeks later, the Rebbe got his stroke. Looking back, the Rebbe was telling us that he won't be able to speak, and we are

03:53 Speaker 2 going to have to be Neviecha to spread the Rebbe's word. Especially after Gimmel Tammuz, we have the obligation to teach Hasidus, to spread the Rebbe's word, and especially to prepare the world and then the ganz-- the ol Yidden to be Mekabel Pnei Mashiach. That was the last thing what the Rebbe was demanding constantly, but really it wasn't the last. It was the first moment the Rebbe said that we're the seventh generation what the Alter Rebbe started to bring Geulah l'chol ha'olamim. And we're like the generation of Moshe Rabbeinu to build also the Mikdash, to make the Beis Hamikdash down here. And this is our job, especially for Mechaneche and Mechanechis who you educate a generation, we have to inspire them that they are-- that we are the generation to bring Mashiach. Now, let's take Yahrzeit. One of the things of Yahrzeit is you write a pidyon to the Rebbe. Now, to write a pidyon to the Rebbe is, uh, you can tell the kids, you know, "We write a letter to the Rebbe," or we can get the children excited. Now, the older children, the older students, uh, you should show them the shtick, uh, a shtick of video of like of Erev Rosh Hashanah when the Rebbe accepted the pidyonos or the-- it was Erev Rosh Hashanah only. The Rebbe going to the Ohel, the Rebbe standing by the Ohel. You can explain that the Rebbe used to stand by the Ohel for hours, daven. And as the Rebbe standing, stood physically there standing

05:31 Speaker 2 by the Ohel davening, the Rebbe's still doing it now when we come to the Ohel, and the Ohel is like a Yechid is going in privately into the Rebbe. But, uh, especially the older Talmidim, before they write a pidyon, you should learn, teach them something of Sicha or something of Yahrzeit to get them excited. They should start thinking and explain to them that when we wrote a pidyon, we, we said some Tehillim, we gave extra tzedakah. You know, you, you prepared yourself. You just didn't walk in and give the Rebbe a pidyon. It was with a feeling- A story told about that, uh, depends how we prepare ourselves. That's how we-- That's how the Rebbe responds to us. Um, there was, uh, someone who wasn't a Lubavitcher, who decided he's going to go and speak to all the gedolei Yisroel. So he came to, to the Rebbe. So he went into the Beis Midrash and asked the bachurim, "How do you go into the Rebbe for Yechidus?" So they told him, uh, some people fast that day, you go to the mikvah, you, uh, say Tehillim, you give extra tzedakah, uh, and it's a preparation. Then you write everything down what you have to. You don't speak to the Rebbe, only if the Rebbe asks you questions. And the Rebbe reads your, your note, your sachtel, your letter, and then the Rebbe gives you a bracha and, um, then you say amen, and then you walk backwards. And he did a few times, and then

07:04 Speaker 2 we had this chosson. It was a birthday. We could have gone every birthday in for a bracha. That's what he did for a few years. One year, he decided, "I'm not a Lubavitcher. I don't wanna come to the Rebbe like a, like a stam Yid who wants to come and see a, uh, see a gadol hador." So, uh, he didn't prepare himself. He opened up the door. The Rebbe looked up. The Rebbe smiled and said, "Good evening. Vos macht men?" He saw right away the difference. When he went in to prepare the, the, the Reb-- the Rebbe looked at you. The Rebbe didn't smile. The Rebbe didn't say good evening to you. It was a chassid and a Rebbe relationship. Once he walked in not like a chassid, so then the relationship was a Rebbe to a Yid from chutz la'aretz. Same thing when we go in either into the Rebbe's room or we go into, to the oil, it's like a Yechidus. And when we prepare ourselves properly, so then we really connect internally. And this is, uh, what for the-- especially for the older children have to, the talmidim, to explain that the Yud Shvat is not stam a day. You light a candle and you give extra tzedakah. Yud Shvat is also for us, it's the day of the beginning of the nasiyus of the Rebbe. Yes, Yud Shvat was-- is the stalkus of the previous Rebbe, but to our generation, Yud Shvat is seventy years from when the Rebbe became officially

08:45 Speaker 2 Rebbe. And this is something what they s-- if they see it by the mechanchis or the machanchim, that can give an-- inspire the, the talmidim. Just to mention, even for the younger grades, when we speak about, you know, they'll scribble. I have a brother-in-law one time went into Yechidus klalos. Now, generally, there was a Yechidus practice that you-- everyone went into the Rebbe's room alone. But in later years, it was overwhelming. So therefore, they made Yechidus klalos. That means all the bar mitzvah boys went in with their parents in downstairs into the Beis Midrash, and the Rebbe spoke, and then all the chasun kalos with their parents. And then the guests also, like this, the guests used to go in. Everyone used to go in privately. In the early years, they would go in twice. Once they came for Tishrei and once before they left. And then later, they used to go in once before they left. And then later, it was too much. You know, it was one year when the Rebbe mamash sat by Yechidus practice. The Rebbe start from eight in the morning-- from eight in the evening to eight in the morning, and then Rebbe came back a few hours later, and then three o'clock started again, Yechidus. It, it was overwhelming, so then they started making Yechidus klalos. So my brother-in-law went with his family, and he had a child. What is he gonna do? The Rebbe's going to speak Hasidism. So he gave the child a piece of paper

10:12 Speaker 2 and a pen or pencil, whatever, and he scribbled. They go past the Rebbe, and the Rebbe takes the notes. The sachtelach, Rebbe gave a daler, gave a bracha. When the child goes with his scribbling paper, the Rebbe stretches out their hand that the child should give what the child wrote. Now to us, it's, this is a scribble. The Rebbe didn't look like at a scribble. The child scribbled. It is something. It's an expression. Rebbi Menachem Klein told me personally that when a child wrote and sent a picture and a drawing to the Rebbe, the Rebbe would analyze what did the child express in this picture, what he sent or she sent. So when we look at children, they, they, they scribble a hein and a hair, the Rebbe looks at it that the child expressed themselves. We cannot read it, but the Rebbe could read it. So even for the younger grades, how much you can express to them and explain to them, but that's also what they scribble, that's the pidyon. Now, the excitement in the classroom depends on the exci-excitement of the mechaneches. If we are excited that it's coming Yud Shvat, and if we can express those who were there is one thing, those who weren't there, they, they-- you read about it, and you can express the feeling what Chassidim had. Now, I wasn't there when the Rebbe took the nasiyus, even though I have a white beard, but I was born after the Rebbe became Rebbe. But you, you read

11:58 Speaker 2 about how-- what happened that year till the Rebbe became Rebbe and the simcha what the Chassidim had when the Rebbe became Rebbe and the, and Nemtsov got up and made a Shehecheyanu, and, uh, that Rebbe started the maimar and so forth. And that people felt, and it's in gem videos they have different what people felt, what they felt when the Rebbe became Rebbe, and that the connection-- and if we can inspire ourselves and inspire the chil- in-inspire the children, then they will feel that the Rebbe is there, and the Rebbe is our Rebbe. Now, the-- it's-- as I said many times before, there's a difference when I speak a story of the Friediker Rebbe or if I speak a story of the Rebbe. I was there, I was there for m- quite a few years. I wasn't there for all the years, but there was this personal connection. Those who weren't there have the job to, to, to inspire themself that they should be able to inspire others. Now, I have children who are very young, and but do they remember exactly what was by the Rebbe last Pesach? But nevertheless, when they get ins- they are inspired, and they're inspired because in the house, I have to thank my Balabusta that inspired that the Rebbe is with us. So even though that they, yes, okay, they're older, they're in their twen- thirties and so forth, but they, they didn't see the Rebbe for so many years. But they are inspired, and they are inspiring

13:37 Speaker 2 their children. I'll tell you a story. I mean, I hope my Balabusta doesn't get angry at me. Baruch Hashem, my son, uh, one of my children had a, a, a... Right after, right a-after Tes Yud, uh, Tes Kislev is a Thursday or what, he, he, he, his w- gave birth, his wife gave birth to a daughter. Comes home Shabbos, and he tells the kids in the morning, it was at night, that they, they have a baby sister. So the two older daughter, uh, girls, well, one, one is seven and the other one is six, run into-

14:23 Speaker 3 It's a righteous

14:24 Speaker 2 And they come out, and they say, "The name is going to be Shayna." So he says to them, "How do you know?" "Because Tes Yud Kislev is connected to the Mitteler Rebbe, and the Mitteler Rebbe Rebbetzin was Shayna." They were right. Now, it says that small children have Nevuah, okay? So they had Nevuah. But the, the Chassidishe in the home that they know that Tes Kislev is a special day. It's a Mitteler Rebbe, and a d-daughter was born, a, a sister was born, and what's going to be the name? So sure, it's gonna be after the Rebbetzin, the Rebbetzin of that period of time. That is meaning that in the family, they, it slept. Chassidus slept. Same thing in this classroom, there has to be that the Rebbe is with us. And a lot of it has to do with ma'eisey to tell stories of the Rebbe. Now, tell stories how the Rebbe was c-connected with every individual. Tell stories how the Rebbe was connected to children was important. How the Rebbe gave l'chaim, the kasher broche the Rebbe stood for hours giving, or dollars the Rebbe was standing for hours. Now, you tell stories of ma'eisey. Especially now, when we have Zoom, and many classes are in Zoom, and there's a disconnect between the teacher and the students, it's very important, especially for the older grades, to tell ma'eisey and have discussions. It's not only to learn. You have a learning book, and you know that you have to learn, cover so much and

16:04 Speaker 2 so much ground. Today, it's not only the g- how much we're going to learn. Another Passuk Chumash or another Passuk Navi, it's important. But it's the hashpa of the feeling of Yiddishkeit and Chassidishkeit. We really don't know what's happening in the child's home. I ha- I got a call from, um, another Lubavitch school about a Lubavitch girl going there, and she's in twelfth grade, and it's about seminary. And it doesn't, uh-- she didn't apply and so forth, and the principal calls me and said that the daughter said that, "Don't think that my parents are such a Chassidim, even though they look so. The house is entirely different." I was a bit shocked. I ca- I, I called the father. I mean, I'm, I'm working with the father that the kid should go to a Lubavitch seminary. But the nekuda is we-- when we see a, a child, we can only see externally. We don't know internally what's happening with the child. We don't know internally what's happening in the house. So everyone goes with a kipah and everyone goes like this. What's happening in the house? We have no idea. Especially now in Zoom. And we have no idea. You know, the kid can come on Zoom, and we don't know if the kid pushes on that on Zoom and then goes somewhere else in, in, in-- and the name just says there, is there. You, you have to get them involved. You have to ask questions and so forth to make sure that the

17:39 Speaker 2 kids are there. But discussions are very, very important. My brother-in-law teaches in the, in the, um, Ohel Chanah, where he taught Tanya. And he says more than we taught Tanya, it ended up in discussions. They have-- Girls have this-- have questions in how do you do it, and this, that, and, and, and, and, and they don't express it in their family. They don't express it to their parents. And ki- and children have lot of, lot of questions, and girls have lot of, lot of questions. Why is this permitted? Why is not that permitted? Why do we Chabad do this, and why do we do that? And we cannot tell them yes, no, no, yes. You have to give them the warmth and the background and the feeling for it. Especially now that we are fighting- Against technology. You know that every kid has to have a smartphone. Who knows after school or where the kid ends up with a smartphone. I'm talking to you, saying yeshivas wherever, where they are, and where the adults end up with, with their s- in middle of twelve o'clock at break and so forth. So therefore, the, the mechanois and the mechanoim are the boulders of Yiddishkeit and Hasidishkeit, and that can only be given over when we have that feeling, and we have to discuss it. Same thing, I'm not-- parents have to discuss also with their children many things. But many parents don't and today, you know, those lockdowns in certain places and so forth, and everything

19:21 Speaker 2 is Zoom hin and Zoom hachai, and, uh, there has to be the inner connection even more than when they were in the classrooms. And this is what we have to give and what we could give. Um, and we don't know. I mean, uh, my daughter, um, Chaya Mushka, she's in Toronto, told us today that she had a, a girl in a class, and then she had a story she tells them, and then there's the conversations. And then the girl started to cry openly and s- told her that she has a sister that my daughter didn't know. Sister's not frum, and her sister in the house is not frum. Uh, puts on the, uh, the computer on Shabbos, doesn't eat kosher. And, uh, summertime, she, she slipped also, and she started to be with her. And since my daughter s- spoke with them, told stories and conversations, so it gave her the koichas. She cried that, um, to-- that, that she did something wrong and gave her the strength not to fall through the trap. So with the Pasuk, Chumash explaining that wouldn't happen through the conversations that inspired the, her to get the strength not to fall through. And we don't know what's happening in the houses. I don't know what's happening in people's houses. Mechanois don't know, mechanoim don't know, especially now with, with corona, you cannot go to the houses, so you don't even know what's-- how the house looks and where the kid does his homework or she does her homework. So

21:04 Speaker 2 the varmkeit of Hasidis connection is by us, um, telling a story. And it doesn't only have to be stories of how long do I have?

21:21 Speaker 3 Um, you can finish your thought.

21:23 Speaker 2 All right.

21:23 Speaker 3 No, no, you're good. You're, you're right on time.

21:25 Speaker 2 I'm good. I'm still good. Okay. It doesn't only have to be stories of the Rabbeim. Stories of Hasidim Rabbeim too. Rebbe spoke-- told Rabbi Pliskin that when he-

21:39 Speaker 3 I'm sorry. If anyone is n- is, is on the mic, please mute yourself.

21:42 Speaker 2 That when he farbrengs with bachurim, he should tell stories of Hasidim. Because if he tell stories of Rabbeim, how holy they were, so then they-

21:51 Speaker 3 Rabbi Rot. Have to be kept in the fridge. Uh, please mute yourself. Mute yourself. Can I-- I'm gonna mute all, and Rabbi Reich, please unmute yourself. Okay, Rabbi Reich, you can have the mic.

22:09 Speaker 2 Okay. I'm okay.

22:10 Speaker 3 If you want to... Thank you. Yes, we hear you.

22:12 Speaker 2 Okay. So the Rebbe told Rabbi Pliskin that when you tell stories of Rabbeim and the greatness of the Rabbeim, the bachurim-- Rebbe, I'm a, I'm not a Rebbe. When you speak a story of a Hasid who didn't live in the time of the Alter Rebbe, if you t- speak about Hasidim who lived in the last few decades, so then, uh, then the, the, the bachur could, could, could maybe relate to it because this is a Hasid and he's not a Rebbe. He was a Hasid of Rebbe, and I want to be a Hasid of the Rebbe. So, um, I, I'm not-- you're not talking only stories of the, of Rebbetzin. You're talking about story of a shlucha or so forth. So then it gives the, uh, uh, inner connection that the, the, the, the talmidim or the Talmud could relate to it. And this is something what we have to remember. So yes, we have to tell stories of the Rabbeim, stories of the Rebbe, but we also have to tell stories of, of, uh, of, um, Hasidim with their Mesirat Nefesh what they had. And also tell stories not only about Russia, some people say we're not living in Russia, about people who lived in America and the hardships that they went or shluchim who from the Friediker, from the Rebbe, was-- who went out to places where there was no Yiddishkeit and so forth and had to start from ground zero and what they had to build. And they were strong because they

23:44 Speaker 2 were connected to the Rebbe. When we get that feeling into them, so then they feel that they can be part of the Rebbe's army. All right, everyone, Hatzlacha Rabah. And we should be zoche that this Yom Tov, even before Yom Tov, to be with the Rebbe in the third Beis Hamikdash and to be zchus of Mashiach now. Kol Tuv.

24:08 Speaker 1 Thank you for listening. Wishing you much hatslacha in your vital shlichus.