Rabbi Yoel Kahan A"H - Part V

00:00 behemshech and in continuation to the earlier installments where we discussed an overview of the life of Rab Yael Kan Alav HaShalom, we now continue with installment number five, discussing various stories which Rab Yael shared at his Shabbos table. The seder was that Rab Yael would give shiurim, shiurim echzidis for the bacharim in 770. The bacharim were primarily from Eretz Yisrael. They learned here for a year, known as the kvutza. And Shabbos, he would invite them to his Shabbos table. The stories focused on the Rabbeim, Rabbeim of Chabad and Chassidim of Chabad, Chassidim from earlier generations, and also from other circles. We will now focus on the stories that Rab Yael shared beneger to Rabbe Seinu Nesiyenu, the Rabbeim of Chabad. Rab Yael related the following story. His father, Rab Rafal Nachman, had a friend with whom he studied together in the city Lubavitch in Russia. Over the time, this friend started to get off track beneger to Yiddishkeit. He already was not Shabbos observant or kasherus. And Rab Yael continues that when I traveled to the Rebbe in Tafshin Yud, 1950, my father asked me that I should mention the name of this friend to the Rebbe. And this was before the Rebbe formally accepted the Nesius, the leadership. I knocked on the door and I entered. And I told the Rebbe about this Yid. The Rebbe asked me, how old is he? When I started to calculate the age, the Rebbe told me, I will tell you why I am asking. I want to

02:09 know if at the time that the previous Rebbe visited Eretz Yisrael in 1929, if this person saw the previous Rebbe and that the previous Rebbe saw him. I said to the Rebbe, I know for sure that he saw the previous Rebbe and the previous Rebbe saw him. So the Rebbe continued and said, no. So then it is definite that he will eventually repent. He will be a chezer b'teshuvah shlema. And that was fulfilled. Another story was beneger to a Yid who lives in Crown Heights. And then during that time for a while, he visited and stayed in Russia. The KGB invited him for interrogation. They suspected that he has a connection with Lubavitch since he lives in the Rebbe Shchun in Crown Heights. In the interrogation, they asked him if he has a connection with the Lubavitcher Rebbe. He says, I have no connection with him. This Yid continued and said the following, that at the end of the interrogation, the Chokim, the interrogator said, the Rebbe of Lubavitch is the biggest Jewish leader today and he is our biggest enemy. When the Yid returned back to the United States, Crown Heights gave over to the Rebbe this whole conversation and the Rebbe told him, the second half of what they said is surely true. Another story that Rab Yael shared was beneger to a certain bachar who was a very talented bachar, but a little interesting. His way of learning was that when he studied the tractate of Bava Kama, the first Mishnah, which

04:23 speaks about the four different damages in Halakha, he started to delve into it. What does it mean somebody damages something? And therefore, he also needs to understand what does it mean the ownership of property. And that's how he was climbing up his ladder. When he went into Yechidus, the Rebbe told him, this is not the correct way in learning our sacred data. But since he wants to climb up a ladder, wants to go up to higher heights, the way to do that is that he should from time to time learn the chidushim of the Rogatchover. His name was Rab Yeseph Rozin and he lived in the city Dvinsk, very close with the Rebbe Rashab and the Frieviker Rebbe and the Rebbe. He passed away in the year Tafri Sadik Vav, 1936. And the Rebbe over the years quoted many times various insights of the Rogatchover.