Dancing with the Eibishter

One year (in the very early years of the Rebbe’s nesius), during hakafos, the Rebbe  was pulling people into the circle. One of those that the Rebbe pulled in was an American balebos. After hakafos the Rebbe apologized to the balebos (for dragging him in).

The balebos waved off the Rebbe’s apology, saying: “On the contrary, it was a great honor for me to dance with the Rebbe”. To which the Rebbe responded: “Tantzen darf men tantzen mit der Eibishter!” [You should be dancing with the Alm-ighty].

Supper in Kotzk

A certain man was in Kotzk for Pesach. After davening, the gabbai announced that it’s time to eat supper, no mention of a Seder whatsoever. The man got very upset – how can it be that there was no mention of a seder.

                                                                                                    

A few months later, he was thinking things over and decided to give it another chance. It was Yom Kippur. Right before Kol Nidreoi, the Gabbai announced “maariv”.

Theman stormed out of shul. On the holiest day of the year, no mention of Kol Nidrei!? On his way out a chossid asked him what he was so upset about. After hearing what was bothering this man, the chossid explained to him that in Kotzk, every supper is a Seder, every maariv is Kol Nidrei.

A litvak's thoughts

A litvak once came into shul looking dejected. His friend questioned him about the long face, and he said that he’s very confused because he had a very perplexing dream, and he doesn’t know it’s meaning.

Upon questioning from his friend, he finally elaborated that he dreamt about ‘thekavayochol’, - the Alm-ighty. His friend attempted to placate him: “You know, Chazal teach us that dreams are a reflection of one’s thoughts during the day, perhaps this was merely a result of your thinking about Him by daytime?”

“Impossible”, was his vehement denial. “You know my schedule, I get up early and learn a shiur, then I daven, and my entire day is occupied with either learning or davening. When do I ever have time to think about ‘the kavayochol’?”

Speak to yourself

Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb related the following story

I didn't consider myself a Lubavitcher, but I lived in Crown Heights for a short time after I got married. I would attend the Rebbe’s farbrengens from time to time, but my relationship was always from a distance.

I mention this because of what happened later on.

Three years after we married, my wife and I moved away to Silver Spring, Maryland, where I attended the University of Maryland. I received a PhD in psychology and began working as a psychologist in the local school system. Besides this, I used to give classes in Talmud – one on Shabbos afternoon for the general public, and one on Tuesday night for a smaller group who wanted to learn on a deeper level.

I was in my early thirties, so I suppose I was too young for a midlife crisis – or maybe I arrived at a midlife crisis earlier than most people – but around this time, I was torn with a number of very pressing questions:

Should I stay in Torah learning, or should I continue in psychology? And if so, how should I further my career? Should I move into private psychotherapy work or accept an offer from one of the county social service organizations in the area? Also, I wasn't sure what was best for my children in terms of educational options in Silver Spring.

In addition to all these dilemmas, like everybody else I guess, I had my own questions of faith and trust in God, as well as some philosophical questions. I was in a state of uncertainty.

All these questions had me depressed, and I was unsure what to do or where to go. I spoke to various close friends, and one of them – a Chabad chosid – suggested that I visit the Rebbe.

And so it was that in February of 1971 I called the Rebbe.

The Rebbe’s secretary answered the phone in English, with a simple, “Hello, who’s this?”

Now as I was talking to the secretary, in the background – I recognized his voice from the farbrengens I had attended – the Rebbe was asking in Yiddish, “Who’s calling?”

I replied, “A Yid fun Maryland – A Jew from Maryland.”

I told the secretary that I have many questions which I would like to discuss with the Rebbe – questions about what direction my life should take, questions regarding my career, questions of faith… I explained that I was at a very uncertain stage in my life and I didn’t know where to turn.

I spoke in English and, as I was talking, the Rebbe’s secretary was repeating and paraphrasing my words in Yiddish – I imagine he was doing this so that the Rebbe should hear.

And then I heard the Rebbe say in the background, in Yiddish: “Tell him that there is a Jew who lives in Maryland that he can speak to. Der yid hayst Veinreb – his name is Weinreb.”

The secretary asked me, “Did you hear what the Rebbe said?”

Now, I couldn’t believe my ears. I knew for sure I had not given the secretary my name, but the Rebbe had just said my name! I was taken aback and I wanted to hear it again. So when the secretary asked whether I heard, I said no.

The secretary repeated the Rebbe’s words to me: “S’iz doh a Yid in Maryland mit vemen er zol redden. Zayn numen iz Veinreb.”

So I replied, “But my name is Weinreb!”

And then I heard the Rebbe say, “Oib azoi,zol er visen zayn az amol darf men reden tzu zich – If that’s the case, then he should know that, sometimes, one needs to speak to himself.”

The secretary also seemed stunned by what was taking place. He just stopped, and I could hear his breathing. And then he said to me, “The Rebbe said that sometimes it’s best to talk to yourself. Isn’t your name Weinreb?”

“Yes, my name is Weinreb, but maybe the Rebbe means a different Weinreb.”

“No, the Rebbe’s saying ‘Talk to Weinreb,’ and he explained that you must to talk to yourself.”

I thanked him very much, and the call ended with that.

I believe I understood what the Rebbe was trying to tell me. If I could put words in his mouth, he was saying, “You’re looking for answers outside yourself. You’re not a kid anymore, you’re a man. You are thirty years old, you are a father, you are a teacher of Torah. You have to have more self-confidence. It’s time to grow up and listen to yourself. Don’t be so dependent on others. Trust yourself.”

And from that point on I became much more decisive. I think up to that time I had a tendency to be very ambivalent, I was not a risk-taker, I was a procrastinator when it came to making decisions. But from that point on, I became decisive.

The Rebbe could have picked up the phone and told me what to do, but I wouldn't necessarily have listened to what he told me, and I wouldn't have accepted it in the same way I accepted this. Like many people, I suppose I had a natural resistance to being told by others what to do, and I think the Rebbe had insight to know that it was better if I heard the answer from myself than if I heard the answer from him.

That the Rebbe understood that, I think, was part of his great wisdom.

A few months after that life-changing phone call, there came an opportunity to express my gratitude to the Rebbe in person.I had come to visit my in-laws in Brooklyn and my father-in-law encouraged me to go to the Rebbe to thank him. The Rebbe was blessing people in a small public audience, and I went over to him and said, “My name is Weinreb and I’m from Maryland.” And he gave me a big smile of recognition.

I saw the Rebbe many times, and I saw many pictures of him, but that particular smile meant a lot for me.

From My Encounter

Coming to chassidus on time

The following anecdote was once related by R’ Mendel Futerfas:

Once, on Simchas Torah, the celebrated chosid R’ Itche der masmid asked two elder Chassidim to join him in the formation of a beis din. The two were both old and respected – one was a chosid by the name of R’ Meir Markowitz who was a chosid of the Tzemach Tzedek and was at that time over 1oo years old, and the other, a chosid from the times of the Rebbe Maharash, was in his 80’s – but R’ Itche der masmid was held in the highest esteem by all, and they complied.

As soon as the beis din was formed, R’ Itche announced that the beis din is hereby ruling that – for the upcoming year - every member of anash must attend a shiur chassidus from 6:00 a.m. until 7:00, followed by shacharis (R’ Itche would give a shiur in Torah Ohr and Likkutei Torah during that hour throughout tha year).

He added, in the name of the beis din, that anyone who would not obey would not be motzie shnosoi(i.e., would not make it through the year alive)!

There were Chassidim in the group who worked the night shift, and only got home early in the morning, and there were others who were struggling in their livelihood and had no time at all to spare. But no-one, and I mean no-one, missed that shiur throughout that year. In fact, if anyone would even consider sleeping in, his wife would forcibly drag him out of bed, knowing what the consequences would be to her if her husband would ch”v be on the receiving end of the beis din’s ruling!

Iskafia

Rabbi Mendel Aronow related the following story:
‘As a child in Russia, I had a friend, a very chassidisher boy, by the name of Leizer Mishulovin. One day, as I was returning to school after the afternoon break, I saw Leizer in a state of great excitement. ‘Mendel’, he called to me as soon as he saw me, ‘I just experienced a great miracle!’ And he proceeded to share with me the following:

In Russia, at that time, there were no refrigerators. They used an icebox, in which perishable foods could be kept fresh for a time. Not everyone was able to afford even those; - it was only the wealthier families that were able to have their own icebox. The Mishulovin family was one of these families.

On this particular day, young Leizer came home in the afternoon famished. He immediately went to the icebox, to see what he could find to sooth his hunger pangs. To his delight, he saw some fresh cutlett’en (chicken patties), with a mouth-watering aroma. Leizer took one in his hand, and prepared to make a brocho . . .

. . . when suddenly he recalled being taught that a chosid needs to subjugate his desires, and when he realizes that wants something very badly, then he shouldn’t do it. Leizer was in a quandary. On the one hand, the delicious-looking cutlets beckoned to him temptingly, but on the other hand his education and his desire to work on being a chosid drew him in the opposite direction.

Leizer fought a brief – but fierce – inner battle, and in the end his Chassidic upbringing prevailed, and he returned the cutlets to the icebox.

Just then his mother returned home. When she saw her son near the ice box, she became alarmed. “Leizer”, she called to him, “I hope you didn’t eat the cuttlett’en”

“Why not?” he asked his mother. So, she explained that their gentile neighbor, not being in possession of his own icebox, had asked her permission to store some food in hers, which she granted. The cutlets belonged to him, and they were, as you can understand, pure treif!!’

Chain Reaction - the importance of learning

The Frierdige Rebbe once repeated a story that was told to him by R’ Chaim Brisker, about his father, the Beis Halevi: The Beis Halevi had a shiur every day with 2 great talmidei chachomim (one of them was known as R’ Eizik klotz, because he spent so many continuous hours each day sitting on a klotz – a block of wood – and studying relentlessly, that he left an image on the klotz).

One day a group of askonim came to meet with the Beis Halevi about a very urgent matter, affecting the entire community. The Bais Halevi, however, who was in the middle of his shiur at the time, first completed the shiur, which took some time, and only then attended to the communal matters.

One of the askonim was upset at this practice, and questioned the Beis Halevi, saying that the shiur could wait, while the matter about which they had come was of utmost importance. The Bais Halevi, however, disagreed, and attached more importance to the learning of these two great scholars, explaining that if Eizik would shorten the time of his learning by even one hour, that would set in motion a chain reaction, that would ultimately result in the Jew in Paris committing shmad r”l.

Saving Eretz Yisroel

Mrs. Geulah Cohen was a member of the kneset in Israel, who was also a long-time admirer of the Rebbe. She understood and identified strongly with the Rebbe’s position regarding various crucial issues pertaining to Eretz Yisroel, and was actively involved in furthering the Rebbe’s goals.

Once, she attended a farbrengen of the Rebbe in 770. She listened from the Veiber shul, while the Rebbe spoke passionately about the terrible danger in returning territories - that were captured by Israel – to their enemies (according to another version, the Rebbe was discussing the scandalous law regarding mihu yehudi, and the urgent need to have it changed).

After the farbrengen, she was asked for her impressions. “I am very much in agreement with everything that the Rebbe said”, was her reply, “but I don’t understand why he speaks about it here, to the Chassidim in attendance of his farbrengen. These are matters that need to be dealt with by Israeli politicians and public figures; what assistance can be provided by Crown Heights-based Lubavitchers?”

When the Rebbe was told about her query, he responded: “Zog ir, az oib di yungeleit vellen ton in taavos hetter, vet dos brengen di yeshua in Eretz Yisroel” [ - tell her that when the Chassidim here put their efforts into abstaining from worldly indulgences, this will bring about the betterment of the situation in Israel. According to another version, the Rebbe said this about the bochurim applying themselves diligently to their learning (the first version is probably the version of the bochurim, while the second is the version of the yungleit)].

The Importance of a Good Hechsher

A certain shliach recounted this story:

‘During the kinus a few years ago, I met up with a friend of mine, who serves as a shliach in another country. On Thursday night, we walked together to Oholei Torah, to take part in the workshops. On the way I noticed that my friend was limping. I asked him what happened, but he insisted that it was nothing, and that he would be fine.

Over the course of the evening, however, his foot deteriorated, to the point that he could barely walk. When it came time to go home, although the place where he was staying was on Carrol St, just over 2 blocks away, the walk was too much for him to handle, and we had to bring him there by taxi.

“Something is obviously very wrong with your foot”, I exclaimed, “shouldn’t you seek medical attention?” But he continued to maintain that it was nothing, and that by the next day there would be no trace of the turmoil.

Sure enough, when I saw him the next day, he was walking normally. I pressed him for an explanation, and he shared with me the following amazing story:

“When I was a child (he related), learning in Lubavitcher Yeshiva, I once had an accident while playing sports, and injured my foot. My parents wrote in to the Rebbe, who responded ליזהר בכשרות האכילה ושתייה – to be more careful with kashrus.

“Now, I was a Lubavitcher kid, from a Lubavitcher family, and we were obviously keeping kosher at home, but as a result of the Rebbe’s response, we found some ways in which we could raise our standards.

“This happened some 30 years ago, and since then, any and every time I compromise in my standards of kashrus, my foot immediately begins to ail me!

“On the way to the kinus, my flight had a stopover, and my second flight was delayed, and I was stuck for some time in an airport. I was, understandably very hungry, and was looking for something to eat. I found some food item for sale, that had a hashgocho. I knew inside that I should really not be depending on that hashgocho, as it was not up to my standards, but I chose to overlook that.

“Therefore, as soon as my foot started hurting, I knew with certainty what the cause was. I made a hachloto on the spot to stay away from this hechsher in the future, and was certain that my foot would be better the next morning, which it was!”

The Big Complaint

When the Alter Rebbe began to disseminate Chassidus they came to him with a complaint about his Chassidim.

What was the complaint? There are those that are not holding by anything, but they behave and make as if they are advanced enough to have hisbonenus, as if they are advanced enough to have a love for G-d, as if they are advanced enough to have a fear for G-d, as if they are able to learn chassidus and act accordingly.

The Alter Rebbe heard the entire complaint and said: “If so, then the psak of the mishna should apply. The mishna says that someone that is not blind, crippled or lame and pretends that he is, “Won’t die of old age until he becomes like one of them”

Since they pretend to be chassidim, and they pretend to have ahavas Hashem, yiras Hashem and hisbonenus and davening at length with all of the things that chassidus demands, and they have no connection to it – they should know that  “He won’t die of old age until he becomes like one of them” until they become all of those things!

Automatically, if it looks like someone is moved to do something that he has no relevance to, in the end, the mishna has a psak din for everyone, that “He won’t die of old age until he becomes like one of them” and he will be moved from his place.

Like the (Friedige) Rebbe said that now the ice was affected, when the ice was already affected, in the end, it will become, and then it will become warm water and afterwards it will become mayim chaim.

Should this be through mashke, should it be through a nigun, it should at least look like he was moved...

Balebos

In Rostov, the Rebbe Rashab lived upstairs and the Friedige Rebbe lived on the ground floor. From time to time, the Rebbe Rashab would make kiddush and farbreng by the Frierdige Rebbe. At one of these farbernegens, the Rebbe Rashab wished a l’chayim to the baal habayis.

The Frierdige Rebbe turned to his father, and tearfully implored him: ‘Father, please remove this title from me. A balebos is a dovor mezuham, - a disgusting creature, and I wouldn’t want to be adorned with this label’!

Extreme Hiddurim

R’ Hillel Paritcher was a fanatical mehader bemitzvos, to an extreme (for example, he didn’t sit on a chair because of a concern for shaatnez etc.). He once remarked, that the driving force between all of his extreme hiddurim is his desire to understand a vort chassidus.

Seeing the Rebbe

The Frierdige Rebbe often suffered from ailing health, and did not spend time visibly with the Chassidim. Thus, many months could pass, with the average chosid not having any opportunity to see the Rebbe. The exceptions were prominent Chassidim or illustrious guests, who would be invited to join the Rebbe for meals on occasions.

Once, R’ Bentzion Shemtov and R’ Avrohom Paris were returning from a meal that they had spent with the Rebbe. They were going downstairs to join the rest of the Chassidim, who were sitting in shul, saying Tehillim for the health of their beloved Rebbe. Presently, R’ Avrohom Paris turned to R’ Bentzy Shemtov, saying: “Ay, Bentche, if only we could see the Rebbe the way all of the other Chassidim see the Rebbe!”

“Avrohom, what are you saying”, Rabbi Shemtov asked him puzzled, “we are the ones who just had the great zechus to see the Rebbe and spend time with him, it is the other Chassidim who are missing out?!”

“No, R’ Bentzion, you don’t understand”, he explained, “we sat at the Rebbe’s table, witnessed him eating and drinking, in what appeared to be a physical manner – the same as us - and we can easily be led to viewing the Rebbe with the limitations of our human perspective. In contrast, the Chassidim sitting downstairs are viewing the Rebbe with the untainted view of their mind’s eye, and they are seeing him as a Rebbe; - a holier loftier more spiritual person. I was wishing that despite the fact that we watched the Rebbe in a physical sense, we should nonetheless view him in the pure sense, as we should see our Rebbe!

Tekia Child

On Rosh Hashono of the year of 5734, while most of the tekios went as usual, when it came to the final tekiah, it appeared ‘not to go’. The Rebbe was repeatedly ‘trying’ to blow this final tekiah through various efforts – turning over the shofar and blowing from the opposite side, wiping it off, shaking it out etc. But all of this appeared to be to no avail. The shofar did not produce any sound.

During the emotional wait for the last tekiah that year, there was one chosid in the crowd who was experiencing turmoil in his own life. Having been married already for a few years, he had not yet been blessed with a child. Moved by the troublesome tekiah and by the unseen adversaries that the Rebbe was clearly facing, this chosid burst into tears, and began to cry about his own personal troubles as well. Then and there, he resolved that if he would be blessed with a child, he would take pains to ensure that the child was never exposed to any secular publications (apparently in the home of this particular chosid, the presence of secular reading material was commonplace). He further resolved to cancel any subscriptions he had to magazines etc. that fall under that category.

Immediately following the hachloto of this chosid was when the final tekiah was finally successfully blown! The yungerman took this as such a clear indication that his emotional teffilah was indeed answered, that immediately after Rosh Hashonoh he went about carrying out his side of the deal; - cancelling his subscriptions and removing “foreign presences” from his home. Sure enough, within the year he was the ecstatic father of a newborn son!

The chosid never informed the Rebbe of his hachloto during those tense moments on Rosh Hashono. The first time he brought his son the Rebbe for kos shel brocho, the baby was about a year old. Presumably it was a shock to him when, after pouring the wine, the Rebbe suddenly turned to him and asked: “Ah, dos iz di tekiah yingeleh?” [this is the tekiah child]!

R’ Eizik Homler

R’ Eizik Homler was one of the prominent Chassidim of the early generations of chassidus. Although a yungerman in the times of the Alter Rebbe, he was already a chosid of note then and recognized by the Alter Rebbe (who once invited him in to a maamar that was being said exclusively before the elder Chassidim, remarking “a yungerman ken veren an alter man”). He was later a distinguished chosid of the Mitteler Rebbe and the Tzemach Tzedek.

Once the Tzemach Tzedek sent R’ Eizik on a mission to R’ Yisrael of Ryzhin (there was a very close relationship of great love and affecrion between the Tzemach Tzedek and the Ryzhiner, and the Tzemach Tzedek would refer to R’ Yisrael as the ‘heilige Ruzhiner”). On Friday, R’ Eizek was conversing with the Ryzhuner, who was smoking a pipe.

The holy Ryzhiner had the custom that from chatzos on Friday he would accept the holiness on Shabbos upon himself, and refrain from any work. Thus, as the hour of midday arrived, the Ryzhiner removed the pipe and pushed it aside. At the same time, his face changed it’s appearance to such a degree that, as R’ Eizik later testified, had he not known who it was he would not have recognized him.

R’ Eizik later related: “As I witnessed this, I felt intense shame, such a shame as I had not felt in my entire lifetime. For I clearly saw how this Tzaddik is ascending to higher realms, while I am remaining down below”.

A yid and teva

The mayor of Bnei Brak, a Gerer chosid, was once by the Rebbe for dollars. During the course of the conversation, he remarked to the Rebbe “men pruft ton vifil es iz meglech” [‘we try to do as much as we’re able’]. The Rebbe looked at him in amazement, and exclaimed (approx.): “meglech?! dos iz al pi teva,vos far a shaychus hot a Yid mit teva?!” [‘as much is possible, naturally, what kind of a connection does a Jew have with nature?!’]

Anim Zmiros

The halacha and minhag is to daven early on the day after Yom Kippur. In one shtetl, when the townspeople came to shul that day (known as G-t’s tog) to daven, they found a Poylishe chosid dancing at the amud, singing a niggun to the words of the shir hakavod (anim zemiros). It turned out that he had been so preoccupied with his singing, that he danced through the night, and completely forgot about going to break his fast!

He had spent the entire Yom Kippur being in such a lofty spiritual state that he was similar to an angel (as chazal tell us). Therefore, although he was aware that once Yom Kippur had ended it was the Will of Hashem that he return to being involved in worldly matters, nonetheless he was so overcome with yearning for the state that he had been in during this holiest day, that he tried to extend it a little bit longer, and before he knew it it was the next day!

There were rumors going around that the chossid in the story was the Rebbe. When Reuven Dunin came for yechidus he decided to clarify this once and for all, so he asked the Rebbe if the rumors were true. The Rebbe answered him that they weren't and that the story happened with someone before the times of the Baal Shem Tov and he wasn’t even a poilisher chossid. The Rebbe then proceeded to recount the entire story.

“There lived a rich man that made it his business to go around and do pidyon shvuim. One day he was passing by the local dungeon and he heard some cries. Right away, he headed to the poritz, ready to free the man in captivity. The poritz told him that this man is not going to be freed and named an exuberant amount. The rich man was hesitant. Coming back home, his conscience started bothering him. He then proceeded to make a calculation of the value of his entire estate possessions. The value of the entire estate came out to be the exact amount that it would take to free the Jewish man. He went ahead liquidated all of his possessions. Coming to the poritz, he handed him the necessary sum. The poritz burst out laughing as he opened up the dungeon. The man had already passed from this world.

Feeling very dejected and upset over throwing away all of his possessions, the now poor man wandered off and found a place to sleep. As he slept, he had a dream:

In his dream, there was a message from Up Above, and the message was that his money was not wasted. On the contrary, his actions deserved a reward. And he got 2 choices:

1.      Get back his riches plus much more

2.      Get a taste of gan eden while still in this world

This man picked the latter choice. And it was then, when he was singing anim zmiros, that he was experiencing the revelation of the olam haemes.”

The Rebbe concluded:

“With the choice that he made, we see that this man was not a chossid and that he lived before the times of the Baal Shem Tov. Had he been a chossid, he would’ve chosen the money in order to be able to continue doing pidyon shvuim”

Rebbe Picture

A bochur (who is today a zeideh many times over . .) was once in yechidus. At the end of his yechidus, the Rebbe remarked to him: “Az du zest az dein nefesh habehamis tzuvildevit zich, nem arois a bild fun Rebbin un kuk oif dem” [if you notice your NHB getting out of hand, take out a picture of the Rebbe and look at it].

Hidurim

R’ Hillel Paritcher was extreme in his hiddurim in the fulfillment of mitzvos. He once explained that his sole objective with all of his hiddurim is “az ess zol zich opleigen a vort chassidus” (that he should truly grasp the ideas of Chassidus).

Greeting the mirror

The three Chassidim were traveling together, pursuing an urgent matter of askonus haklal. One of them was the celebrated chossid R’ Itche der masmid, who was renown for his refinement.

During there travels, they had to meet in a hotel. In this hotel, one wall of the lobby was adorned with a large and beautiful floor to ceiling mirror. In the middle of their meeting, R’ Itche suddenly jumped up, and ran towards the mirror. Then, as he was about to reach it, he – just as abruptly – turned around, and returned abashedly to his place.

When his colleagues asked him for an explanation, R’ Itche, who had never had reason or inclination to observe his own reflection, and thus had no way of knowing what he looked like, clarified as follows: “Ich hob gezehn a Yid mit a hadras ponim, bin ich gleich tzugegangen geben em sholom: [I saw a dignified-looking Jew, so I immediately went to greet him].