DVAR MALCHUS

THE WORLD ITSELF

AN EXPRESSION
OF GEULA
From Chapter Six of Rabbi Shloma
Majeskis Likkutei Mekoros (Underlined
text is the compilers emphasis.)
Translated by Boruch Merkur

Concerning the connection

between tshuva (repentance) and
geula (redemption), it says, The
Torah promises that ultimately
the Jewish people will repent
and immediately they shall be
redeemed.
Moreover, the redemption
itself will be in a manner of
tshuva, for then, all the Jewish
people will return to the table of
their Father, the King. In fact,
the Jewish people return not only
to the table of their Father, but
to their Father Himself, for they
become literally one with the very
essence of G-d.
Similarly, with regard to the
impact this return engenders on
the world: By drawing down the
revelation of Alef (Alufo Shel
Olam, Master of the Universe),
gola (exile) become geula.
Through this process, geulas
olam is attained, an eternal
redemption with no subsequent
exile. Geulas olam also entails
the redemption of the world in
the sense that the world itself
achieves the status of redemption.
That is, not just geulas haolam
[whereby the redemption and
the world remain separate] but
geulas olam [where the world

itself is one with redemption] (in

the same sense as Keil olam as
opposed to Keil HaOlam).
***
Although the general concept
of Torah transcends order
and time, nevertheless, once
Torah is drawn down [from
its transcendent heights], it is
manifest within the framework of
order and time. One expression
of how Torah appears within
this framework is how preparing
for Mattan Torah was [with the
women preceding the men] as
expressed in the verse, Thus
you shall speak (in this language
and in this order) to the House
of Yaakov (referring to the
women; speak to them in a gentle
manner) and (thereafter) tell
Bnei Yisroel (the men).
This precedence of women
over men likewise applies to
Mattan Torah of each year
[on Shavuos], at the time of
the giving of our Torah. It
also applies to the semblance
of Mattan Torah that occurs
on Shabbos Parshas Yisro, as
well as the Mattan Torah that
occurs every day (for Mattan
Torah is the continuation of
the exodus from Egypt, as it is

written, When you take the

nation out from Mitzrayim, you
shall worship the L-rd on this
mountain. Therefore, just as
the concept of the exodus from
Egypt takes place every day
even twice a day there is also
the concept of Mattan Torah each
day) the women preceding the
men, including how this applies
to the female and male aspects of
each persons service of G-d.
***
The names of all the Rebbes,
the Nsiim, follow the same
pattern of having the first name
in the Holy Tongue and the
second name in Yiddish, except
for my revered father in-law, the
Rebbe, leader of the generation,
whose second name is also in the
Holy Tongue.
With regard to the names
of the Tzemach Tzedek, it
is interesting to note that
Menachem
is
numerically
equivalent to Tzemach and
Mendel is equal to Tzedek
the two names of Moshiach
Tzidekeinu.*
NOTES:
*See Meiaynei HaYeshua, pg. 150
ff., where it is discussed.
(From the address of Shabbos
Parshas Yisro, 22 Shvat; Hisvaaduyos
5750, pg. 286-287)

Issue 1023

1023_bm_eng.indd 3

2016-05-31 11:41:50 AM

SHLICHUS

FATHER AND SON

BUILDING TOGETHER

ON SHLICHUS
4 26 Iyar 5776 - Hakhel
1023_bm_eng.indd 4

2016-05-31 11:41:52 AM

Rosh HaAyin, which began as a transit camp for

immigrants from Yemen, has doubled and tripled in size
in recent years. New, modern neighborhoods, as well as
residential high-rises are plentiful. * R Binyamin Akiva
and his son and partner in shlichus, R Avigdor Akiva,
have been working in this city for decades. * In an
interview with Beis Moshiach they go back in time and
recall the days working out of a bomb shelter which
served as the Chabad House under sub-par conditions,
to current times when they are planning a Chabad
House that will look like 770.
By Yaron Tzvi

People out there sometimes

think that shluchim are supported
by a fund of some kind that
provides unlimited money and
that the shluchims work, which
sometimes, from the outside,
looks relaxed, does not entail
hardships and financial problems.
But every shliach knows that this
is far from the truth. The mesirus
nefesh in the process of creating
something out of nothing has

proven itself over many years so

that today, there are thousands of
flourishing Chabad mosdos.
My meeting with R Binyamin
Akiva and his son Avigdor
was inspiring and edifying.
The difficulties they had to go
through, and their indefatigable
stubbornness to deal with
challenges, is impressive. The
inspiration and unusual signs
of closeness that they received

from the Rebbe when they

were starting out gave them
the strength to do their work. I
personally left inspired by our
encounter.

THE SHLICHUS AND ITS

CHALLENGES
R Binyamin Akiva, of Rosh
HaAyin, started out in Yeshivas
Hadar Tmimim in Bat Yam. This

Issue 1023

1023_bm_eng.indd 5

2016-05-31 11:41:53 AM

Shlichus
on a car in the middle of the
market and say a dvar Torah.
Over time, people got to know
me.

EVERY EFFORT BEARS

FRUIT

A shiur at the Chabad House in the bomb shelter

was the first Chabad yeshiva for

baalei teshuva in Eretz Yisroel. It
was started by R Zimroni Tzik.
In Tishrei 5746, I went to
the Rebbe and merited to see
many giluyim. When I returned
from Tahalucha in Queens on
Simchas Torah, I walked into
770 in the middle of the Rebbes
farbrengen. As soon as I walked
in, the Rebbe motioned to me
to say lchaim. The Chassidim
immediately brought me mashke
with which to say lchaim and the
Rebbe motioned to me to turn
over my cup. That Tishrei the
Rebbe encouraged me a number
of times with his hand and he
looked at me often. The kiruv
was quite apparent and it gave
me strength for shlichus.
When I returned to Eretz
Yisroel I spoke to my mashpia
and said that I wanted to open a
Chabad House. He advised me
to open one in my place of birth,
Rosh HaAyin. That same year
I opened a Chabad House and
arranged the first Lag BOmer
parade which was attended by
1500 children. At that time,
Rosh HaAyin was a yishuv, not
a city, and it was definitely an

impressive
accomplishment.
Later that year we also had a day
camp and other activities.
All of shlichus was complete
mesirus nefesh for me, whether
because of the money difficulties
or because of the nonstop having
to deal with various forms of
opposition, but I always felt the
support of the meshaleiach.
The Chabad House in Rosh
HaAyin moved a number of
times until R Akiva was given a
bomb shelter by the municipality
where he founded the first
Chabad shul in the city. After
two years of intensive activities, a
situation arose in which the Akiva
family had to move to nearby
Petach Tikva. Every Shabbos
and Yom Tov, for three years,
they moved to the bomb shelter
under extremely tight conditions,
sleeping on mattresses on the
floor, in no small part thanks
to the willingness of his wife,
Sasgona.
Despite
the
difficulties,
I worked hard, arranging
minyanim,
doing
outreach,
gathering the children to say
psukim and hear a Chassidic
story. On Fridays I would stand

The son, R Avigdor, listened

to what his father told me,
nodding his head now and then.
I remember that period of
time when we slept in the shelter
on Shabbos and Yom Tov. For me
it was hard to sleep like that with
all my siblings in a shelter. Its all
we knew; that is what Shabbos
and Yom Tov were like. It was
only when I went to yeshiva
ktana (mesivta) in Rechovot
and then to yeshiva in Kiryat Gat
and on Kvutza that I realized
that there are other ways to live.
I realized this was a role that the
Rebbe assigned to us.
In 5762, after he married, he
went back to help his father on
shlichus.
The truth is that I saw myself
as more of a short term assistant
whose job it was to develop
administrative tools and not as an
additional shliach for perpetuity.
The first year I helped my
father, he was in 770 when a
woman called and asked for him.
I told her that my father was not
in Eretz Yisroel but she said that
if I am his son, thats okay with
her. She said that she lives on a
nearby moshav, her mother died,
and they planned an irreligious
burial. Since her mother had
spoken a lot about the Chabad
rabbi from Rosh HaAyin,
because of the activities he did
with seniors at her moshav, she
decided that she was willing for
him to arrange a religious burial.
I got to work and made sure
the woman received a Jewish
burial even though I had no prior
experience in this. Although the

6 26 Iyar 5776 - Hakhel

1023_bm_eng.indd 6

2016-05-31 11:41:54 AM

daughter had asked for it, I had

to be firm about a number of
things since she had not taken all
the religious aspects into account
when she called me. Because of
this experience, I saw the truth
of the saying that our efforts will
bear fruit. My father did those
activities for seniors and see what
an effect it had!
R Avigdor has another
example of this:
One Friday, I took my son to
the doctor. In the waiting room
I saw a religious looking man.
He turned to me and said, How
are you, R Avigdor? I asked
him who he was and he said, I
became a baal teshuva thanks to
you. Since I didnt know him,
this sounded incredible and I
asked him to explain. He told
me that his wife started taking
an interest in Judaism through
one of our Tanya classes while he
himself remained uninterested.
Nevertheless, he agreed to let his
son attend the Chabad day camp
we ran. Then you called my wife
to tell her that our check for the
day camp bounced and she told
you that we were returning from
the funeral of her mother-in-law
(my mother) and we dont know
what to do as far as a minyan,
customs, etc. You came over right
away and took care of everything
without asking for anything in
return. I was very impressed
by this and this changed my
perspective on Judaism. Since
then, I became more and more
interested.
The man concluded by
saying, A check of ours had
never bounced before and I later
realized that Hashem arranged
things so I would get involved
in Judaism. You didnt know it
but Hashem had us meet and
Im telling you what made an
impact without your realizing it.
This story drove home the point

R Binyamin Akiva announcing a Hakhel gathering

on Chol HaMoed Sukkos from the roof of his car

Two years ago, someone came to the Chabad

House and asked for a bracha for a son. My
father told him that he should give a donation and buy
the booklets that they give out at the Lag BOmer parade
and the next year he would have a son. The following
year the wife came to the Chabad House to give another
donation for Lag BOmer. She was in an advanced stage
of pregnancy

that everything we do makes an

impact, whether we are aware of
it or not.
I know that my father
goes out every day to do
outreach with children in
various neighborhoods. He uses
loudspeakers on his car. As a
result, many people in town know
the psukim by heart and stories
of the Rebbe. I remember once
calling the national customer
service center of Orange Cellular
to check something out for my
father. I gave my fathers ID
number and gave his name but
the customer service agent wasnt

willing to cooperate. She said,

Listen here, I know the voice of
R Binyamin Akiva since Im a kid
because of the psukim. You are
not Binyamin Akiva and I cannot
help you.
You arrived in Rosh HaAyin
for a limited period of time and
yet you remained and work
alongside your father now.
What happened to change your
mind?
Good question. After a
number of years helping my
father, I decided to leave the work
which was still being run out of
the shelter. I decided to write to
Issue 1023

1023_bm_eng.indd 7

2016-05-31 11:41:54 AM

Shlichus

the Rebbe about this. My wife

Nechami, whose involvement
and endless support I must
mention, was in favor of staying
on shlichus in Rosh HaAyin. The
letter I opened to (volume 5,
letter 1286) was addressed to a
shliach experiencing difficulties.
The Rebbe writes, I am
confident that he will search for
and surely find the appropriate
means to improve the situation
and each hour earlier is better
because if you leave for one day,
I will leave you for two etc. After
reading the Rebbes answer,
I finally got it, that the Rebbe
wants me on shlichus. From
that point on, I devoted myself
to shlichus. We have grown and
expanded and I am very happy
that I stayed.

ENCOURAGEMENT FROM
ON HIGH
Every shliach gets chizuk in
some form or another from the
Rebbe. We asked R Binyamin
and R Avigdor for their personal
examples of this.
I was always called Benny
Akiva and I felt that my name
ought to be Binyamin. I checked
it out and the name I was given
at the bris was actually Benny,
but the name Binyamin spoke
to me more. The Rebbe, with

his ruach hakodesh, gave this

his official sanction. In a letter
I received from him with a
bracha for my wedding in 5739,
he added Binyamin in his own
handwriting, thus establishing
that I am Binyamin. I was finally
at peace.
During the move from Bat
Yam to Rosh HaAyin, I wrote
to the Rebbe a number of times
but did not receive an answer to
any of my letters. For a while we
had been considering moving to
a new apartment and this was
also before my wife was going to
give birth. I wrote to the Rebbe
again and noted that I had not
merited to receive answers from
the Rebbe and surely this was
because of my many sins.
A few days later I received
a letter from the Rebbe and the
Rebbe referred to those words.
He circled my many sins and
next to it wrote, they are nonexistent This moved me
tremendously.
R Avigdor told about the
time he was six, in 5747, when
he traveled to the Rebbe with his
mother for Tishrei.
I had many kiruvim from the
Rebbe. The Rebbe waved at me
many times and looked at me, it
made no difference where in 770
I was. I often got coins from the
Rebbe to give to tzdaka. When I
knew that the Rebbe was on his
way to 770, I would wait for him
where he would get out of his car.
Every time I was there, the Rebbe
would smile and wave his hand
at me. Those are unforgettable
memories.
On Erev Yom Kippur I
passed by the Rebbe with the host
of the apartment we were staying
in and I received lekach. On
Hoshana Raba my mother went
to get lekach from the Rebbe but
she hid me on her left side behind
a group of women, because she

knew I had gotten lekach already

and did not want to bother the
Rebbe. But the Rebbe noticed me
and turned with a wide motion
until he reached me and gave me
lekach again.

FATHER-SON
RELATIONSHIP ON
SHLICHUS
A father-son shlichus can be
challenging. I wanted to hear
about this from the shluchim
themselves. R Binyamin said:
For both of us, what the
Rebbe wants is the main thing.
This is what enables us to get
along and work together. We
have one goal to spread the
wellsprings outward and kabbalas
pnei Moshiach Tzidkeinu. This
bridges any gap in hashkafa,
age, or approach. Since Avigdor
joined me, I always hear him out
and make decisions upon fully
considering his views. We are a
team, together with the shliach,
R Asher Meshulam, who joined
us. We sometimes have different
approaches, but there is one
goal and we discuss everything.
Everything we built here is per
the will of the Rebbe.
R Avigdor smiled and chose
to speak about the differences:
Our approach to fundraising,
for example, is different. My
father is very direct and he asks
people outright for a donation
and also promises them things.
Two years ago, someone came
to the Chabad House and asked
for a bracha for a son. My father
told him that since it was before
Lag BOmer, he should give a
donation and buy the booklets
that they give out at the parade
and the next year he would have
a son. The following year the
wife came to the Chabad House
to give another donation for Lag
BOmer. She was in an advanced

8 26 Iyar 5776 - Hakhel

1023_bm_eng.indd 8

2016-05-31 11:41:55 AM

The Rebbe circled the words my

many sins and next to it wrote, they
are non-existent.

stage of pregnancy. A few

days later, her husband called
excitedly to say, What a miracle,
my wife had a boy! The amazing
thing is that I found the receipt
for the donation I made last year
when your father promised us a
son and it was 13 Iyar. Our son
was born on the same date!
My approach is different. I
cant approach someone directly
and get him involved. I learn
Torah with people. We build a
relationship based on learning.
We end up speaking about all
kinds of things including the
work we do at the Chabad House
and then they give very nice
donations.
The two approaches are
good and they both work, but
theyre different. You never know
where money is going to come
from. The main thing is to keep
working and have bitachon. I
have seen that when we rely
overly much on the keilim that
we made, like with requests we
submitted to the city to get a
budget, it just doesnt work. But
when I make sure to focus and
strengthen the giving of shiurim
and hafatza and have bitachon,
the Rebbe sends us plenty.

The Rebbe added Binyamin in his handwriting

R Binyamin (with a
big smile): Youre speaking
about brachos? I will tell you
something. Every year before
Pesach we arrange two public
sdarim with the big one being
held in the old Rosh HaAyin and
the other one in the new Rosh
HaAyin.
Last year, on Thursday, the
day of bdikas chametz, Avigdor
was over his head in work and
felt he did not have the time to
arrange the public seder in the
hall where 120 people were going
to attend. He sent out a request
for help on the Chabad House
Facebook page. Ten minutes later
a woman called and said she was
willing to set up the hall and she
was even willing to get her friends
to help. They spent hours at the
hall and by midnight everything
was set up nicely. He thanked the
woman who then burst into tears
and said she was married for
years and had no children. On
the spot, he blessed her that in
the merit of this big mitzva, she
should be blessed with children.
Two and a half months ago she
called to say that she had given
birth to a girl. A few days ago
she called again and said that
this year too she wants to set

up for the Pesach seder with her

friends.
R Avigdor smiled bashfully
and nodded to affirm the story.
My father continues the
tradition of Mesibos Shabbos
every day of the week and
Kinusei Torah every Friday.
He has become the Chassidic
trademark of Rosh HaAyin. I
am busy running the array of
programs and especially with
giving shiurim to men and
women and private classes. My
father and I are each involved
in the work of the other. We
help one another. The Chabad
House has minyanim, Shabbos
meals, holiday programs, relief
programs, etc. The place is
very active. I know that without
my parents mesirus nefesh,
we would not be where we are
today.
R Binyamin nodded, with
the difficulties of the early
years probably lurking in the
background of the consciousness
of both father and son.
The
initial
difficulties
have become sweetened over
the years, says R Binyamin.
What fazed us at the outset,
like the limited finances and

Issue 1023

1023_bm_eng.indd 9

2016-05-31 11:41:57 AM

Shlichus

R Avigdor working with children before Pesach

various disturbances, are of

no consequence today. The
Rebbe sends help. As long as we
continue working, the money
comes in. Period. The Rebbe
helps. We do, and the conduits
open. At first, who could even
think about a salary? We just
worked. Today we are no longer
worried. We have complete
trust and cooperation among
us. Avigdor is talented in many
ways. I do not recall any earthshattering
arguments
and
differences of opinion between
us. I think that the father-son
relationship
and
Avigdors
background, growing up here on
shlichus, just strengthens us.

MOVING UP IN THE WORLD

I kept hearing about the bomb
shelter and how crowded it was
and cant help but notice that
their work today is carried out in
a very nice, spacious place and I
asked them about this.
Three years ago, we moved
to our new location, said R
Binyamin. After years of mesirus
nefesh in the shelter, the city
decided that we needed to get
out of there and pressured us to
do so almost immediately. The
solution was to buy a caravan

R Binyamin Akiva helping people with the Dalet minim

that would be placed at the new

location that was offered to us
and which would serve as a shul.
It was a Sunday morning
with the Kinus HaShluchim
coming up. I suddenly got a call
from the city manager and she
told me that we must immediately
leave the shelter, i.e., be out in
three days, by Tuesday. I decided
I wouldnt go to the Kinus so I
could work to prevent this from
happening. I wrote to the Rebbe
and understood from the answer
that the Rebbe was telling me to
go to the Kinus and not to worry.
My son suggested we speak to
one of our donors, someone
who gave us small donations
on a regular basis but we knew
he was capable of giving more.
I called him up and explained
the situation, that we needed a
caravan and that the matter was
urgent. A few hours later he
called me back and said he would
take care of it.
After the Kinus HaShluchim,
the city inexplicably gave us more
time and the donor promised to
buy the most up to date caravan
at a cost double what he planned
on spending to begin with. He
even decided to build a deck for
shiurim. The move to the new

place opened up new possibilities

and provided more convenience
and a better location.
Three years ago, the city
offered us a piece of land on
which to build a permanent
structure and a year and a half
ago we actually got the lot.
We want the building to be
a replica of 770. We started
getting estimates from architects
for drawing up the plans even
though we didnt have money for
that.
I went to the Rebbe for the
Kinus HaShluchim, said R
Avigdor, and asked the Rebbe
to help us move along with our
building. When I returned to
Eretz Yisroel I met a contractor
who told me he knows a firstrate architect. He said she is
expensive but he stressed how
important it is not to compromise
on quality building plans. We met
with her twice and she said she
would work out a price and we
would talk. Two days later, while
I was sitting on the deck of the
Chabad House, I was looking at
a picture of the Rebbe and I said,
Rebbe, I need your help. I want
to see that you are with us. A
few minutes later, the man who
donated the caravan called and

10 26 Iyar 5776 - Hakhel

1023_bm_eng.indd 10

2016-05-31 11:41:57 AM

said he wants to see me. Within

the hour he came to the Chabad
House and while I was telling
him experiences from my trip to
the Rebbe he stopped me and
said, Listen, as soon as you get
the building permit, I will make
a nice donation that will enable
you to start building. I was in
shock over how the Rebbe had
responded so quickly to me.
A few hours later I suddenly
got a phone call from the
architect who said she had really
connected to the project and
she wanted to donate all her
work. We were flabbergasted.
During her work on the project
she got more and more top tier
professionals involved to work on
the project as their donation. She
said that she felt that the reason

she studied architecture was to

execute our project.
Of course, we have a long
way to go before we get all the
money we need, but we are
confident that just as the Rebbe
helped us until now, he will
continue to help us and it will all
work out.
At the moment, Rosh
HaAyin is in a building frenzy,
with an expected doubling of
the population. I go there every
Shabbos with the children, a
three and a half kilometer walk
(about two miles) each way and
serve as the rav of the new shul
that opened there. At the very
outset of this new stage in our
work the Rebbe sent me a lot of
help and possibilities and it is
very encouraging.

Continued from page 13

who introduced herself as a

college student who took part in
Chabads activities on campus.
She told him that she was born
to a family where her mother was
Jewish and her father was not.
Unfortunately, her mother died
and her father wasnt interested
in helping them at all with
anything Jewish. Her brother
would be bar mitzva soon and
she wanted to do something to
mark the occasion. She asked for
his help in buying tfillin.
R Zalmanovs ears perked
up. From the few details she
offered he thought she might be
the daughter of that family whose
tuition he had paid for.
Did you live in Brooklyn at
some point? he asked out of the
blue with no connection to what
they had been talking about.
Yes, she said.
Is your name ?
There was a pause and then
she said yes.

but in the years to come, when

the grandmother reported to
him about the births of another
daughter and a son, he got them
into Jewish schools and paid their
tuition, which cost quite a lot of
money.

PART III
Some more years passed
and the mother of the children
became sick and suddenly died.
A few months after her passing,
the gentile father decided to
move to a small town in upstate
New York. Within a short time,
R Zalmanovs connection with
the three Jewish children ended.
Nobody from the Vaada LeDovrei
Ivrit had any idea where the
children were and what happened
to them.
Years passed and one day
R Zalmanov got a phone call.
On the line was a young girl

MESSAGE FOR THE

REBBES SHLUCHIM
R Akiva and his sons
message is:
The most important thing is
to keep the Rebbe as the central
focus. We are not what its about;
the shlichus that the Rebbe is
executing through us is the heart
of the matter. We belong to him.
Every shliach knows that the
more you are active and devoted,
the more you feel the power of
the meshaleiach that is revealed
through you and the more you
will see open miracles. We
can only have achdus and true
harmony when there is one boss
and one goal and the path is the
one the Rebbe said to get there.

Are your sister and brother

and ?
She was astonished. How did
the rabbi know their names?
R Zalmanov then explained
his part in her Jewish education
and about all the conversations
he had with her grandmother
and her mother over the years.
He was so happy to hear that
the three children tried hard to
preserve the Jewish education
they had received in Jewish
schools and to keep mitzvos to
the best of their ability.
Of
course,
the
Vaada
LeDovrei Ivrit celebrated the bar
mitzva of her brother and bought
him a pair of tfillin. Since then,
R Zalmanov has been in touch
with the three children. The three
of them became very Jewishly
involved and at some point they
left their gentile father and moved
to a religious community. They
eventually established religious
families of their own.

Issue 1023

1023_bm_eng.indd 11

11

2016-05-31 11:41:58 AM

STORY

EVERY JEWISH
CHILD COUNTS
By Menachem Ziegelboim

PART I
The Vaada LeDovrei Ivrit
is an organization that has
been spreading the wellsprings
for nearly fifty years among
thousands of Israelis who live
in Metropolitan New York. R
Shraga Zalmanov started the
organization and runs it till
today. He became aware of the
fact that hundreds and even
thousands of Israelis who live
in New York feel the strain of
leaving Eretz Yisroel or have
problems acclimating in America.
Many of them were used to living
religious or traditional lives back
home and find it hard to integrate
into Jewish institutions in the US,
whether because of the language
barrier or differences in mentality
and culture. R Zalmanov decided
to fill the need and reach out to
these people and has done so
successfully.
R Zalmanov has numerous
stories
about
people
who
became involved in Judaism and
Chassidus thanks to the Vaada
LeDovrei Ivrit. Here is one of his
stories:
Right
after
the
Rebbe
announced Mivtza Chinuch,
those who worked for the Vaada
LeDovrei Ivrit worked hard to
get as many Jewish children as

possible to switch from public

schools to Jewish schools. It
wasnt easy, especially because
Jewish schools cost a lot of
money and public schools
are free. Families that did not
understand the importance of
providing a Jewish education to
the next generation, were not
willing to spend money on it.
Nevertheless,
the
Rebbe
often encouraged the heads of
the Vaad, led by R Zalmanov, to
continue trying.
One day, the phone rang in
R Zalmanovs office. It was a
woman who introduced herself
by saying shes a Jewish lady. He
could hear her crying. After she
calmed down a bit, she was able
to tell him that her daughter had
a black, gentile boyfriend and
they were planning on getting
married. The mother pleaded
with him to speak to her daughter
and explain to her how terrible
intermarriage is and try to
convince her to leave her fianc.
Do you think she will be
willing to meet with a rabbi?
asked R Zalmanov.
I asked her, said the
mother. She said she was open
to listening on one condition,
that the rabbi come to her
house where she lived with

her boyfriend. She wants the

conversation to take place in his
presence.
Where do they live? asked
R Zalmanov.
When he heard the name of
the neighborhood, he was taken
aback because in those days,
merely the name of it was enough
to make people nervous. It was
a crime ridden place where even
the police were afraid to enter.
They did so only when they
had no choice and under heavy
protection.
R Zalmanov is a faithful
general in the Rebbes army and
he arranged a time to meet. On
the appointed day, he went to
the dangerous neighborhood. He
was concerned about his safety
but was even more concerned
about having to speak to the girl
in front of her gentile boyfriend
and having to convince her to
leave him.
He didnt have much choice
and he tried to the best of his
abilities. He brought logical
reasons, emotional explanations,
insights about success in life, but
it seemed it was all for nothing.
The girl wasnt moved and wasnt
ready to leave her boyfriend.
At a certain point he said to
her, Think about your future

12 26 Iyar 5776 - Hakhel

1023_bm_eng.indd 12

2016-05-31 11:41:58 AM

This question is one

that only a Rebbe can
answer. R Zalmanov quickly
wrote to the Rebbe and laid
out the considerations. Not
long afterward, the secretary
called him with the Rebbes
answer: Pay for the girls
Jewish education.

children. According to Jewish

law, they will be Jews. But in
your situation, they will grow
up as gentiles. When they get
even older and will discover that
they are members of the Jewish
people, they will be torn. They
will come to you complaining,
justifiably so, and you? How will
you be able to look them in the
eyes?
For a moment it seemed that
he had reached her. She was
quiet for a long time and then she
turned to her boyfriend who was
sitting on the side and listening.
Will you agree that our
children should get a Jewish
education?
He shrugged indifferently and
said he had no problem with that.
The girl was satisfied with his
answer and turned triumphantly
to R Zalmanov. Thats what I
will do. When we have kids, I will
make sure to provide them with a
Jewish education and send them
to Jewish schools.

PART II
Years went by and the phone
rang in R Zalmanovs office.
The lady on the line did not
have to work hard to remind
him of the unfortunate story

of her daughter. R Zalmanov

remembered immediately.
My daughter gave birth
to a girl a few years ago, said
the mother-grandmother. She
will be starting school soon. I
reminded my daughter about her
promise to send her children to
Jewish schools and she agreed to
it. Her gentile husband went to
the nearest school in their area to
register their daughter, but when
he heard how much it would cost
he went back to my daughter
and said, I have no objections to
your daughter attending a Jewish
school but I am not willing to pay
for it.
Please help them get my
granddaughter into a Jewish
school. This is the only way
my family will have Jewish
continuity, she said, crying once
again.
R Zalmanov quickly assessed
the situation and knew he was
in a bind. On the one hand, this
was a Jewish girl and he had to
help her get into a Jewish school,
especially when this was the only
chance she had of maintaining
the familys Jewish heritage. On
the other hand, the money he
raised for this purpose was very
limited and if he paid this girls
tuition, it would be at someone

elses expense, that of one of the

mekuravim in his community
who would not get the needed
help.
I thought about what the
Rebbe said to us about this, that
when the budget is limited and
the expenses are great, you need
to weigh what is more important.
This girl, even if she were to
attend a Jewish school, would
be going home every day to a
family where her father is a goy
and her mother has no interest in
Judaism. So what would become
of her Jewish learning? There are
traditional families that raise their
children in the spirit of the Torah
but because they cant financially
manage tuition, they can only
send their children to Jewish
schools with our help. Who takes
precedence?
This question is one of dinei
nefashos (a life and death legal
issue) and one that only a Rebbe
can answer. R Zalmanov quickly
wrote to the Rebbe and laid out
the considerations. Not long
afterward, the secretary called
him with the Rebbes answer: Pay
for the girls Jewish education.
Of course, after this answer
from the Rebbe, not only did R
Zalmanov pay the girls tuition,
Continued on page 11
Issue 1023

1023_bm_eng.indd 13

13

2016-05-31 11:41:58 AM

BITACHON BYTES

THE IDEAL WAY

TO LEARN TORAH
By Rabbi Zalman Goldberg

tudying
Torah
is
something that practically
everybody can do, but as
always, the Bitachon way
of life presents a unique perspective
on the relationship between one
studying Torah and the Torah
being studied. The way of learning
Torah which is most discouraged
is studying in a way that there
is an emotional chasm between
the subject matter and the one
learning. The subject may be well
understood but it is abstract to the
world of the student (by choice).
The student may be a very wise and
accomplished student, but if there
is no internal lesson taken, then it
is a sad abuse of Hashems Torah.
As the famous saying goes, one
may have studied a lot of Torah,
but whats important is what Torah
has taught the student.
There is another manner of
learning, which although quite
good, is still not ideal. That is
when the one studying really
connects to the Torah. It is clear
that one following this method
of Limud HaTorah will most
certainly take lessons from the
subject studied for he wants
an internal relationship with
the Torah. Nonetheless, if the
connection appears as if two
separate entities are being united,
it is not optimal.

The best approach to Torah

study is when there is only a
of Torah, i.e., the person
has no existence of his own
and the only thing that exists
is Torah. Conversely, when a
person relates to Torah as though
it were a separate entity aside for
himself, as much as the person
connects to Torah, there is still an
existence other than Torah, i.e.,
of the student.
Perhaps we can elucidate
this contrast with a story about
the Rebbe Maharash. A Litvishe
Yid once told Reb Betzalel
Wilschansky that his father was
considered a big lamdan, and
even authored a well-received
commentary on part of Yore
Deia, the second part of the
Shulchan Aruch. While he was
writing the seifer, he came across
a very difficult question which
compelled him to travel across the
country in search of an answer.
After much travel, he still had
not found a satisfactory solution,
and he decided to visit the
Rebbe Maharash in Lubavitch.
Immediately after posing the
question, the Rebbe took a
Gemara off the shelf, looked into
it briefly and responded, Its a
in . The author
immediately understood the
brilliant answer and left the room
with tremendous excitement.

Afterward, the great lamdan

decided to travel to the esteemed
Reb Aizel Charif, one of the
foremost geonim in the Litvishe
world at the time, to hear how he
would respond to the question.
Reb Aizel first gave two solutions
which the lamdan refuted, and
then Reb Aizel gave the answer
which the lamdan had already
heard from the Rebbe Maharash.
The lamdan told Reb Aizel,
Now I see the difference
between you and the Rebbe. The
Rebbe answered right away, but
by you it took quite a while.
One whose entire being is
Torah, such as the Rebbe, will
answer right away the correct
meaning because he is so in tune
with the way of Torah that there
was no personal thought process
to go alongside the Torah.
Reb Aizel, on the other
hand, although an extremely
accomplished Talmud Chacham
and gaon and a phenomenal
example of devotion to Torah,
was perhaps like two separate
objects uniting and this resulted
in other thoughts other than the
correct answer to pop in when
a difficult question was posed
before he was able to arrive at the
truth of Torah.
There are many examples of
people who were one with Torah

14 26 Iyar 5776 - Hakhel

1023_bm_eng.indd 14

2016-05-31 11:41:58 AM

Perhaps
we
can
suggest that one such
example of literally being one
and the same with Torah was
the Rogatchover Gaon, Reb
Yosef Rosen. Everything he
uttered was connected with
a Gemara or another part of
Torah.

on various levels (even if not on

the level of the Rebbe Maharash).
This should be the goal of every
Yid. Even if one sees oneself as a
being which is quite strong, if the
goal is to really be one with Torah,
as if the Torah was engraved into
his being, and not that the Torah
should be connected to him,
ultimately keeping his existence
intact, the effect will be much
stronger.
Perhaps we can suggest that
one such example of literally
being one and the same with
Torah was the Rogatchover Gaon,
Reb Yosef Rosen. Everything he
uttered was connected with a
Gemara or another part of Torah.
When a baby didnt want to nurse

from its mother on Shabbos, the

Gaon quoted a which
alluded to the fact that because
of a change of dress on Shabbos
the baby may not recognize the
mother. This was great advice
and remedied the problem as
soon as it was heeded. When
asked to pen a letter for the
purpose of raising funds to keep
poor homes warm during the
winter, the letter consisted more
of sources in the Gemara than
an actual request for money,
although the point was well
taken. If the Rogatchover was
going to respond to any question
or remark, no matter how trivial,
it was with a quote from our
Torah.

Interestingly, it is told that an

individual who received from
both of the Rabbanim of Dvinsk,
the Rogatchover and the Or
Sameiach, Reb Meir Simcha, was
asked what the difference was
between the two Torah giants.
The Rogatchover answers right
away and the Or Sameiach thinks
for a short while, he responded.
RabbiZalmanGoldbergis a well
sought after speaker and lecturer on
Chassidic thought. His writings and
recordings on the topic of Bitachon can
be accessed athttp://www.gotbitachon.
com.You can also receive his one
minute daily Bitachon clip by sending
a WhatsApp to347.546.4402with the
wordBitachon.

Issue 1023

1023_bm_eng.indd 15

15

2016-05-31 11:41:58 AM

OBITUARY

THE MASHPIA,
R MAISHKE
The Chassidic persona of the mashgiach and mashpia, the
Chassid R Moshe Naparstek ah, is engraved in the hearts
and souls of thousands of students, who spent time under
his influence during his over forty years in the Chabad
yeshiva in Kfar Chabad. They viewed him as a pnimiusdike
Chassid, a wonderful mashpia, and a wise Chassid whose
big heart was always open to them. * Along with the hats
of mashgiach and mashpia, he also wore the hat of a farmer
and every day he spent hours in the esrog orchards in Kfar
Chabad, as the Rebbe told him to do. * Portrait of a Chassid.
By Menachem Ziegelboim

he Chabad community
sustained a great loss with
the passing of R Moshe
Naparstek ah, mashpia in
Tomchei Tmimim in Kfar Chabad
for decades. He was 81.

THE EARLY YEARS

R Moshe, or as he was
affectionately
known,
R
Maishke, was born on 14 Teves
5695. His father was R Reuven
Dovber who learned in Tomchei
Tmimim in Warsaw, and his
mother was Chaya Gittel.
Moshe was the youngest of three
brothers.
World War II broke out when
he was four years old. His family

was living in Shedlitz, Poland at

the time.
My first memory is of a siren
and my mother came running to
take me home from school. That
was the last time I remember
my mother holding me, R
Naparstek said over seventy years
later.
Due to the war situation, the
family escaped from Poland to
Siberia where they spent the war
years. Moshe was only seven
years old when his mother died
of starvation.
We had to keep moving
throughout the war years. We
arrived in Siberia and then moved
to Tashkent in Uzbekistan.

Although we kept moving and

there was the problem of parnasa
and life itself, my father put
in great effort to instill in us
children as much Yiddishkait
as he could. My father was
moser nefesh for this so that our
precious childhood years would
not, G-d forbid, go to waste.
At the end of the war,
his father, who had Polish
citizenship, was allowed to legally
cross the Russian border together
with his family. He returned
to Poland where he saw the
scorched earth that the cursed
Germans had left behind. He
decided not to remain in Poland
and he headed for the refugee

16 26 Iyar 5776 - Hakhel

1023_bm_eng.indd 16

2016-05-31 11:42:00 AM

camp in Poking, Germany where

there was a group of Chabad
Chassidim who had also fled
from Russia. There, in the
refugee camp, For the first time
in my life I encountered Chabad
Chassidim, and there is where I
celebrated my bar mitzva.
R Moshe, then a youth, got
to know the ways of Chabad
Chassidim and this made a strong
impression on him. He was close
with R Avrohom Eliyahu Plotkin,
R MM Dubrawsky, and others.
He was particularly drawn to
the Chassid, R Yisroel Neveler
(Levin).
He was a Chassidic character
in the fullest sense of the word.

A smart man, wise and sharp, a

Chassid through and through.
With all his Chassidic greatness
he devoted himself to us children
with incredible devotion.
Moshe would sit for hours
and watch R Yisroel daven and
observe his Chassidic ways.
He is the Chassid who shaped
my Chassidic identity, he said
years later. Although by nature
I wasnt a particularly sedate
child, I clung to him with all
my might and literally followed
him around. On Shabbos, for
example, I would run to hear
Kiddush, eat something and then
quickly return to shul so as not
to miss his Shabbos davening,

which lasted until four, five in the

afternoon.
The Naparstek family did
not stay in the DP camp for
long. They continued from
there to Eretz Yisroel. They
arrived in Sivan 1948 and with
the founding of Kfar Chabad in
1949, they joined that generation
of pioneers who founded the
town amid great hardships.
R Naparstek went to learn
in Yeshivas Achei Tmimim
in Tel Aviv by the mashpia, R
Shaul Brook. Then he learned
in Tomchei Tmimim in Lud
and Kfar Chabad where he was
a student and mushpa of the
celebrated mashpia, R Shlomo
Chaim Kesselman, from whom
he heard and internalized a lot.
He is the person to whom I
can attribute my entire personal
development; it belongs to him.
It is said that R Shlomo Chaim
would send young talmidim
to watch R Moshe daven on
Shabbos so they would see what
tfilla is supposed to be.
The first time he went to the
Rebbe was in 5719, after going
through
many
bureaucratic
hurdles which dragged on for two
years. It was only a handwritten,
explicit note from Ben Gurion
himself that enabled him to leave
the country. He spent nearly a
year and a half by the Rebbe.
Even before the hanhala
of the yeshiva accepted me,
the Rebbe officially accepted
me. In yechidus he blessed me
with bracha vhatzlacha in my
learning in yeshiva.
That year and a half by the
Rebbe was full and packed, with
R Moshe using every moment
in the presence of the Rebbe to
absorb much Torah, Chassidus
and hiskashrus to the Rebbe,
experiences which stayed with
him for the rest of his life.

Issue 1023

1023_bm_eng.indd 17

17

2016-05-31 11:42:02 AM

Obituary

THE MASHGIACHS ADVICE

Shortly after he returned
to Eretz Yisroel, he married
his wife Leah, daughter of R
Avrohom Shmuel Garelik, and
granddaughter of the rav of
Kfar Chabad, R Shneur Zalman
Garelik ztl. He began working
as a teacher in the vocational
school. Some time later, he was
appointed as the educational
menahel of the vocational school
which then had 400 students.
After a while, Tomchei
Tmimim moved from Lud to
Kfar Chabad and his beloved
mashpia,
R
Kesselman,
suggested that he work there.
I wrote to the Rebbe and the
Rebbe said to accept the offer.
I began my job as mashgiach in
Chassidus, a job he maintained
for decades.
The mashpia, R Moshe
Naparstek, was beloved and
admired by his talmidim over
the years even though part of
his job was to take and enforce

attendance, a job that usually

creates friction between a
mashgiach and the students. He
earned their love since he himself
felt great love for them and he
served as their advocates during
administrative meetings.
He once told the following
story:
Now and then, there were
situations with the students that
did not go smoothly. Among the
hanhala there were arguments
about the talmidim, as is typical
in many schools. Among the staff
there were those who called me
the Rav from Berditchev since I
tried to go easy on the talmidim.
There was once a group
of studentstoday they are all
fine Lubavitcherswho at the
time were having difficulties as
far as kabbalas ol and discipline
were concerned. Among the staff
some maintained that we needed
to be tough with them, but I
insisted that we act like Hillel.
I took on the entire staff but
since the educational situation

On Shabbos I would run to hear Kiddush, eat

something, and then quickly return to shul so as
not to miss his Shabbos davening, which lasted until four,
five in the afternoon.

With a group of bachurim. In the center is the mashpia, R Shlomo Chaim Kesselman
and the mashgiach, R Eliezer Horowitz

was really not simple, I was not

confident that I was taking the
right position. I decided to ask
the Rebbe.
In those days I would go
to the Rebbe twice a year, for
Simchas Torah and for Shavuos.
All the times I had yechidus, on
principle I did not ask the Rebbe
about yeshiva matters. The
reason for this was that the Rebbe
received detailed reports from the
menahel of the yeshiva, R Efraim
Wolf, who also participated in the
meetings of the hanhala ruchnis
that took place twice a month,
and so I knew that the Rebbe was
aware of the situation.
Since the matter was on my
mind, I decided to ask the Rebbe
this time, and act accordingly.
Before going in for yechidus, I
wrote to the Rebbe about this but
in the end I did not submit this
question. I figured I would bring
the matter up orally. In the end,
I did not bring it up during the
yechidus either but something
special happened.
It was a very long yechidus
and the conversation shifted to
the esrog orchard that I own.
At a certain point, the Rebbe
motioned and I understood that
the yechidus was over. I started
going out while facing the Rebbe
and suddenly, the Rebbe looked
up (he usually sat somewhat
bowed over) and I saw that he
wanted to say something. Then
the Rebbe said, Regarding
chinuch, in general, since time
immemorial the approach of
drawing close and ways of
kindness were always the way
to success, especially today,
nowadays, when only chesed
and ways of drawing close are
the path to success. Blessing and
success. It was a direct response
to the subject on my mind and
the Rebbe raised it without my
asking.

18 26 Iyar 5776 - Hakhel

1023_bm_eng.indd 18

2016-05-31 11:42:02 AM

Until today, I meet students

who learned in yeshiva and even
if they were not able to make it
in the standard track, they tell
me honestly that they appreciate
and are thankful for what they
got in yeshiva. It is clear to me
that when the approach is one
of drawing close and chesed, the
message sticks.
His guidance of the talmidim
was extremely down to earth.
One of his students, R Yigal
Ovadya, tells of a simple but
wise piece of advice that he got as
a student:
I went on Kvutza in 5744.
Before I went, I asked him to give
me a tip about how to conduct
myself at the Rebbe. He just
said to me, Eat well, sleep well,
remember that day is day and
night is night. I said to him, I am
going on Kvutza to be with the
Rebbe. Thats all the preparation
you are advising me to do? How
about giving me a program of
Chassidus to learn, or some other
Chassidic practice? but he said,
Yigal, if only you kept to what I
told you!
My first day at 770, I sat
and learned. Next to me were
two bachurim and I heard one
of them ask the other, When did
you go to sleep last night? The
other one said, At four in the
morning. Why so early? asked
the first one. Because I was tired
and couldnt stay up any more.
That is when I understood that
my mashpia knew just what he
was talking about. I resolved to
stick to the yeshiva schedule,
even though its not always easy
to do so when on Kvutza.
One day, the rosh yeshiva,
R Mordechai Mentlick, said to
me, I see that you are particular
about the sdarim and that
you are learning seriously. He
wanted to reward me for this. I
told him that my reward was the

Farbrenging in yeshiva with R Zalman Gopin

That same day I went back to the yeshiva

and asked R Moshe how he accomplished this
miracle. He said, As long as you did not give him the
feeling that he is the commander and you are the soldier,
nothing helped you. But the minute you gave him the
feeling that he is the commander and you will obey him,
his attitude changed.

precious time I had seeing the

Rebbe but he did not accept this
and wanted to reward me with
some material item.
This was all because of the
simple advice given to me by the
mashpia. I saw blessings by doing
as he said.
***
R Naparsteks main job in
yeshiva was as mashgiach, but
he also carried out the role of a
mashpia. He gave a Tanya class at
the end of the Chassidus session
in the evening. He occasionally
farbrenged with the bachurim
along with the old-time, famous
mashpiim.
Over the years I was
particular about not giving a
shiur in Chassidus because my

Farbrenging with R Mendel Futerfas

Issue 1023

1023_bm_eng.indd 19

19

2016-05-31 11:42:02 AM

Obituary

In his esrog orchard

job was hashgacha, and I did

not want to distract myself from
supervising the bachurim, said
R Naparstek with a smile.
Throughout the years I was
in the dormitory more than in
the zal. I knew that if I wanted
the zal to be as it should, then I
needed to be in the dorm to make
sure that everyone would sit and
learn. When I felt that it was
too hard for me to run around
between dozens of dorm rooms
and check after the bachurim, I
left hashgacha and began giving
shiurim in Chassidus.
Although his job was not
the easiest or the kind that is
appreciated, R Moshe candidly
said, Out of the thousands of
talmidim over the decades, I
dont think I have a single enemy
because of the job I had.

CHASSID, CHACHAM,
PIKEIACH
R Moshe Naparstek was
gifted with wisdom. He was a
smart man, said all the people I
spoke to when writing this article.
There is a Chassidic aphorism
about Chassidim needing to be
smart and he was a role model of
a smart Chassid.
Not surprisingly, R Moshe
was the mashpia not only of
yeshiva bachurim but also of
dozens of married men in Kfar

Chabad, some of them graduates

of the yeshiva and some of
them who discovered him.
They found in him someone
who
combined
cleverness
and great wisdom along with
deep Chassidic feeling which
was focused on to carry out
the Rebbes wishes. This
combination became a beacon
for many people who wanted
direction, advice, and a path to
travel at various crossroads in
their lives, whether in Chassidic
life, family life or other issues
that came up.
He always had time, said
one of his mushpaim. Whenever
anybody went to consult with
him, despite all the things he was
involved with, he always made
himself available and sat down to
talk, giving his full attention and
with patience.
He would regularly say
Chassidus teaches two principles:
deliberation and patience. A
Chassid needs to make decisions
deliberately and he needs to know
that nothing moves forward at
high speed; to do things with
patience and not in a rush.
Once again, we turn to his
talmid and mushpa, R Yigal
Ovadya of Kfar Chabad. When
I asked him to characterize R
Moshe, he raised his hands in a
gesture of helplessness. A giant
of a mashpia, he said and was

unable to come up with anything

else.
He first got to know R Moshe
starting in 5741. R Yigal was a
soldier at the time who had just
started getting acquainted with
Chabad Chassidus. He served
in the air force and was dealing
with a series of conflicts between
doing mitzvos and carrying out
his orders.
I had to find solutions and I
looked for someone who would
understand things well with
whom I could consult, he says.
One of the main problems
was davening in the morning.
The day began at 7:30, but the
religious soldiers who davened
Shacharis were often late because
of the davening. That caused
unpleasantness with the officers,
until finally, the commander
of the base decided that the
davening had to begin earlier and
he gave the soldiers an additional
fifteen minutes, so they had to be
ready by 7:45.
Despite the small addition,
I was always late, said Yigal.
This really irked my direct
commander. I tried to speak to
him, I tried to compensate him
by offering fifteen minutes at
the end of the day, but he did
not accept that. We fought every
morning.
One day, I arrived at the
yeshiva in Kfar Chabad without
knowing anyone. I went over to
the first talmid I saw in the zal
and told him I wanted to consult
with some rabbi. He pointed at
R Moshe who stood near the
entrance and wrote down who
was late.
From a distance he did not
look like the kind of person I
was looking for. I thought he
wouldnt understand, but since
I had nothing to lose, I went
over to him. He first asked me
questions about myself, then

20 26 Iyar 5776 - Hakhel

1023_bm_eng.indd 20

2016-05-31 11:42:02 AM

he asked about my life in the

army, about the orders and the
schedule. Then he thought and
said, Then obey orders and show
up at 7:45. I told him that in that
case, I would hardly have time to
daven, but he said I should still
make it my business to show up
on time. He also advised me to
ask for a written record of my
discussions with the commander
about my unpunctuality.
I didnt have a choice; I
did what he said. When I got
to the base I went over to the
commander
and
requested
a written record of our
interactions. He agreed and we
walked to the conference room
together where I spoke to him
again and said I request special
permission to show up each
morning at eight. He looked at
me and said, You want to come
at eight? Fine, then come at
8:15 I was taken aback and
said I did not understand. After
all, he had always insisted that I
come at 7:45 and not a minute
later. What happened all of a
sudden?
That same day I went back
to the yeshiva and asked R
Moshe how he accomplished this
miracle. He said, As long as you
did not give him the feeling that
he is the commander and you are
the soldier, nothing helped you.
But the minute you gave him the
feeling that he is the commander
and you will obey him, his
attitude changed. Thanks to his
wise advice, things worked out in
the best possible way.
This was how Yigal met
the mashpia, R Maishke. For
decades, whenever I consulted
with him, he always gave me
the best possible advice. I have
many examples to illustrate that
whatever he said was right.
Some years later, the
commander of the base was

By the Rebbe

The Rebbe said the marketing should be done

in a way of lsheim ultiferes (for renown and
for splendor) in a way that is suitable for us, Chabad. I
understood from this that we have a mission to do in the
marketing.

replaced with a tough guy

whom everyone feared. At the
same time, he was an excellent
commander and the military
establishment loved and admired
him for his ability to get things
moving. I was also afraid of him,
especially when I already had
an administrative position and
was supposed to serve as his
assistant. I went to R Naparstek
and told him I was anxious. He
said to me, You will do what he
tells you. That is what I did and
throughout the period when we
worked together, no problems
arose.
A few years later, when I
was released from the army, I
got to talking openly with the
commander and he told me that
one time they wanted to get rid
of me and the commanders above
him had him come and discuss
it. He got up and said, If you
start with him, I promise you

that I am going with him. He

had supported me, which was
most unusual. I couldnt restrain
myself and said to him, You are
known as a tough commander.
Thanks to what did I survive
under your command? He said,
Because you did whatever I told
you. Word for word what R
Moshe advised me.

R MOSHES ESROGIM
For many years, R Moshe
grew esrogim in Kfar Chabad.
He went himself to the orchards
and supervised the process from
the beginning until the stage of
selling them before Sukkos.
He was a farmer as well as a
mashgiach and mashpia. Kfar
Chabad was founded as an
agricultural village, says Mrs.
Tzippora Maidanchek of Kfar
Chabad whose family kept close
ties with the mashpia. That

Issue 1023

1023_bm_eng.indd 21

21

2016-05-31 11:42:03 AM

Obituary
is how it was presented to the
outside world throughout the
years. However, as time went
on, the Kfar changed and R
Moshe was one of the few who
continued farming. This was part
of his devotion and loyalty to the
Rebbe.
His involvement with esrogim
began around 5720. Five years
prior to that, the Rebbe spoke
to R Mordechai Perlov of Italy
about the possibility that the
esrogim from Calabria would
be grafted and to be properly
prepared for such an eventuality.
The Rebbe wanted them to
take seedlings from orchards
in Calabria and plant them in
orchards that were free of any
grafting in Kfar Chabad.
After the passing of his fatherin-law, R Moshe inherited the
orchard along with his brotherin-law, R Elozor Garelik. The
strain of esrogim from this
orchard were planted from
saplings of Calabrian esrogim
that were imported for this
purpose so that all the esrogim in
this orchard were descendants
of Calabrian esrogim.
Throughout the years, the
Rebbe urged us to expand the
orchard, said R Naparstek.
Every time I had yechidus
the Rebbe asked me about the
orchard, down to the smallest
details. The Rebbe knew the
entire growth process with all
the difficulties and accompanied
us every step of the way. Every
time we uprooted a section or
transferred a section, the Rebbe
got a report. When agricultural
problems or diseases we were
unfamiliar with arose, the Rebbe
always took the position that we
need to bring experts in order to
solve the issues.
For 5739 (or 5740) we
looked into an offer to buy a
large parcel from the Israel Land

Authority, across from the print

shop in Kfar Chabad, nearly
forty dunam (about nine acres).
At the time, temple oranges
(also known as royal mandarins)
grew there. The truth is, we
were afraid to get involved with
something so big. Forty dunam
seemed too big for us (until then
we had about ten dunam, a little
over two acres). The Rebbe, of
course, told us to take all the land
offered to us. Afterward, I asked
the Rebbe whether to plant in
all of it, i.e., whether to uproot
all the temple orange trees and
replace them with esrogim or
to leave some of them and plant
esrogim in another section.
The Rebbe circled the words
plant all of it, and made an
arrow, i.e., to plant it all. Of
course that is what we did. The
Rebbe always took the position
(and this is what he wrote in
his letters) that the day would
come when it would be almost
impossible to get Calabrian
esrogim that were not grafted,
and the Rebbe wanted there to
be another option, reliably nongrafted esrogim in their place.
The Naparstek and Garelik
esrogim orchards took a new
turn in 5751 after R Moshe
submitted a note to the Rebbe.
That Tishrei I was at the Rebbe
and was very caught up in the
atmosphere of I will show them
wonders. After Sukkos, I very
much wanted the esrog that the
Rebbe said a bracha on so I could
plant it in my orchard.
I submitted a note on behalf
of myself and my brother-in-law
in which I made this request and
said it was to merit Anash.
Ten days later I got a
phone call from the secretary,
R Groner, who told me that the
Rebbe instructed him to give the
two esrogim that he had said a
bracha over on Yom Tov to us,

to Kfar Chabad, so as to merit

Anash.
Then began a long process.
I was able to get fifty-four good
seeds out of the two esrogim
(three times chai), we cultivated
the seeds into seedlings, and
from those seedling we planted
new saplings.
At first we thought of
designating just one section for
these special esrogim, for we
thought that only Anash would
appreciate them. The rest of the
land would be used for ordinary
esrogim. We advertised among
Anash about the esrogim from
the strain that the Rebbe used in
5751 and people bought them,
but not in the way we expected.
The I will show them wonders
esrogim became popular and
everyone wanted them, even
other Chassidic groups, Litvish,
Yerushalmim, and even Satmar
Chassidim. It took a few years
until we converted other sections
of the orchard and planted trees
that are descended from the
Rebbes esrogim. In the end,
all our esrogim are offspring of
those two esrogim.
The Rebbe kept close tabs
not only on the cultivation and
challenges of the orchards but
also on the marketing and sales.
I once got an enticing offer from
the Esrogei Yisroel Center, that
created an umbrella organization
for all esrog growers in Eretz
Yisroel, to join them. It was
an exceedingly attractive offer
and when I went to the Rebbe
for Shavuos I asked him about
it. The Rebbe said, Regarding
the marketing, you should do
it on your own. I said, But we
are in Eretz Yisroel and hardly
ever leave. The Rebbe said,
Nevertheless, come here, you
come one time and then your
brother-in-law, in order to

22 26 Iyar 5776 - Hakhel

1023_bm_eng.indd 22

2016-05-31 11:42:03 AM

market them. The Rebbe did not

want us to market them through
dealers and brokers.
The
Rebbe
said
the
marketing should be done in a
way of lsheim ultiferes (for
renown and for splendor) in
a way that is suitable for us,
Chabad. I understood from this
that we have a mission to do in
the marketing. Boruch Hashem,
we ourselves market the esrogim
and we have acquired a good
reputation both for the prices
and quality. We are the only place
where those learning in kollel can
obtain the most expensive esrog
at a reasonable price. We dont
keep the nicest esrogim for those
who pay more.
R Moshe and his brother-inlaw sent the Rebbe two beautiful
esrogim every year. The Rebbe
did not say a bracha over these
esrogim, but he always took them
out to the sukka and maybe even
shook them.
My
father
considered
everything to do with the esrogim
a big zchus, said his daughter,
Mrs. Levin. He considered it a
shlichus to be mekadesh sheim
Lubavitch.
Throughout the years, he was
always in the esrog orchards early
in the morning, cultivating the
produce with great care, and then
he went on to the yeshiva.
To R Naparstek, Torah was
life. He knew how to translate
the Torah into terms of daily life.
There was no separation for him
between the hours that he spent
in yeshiva and the hours he was
in the orchard. The same was
true for his relationship with the

Rebbe, it was all the same and

with the same weightiness, said
one of his mushpaim.

SPREADING TORAH
AND CHASSIDUS
In addition to his jobs at the
yeshiva, R Naparstek would
give shiurim twice a week in
Chassidus in the central shul in
Kfar Chabad. His shiurim, which
took place every Monday and
Wednesday, were on the intricate
Hemshechim of 5666 and
5672. For a while he also taught
maamarim of the Rebbe Rayatz.
R Yigal Ovadya was one
of those who attended the
shiurim and he was amazed by
R Moshes ability to teach in
a way that made the material
understandable to all:
He would usually give an
introduction before teaching
the topic. He would invest a lot
in order to explain concepts in
Chassidus and he liked bringing
examples, mainly from the
relationship of body and soul, so
that it would be more relatable
to us. It was only at the end of
the shiur that he would read
inside the text and explain it. At

the next shiur, he would start

with a summary of the previous
shiur and only then would he go
further.
Sometimes he explained
difficult and deep sections but
he would always patiently spend
time explaining every concept
from every angle using parables
and examples.
It would happen, after we
finished a shiur in which we saw
how tremendous his knowledge
was, that his Ahavas Yisroel was
just as great. If it was raining and
I did not have a car, he would
ask to take me home despite my
protests.
The shiurim were important
to him. When he found out
that the day and time of a
sheva brachos for one of his
grandchildren conflicted with one
of his shiurim, he said he couldnt
attend. I have a shiur at that
time and that is more important
than anything else, even a family
simcha, he said.
***
Toward the end of his life he
was sick and he passed away on
10 Nissan. He is survived by his
wife, Leah, and children: Yosef
Yitzchok (shliach, Myrtle Beach,
South Carolina); Shneur Zalman
(South Africa); Mrs. Malka
Levin (Kfar Chabad, Israel); Mrs.
Chaya Gita Kuperman (Kfar
Chabad, Israel); Mrs. Rivka
Schneersohn (Kfar Chabad,
Israel); Mrs. Mina Greenberg
(Beitar
Ilit,
Israel);
Mrs.
Nechama Dina Lerer (Kiryat
Malachi, Israel), his siblings, as
well as many grandchildren and
great-grandchildren.

ADD IN ACTS OF GOODNESS & KINDNESS

TO BRING MOSHIACH NOW!

Issue 1023

1023_bm_eng.indd 23

23

2016-05-31 11:42:04 AM

CHABAD HISTORY

Chabads First
Vocational School
O

ne of the first projects of the Rebbe

in Israel was the establishment of
a vocational youth village in Kfar
Chabad, which included various
schools where students learned a trade. The
schools were named Beit Sefer Lmlacha, and
were sponsored partially by the American Joint
Distribution Committee (JDC).
Throughout the years Chabad expanded
the schools with financial help of the JDC,
coordinated by the Rebbes personal emissary
to Europe and North Africa, Rabbi Binyomin
Eliyahu Gorodetzky, who was closely
connected to the heads of the JDC and
ensured that Chabad receives what they need.
This week we begin a new series
of historical documents covering the
establishment and operation of these
vocational schools. The first installment
will focus on the negotiations before the
establishment of the schools, and the
discussions among the JDC offices regarding
this venture.
These fascinating documents are part of
the JDC Archives (which were digitized and
uploaded online, thanks to a grant from Dr.
Georgette Bennett and Dr. Leonard Polonsky
CBE).

FALL 1951:
THE REBBES INITIAL APPROVAL
On the 20th of Kislev 5712, the Rebbe
wrote a letter to the Hanhala of Tomchei
Tmimim Yeshivos in Israel, describing a
meeting the Rebbe had with Dr. Leo Jung,
which was the beginning of the idea of a

Chabad vocational school in Israel (Adapted

from Hebrew):
I was visited by the renowned Rabbi Dr.
Eli Jung, who notified me that the JDC is
planning on supporting vocational schools
in Israel which are directed by local Yeshivos
and function as a division of these Yeshivos.
He added that he spoke with you about
this idea namely, that the Chabad Yeshiva
in Lud should open a division to learn trade
and you answered that you have to ask my
opinion.
My response to this question is:
It is impossible for us to change the
operations of Yeshivos Tomchei Tmimim in
any place around the world from what was
decided by the founders of the Yeshiva, the
Rebbe Rashab and the Frierdiker Rebbe.
Therefore, it is not possible to include in the
Yeshiva any vocational studies.
At the same time, if there are young men
(married or unmarried) who cannot learn in
a Yeshiva the whole day, for whatever reason,
but they are willing to learn a few hours of
Nigleh & Chassidus per day if they get a few
hours of vocational studies, then it is very
important to do so, as long as it will be under
your constant supervision.
This is possible by creating a dedicated
institution for learning Torah, Nigleh &
Chassidus, and also a trade. And surely
such an institution will bring great benefit to
young men.
As per my conversation with Rabbi Jung,
he will try as much as he can to take care of
the finances, to ensure that it is covered by
the JDC. Since Rabbi Jung has an influence

24 26 Iyar 5776 - Hakhel

1023_bm_eng.indd 24

2016-05-31 11:42:05 AM

One of the first projects of the Rebbe in Israel was the

establishment of a vocational youth village in Kfar Chabad,
which included various schools where students learned a trade
* In this weeks installment we discover the beginning of this
project, the Rebbes conditions, the people who tried to derail
the project, and the agreement between the JDC and Chabad
to sponsor this project * Part One

Issue 1023

1023_bm_eng.indd 25

25

2016-05-31 11:42:07 AM

Chabad History

in the JDC, we can hope that the

JDC will fulfill this request.
Awaiting a detailed letter
about this plan (which trade,
plan, budget, etc.) and the earlier
the better.
It would be best suited that
the institution be located in Kfar
Chabad, but under your control.

WINTER 5712: THE

ENTHUSIASM OF
THOUSANDS OF JEWS
On the 30th of Shvat 5712,
the Hanhala of the Chabad
Yeshiva
Tomchei
Tmimim
Lubavitch in Israel, wrote a
heartfelt letter of thanks to Rabbi
Dr. Leo Jung for his involvement
in the new vocational schools
(Translated from Hebrew):
We have received the good
tidings concerning your intention
to establish schools of Torah

and trades among the Haredi

community, to which the great
leader of Torah, the Rebbe of
Lubavitch has given his approval.
We have no words to describe
the greatness of this endeavor
and we have no letters to describe
the tremendous Kiddush Hashem
which will take place once your
plan is fulfilled, for any person
who is pious and G-d fearing is
eagerly awaiting for this great
project which you will do for the
nation of Israel.
Dont think that this is merely
our private opinion, this is not
the case, rather this is the opinion
of G-d and of thousands of pious
and G-d fearing Jews

JDC: NON-LUBAVITCHERS
ARE AGAINST
A year later, on June 29th
1953 [Tamuz 16th 5713], an
internal letter from Mr. Judah

Shapiro (JDC Paris) to Mrs.

Henrietta Buchman (JDC New
York) explains the view of the
Hareidi camp in Israel about this
vocational school, naming the
person who tried sabotaging this
project, and also a discussion why
the JDC supports the idea as long
as it doesnt include a printing
school:
I met with Rabbi Gorodetzki
this morning I think you will
be interested In two aspects
of this discussion which are
important for their implications.
Rabbi Gorodestki informed
me that Mr. Sher protested to the
Lubavitcher Rebbe In New York
about the opening of a vocational
education program in the
Lubavitcher Yeshiva in Israel. You
know that the Vaad Hayeshivoth
has officially rejected such
programs
and
practically
sabotaged their development.
Rabbi Gorodetzki plans to go
ahead and approximately 10,000
pounds are being made available
by our office In Israel to equip
a carpentry shop in the Yeshiva
at Lydda. This will be charged
against the $100,000 grant
for vocational education for
Yeshivoth in Israel.
The second point is that I have
made a ruling which you ought to
know about, though there may
be differences of opinion about
such a ruling. I have indicated
that JDC will not accept printing
as a vocational educational unit
in the Yeshivoth for the present
time though I may reconsider
this position at a later date. My
reason is that to train young
people in the printing trade
requires the full operation of
the most modern equipment. In
other words, unless training takes
place where students can actually
engage in the fullest production,
the training is bound to be
unsuitable for later employment.

26 26 Iyar 5776 - Hakhel

1023_bm_eng.indd 26

2016-05-31 11:42:07 AM

The Yeshiva asking for a printing

press and recognizing this fact,
sees in this the opportunity to
establish a training program on
a commercial basis and deriving
therefrom income for the Yeshiva.
To run a printing press, it would
have to employ full-time, trained
workers and the students at best
would merely be apprentices in
such establishments. It is just as
possible for students now to be
apprentices to existing printing
shops where the same benefits
could be derived.
There are two additional
reasons for my position: a) full
and adequate equipment of this
nature is extremely costly and I
am not sure that we ought, at this
time, to invest such large funds
in what is still an experimental
program; b) the Yeshivoth are
looking for genteel trades and
it is a mistake to talk about
vocational education in terms of
refinement rather than in terms
of the real economic needs in
the existing society. I do not
believe that there is a shortage of
printing personnel in Israel and
I see no reason for developing
printing business on an economic
basis for the Yeshivoth.
On July 7th, 1953 [Tammuz
24th, 5713], Mrs. Henrietta
Buchman (JDC New York)
responded to Mr. Judah Shapiro
(JDC Paris), discussing (among
other details) the protest of
Mr. Sher against the Chabad
vocational school:
Mr. Shers protest to the
Lubavitcher Rebbe here against
opening a vocational education
program in the Lubavitcher
Yeshivah in Israel, comes as
somewhat of a surprise to
me. I assume it was done in
compliance with a directive from
Rabbi Sorotskin rather than as
an expression of Mr. Shers own
convictions

JDC: WE HAVE ALWAYS

BEEN SATISFIED WITH THIS
INSTITUTION
On July 1st, 1953 [Tammuz
18th, 5713], Mr. Judah Shapiro
(JDC Paris) sent a letter to Mr.
M. Stephany, from the Central
British Fund for Jewish Relief and
Rehabilitation, describing what
the Chabad vocational school is,
and how much money they are
willing to invest in this project:
Mr. Katzki has asked me to
send you some information in
reply to your inquiry about the
request for funds by the Agudas
Chassidei Chabad in Israel. The
JDC has established, as a phase
of its program of assistance to
the Yeshivoth in Israel, a special
fund to assist such institutions
in organizing special vocational
programs. Our organization,
however, does not provide any
funds for buildings and we have
clearly limited our assistance
to providing equipment in such
schools and participating in the
cost of installation.
The
Chabad
group
is
presently erecting a building in
their settlement at Safaria in
which a proper vocational school
will be established with JDC
funds. The JDC has made a loan
of $10,000 towards this building
which is being deducted from the
regular subvention to this group
and it will be repaid in a period of
approximately two years.
We
have
always
been
satisfied with the program and
administration of this institution
and we think the project is
worthwhile.

THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN

JDC AND CHABAD
On August 26th, 1953 [Elul
15th, 5713], Mr. Charles
Passman (JDC Israel) writes to

Dr. Judah Shapiro (JDC Paris)

about the agreement he reached
with the heads of Chabad in Israel
regarding the new vocational
school:
This is to inform you that
I have come to an agreement
with the Lubawicz yeshivah in
connection with their project for
putting up a carpentry shop for
training of yeshiva students.
They have in Lydda an old
building which is not suitable for
installing machinery there, but
can be used temporarily for the
first period when the training
will be for hand work. They have
also started to construct a new
building in Safria, near Sarafand.
The plan of the building was
prepared according to the
instructions of our engineers, to
be suitable for the purpose.
The school is to be for 25
pupils and the budget is divided
into two parts. For the time being,
we have to put up work benches
and various other equipment, as
well as tools, in order to enable
them to start the instruction of
hand carpentry work. The cost of
this will be IL 500 for tools and
IL 2250 for the work benches
and other equipment. The second
part of the budget is for the
purchase of carpentry machinery
with motors, which will cost
about $ 4500 This machinery
we will order as the new building
will progress.
I do not assume that this
requires special authorization, as
there has been a general budget
of $100,000 for such purposes,
and in principle we have agreed
to entertain any project proposed
by yeshivoth for vocational
training schools, if it is found
practical and not too expensive.
I am, therefore, making
arrangements for the carrying
out of this project.

Issue 1023

1023_bm_eng.indd 27

27

2016-05-31 11:42:07 AM

CROSSROADS

NEITHER PEACE
NOR WAR
There are those who dont want to win.
There are those who are ready to sacrifice
the lives of our soldiers; the main thing is
to look good in the eyes of the world. They
shouldnt say that we initiated hostilities, we
blew up tunnels, or we mistakenly injured
innocent people. The strongest army in the
world is afraid of itself. Its afraid to go
out to war, afraid to be victorious, afraid to
take initiative, and afraid to attack.
By Sholom Ber Crombie
Translated by Michoel Leib Dobry

1.
Defense
Minister
Moshe
(Bogey) Yaalon has gone home.
This is not a case of rejoicing
over the misfortune of others
or a victory in battle. On the
contrary, we are all Jews and we
all want unity among the Jewish
People. However, what we do
have here is a battle for values,
as the ousted defense minister
said himself. This was not a battle
over jobs and political power, even
though it took expression through
surprisingly
brilliant
political
tactics. Two weeks ago they were
dealing far too much with the
shallow maneuvers of partisan
politics, instead of the real heart
and soul of the issue at hand. In
essence, were talking about the
Jewish ethic of protecting human
life against the ethic that shows
no respect for human values. Yes,

the very same ethic that human

rights advocates love so much
to talk about is nowhere to be
found among these sanctimonious
elitists. It is displayed specifically
by those brave soldiers who are
prepared to fight and face the
reality head-on.
So what exactly do we have
here? An army chief of staff who
claims that If someone comes
to slay you, slay him first is just
a slogan and that he is shocked
that soldiers emptied a full rifle
clip on a girl with scissors.
We have a deputy chief of staff
who suggested that modernday society in Eretz Yisroel can
be compared to Nazi Germany
rl, or as he put it the buds of
Nazism. He also states that he
prefers that IDF soldiers die, the
main thing is that the citizens of
our neighboring enemies, those
located in the war zone and

involved in the vicious cycle of

terrorist activities, should not be
killed. But worst of all, there is
the former defense minister, who
failed to understand that we are at
war and supports, sight unseen,
all those evil sicknesses that have
pervaded the fighting ethics of the
Israel Defense Forces.
There can be no doubt
that those bullets fired by the
courageous and valiant soldier
Elor Azarya into the head of a
terrorist, who just moments before
had tried to murder his comrade
in arms, constituted the opening
salvo of the real bombardment
that the IDF has been anticipating
for a long time. In recent years, a
message of weakness and a true
lack of desire to fight and win has
taken over the IDF. Those twelveyear old girls that the army chief
of staff cant understand why they
have to be eliminated have been
causing havoc throughout the
country. Dafna Meir Hyd was
murdered by a seventeen-year old
youth, may his name be erased.
A twelve-year old girl lying
dead is not a very pleasant sight.
But why do we have to take
responsibility for that? Where
is the Arab educational system
that incites children to commit
murder and decides the fate for
those girls? They do this with
the full knowledge that they will
then go out and try to kill Jews,
and simple logic dictates that the
IDF has to be stronger than them
and neutralize them immediately.
Why does the army chief of staff
look upon his murdered soldiers

28 26 Iyar 5776 - Hakhel

1023_bm_eng.indd 28

2016-05-31 11:42:07 AM

as holy sacrifices of war, just as

they once spoke about sacrifices
of peace? Why doesnt he realize
that anyone who incites others to
murder us has to pay the price? This
is not a disagreement between those
who think every life is precious and
those with no respect for human life.
Anyone who values human life must
understand that that even a twelveyear old girl can endanger human life,
and therefore, she must be eliminated
on the spot to protect the lives of
innocent people.
The case of Elor Azarya merely set
off the explosive charge that was due
to blow up at any moment. The IDF
has tied the hands of its fighting men
in all its recent battles, and during the
current wave of terror this policy has
led to tragic consequences. Anyone
who thinks that you cant crush the
intifada of knives is making a big
mistake. The most powerful army
in the Middle East has never had a
problem with defeating this junior
varsity form of terrorism; it just
doesnt want to win. Who needs
another round of Breaking the
Silence or Goldstone reports? Its
no problem that hundreds of orphans
have been added to the cycle of
bereavement over the past year. The
main thing is that we didnt initiate
another armed conflict, which would
have resulted in the nations leaders
losing out on another embrace from
the world community and receiving
instead protests and demonstrations
in front of their homes against
yet another unnecessary military
operation.
In the final analysis, the subversive
state-run media in Eretz Yisroel
has paralyzed the country. It has
emerged victorious because the
nations military and political leaders
are essentially afraid to vanquish the
terrorist enemy, as they know that
theyll get it over the head on the
weekend news programs. Instead,
whats most fun is to sit around with
the gang and receive heroic acclaim
for their efforts in the cause of justice

and human rights, not to mention the

most coveted title of all responsible
adult. What do you have to do to
obtain these commendations? Work
really hard and prevent at least several
military operations and above all,
contain the terror.
In Operation Protective Edge, it
turned out that the IDF had greater
pity for the lives of the enemy than
for its own soldiers. During the
prematurely ended conflict that
terrible summer, sixty-seven soldiers,
may G-d avenge their blood, were
killed by Arab terrorists one soldier
for each year of Israeli independence.
You can see the context for yourself.

2.
Without any apparent connection,
there was another relevant story
in last weeks news headlines. In a
prestigious hotel in Yerushalayim, the
Torah observant members of a band
appeared at an event there, and they
were asked to remove their yarmulkes
and tuck in their tzitzis. And if you ask
why, the answer is most elementary:
The performance was organized in
honor of the hotel employees, most
of whom were Arabs, and the hotel
owners were worried that it might
hurt their feelings to see religious
Jews on the stage. In fact, the hotel
manager was so sensitive that he
even confronted the producer and
demanded that the religious musicians
put away their Jewish symbols or they
couldnt appear. Such sensitivity.
In a country where theyre
embarrassed by Jewish symbols,
its no wonder that Jewish ethics
are disappearing. This is all part of
the same story. Instead of giving
highest priority to Jewish ethics,
Jewish identity, and Jewish pride,
they leave all these things behind and
show preference for the non-Jewish
international values of capitulation
and submission before the Gentiles.
Instead of Jewish laws designed to
protect our borders and the clear
distinctions between friends and

foes, they bring us distorted values

in the name of holy pluralism and the
divinity of political correctness.
And this also happened during the
week when the Israeli people learned
about the recorded conversations from
Cabinet meetings during Operation
Protective Edge. It turns out that
while the government discussed the
threat posed by the Hamas tunnels,
apart from Ministers Naftali Bennett
and Avigdor Lieberman, everyone
claimed that Hamas has no strategic
plans to use the tunnels. (Apparently,
they were just digging them to pass
the time or as a hobby.) Once again,
we see that the story is quite simple:
There are those who dont want to
win. There are those who are ready
to sacrifice the lives of our soldiers;
the main thing is to look good in the
eyes of the world. They shouldnt say
that we initiated hostilities, we blew
up tunnels, or we mistakenly injured
innocent people. The strongest army
in the world is afraid mainly of
itself. Its afraid to go out to war,
afraid to be victorious, afraid to take
initiative, and afraid to attack. Only
after our soldiers had been murdered
during a clash in the Hamas tunnels
did the IDF suddenly realize that
perhaps Hamas hadnt merely dug
these tunnels to beautify the Gaza
panorama.
However, the Israel Defense
Forces were not available to wage
battle and deal with the terrorist
tunnel threat because half of the war
was spent in empty discussions of
general orders issued by Col. Ofer
Winter and why did he have to
write G-ds Name on those orders?
They were so busy trying to put on
a good face before the international
community and not, Heaven forfend,
turn the IDF into a Jewish army
fighting in G-ds Name, while the real
threats were ignored.
And this perhaps is the real story:
Those who are merciful to the cruel...
well, you know the rest.

Issue 1023

1023_bm_eng.indd 29

29

2016-05-31 11:42:07 AM

PARSHA THOUGHT

FROM CONFESSION
TO UNMITIGATED
GRATITUDE
By Rabbi Heschel Greenberg

PUNISHMENT FOR
REPENTANCE?
Two sections of the Torah
are extremely difficult to read
with their harsh rebukes of the
Jewish people. The first such
passage is in this weeks parsha,
BChukosai.
After detailing the suffering
that will befall the Jewish
people when they sin, the Torah
continues:
They will then confess their
iniquity and the iniquity of their
fathers, their betrayal that they
dealt Me, and that they also
treated Me as happenstance.
Then I too, will treat them
as happenstance and bring them
into the land of their enemies. If
then, their clogged heart becomes
humbled, then, [their sufferings]
will gain appeasement for their
iniquity.
Commentators are puzzled
by the fact that after the sinners
confess their iniquity, G-d will
still punish them by bringing
them into the land of their
enemies. Why would G-d not
accept their confession?
Some commentators answer
that their confession was not
sincere or incomplete. Confession
of ones sins is only as sincere as
the feeling of contrition that is
behind it.
The difficulty with this

explanation is that
the Torah does not hint of any
insincerity or deficiency of their
confessions.
Commentators ask a second
question: Why does the Torah
state that they will confess the
sins of their fathers in addition to
their own sins?

THE PATERNAL DEFENSE

The work Divrei Yoseph
explains that by confessing the
sins of their fathers, they were
attempting to raise a defense
of their own sins to have their
punishment mitigated somewhat.
Their defense was that they were
raised by parents in a sinful
environment.
However, finding a defense
for our sins on the premise that
we may have been influenced by
our forebears can only be used
when the iniquity relates to moral
lapses. Parental debasement
can be passed on to the next
generation. However, lapses
in ideology and faith are not
hereditary.
Hence, when we confess
our sins and invoke the iniquity
of our fathers, it is only an
effective defense when dealing
with sins generated by moral
turpitude. Lack of faith, such
as not believing that G-d is
involved in our lives and that all
events transpire by happenstance,

cannot be excused by referring to

the same attitude of the parents.
Thus, the Torah states that
adding their fathers sins to
their own in their confession
would not help them because
they were guilty of both moral
and theological sins. Since their
defense was undermined by
this argument, they would have
to undergo further suffering/
education to understand that
everything happens by Divine
Providence.

NO EXCUSES
One may approach the two
questions on a deeper level.
In truth, the strategy of using
ones forebears as an excuse for
ones own iniquity must fail for
any form of iniquity, moral or
ideological.
When a person confesses his
sins, he cannot make excuses for
them. Standing before G-d is not
a time to try to offer justification
for ones crimes. One must be
brutally honest before G-d and
admit that his sin was totally
his fault. While we should find
ways of defending others, it is
ill advised to do the same when
we seek atonement from G-d
for ourselves. We must not try
to whitewash or diminish the
severity of our sin if we want our
confession to erase our sins.

30 26 Iyar 5776 - Hakhel

1023_bm_eng.indd 30

2016-05-31 11:42:08 AM

Focusing on their fathers

sins could be understood as an
attempt to sneak in some hint
of justification for their iniquity.
They might be intimating to
G-d, Dont blame us fully for
our sins. It is not entirely our
fault that we transgressed. After
all, we were influenced by our
fathers. While this argument has
some merit, it is not a good idea
when we hope to be completely
cleansed and forgiven.

CONFESSIONAL PRAYER
The premise that it is
improper to mention the sins of
our fathers in our confession
seems to be contradicted by the
very text of confession we recite
in our daily prayers:
Our G-d and G-d of our
fathers, may our prayers come
before You, and do not turn away
from our supplication, for we are
not so impudent and obdurate
as to declare before You, L-rd
our G-d and G-d of our fathers,
that we are righteous and have
not sinned. Indeed, we and our
fathers have sinned.
It is clear from this prayer
that it is indeed proper to confess
our sins as well as the sins of
our fathers. Why then, in our
parsha, would mention of their
fathers iniquity indicate that
their confession was insincere or
incomplete?
Perhaps the answer may be
found in the continuation of the
confessional prayer, where we
refer to 24 expressions of the
sins we may have committed:
We have transgressed, we have
acted perfidiously No further
mention is made of our forebears
sins. It follows then that if the
defense based on our fathers sins
is followed by a brutally honest
and unqualified confession of our
own sins, the earlier confession

Its not sufficient for us to recognize that our evil

impulse and our weak emotional state got the
best of us and brought us down. We must also extend
responsibility to our minds. We must dig deep into our
thought processes to discover the distorted way we have
viewed the world and our role in it.

of our fathers sins is not seen

as intent to whitewash our own.
On the contrary, it is intended
to remove the defense that G-d
should ignore our iniquity for the
sake of our righteous forebears,
for they too were iniquitous.
Alternatively, some suggest
that by confessing our fathers
sins we bring them a measure of
atonement.
The Chassidic classic Panim
Yafos explains (based on the
writings of the Ari and the
Zohar) that the reference here
is not to our biological fathers
but to earlier incarnations of our
own soul. When we confess our
sins we must ask for forgiveness
for our soul in all its antecedent
states.

REACH IN AND TOUCH OUR

MIND
Chassidic thought considers a
father and mother as metaphors
of our intellectual faculties.
Accordingly, we may suggest
another interpretation of our
confession for our fathers
sins. Its not sufficient for us to
recognize that our evil impulse
and our weak emotional state
got the best of us and brought
us down. We must also extend
responsibility to our minds. We
must dig deep into our thought
processes
to
discover
the
distorted way we have viewed the
world and our role in it.

If we merely try to remove

the emotional causes of our
transgressions we still havent
treated the sin at its source,
which is our mind and mindset.
Hence, in the confessional
prayer we start by addressing
the immediate cause of our
iniquity: we sinned. The we
here refers to us, to our basic
personalities which describe our
emotional gestalt. If we think
honestly about what drives us
most of the time we see that it
is our emotions. However, that
is not a sufficient recognition
of why we sinned. We must go
deeper within our psyche to find
the intellectual source of our
deviations.
Upon further reflection we
will see that our daily confession
is significantly different from
the confession mentioned in this
weeks parsha. The parsha speaks
of confessing our intentional
sins (avonam), whereas our daily
prayers refer to our unintentional
sins (chatanu).
This probably explains why
the confession mentioned in
our parsha was not considered
adequate. When we deal with
confession it is not sufficient to
recognize the intentional sins
and their intellectual source. By
omitting the unintentional sins
the repentant sinner shows that
he has not dug deeply enough
into the root causes of his
negligence and insensitivity.

Issue 1023

1023_bm_eng.indd 31

31

2016-05-31 11:42:08 AM

PARSHA THOUGHT

GEULA: FULLY BAKED

CONFESSION AND
GRATITUDE
A
half-baked
confession
which does not confront the
root of ones transgression is a
symptom of Galus. As explained
in Chassidic thought, Galus is a
force that primarily obstructs the
mind and mindset of the Jew. As
a result of this Galus condition,
even when we confess our sins
the confession is incomplete.
But we can remedy that
shortfall. When we engage
our minds with the Torahs
uninhibited
and
refreshing
way of thinking it removes the
obstructive force that distorts
our intellectual vision. And while
all teachings of Torah illuminate
the mind, the teachings that
relate to the period of Geula are

particularly effective in reaching

in to our minds, our fathers,
and confessing or correcting
their inadequacies.
It is interesting to note that
the word for confession, Vidui,
is cognate to the word hodaagratitude.
The lack of full
awareness of who
we are and what
causes us to stray also
prevents us from fully
appreciating
G-ds
gifts to us. When
we reach every part
of our psyche and
thereby remove even
the smallest traces of
evil and insensitivity,
we will be able to
give full praise and
gratitude
to
G-d.
Thus, unadulterated



gratitude
characterizes
the
Messianic Era. In that time there
will be no part of us that must
be atoned for and straightened
out. With all of our faculties
functioning with full force, we
will be able to join, unhindered,
the symphony of thanksgiving!

Express service
Fully Computerized
331 Kingston Ave.
(2nd Flr) Brooklyn NY 11213
Get your tickets within minutes!

(718) 493-1111
Fax: (718) 493-4444

LIVE SHIURIM 0NLINE

Anywhere, Anytime !

"The quickest way to reveal Moshiach is by learning the Torah

sources about Moshiach & redemption" t"ab,wv grumnu ghrz, p"a

vww c

Radio Moshiach & Redemption

1620-1640 AM around Crown Heights & Boro Park

& 1710 AM in parts of Brooklyn 24/6
worldwide live broadcast: www.RadioMoshiach.org

Rabbi Jacob Schwei

Member of the Rabbinical
Court of Crown Heights

CHITAS
,ww,j
INYONEI GEULA
jhanu vkutd hbhbg
SAVE
MONEY
& MOSHIACH
owwcnr
TODAY!!
RAMBAM
hyuekc ohrugha
Call Today 888-468-3256 x 2770
give your generous support
SHIURIM IN LIKUTEI
asue ,ujha Please
to a special fund of $100,000
Its a matter of ONE minute and ONE fax.
SICHOS KODESH
Get a FREE analysis on your credit Card Processing!

Better rates guaranteed If we cant save you money we will pay you $100
For a limited time get your CC Terminal or software set up absolutely FREE

For donations or dedications make checks payable to:

Contact Mendy Chanin at 888-468-3256 ext: 2770, mendy@dalmao.com

Dalmao, LLC 5th Floor 245 W 17th St, New York, NY 10011

WWW.770LIVE.COM

New Businesses Welcome | Exclusive Referral Program | Organization Charities Partnership

"Radio Moshiach & Redemption"

383 Kingston Ave. #94, Brooklyn, NY 11213

718 756-4530 Tel/Fax 363-1652 Email:RadioMoshiach@erols.com

sgu okugk jhanv lkn ubhcru ubrun ubbust hjh

sgu okugk jhanv lkn ubcru ubrun ubhbust hjh

32 26 Iyar 5776 - Hakhel

1023_bm_eng.indd 32

2016-05-31 11:43:45 AM

TZIVOS HASHEM

A SMALL
D ONATION

FOR A BIG
SALVATION
By Nechama Bar

Suzy waited excitedly at the

airport in Lud. She scanned the
passengers coming out, pushing
carts laden with their suitcases as
they looked out for relatives who
came to meet them.
Suzy made her way through
the people who filled the arrivals
hall and stood very close to the
door through which the passengers
came out. She didnt want to miss
her mother who was coming from
France to visit her for Pesach, as
she did every year.
Oh! There was Miriam Mishali
walking quickly. On her cart was
a large suitcase and a small travel
bag. Suzy nearly jumped up and
down in excitement.
Mama! she shouted, ignoring
the stares from those around her.
And then mother and daughter
were hugging with tears in their
eyes.
You didnt change since last
year, except for some creases in
your forehead I guess age is
responsible for that, laughed

Suzy.
Miriam furrowed her brow.
You know, wrinkles can be
because of age or because of
worries.
Suzy sensed that something
was not right. Her mother looked
worried. She always came looking
cheerful and when asked how
she was she would say, Hodu
LHashem ki tov. Although her
life wasnt easy her husband
had died and she was living alone
with her son Jacques, Miriam had
strong faith and always looked at
the positive side of life.
Something worrisome must
have happened, thought Suzy, and
she decided to wait for the right
moment to bring it up.
***
They sat in Suzys living room
blue leather couches. On the
the
on
glass dishes with fresh,
were
table
cookies which her
ade
homem
larly liked. Next to
particu
mother
cups of hot coffee,
two
were
them
mother liked it.
her
way
the
just

How are you Mama? How

is it in France? How is Jacques
doing? Suzy asked. She and her
mother had a long conversation
about everything, the family, work,
how the Jews of France were
faring, news in Eretz Yisroel, etc.
The hours passed without their
realizing it. It began to grow dark
and Suzy turned on a light. She felt
the time had come and she looked
directly into her mothers eyes and
said, Please tell me. I sense that
something is wrong. Something is
worrying you. Please dont hide it
from me.
You cant be fooled. They
say that a mother has a heart that
feels what is going on with her
children, while you have the heart
of a daughter who always feels her
mother
Suzy smiled modestly and
waited.
Miriam sighed. Its Jacques.
I hardly see him. Whats the
problem you cant spend time
with your mother? But thats the

Issue 1023

1023_bm_eng.indd 33

33

2016-05-31 11:42:10 AM

Tzivos Hashem

least of it. He has a girlfriend

not Jewish I tried to talk to him
about it but got nowhere. Jacques,
as always, is stubborn. They are
already planning a wedding and
do you know where they want to
live? In my house! Can you see me
living with a gentile woman?
Miriam couldnt stop her tears.
For some reason, Suzy did not
look particularly worried.
I see that you are not disturbed
by this news, said Miriam in
surprise.
Of course its terrible, but I
am thinking of a solution. We will
write to the Rebbe and it will be
okay.
Even before Miriam could
hesitate, the Igros Kodesh was
brought to the table and Miriam
began to write, pouring out her
heart as though to a beloved father.
They put the letter into the
Igros Kodesh translated into
French where they opened to a
letter in which the Rebbe writes,
support the institutions of my
father-in-law. The Rebbe later
referred to the center in Chicago.
Suzy jumped up. Theres the
answer! Its simple. Well send a
donation to the Chabad mosdos
in Chicago and then we will be in
the Rebbes good hands.
Miriam wasnt as enthusiastic
as Suzy.
the
Whats
n
o
i
t
c
e
conn
a
between
to
donation
and
o
Chicag
Jacques
girlfriend?
I think we
need to put
the letter in
again.
S u z y
explained that
dont see a
sometimes we

connection but if the Rebbe said

something, we need to do as he
says.
Miriam insisted on writing to
the Rebbe again.
They opened the Igros Kodesh
again and were amazed when
they read: In response to your
letter I think I already wrote
you that it would be worthwhile
to start increasing your share
in the distribution of the Vaad
HaYeshivos in Chicago
How did the Rebbe know
this is the second time? Miriam
couldnt get over it.
You see? exclaimed Suzy,
That tells you that we need to
do what the Rebbe said earlier, to
give tzdaka to Chabad mosdos in
Chicago.
How much should be given?
I am willing to give whatever is
needed, the main thing being that
Jacques not marry that non-Jew.
Donate what you can, said
Suzy.
Miriam wanted the Rebbe
to say how much to give. She
decided to open the Igros Kodesh
yet again and committed to giving
amoun t
whatever

appeared there.
They put the letter into volume
two of the Igros Kodesh translated
into French and this time too,
the letter was amazing. It said,
Enclosed is a receipt for twentyfive shekels.
Its clear. Give a donation and
it will work out, said Suzy and
she went to find the fax number of
the Chabad mosdos in Chicago.
They sent a fax and asked
how to send a donation. The
yeshiva was happy to hear from
them because every donation was
needed.
Miriam sent an envelope with
twenty-five shekels plus some
more.
A few months went by but
nothing changed. Now and then,
Miriam would call Suzy and ask,
Where is the Rebbes bracha?
But Suzy would calm her.
Its just a matter of time,
Mama. In the end, it will work out
with Hashems help. You will see!
When the Rebbe says something,
its fulfilled.
Not long afterward, Jacques
with
sick
seriously
became
meningitis. Relatives prayed a
lot for him and, thank G-d, he
recovered.
After that, something changed.
He wasnt the same Jacques his
mother knew. He became
warmer and he renewed
his relationship with
the family and began
taking an interest
in Judaism. New
mezuzos were
put up in their
and
home
then, one day,
he informed
his mother that
he was leaving
his girlfriend.

34 26 Iyar 5776 - Hakhel

1023_bm_eng.indd 34

2016-05-31 11:42:11 AM