DVAR MALCHUS

BASI LGANI 5717

Beis Moshiach presents Chapter 4 of the maamer the Rebbe
MHM delivered on Yud Shvat 5717, in accordance with the
custom established by the Rebbe to review each year a section
of the Rebbe Rayatzs maamer Basi LGani of 5710. This year we
focus on the seventh section of the profound and foundational
Chassidic discourse.
Translated by Boruch Merkur

ESTIMATING THE MIND

OF THE TALMID
4. To elaborate: In the beginning, Ohr Ein Sof, the
Infinite Light of G-d, filled the void, totally precluding
the possibility of existence. Contained within this
G-dly infinite light was Ohr HaMugbal, G-dly light
that is finite, limited. It was from Ohr HaMugbal that
existence was later created. But since this finite aspect of
G-dliness was included within Ohr Ein Sof, the Infinite
Light of G-d, it was not identifiable at all as a separate,
distinct existence. In order to utilize this Divine power
of Creation, to permit the possibility of existence, it
was therefore necessary for there to be a tzimtzum (the
diminishment or concealment of G-dliness) and a siluk
(the complete withdrawal of the infinite aspect of G-dly
light) [as will be explained].
There is a well-known analogy of rav and talmid to
illustrate the function of this Supernal concealment:
The intellect of the rav certainly contains the intellectual
capacity of the talmid he teaches, as the ravs intellect
is far superior. The talmids intellect is thus described
as being subsumed by and nullified to the mind of the
rav. In fact, this very limited intellectual component is
totally indiscernible and undifferentiated in the mind of
the rav. In order for the rav to summon thought that is
fathomable to the talmid, the recipient of the teaching,
it is first necessary for the rav to totally eradicate all
prior thinking (siluk ohr sichlo lgamri). Only after this
state of siluk is achieved can thought that is appropriate
to the intellectual capacity of the talmid be summoned
to the mind of the rav, but this thought is still only
comprehensible to the rav [and remains beyond the
grasp of the talmid]. Prior to deriving from this point
of intellect thought that can actually be understood by
the talmid, the rav must first consider the capacity of the

talmids intellect. After this process, the rav can derive

from this point of thought ideas that are appropriate
to the talmid, a teaching that can be articulated and
communicated to the talmid.
This analogy applies to the entire process of Creation
and all of Seider Hishtalshlus (the hierarchy of worlds
as they devolve from the Divine source and establish
Creation). Creation is primarily associated with the
Divine name Havaya, which means haya, hoveh,
vyihiyeh (was, is, and shall be; the general concept of
being, existence, Creation). Creation adheres to the
order of the four letters of the Tetragrammaton, from
the tzimtzum that is alluded to by the letter Yud, all the
way to the mekabel, the recipient, symbolized by the final
letter Hei. Creation begins with the tzimtzum and siluk.
This concealment and withdrawal of G-dliness allows
the superficial, finite aspect of Divine light, namely
Ohr HaMugbal, to become recognizable, identifiable,
providing the possibility for existence.

TZIMTZUM: AFFECTS G-DS

LIGHT, NOT HIS ESSENCE
At first, when the Ohr Ein Sof, G-ds Infinite light,
filled the vacuous space, the void, this limited light was
not recognizable. Although it is only an expression of
G-dliness the Ohr Ein Sof, the Infinite Light of G-d,
but not His essence this G-dly light, existing as it is,
not subject to tzimtzumim, is comparable to the essence
(lfi erech haezem), meaning it is truly infinite.
But since the Ohr Ein Sof is ultimate perfection in
every respect, therefore, kshem shyesh lo koach bvli
gvul kach yesh lo koach bigvul (just as it possesses
the power of infinity so it possesses the power of
finitude, of limitation). Nevertheless, koach hagvul

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Dvar Malchus
is not recognizable in Ohr Ein Sof, in the face of
the overt manifestation of koach habli gvul, in
the presence of the infinite, boundless light that
exists there. Thus it was necessary for there to be
the Tzimtzum HaRishon, the original withdrawal
of G-dly revelation that is called siluk, causing the
superficial aspect of Divine light to be separate
and recognizable, identifiable. This superficial light
was also subject to a tzimtzum, allowing for the
existence of worlds to arise from it.
The tzimtzum thus serves two major functions:
1) Ohr HaGvul is separated from Ohr HaBli Gvul
and becomes recognizable unto itself. And 2) Ohr
HaGvul itself (after it is recognizable as such) is
diminished so there should not be such a plentitude
of light as before the tzimtzum, when even Ohr
HaGvul was relative or comparable to the essence
and radiated an abundance of Divine light.
All of the above only applies to the Ohr Ein Sof.
Since it is just light and not the essence, it is subject
to these two effects: 1) the separation of the inner
aspect of Divine light (Ohr HaBli Gvul) from the
superficial aspect (Ohr HaGvul); 2) the tzimtzum
or diminishment of light, which affects only the
light and not the source of light itself.

EXTREME SUPERNAL
PLEASURE
Similarly with regard to the creation of the
worlds: The Divine will to create worlds was first
manifest in the Ohr Ein Sof that shone prior to the
Tzimtzum. The Divine will also entails pleasure,
as our Sages say on the verse, His thighs are
pillars of marble His thighs shokav refers
to the world, for the Alm-ghty longed (nishtokek)
to create them, this longing and desire represents
G-ds pleasure in Creation.
Prior to the Tzimtzum, the Divine pleasure
is extremely great and intense. It is impossible
to create existence in the midst of such intense
G-dliness. Thus it is necessary for there to be the
concept of tzimtzum, the siluk or withdrawal of
G-ds great light. The result of this withdrawal is
that the light (within which is the Divine will and
pleasure in Creation) is constrained and focused, so
that just a point emerges from the essence of G-ds
will and pleasure in creating the worlds. This point
lacks the vastness and intensity that was prior to the
Tzimtzum.
This point is called nekudas haroshem, which
is the Yud of the Divine name Havaya, no more than

a point. From this point of G-dliness the revelation

of the Kav emerges, which is alluded to in the letter
Vav of Havaya, signifying drawing G-dliness down
to the lower worlds. But prior to descending into
the lower worlds, there must first be the initial Hei
of G-ds name Havaya, which is the estimation of
the depth of the faculties of the mekabel, as it exists
within the mashpia himself (for which reason it is
sometimes referred to as Shetach dAK). Then
there is the final Hei, which signifies the place of
the mekabel, the world of Atzilus. This final stage is
comprised of Divine lights within keilim, vessels to
contain the light.
All of the above describes the process of Creation
within Seider Hishtalshlus, where the Divine will
and pleasure in the worlds is at the level of Yud,
just a point, nekudas haroshem. Subsequent to
this process, the first function of the letter Yud,
the concept of Olam HaBa was created with the
letter Yud, is manifest that as a result of the
avoda of the Jewish people in fulfilling Torah and
Mitzvos (which is the ultimate purpose of the entire
Creation Breishis for the sake of the Jewish
people, who are called reishis, and for the sake of
the Torah, which is called reishis), the Yud then
serves to create Olam HaBa (the reward for the
Torah and avoda of the Jewish people). That is, the
essence of the Divine will for and pleasure in the
worlds, which is the concept of noam Hashem,
does not remain just as a nekuda, a point; it is meant
to be drawn into and revealed with expansiveness
and with very broad and rich expression.
The great descent of G-dliness is in order
to establish Olam HaBa, where there can be the
extremely powerful revelation of noam Hashem,
Divine pleasure, which is even higher than the level
of the soul prior to its descent. Indeed, taanug,
pleasure, is the revelation of the inner aspect and
essence as it finds great expansiveness and open
expression (as above regarding the soul of man and
similarly with regard to Creation).
The latter is symbolized by the letter Yud as it
exists in the mashpia, the Supernal expression of
it made itself small, as it were. It is a process
of tzimtzum and siluk, until it finds expression in
nekudas haroshem. Nekudas haroshem contains
everything that is intended to be given to the
mekabel below in an extremely expansive and
expressive fashion in Olam HaBa, noam
Hashem.
(To be continued beH)

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PARSHA THOUGHT

DID YOU BRING

A GIFT FOR
MOSHIACH?
By Rabbi Heschel Greenberg

BRINGING GIFTS TO
MOSHIACH
Yaakov summoned all his sons
to give them his final blessings
before he was ready to leave this
world. These blessings were not
just good wishes but they were
also pregnant with prophetic
allusions to their futures.
In
addressing
his
son
Yehudah, Yaakov states:
The scepter shall not depart
from Yehudah, nor a scholar from
among his descendants between
his feet, until Shiloh arrives and
his will be an assemblage of
nations.
The reference of the arrival
of Shiloh, Rashi explains, refers
to Moshiach to whom kingdom
belongs. It is interesting to
note that the words for yavo
shiloh-arival of Shiloh have the
numerical equivalency of the
word Moshiach.
Rashi then cites a Midrashic
source that explains that the
word Shiloh is a composite of
two words shi and lo, which
means: a gift to him. This is a
reference to Moshiach to whom
all nations will bring gifts.
We must try to understand

why Yaakov refers to Moshiach

as the one to whom nations will
bring gifts. Isnt Moshiach a far
more important person? Arent
there far more consequential
accomplishments of Moshiach
and the impact he will have
on the world than just getting
people to bring him gifts?
Doesnt Moshiach embody the
unparalleled combination of a
powerful monarch, builder of the
Bias HaMikdash, great spiritual
leader, preeminent teacher of
Torah, liberator of Israel from
all its enemies, gatherer of all
scattered and lost Jews, and the
ultimate peace maker, who will
bring universal peace?
Yet,
incredibly,
notwithstanding
these
and
many other attractive attributes,
Moshiach is simply depicted here
as one to whom nations will bring
gifts!
Second, why does Moshiach
need or want the gifts of the
nations of the world? For
Moshiach, material possessions
are
meaningless.
Moshiach
possesses the most sublime G-dly
soul. Yet, surprisingly, the Torah
attempts to impress us with
Moshiachs arrival by the gifts

that the nations will bring him!

MONARCHY WITHOUT
BRUTE FORCE
Upon deeper reflection we
can see that the title Shiloh is
indeed a most fitting and noble
description of Moshiach. The
following explanation is based on
the commentary of the Maharal.
The Maharal explains that the
title Shiloh (one to whom
the nations will bring gifts)
describes Moshiachs unique
and unprecedented form of
monarchy.
In the Maharals own words:
Other kings rule over others
with brute force and a mighty
hand. The King Moshiach,
however, is not like that. He will
not reign with a mighty hand and
brute force. Rather, everyone
will be as a gift to him; i.e., they
will all be drawn to him, in the
manner that one brings a gift
to another. Similarly, the entire
world will subject themselves to
the rule of the King Moshiach.
He is therefore called Shiloh,
meaning a gift is brought to
him. That will insure universal
peace because everyone will be
under his jurisdiction.
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PARSHA THOUGHT

An effective leader is like a drill and a pump; a

drill that discovers the subterranean resources
and a pump to bring those newly discovered resources
to the surface. If the leader is evil, he will be empowered
to dig beneath the surface of our personalities and
discover any latent, subconscious evil we may possess,
even if it has never been exposed or translated into evil
behavior. Conversely, a good leader will be able to dig
beneath the surface of our personalities and discover
the latent good and holiness we possess.

The Maharals explanation

suggests that the reference to
the nations bringing gifts is only
a metaphor. It really means to
convey the idea that the nations
will be drawn to Moshiach just
as it is when one brings a gift to
another.
The Maharal, however, does
not explain why the nations of
the world will be so drawn to
Moshiach.
If we were to take the words
of the Midrash literally, that the
nations will actually bring gifts,
we could argue that Moshiachs
power would compel them to
pay homage to him with gifts.
But, if bringing gifts is meant
figuratively, in other words,
that they will be drawn to him,
a question remains: what will
Moshiachs appeal be to the
nations of the world that will
draw them to him?
Another question can be
raised. The Maharal also stated
that Moshiach will insure
universal peace because everyone
will be under his jurisdiction. This
statement is puzzling. It appears
to contradict the Maharals first
point that Moshiach will not be a
conventional monarch who uses
force to subjugate his nation.
How then will he remove all of

the obstacles to peace? How will

all the warring nations give up
their arms if there is no powerful
military force to make it happen?

WHY PRAY FOR THE

RESTORATION OF THE
MONARCHY
To better understand the
appeal of Moshiach we must
first explain why we have been
hoping and praying for millennia
that Moshiach come and redeem
us. Havent we had our fill with
kings? Havent we evolved to
appreciate that the best form of
government is one that ensures
everyones freedom, such as in a
democracy? Indeed, as Jews
whose very name, derived from
Yehudah, means gratitude
we have always expressed our
profound gratitude to our host
nations that have guaranteed us
freedom to live and practice as
Jews.
Why then would we want to
go back to the time when we were
governed by absolute monarchs,
most of whom were less than
virtuous, to put it mildly?
The truth of the matter is that
Moshiachs influence and appeal
is based on the power he wields
to empower us.

THE SOURCE OF
LEADERSHIP
We have seen evil individuals
unleash the evil in millions of
otherwise law-abiding citizens.
They did not necessarily need
brute force or the force of logic
to sway their constituents to
engage in murderous actions.
Leadership, good or evil, is a
power of the soul that few people
possess. This power of leadership
is rooted in the Divine attribute
of Malchus and has the capacity
to move mountains. The Talmud
expresses this sentiment when it
states: The king speaks and a
mountain is uprooted.
Jewish law gives a king the
right to break through physical
boundaries to make his trip
shorter. This can be interpreted
figuratively as well. The power
of royalty is such that it can
break through the otherwise
impenetrable layers of our
personalities to uncover hidden
powers we possess, whose
presence was unbeknownst even
to ourselves.
If the leader is evil, he will be
empowered to dig beneath the
surface of our personalities and
discover any latent, subconscious
evil we may possess, even if it has
never been exposed or translated
into evil behavior.
Conversely, a good leader will
be able to dig beneath the surface
of our personalities and discover
the latent good and holiness we
definitely possess.
An effective leader is like a
drill and a pump; a drill that
discovers
the
subterranean
resources and a pump to bring
those newly discovered resources
to the surface.
Now, the degree to which a
leader can dig into our psyche
and extract our subconscious
forces of goodness and holiness

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is commensurate to the leaders

leadership powers and own
goodness and holiness. Not all
holy people have been leaders,
and not all leaders were holy.
Moshiach is the ultimate
synthesis of the greatest power
of leadership and the ultimate
level of goodness and holiness.
Moshiach
is
called
Peretz
because, as the word suggests, he
can break through all barriers. He
can therefore penetrate even the
toughest personality and excavate
that individuals goodness.

UNPRECEDENTED
LEADERSHIP
We can now understand
why the nations of the world
will be drawn to Moshiach.
His unprecedented leadership
capacity will reveal the heretofore
hidden goodness that all of
humanity possesses but which
has not been allowed to surface.
Moshiach does not have to use
brute force to control the world;
he will reveal that the world has
the ability to control itself.
This explains the Maharals
comment
that
the
reason
there will be universal peace
is because we will all be under
his jurisdiction. This does not
suggest that Moshiach will have
to exercise brutal force to keep
us from fighting wars, for that
would not entail true peace.
Rather, the Maharals point
is that under the influence

of Moshiach our innate true

peaceful nature will be revealed.
Even the most discordant
individual has a peaceful and
peace-loving core. Under normal
circumstances it will not affect
that individuals personality or
behavior because it is so deeply
suppressed.
However, under the influence
of Moshiach, each and every
individual will be able to be who
he or she truly is at their core
level, where their G-dly souls
reside. Peace will be the greatest
beneficiary because at the core
level, everyone wants peace.
We can now reconcile the
figurative explanation of the
gift of the nations with its
literal meaning. Figuratively,
the nations will be drawn to
Moshiachs
leadership
and
charisma. As a result, they will
discover heretofore
hidden
reservoirs
of goodness and
holiness. This then
is the gift they will
bring to Moshiach.
They
will
show
him
their
newly
discovered gifts of
self-discovery
and
the spiritual and
G-dly energy they
will generate.

way street. While the reference

to Moshiach as Shiloh defines
Moshiachs influence over us,
we too must work diligently at
revealing our hidden traits and
virtues. We too possess a regal
power to dig deep into our
psyches and discover our latent
and suppressed virtues and then
reveal them. This is the power
of simcha-joy. When we are in a
state of joy, we possess the same
royal powers of a monarch. We
can break through the barriers
of our personalities and discover
our true inner cores.
This connection between
Moshiach and joy is hinted in the
very word Moshiach, the letters
of which, when rearranged, spell
the word yismach-he will rejoice,
or yisamach-he will cause others
to rejoice.

A TWO-WAY
STREET
But the Messianic
process is a two-

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SHLICHUS

OUR MAN
IN DUBAI
We cant show you a picture of the shliach we
interviewed and nor can we tell you his name. But even
Saudi princes know about his work with Jews in the
United Arab Emirates. * He shared what he has been
doing for over six years under a heavy veil of secrecy,
in a place where it is dangerous to even put up a
Chabad House sign.
By Avrohom Rainitz

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seres Yemei Teshuva

5771. The international
airport at Dubai is one of
the most congested in the
world. Customs officials there are
used to seeing all sorts of tourists,
but this type of tourist is one they
never saw before. More correctly,
the strange contents of their
suitcases, particularly the package
they held as though it contained
a treasure, which they refused to
place on the ground for even a
minute, caught their attention.
They demanded that the
cover of the strange package be
removed. They saw something
made of two rolls of leather,
covered by embroidered velvet,
and two silver covered sticks
coming out of the rolls. They
squinted, puzzled, and asked the
visitors to explain what it is.

The tourists, who were afraid

to tell the customs officials that
it was a Torah scroll, the most
sacred object of the Jewish people,
tried to evade them by saying it
was a unique book. The officials
insisted on it being opened
and when they saw the strange
lettering that was unfamiliar to
them, they asked: What language
is this?

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Shlichus

As we turned left to the Arab companys

counters, an employee said to us: You made a
mistake. You need to turn right. And she pointed at the
El-Al counters.
The tourists knew that if they
said it was Hebrew, the officials
would become even more
suspicious and they might be
expelled from the country. They
said, its a special language, like
Arabic (lhavdil) that is read from
right to left.
Fortunately, the customs
agents accepted this answer and
they went on to examine the
suitcases. The lulavim, hadasim,
aravos, siddurim, and even
Moshiach flags flew under the
radar. Just one thing bothered
them why did these peculiar
tourists need to bring in lemons?
What do you need these
lemons for? they asked in
genuine bewilderment. We have
plenty like these here.
The tourists of course could
not correct them and say they are
esrogim which they needed for
the dalet minim, because then it
would become clear that they had
come for religious reasons.
Its a very special lemon,
they said, and they handed one to
him to smell and see how special
this lemon was. The official
realized it wasnt the usual lemon
that he was familiar with and he
asked how much it cost.
Five dollars, said the tourist,
and the man was so surprised.
If the tourist would have said
the truth, that this lemon cost
a hundred dollars, the official
would certainly want to cut it
open to see what was inside that
was worth so much.
After many tense moments,
customs released the odd tourists.
The tourists left the arrivals
terminal for the line of taxis.

Outside, two local Jews waited

for them who greeted them with
delight. The tension dissipated.
We felt that this was a pivotal
moment.
Two
Lubavitchers
arrived in Dubai and set up the
first Jewish community in the
United Arab Emirates, Yisroel
B, our man in Dubai, told me.
For six years now, his
activities are carried out under a
heavy cover of secrecy as he tries
to stay in the shadows and not
arouse the ire of the local Islamic
government. He agreed to talk
to us on condition that we did
not reveal his name and picture,
nor the names of others who are
active there.

FROM SRI LANKA TO DUBAI

When Shimon and Sharon,
a Jewish couple from London,
told their families they were
moving to Dubai for business
reasons, they were all taken
aback. They tried dissuading
them from this dangerous move.
But Sharon, who comes from an
Arab country, did not think it was
dangerous.
When the couple moved to
Dubai they had to hide their
Jewish identity on the street.
They felt like Esther in the story
of the Megilla. In their first year
there, they discovered a few
other Jewish families living in the
Arab principality and friendships
developed.
A year later, while they
awaited the birth of their first
child, they began to feel a deep
need for an organized Jewish
community. The approaching
holidays intensified the feeling

that they were lacking, and when

they traveled to Sri Lanka on
vacation, they headed for the
Chabad House. They told the
shliach, R Menachem Mendel
Crombie, about how they felt.
R
Crombie
encouraged
them to form a community but
the couple said they couldnt do
it alone. They needed outside
help. If you send us rabbis
for the High Holidays, we
would be happy to pull together
and arrange a minyan, they
promised.
This wasnt easy, since Dubai
has no diplomatic ties with Israel
and you cannot enter the country
with an Israeli passport. So R
Crombie looked for a bachur
with American or European
citizenship.
He found two bachurim
who were willing to undertake
this unusual shlichus. Yisroel
B has an American passport
and Shuki G has a European
passport. Despite the foreign
passports, traveling to Dubai
entailed a degree of danger, as
a few months earlier, Mahmoud
Abdel Rauf al-Mabhouh, a senior
Hamas military commander,
was assassinated in Dubai. This
was attributed by many to the
Mossad. Following his death,
the police chief in Dubai said no
more Israeli tourists would be
allowed to enter the country, even
if they had foreign passports and
even if there was only a suspicion
that they were Israeli. The
two bachurim also hold Israeli
passports, but they decided to
take the chance and fly with only
their foreign passports.

A PERIPATETIC
COMMUNITY
The United Arab Emirates is
a Moslem country which forbids
those holding Israeli passports

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to enter. Werent you afraid to

travel there, for a religiousJewish reason, no less?
As far as Israeli citizenship,
we werent afraid because we did
not take our Israeli passports,
and in our foreign passports there
were no hints to our connection
with Eretz Yisroel. We were more
nervous about religious activities
did this Moslem country allow
Jewish religious activity or was
it a crime. We looked into it and
did not arrive at clear answers.
On the one hand, there were
rumors about a group of Jewish
businessmen who were invited to
Dubai by a local sheik who even
gave them a Torah scroll that
he possessed. But we could not
verify that story. On the other
hand, we got the impression that
the Moslem government would
not allow public Jewish religious
activities.
Now we know that the
government officially allows
religious activity even for nonMoslem groups, and even allows
the operation of a religious center
after submitting a formal request.
But the Jews in Dubai prefer not
to open an official place to pray,
because Arabs from all over the
world can be found in Dubai and
terrorists could freely enter a shul
and G-d forbid, do something
terrible. So they prefer to avoid
davening in an established
structure.
The local government knows
about the Jewish community that
has developed in recent years.
Dubais secret police tracks
any activities that deviate from
the norm, and today, I have
no doubt that they are aware
of our activities. At one of our
encounters with the community,
a senior businessman attended
who is very close to the sheik
of Dubai and it is reasonable to
assume that he told the sheik

On Chanuka, Yisroel and Yehoshua ran a special program for the members of the
Dubai community in a desert outside the city. Afterward, they were photographed
with a Moshiach flag. The menorah was built by a Jew living in Dubai for thirty years.

about the Jewish community that

he met.
But the first time we went,
we flew into the unknown. We
did not know whether we would
be allowed to bring in Jewish
religious items since promoting
religious literature is absolutely
forbidden. If violated, one would
face sentencing, imprisonment
and expulsion because of conduct
that offends Islam. But we were
mainly afraid that by being
identified as Jews, we would also
be suspected of being Israelis and
then we would be immediately

expelled from the country.

In a prior talk with Shimon
and Sharon, the couple who
initiated our trip, they warned
us to hide any blatant Jewish
symbols so they wouldnt be
suspicious of us at the airport.
So we arrived wearing baseball
caps, as innocent tourists.
Boruch Hashem, aside from
the interrogation by customs
officials, all went smoothly and
we left the terminal and met the
couple.

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Shlichus

On Chanuka of last year, I decided to ramp up

the spreading of the wellsprings in this Moslem
country and print the Tanya there. After I got all the files
from R Sholom Jacobson, I flew to Dubai. I went to the
biggest printing house in the city, that is run by foreign
workers from India, and said I wanted a hundred copies.
When the printer began spewing out the first pages, I
was ecstatic. This must have been the first Jewish book
to be printed in Dubai. The gentile workers who saw how
happy I was, also got excited and realized they were
taking part in something special.
BUILDING A COMMUNITY
If there is no shul or other
community center, where and
how did you meet the members
of the community?
We arrived two days before
Yom Kippur which was on
Shabbos that year. Our first
encounter with the community
took place in a large apartment
on the 32nd floor of an exclusive
hi-rise building. It overlooks the
artificial archipelago Jumeirah,
the first of three artificial
archipelagos that were developed
off the coast of Dubai. There,
opposite the stunning view that
symbolizes the city, is where the
first Jewish community in Dubai
was born.
We
informed
Shimon
and Sharon and all their
acquaintances about the minyan
we planned for Yom Tov, and
dozens of people came on the
holy day. The highlight, of
course, was Nila. We had over
fifty people! What they had in
common was their amazement
when they walked in and saw so
many Jews in one place. Every
Jewish article excited them. And
when they saw that we even
had a Torah scroll, they realized
that this is for real; the Jewish

community in Dubai is a reality.

After
concluding
with
Lshana HaBaa BYerushalayim,
we burst into song and all the
men joined in dancing. Most
members of the community are
businessmen who came to Dubai
for a specific amount of time, but
there are some Jews who live in
Dubai for decades already. One
of them came to Dubai at the
age of five. His father is a Syrian
Jew and his mother a Jewess
from Lebanon. When his parents
moved to Dubai they were so
afraid of being found out as Jews
that they kept telling him the
importance of hiding his Jewish
identity. His Jewish name is Levi
but his parents also called him by
an Arab name, Tarik, and made
sure to use it.
When he became more aware
of what it means to be Jewish, he
became sick of his double life and
one day he decided to reveal his
Jewish identity to all. He began
telling his friends that he is a Jew.
There were so-called friends who
left him following this revelation,
but overall, he felt much better.
He started putting tfillin on
every weekday, became careful
about kashrus, and he tries to
observe Shabbos. Today he is one

of the pillars of the community.

In this community, nobody
is on the sidelines. Everyone is
important and each one tries to
contribute toward the good of the
community to the best of his or
her abilities. Every additional new
member to the community has a
story about how he discovered it.
The members of the community
have developed a sixth sense to
identify Jews and include them in
the community.
Over the years, weve reached
hundreds of Jews and today the
community has two Sifrei Torah,
one a donation from a Jewish
businessman and the other one is
on loan from a shul in London.
On every visit, we bring sfarim
to add to the Jewish library which
moves from house to house along
with the community.

EXPANDING
ACTIVITIES IN ABU DHABI
How long did you stay on
your first visit?
As I described earlier, our first
visit was to the unknown and so
we werent set up to stay longer
than a week. We left Dubai after
Yom Kippur, after leaving the
dalet minim with the community,
tied together properly, and
siddurim and holiday brochures.
The next visit was on
Chanuka and it was for eight
days, in the course of which we
visited the homes of people in
the community and made some
Chanuka parties, each one in
another house. We brought fifty
menorahs with us and a lot of
dreidels to give to the kids. At
the main party there was great
excitement as about fifty Jews
gathered together. They all
lit menorahs and the children
played with the dreidels. There
was the feeling that the Jewish
light vanquished the darkness.

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We told them about the

Rebbes
Besuras
HaGeula
and how our generation is the
generation of Geula and in one
moment, all our galus reality will
change and even in Dubai they
will know about the malchus of
Melech HaMoshiach.
On that visit, like on every trip
there, we brought siddurim with
us. This is the way to fill up the
communitys library with sifrei
kodesh which, of course, are
not available for purchase in this
Muslim country. Unfortunately,
they stopped us at customs and
wanted to know what these
books are. Since we were afraid
to say they are religious books,
and customs was concerned it
was material to be used to incite
against the government, they
confiscated them all and said we
could get them back when we left
the country.
During
Chanukah
we
expanded our outreach and
traveled to Abu Dhabi, the capital
of the United Arab Emirates.
There is a branch of New York
University there and many of
the lecturers and professors are
Jewish. We went there by bus,
an hour and a half ride, and
were able to arrange a Chanuka
party for about forty people. It is
hard to describe how spiritually
inspired they were. They could
not believe they were sitting at
a Chanuka party in Abu Dhabi,
hearing about the spiritual
significance of Chanuka and
about the spiritual victory that
will soon happen with the Geula.
Is it not scary to travel on a
bus full of Arabs in a Moslem
country?
Youd be surprised, but most
people living in Dubai are not
citizens of the UAE, but foreign
workers from India and Pakistan.
Most of the people we met on the
street were not Arabs.

But even the Arabs who live

there generally act cordially. We
did not encounter open hatred.
On one visit, we went to a mall
and a person in a traditional
Moslem djellaba (long loose
fitting outer robe) approached us
and asked: Are you Jews?
We smiled and as proud
Lubavitchers we said, Certainly,
we are Jews.
Then he boasted that he had
business dealings with Jews from
Europe and he greatly respected
them. In a conciliatory tone
he ended our conversation by
saying: You should know that we
are cousins. Not everyone wants
war. He then blessed us and went
on his way.

SOULS INSPIRED
AT THE PURIM PARTY
Although when we enter
the country we conceal articles
of clothing that identify us as
religious Jews and wear a baseball
cap over our yarmulke, in the city
itself we wear our yarmulkes and
tzitzis openly. This way, people
can readily identify us as Jews.
Walking around malls is the best
way to meet Jews and include
them in the community.
On Chanuka, a girl came over
to us and excitedly asked whether
we have a menorah. When we
said we did, and even invited her
to join the Chanuka party, she
was in shock. She said she had
been so sad when she thought
she would go through Chanuka
without lighting a menorah, and
we had literally brought light to
her heart.
For Purim 5773, Yisroel went
to Dubai with a bachur named
Motty K. Motty told us about
their experiences:
I was in 770 and a few days
before Purim, Yisroel came over
to me and asked: Do you have

a European passport? Do you

know how to read the Megilla?
When I answered yes to both
questions, he asked me: Are you
willing to come with me to Dubai
to read the Megilla?
He asked me in a tone that
you would use about going to
mivtzaim in Manhattan, but to
me this sounded more like: Do
you want to come with me for
Purim to the casbah in Shchem
(Nablus)?
I wrote to the Rebbe and after
opening to a clear answer, I said
yes. We went to Kennedy airport
where the El-Al counters are
opposite the Emirates counters.
That is the national airline for the
United Arab Emirates which, by
the way, is considered the best
airline in the world today. As we
turned left to the Arab companys
counters, an employee said to us:
You made a mistake. You need to
turn right. And she pointed at the
El-Al counters.
After a long flight, nearly
fifteen hours, we landed at
the huge airport in Dubai. We
schlepped suitcases full of food
products since you cannot buy
kosher food there (afterward,
we found some basic kosher
items in the stores, but there are
no mehadrin products there).
We were afraid that the customs
agents would make problems for
us with the food products, some
of which had Israeli labels with
Hebrew lettering.
But the customs people were
more interested in the Megilla we
brought with us. They wanted
to open it and were surprised
that it opened and opened and
opened. What language is this?
they asked, and like the earlier
times, Yisroel said it was similar
to Arabic (lhavdil) and they
accepted that. No problem,
said the official, and he let us go.
From the airport we traveled

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Shlichus
to the family who hosted us,
a lawyer for a large European
company. He and his wife were
so eager to hear about Judaism.
They wanted us to sit with them
and their children every free
moment we had and tell them
about Torah and mitzvos. It was
a great feeling to be in a home
where they wanted to hear more
and more.
Shabbos
morning,
Erev
Purim, only six people came to the
home of the person whose turn it
was to host, so unfortunately, we
had no minyan. Nevertheless, we
led a davening with niggunim as
we would in a regular minyan,
just without Kaddish, etc. The
atmosphere was electric. By the
way, the home where the minyan
took place on Shabbos was the
home of an Israeli fellow who had
been in an elite unit in the IDF,
who worked as a security guard
for one of the most important
sheiks in Dubai. He also had a
European passport and came and
went without a problem.
On Motzaei Shabbos dozens
of people showed up with their
children. We held a special
gathering for the children, some
of whom had never heard of
Purim. The people were moved
to see the Megilla. For many of
them, this was the first time they
were seeing a real Megilla, made
of parchment.
We brought mishloach manos
for all of them so that the next day
they could fulfill the mitzva. The
packaging was shaped like 770
and the people, who had never
seen 770, wondered about the
significance of the building. They
got a detailed explanation about
Beis Rabbeinu ShBBavel, and
about the Rebbe MHM and the
imminent Geula.
After reading the Megilla, they
all stayed. Its a giant apartment
and there was plenty of room for

all. Since we both speak English,

we stood in two corners and held
private discussions with members
of the community to encourage
them and raise their spirits.
Like all of Yisroels visits to
Dubai, this time too, he brought
many mezuzos and we took the
opportunity to talk to people
about the importance of putting
them up in a Jewish home.
There was a businesswoman
who runs a chain of fashion
stores in the duty-free areas of all
the countries of the Persian Gulf.
She invited us to put up a mezuza
in her home and we explained the
deeper significance of a mezuza.
I also told her that sometimes
I take a walk in an irreligious
neighborhood and when I see a
house with a mezuza, I know that
the people living there are Jewish.
Sometimes I stop, knock, and
wish the Jewish family a chag
sameiach.
She liked the idea so much
that she asked us to bring
mezuzos for all the stores she
operated in the duty-free areas.
She said: You invested thousands
of dollars in flying here in order
to bring me a mezuza. Why
shouldnt I invest a few hundred
dollars so that if a Jew ends up
in one of my stores, and sees the
mezuza, he will know that there
is a Jew here?
One of the women there was
afraid to put up a mezuza on her
apartment which is in a public
place. She finally agreed to put it
up on the inner side of the door
(in accordance with the ruling
of the Shach in Yore Deia siman
289).
The next day, when we
called her, she said she wasnt at
home but her mother was there
and she would let us put up the
mezuza. We arrived at her home
and met her mother, a woman
in her sixties, who spoke French

and English. Also there was an

older French man, an artist by
profession, who proudly showed
us a catalog of his artwork, each
piece selling for five figures.
He did not speak English so
we asked the woman to translate
our question for him, whether
he was Jewish. He answered that
he was, but it meant nothing to
him. We began talking, through
the woman who served as our
interpreter, and learned that his
parents were Holocaust survivors
who died when he was five. Since
then, he grew up without any
Jewish education. He was so
removed from anything Jewish
that when he saw Lubavitchers in
Paris at a tfillin stand, he crossed
to the other side of the street to
avoid them.
After
three
hours
of
interpreted conversation, he
finally agreed to put on tfillin. I
took out the tfillin and being an
artist he began asking why they
were square and why they were
black. When we began saying
the bracha, he wanted every
word translated. We translated
every word into English and the
woman translated it into French.
Another half an hour passed
until we finally got to put on the
tfillin, for the first time in his life.
He began saying the Shma
and, without prior warning, he
burst into tears. He was so taken
aback by his tears that burst
forth from him that he asked the
woman to ask us why he cried.
She had a traditional background
and was so moved that she also
began sobbing.
After three and a half hours
of back and forth, we were so
happy and moved that we took
out candies and threw them, as is
customary at a bar mitzva.
After he finished the Shma, he
wanted to leave the tfillin on for a
while longer. He suddenly felt so

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good about it that he didnt want

to take them off. Then we went
to put up the mezuza and he said
he wanted to do this mitzva too.
He put up the mezuza and cried
once again. We were so uplifted
that we began dancing with him,
swept up in his enthusiasm. He
danced and cried.

PRINTING THE
TANYA IN DUBAI
On Chanuka of last year,
Yisroel decided to ramp up the
spreading of the wellsprings in
this Moslem country and to print
the Tanya in Dubai. After he
got all the files from R Sholom
Jacobson, who is on the Vaad
LHafatzos Sichos and the
person appointed by the Rebbe
over printing Tanyas, he flew to
Dubai. He went to the biggest
printing house in the city, that
is run by foreign workers from
India, and said he wanted a
hundred copies.
When the printer began
spewing out the first pages, I
was ecstatic. This must have
been the first Jewish book to be
printed in Dubai. The gentile
workers who saw how happy
I was, also got excited and
realized they were taking part in
something special.
We printed four boxes of
paper which I took with me
to New York and from there I
sent them to Eretz Yisroel to be
bound. On my next visit, I gave
out the Tanyas to the members of
the community who were amazed
to hear that the Tanya had been
printed there. One of them was
so enthused that he arranged
to learn Tanya via Skype with
someone in Eretz Yisroel.

DAILY BRACHA FROM

THE REBBE IN DUBAI
Much more could be told

about the unique work being

done in Dubai but our time ran
out and Yisroel was rushing
to the airport on his way to the
Kinus HaShluchim. He ended
with two short stories:
Two years ago, at a Purim
party we made for children, a
French woman with her young
son was very excited by our work.
On our next visit, she wanted us
to come and visit her home so we
could tell her and her son about
Judaism. At the end of the visit,
she said she wanted to show us
something nice. She took us
to the end of the hall where we
stopped and looked at a giant
picture of the Rebbe wearing tallis
and tfillin. It was an oil painting

on canvas. She told us that every

morning she stands near the
Rebbes picture and asks for his
blessing, that Hashem help her
with everything she needs.
Another story happened
on my last visit for Tishrei
5777. I visited someone in
the community, the one I
told you about who has been
living in Dubai for thirty years.
Tragically, his sister converted
to Islam and married a Lebanese
man. She frequently argues with
him and yells at him for exposing
his Jewishness. As I sat in his
house, his sister called and asked
can you get me a mezuza?
Of course he was shocked
but he said yes. How soon
can you get one for me? she
asked. He told her that it just
so happened that a rabbi was
present and he could take care
of it immediately. Of course, I
immediately gave him a mezuza
and he got it over to her at the
earliest opportunity. I have yet
to hear the continuation of that
story but her sudden inspiration
just while I was sitting in his
house, was moving.

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HALACHA 2 GO

CELEBRATION OF
A PRIVATE MIRACLE
Selected Halachos from the
One Minute Halacha project
By HaRav Yosef Yeshaya Braun, Shlita,
Mara Dasra and member of the Badatz of Crown Heights

CHANNELING HASHEMS
HOLY NAME
We may not use Hashems
holy names for secular purposes.
Any descriptions that are unique
to Hashem, such as Melech
HaKavod (Honored King), or
Leila mikol birchasa vshirasa
([He is] beyond all the blessings
and hymns) may not be ascribed
to human beings, such as
ministers, kings, judges and the
like.
However, some exceptions
are made by poskim regarding
tzaddikim;
in
certain
circumstances, Hashems unique
descriptive qualities are used to
describe certain holy individuals.
Some authorities maintain
that we may not use any of
Hashems holy Names as a
mnemonic, such as remembering
a particular date with any
combination of the letters of
Hashems Names. Likewise,
when writing numbers in
gematria (numerology, i.e., using
the Hebrew letter alef to equal
the value of one; yud equaling
the value of ten etc.), we dont

write a yud (10) and a hey (5),

rather a tes (9) and a vav (6).
(Nor do we write a yud and a vav
for 16, but that is a more recent
custom, and some posit that it
is not connected to the letters of
Hashems Name, but because of
its similarity to oy or avoi,
which are expressions of woe.)
We may, however, print an
acronym of Hashems name
as a roshei taivos (acronymic
device) in a sentence, as the
Rambam did in the beginning
of his Mishneh Torah, and we
may even emphasize the letters.
Additionally, we find many
well-known sfarim that have
Hashems name as part of their
title, and that is acceptable.

THE DIY YOM TOV

If someone experiences a
personal nes (miracle) and makes
a seudas hodaa (a feast of giving
thanks to Hashem) that meal
is considered a seudas mitzvah
(a meal honoring a Divine
commandment, similar to a bris
or other mitzvah occasion). There
are records of community leaders

and other people of importance

who experienced a personal
miracle and would designate
that day as a yom mishteh
vsimchah (a day of feasting and
joy). The Tosafos Yom Tov (Rav
Yom Tov Lipmann Heller in the
17th century) established Rosh
Chodesh Adar II as such a day
when he experienced a personal
redemption, and poskim say
that anyone who experiences a
personal salvation should do so
as well.
Once
someone
accepts
upon themselves that day as a
yom mishteh vsimchah, that
acceptance is sufficient for them
not to say Tachanun (prayers of
supplication) in their davening
that day.
This would apply even
to someone who lived in a
community where Tachanun was
not said on that day, but moved
to another community where
Tachanun is said. They can
continue not saying Tachanun in
their new community on the day
that they always celebrated as a
yom tov.

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WHEN ITS TOO COLD

TO BE KOSHER
After an animal or fowl is
ritually slaughtered, its meat has
to be kashered within seventy-two
hours; first it must be soaked in
water for half an hour, then salted
and left to drain for an hour, after
which it is rinsed to remove all
blood. Halacha dictates that the
water used for soaking should
not be hot, but poskim further
caution that it shouldnt be too
cold either, as water which is too
cold is metarshi lei (hardens it
[the meat]), instead of softening
it in preparation for salting.
Poskim define too cold by
referring to the chill factor of a
certain day, place or seasonall
which are extreme. Some posit
that too cold refers to water
that is so cold that it is too
uncomfortable to be used for
hand-washing.
Contemporary
poskim argue regarding the exact
temperature that is considered
too cold for soaking un-kashered
meat; it is generally accepted
that the water should certainly

not be below 3 degrees Celsius

(a little more than 37 degrees
Fahrenheit).
There is difference of opinion
among poskim whether the meat
is considered kosher bdieved
(after the fact) if freezing (or
near-freezing) water was used.
Certainly, bhefsed merubah (in a
case of great loss) many poskim
deem it permissible for eating.
Alternatively, the damage of
freezing water can be mitigated
if the meat is re-soaked in
lukewarm water before salting.
There are poskim who argue
that even those authorities who
permit consuming the meat that
was soaked in freezing water
would maintain that if the meat
was hot at the time of soaking the
damage is irrevocable, and the
meat is assur (prohibited) even
bdieved.
(It should be pointed out that
there are poskim who do not raise
the issue of cold water at all. The
Shulchan Aruch, in fact, does
not mention cold water in this
context.)

There are also many locales

where government regulations
necessitate the use of cold water
only for raw meat handling, so
lukewarm water may not be used
for koshering. In such cases, the
water temperature should be
measured carefully, so it is not
too cold for soaking according
to halacha. Many contemporary
slaughterhouses
take
into
account that the natural warmth
of fresh meat works to counteract
the chill of the water to bring
the soaking temperature to a
halachically acceptable degree.
However, if the water was
very cold initially we should be
stringent and soak the meat a
bit longer than the requisite halfhour soaking time, so it will be
immersed for a full half hour in
water that is no longer extremely
cold.
One Minute Halacha is a succinct
daily presentation on practical Halacha
in video, audio, and text formats, and can
be accessed by phone at 718.989.9599,
by email, halacha2go@gmail.com, or by
WhatsApp 347.456.5665.

Issue 1052

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QUIZ

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1052_bm_eng.indd 18

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MOSHIACH & HAYOM YOM

YOUR SURVIVAL
KIT FOR THESE
TOPSY-TURVY
TIMES
By Rabbi Gershon Avtzon

Dear Reader shyichyeh,

This Shabbos we read Parshas
VaYechi. It is the first Shabbos
Chazak of the year and in this
parsha the Bnei Yisroel received
the Brachos from Yaakov Avinu.
There is a famous story brought
in HaYom Yom (18 Teves) in
connection to Parshas VaYechi:
When the Tzemach Tzedek
was a child and learned the verse,
And Yaakov lived in the land of
Egypt for seventeen years, his
teacher translated it for him
according to the commentary
of Baal HaTurim: Yaakov Avinu
lived his seventeen best years in
Egypt.
When
[the
Tzemach
Tzedek] came home from
cheider he asked his grandfather,
the Alter Rebbe: How could
it be that the best years in the
life of Yaakov Avinu, the most
eminent of the Patriarchs, were
the seventeen years that he lived
in Egypt, the obscenity of the
earth?
The Alter Rebbe answered
him: It is written that [Yaakov]
sent Yehudah before him to Yosef,
to show him (lehoros lefanav) the
way to Goshen. The Midrash,

as cited by Rashi, relates that

R. Nechemia said, [Yehudahs
task was] to prepare a House of
Study for him, so that the Torah
would be [studied] there, and
[his sons] would meditate upon
its teachings.
[The Alter Rebbe added:
This is implied by the abovequoted phrase,] lehoros lefanav
Goshnah To show him the
way to Goshen. Through Torah
study, one draws closer to Gd.
In such circumstances, even in
Egypt, there was life and vitality.
There is much discussion
about this HaYom Yom in the
sichos of the Rebbe and between
Chassidim. I would like to
focus on one of the points of
discussion: Why is it that Yaakov
had to send Yehuda to set up the
Yeshiva in Mitzrayim if Yosef and
his sons already lived there?
In Likkutei Sichos (Vol. 3
p. 827), the Rebbe explains
that Jewish education has to be
completely pure. Purity does
not just mean the opposite of
non-Jewish, rather it implies a
foundation comprised of the
complete absence of any shackles
of anything related to dealing

with the world. Yosef and his

children were great Tzaddikim,
but they were too involved in
the dealings of the world and
running the Egyptian empire.
Yaakov had to send someone
pure, someone who was a Batlan
and a shepherd, to found the
Yeshiva (for example, we might
think of Reb Michoel Teitelbaum,
founder of Oholei Torah, Al
Taharas HaKodesh).
Recently, I heard a very
interesting thought from a
Chassid on this point. The
reason that Yaakov sent Yehuda
and did not rely on Yosef was
because Yehuda had something
that Yosef did not: the latest
Sichos of Yaakov Avinu. While
it was true that Yosef was a
dedicated Chassid and Shliach
and continued to review for 22
years the latest Sichos that he
had heard from his father (such
as Egla Arufa), he did not spend
time at the latest farbrengens
of Yaakov. In those special
Farbrengens, Yaakov, as a true
Nasi, was preparing the Yidden
for the new era of concealment
in Mitzrayim and providing the
tools for dealing with the new
concealment of Mitzrayim. He
taught them about , which
has the Gematria of , and he
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HALACHA 2 GO

The reason that Yaakov sent Yehuda and did

not rely on Yosef was because Yehuda had
something that Yosef did not: the latest Sichos of Yaakov
Avinu. While it was true that Yosef was a dedicated
Chassid and Shliach and continued to review for 22
years the latest Sichos that he had heard from his father
(such as Egla Arufa), he did not spend time at the latest
farbrengens of Yaakov. In those special Farbrengens,
Yaakov, as a true Nasi, was preparing the Yidden for the
new era of concealment in Mitzrayim and providing the
tools for dealing with the new concealment of Mitzrayim.

taught them the concept of

, the power of the Emuna
of Yechi and that
!These were the founding
principles of the new Yeshiva
that Yaakov wanted to open in
Mitzrayim.
Dear Chassidim!
In order for us to not
just survive our current and
temporary era of concealment,
but turn these years into the
best years that we live with
the Rebbe in our times, we must
learn and live with the amazing
Sichos of 5751-5752. These
Sichos have the special power to
infuse life and to teach us to live
as Chassidim and how to educate
our children to live as Chassidim.
They teach us what our Avoda
is, in this era right before the
complete Hisgalus of the Rebbe.
These Sichos need to be the
foundation of our Yeshivos, the
places we educate ourselves and
our families. While it is true
that there are many like Yosef
who were sent on Shlichus to
the toughest places years earlier
and succeeded on their Shlichus
with Mesiras Nefesh, who
managed to raise their children
as Chassidim through the hardest

of circumstances, that in itself is

not enough to found these new
Yeshivos. The founders must be
Chassidim who are infused with
these Sichos and the message of
, which has the Gematria
of , and the concept of
, the power of the Emuna of
Yechi and that .
The following are two letters
of the Rebbe that tell us explicitly
to learn the lessons of the latest
sichos and Maamarim of the
Rebbe. The first is from Igros
Kodesh Vol. 4 page 23.
With
regard
to
your
statements that you feel alone
and forlorn... and that great
weakness overcomes you in all
your work:
Behold, the conclusion of
your words shows the nature of
the first ones; i.e., that [these
feelings of despondency] are the
counsel of the yetzer [hara] that
endeavors to weaken every person
in the fulfillment of his mission
with whatever words appropriate
to the nature of the shliach.
There is a well-known adage of
my revered father-in-law, the
Rebbe, hkm: Chassidus brought
about [a situation in which] one
is not alone. Wherever one is

found, the Rebbeim are there.

This applies, in particular, to my
revered father-in-law, the Rebbe,
hkm, who himself writes with
regard to his father, the Rebbe
[Rashab], nishmaso Eden, that
the shepherds of Israel will not
abandon their flock.
As explained in [Tanya,]
Igeres HaKodesh, Epistle 27 and
its explanation, [after a tzaddiks]
passing, the boundaries of a
physical body are removed, and
[the Rebbeim] are found together
with all those connected to them
and bonded with them wherever
they are. In particular, this applies
in the places where they were
sent to fulfill a mission [from the
Rebbeim], and more particularly,
when the mission involves
spreading the wellsprings of [the
teachings of] the Baal Shem Tov
outward.
This serves as preparation
and the preface for the coming of
Moshiach and the Resurrection
of the Dead when those who
lie in the dust will arise and sing
praises, with him among them.
See the sicha of 13 Tammuz,
5709, that was published in the
kuntres for Yud-Beis Tammuz,
5710, from which you should be
able to draw vitality, motivation,
and strength for your work in
your present place. From there
you will see clearly that even from
the perspective of mortal intellect,
there is no place for the thought
that you are alone and forlorn,
Heaven forbid. And obviously,
there is no basis for weakness
in your work. Would it be that
the members of the chassidic
brotherhood, and particularly,
the Tmimim carefully study
the works of my revered fatherin-law, the Rebbe, , even his
talks, and in particular those of
the year 5710 and the preceding
year.
The second letter, dated 5

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Adar 5710, is printed in Igros

Kodesh Vol. 3 page 282.
This letter was addressed to
R. Nissan Nemanov, the spiritual
mentor of the Lubavitch yeshiva
in Brunoy, France.
In
response
to
your
personal question (R. Nissan
had asked about the wedding of
his daughter, scheduled to be
celebrated on 11 Adar at a time
when the chassidic brotherhood
was still struggling with how to
come to terms with the passing of
the Rebbe Rayatz):
In my humble opinion, you
should bring happiness to the
groom and bride through Chabad
melodies and the like. Whoever
brings happiness [to a groom...]
merits... May we merit the voice
of a groom and the voice of a
bride and the rejoicing of the

beginning of sec. 5. Certainly,

you will internalize what is stated
at the beginning of sec. 5 and
communicate it to the groom and
bride and the guests. I conclude
with blessings of mazel tov, mazel
tov for the groom and bride. May
their marriage be auspicious and
may they build a faithful house in
Israel, [raise] blessed offspring,
revealing [that their marriage] is
an eternal structure.
In the merit of learning and
living with these Sichos, may we
merit the complete Hisgalus of
the Rebbe MHM now!

groom together with the bride.

It is a well-known [practice
of] the Rebbeim in particular,
I heard this with regard to the
Rebbe Maharash that when
they would deliver a maamer,
they would say specific words
that were relevant to individual
listeners and these words would
be heard only by the person
to whom they were relevant.
The Rebbe [Rashab], however,
requested of his father and his
request was granted that he
hear all of these words. I heard
this from my revered father-inlaw, the Rebbe, hkm.
In the maamer released
for the day of [the Rebbes]
passing, there are several BaalShemske statements. In my
humble opinion, the resolution
of your question is found in the



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PROFILE

SHLICHUS AROU
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R Yossi Pogatch is a fascinating person

who combines broad Torah knowledge
with expertise in electrical and robotic
engineering. * In his work with the biggest
car companies in the world, he is often away
from home, traveling to distant locales
across the world. Since he became a Chabad
Chassid, he started viewing his travels in
a different light, in which every trip is a
shlichus. * He told Beis Moshiach the very
interesting story of his life and work.
By Avrohom Rainitz

OUND THE GLOBE

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Profile

The Rebbe [Rashab] said to

someone in yechidus: Ever since
G-d told our father Avraham,
Go from your land etc. and
it is then written Avram kept
traveling southward, we have
the beginning of the mystery of
birurim. By decree of Divine
Providence man goes about his
travels to the place where the
sparks that he must purify
await their redemption.
There is no doubt that this
selection from the HaYom Yom
is relevant to each one of us, but
there are people for whom its
relevancy seems so much more
obvious. One of them is R Yossi
Pogatch, a Lubavitcher Chassid
from Netanya, who travels the
world. As of the writing of this
article, he is in Guangzhou in
China.
R Yossi, along with being
a talmid chacham who went
through Shas several times, is an
international expert in inspecting
complex
electrical
systems
with a specialty in robotics. He
works with some of the biggest
companies in the world, including
BMW, Audi, Volkswagen, Ford,
GM, Nissan, Peugeot, Citroen,
Renault, Fiat, Airbus, Grumman,
and more.
In his line of work, he flies
to companies around the world.
There is hardly a country in the

world, excluding certain Muslim

countries, that he has not visited.
His personal Lech lecha leads
him to sparks around the world
on a regular basis. You can sit
with him for hours and hours
while he regales you with stories
from his travels.

PENGUIN SHLICHUS
Every time I return from a
trip, my wife asks me, What was
the shlichus this time? It is clear
to both of us that the real goal of
my trip is not the work in this or
that company but a mission from
Hashem, and we try to discover
what it was.
I usually have stories about
encounters with Jews, about
Jews who put on tfillin, learned
Torah or came closer to Judaism
in some way or another thanks to
my visit to that part of the world.
But sometimes, I come back and
dont have a story. It seems as
though nothing happened. We
call it a penguin shlichus, for the
bachurim who went on Merkos
Shlichus and felt they didnt
accomplish
anything.
When
they returned to 770, the Rebbe
said that in the town they visited
there was an older Jewish woman
whose grandchildren saw that
bachur walking down the street.
They told her they saw a penguin

on the street. She was horrified

that they were so ignorant of
Judaism that they did not even
know what a religious Jew
looks like and thought he was a
penguin. As a result of this, she
persuaded her daughter to give
the children a Jewish education.
Since I heard that story, I
realized that even if it looks as
though we did not accomplish
anything, just walking down the
street dressed as a Chassid is a
shlichus onto itself.

UNCOMMON LIFE
TRAJECTORY
I met with R Yossi at the
Chabad House in Guangzhou,
China. At first glance it was hard
for me to fit him into an existing
stereotype. In the morning, I
saw him sitting before davening
immersed in a maamer of the
Rebbe Rashab. In the evening,
I saw him giving an in-depth
shiur to a group of religious
businessmen. Here and there I
overheard him talking shop with
some high-tech people. R Yossi
is not a type, and his life has
not been typical.
I grew up in Switzerland.
On my mothers side, the family
is Ger. My grandfather was the
shochet of the Imrei Emes of
Ger. On my fathers side, we are

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Chabad. My great-grandfather
was a Chassid of the Rebbe
Maharash. We even have a
picture of him from that time.
Aside for my grandfather who
left for Switzerland and became
Litvish, or more correctly put,
oilemish, the rest of my family is
Lubavitch.
Our home was modern
Litvish. I grew up in the Agudas
Achim community led by Rabbi
Mordechai Yaakov Breisch zl,
a known posek and author of
the Chelkas Yaakov responsa.
I went to Yeshivas Eitz Chaim
in Montreux in Switzerland,
founded by Rabbi Yerachmiel
Eliyahu Botchko [d. 1956].
At age eighteen I made aliya.
Although I considered myself
Litvish, I went to learn in the
hesder yeshiva in Chispin in the
Golan Heights and was drafted
into the army to do combat duty
as a paratrooper where I served
in a chareidi unit.
After the army, I studied
mechanical engineering at the
Technion while simultaneously
learning in the kollel of Rabbi
Dr. Eliyahu Zin in Haifa. I wore
a big knitted kippa and adopted
the Chardal style. Our home was
Litvish-Zionist. I had a daf yomi
shiur and was particular about
my Torah learning along with my

secular studies.
R Yossi completed his degree
as an engineer and took a job as
a systems tester for an electric
company.
My G-d given talent is in the
field of test inspections, being
able to identify problems and
knowing how to find solutions
to them. For example, there
was once a problem that I did
not know how to begin solving.
Suddenly I saw error #32 flash
on the screen. I asked the experts
sitting there, Did you see that?
but nobody saw it. The moment
I saw it, I knew how to solve the
problem. It was amazing. They
were all there but none of them
saw it. I always say that Hashem
helps me in my work. It is He
who does all the work and I get
the salary.
In the course of his work he
was sent to the United States in
order to study a certain system
that they wanted to implement at
the electric company. He flew to
New York many times and even
stayed there for a long time, but
throughout that time, despite
visiting the vicinity of Crown
Heights, it did not occur to him
to see the Rebbe.
Ironically, I made a special
trip from Brooklyn to Boston to
get a bracha from the Bostoner

Rebbe, but did not go to the

Lubavitcher Rebbe. I was hosted
by Jews in Brooklyn and none
of them spoke about the Rebbe.
I suppose my neshama had to
come to Lubavitch after Gimmel
Tammuz.

I LEARNED SICHOS OF THE

REBBE WITHOUT KNOWING
WHO THE AUTHOR WAS
R Yossi made continued
strides in his work as a systems
inspector. He left the electric
company because of shmiras
Shabbos problems and went to
work for private companies while
continuing to learn in the Litvishe
kollel. Life could have continued
in this way except that heaven
decided otherwise; Yossi needed
to join Lubavitch.
I became friends with a
Lubavitcher in Netanya, R
Moshe Bernstein. One day, he
brought me thirty photocopied
pages and suggested that I
learn it. It was the kuntres Beis
Rabbeinu ShBBavel. He knew
my views about Chabad, which
is why he photocopied only the
content without the introduction
and without telling me what the
source was. I read the booklet
and was blown away. I said, wow!
This is amazing! This is probably
from one of the gdolei Yisroel of
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Profile

A few months earlier, R Namdar was invited

to speak to the Reform community. Before
the speech, they gave him a detailed list of what he
couldnt speak about: Shabbos, kashrus, family purity.
There was one thing they forgot to include and that was
intermarriage, so he accepted the invitation.
earlier generations.
He
smiled
and
said,
Actually, its someone from our
generation. I was very excited
when he told me that the author
produced similar booklets every
week. He asked me whether I
would be interested in getting
more of them. Of course I said
yes.
He started bringing me
Likkutei Sichos and Dvar
Malchus, all without the cover
pages, and I learned them avidly
without knowing who the author
is. He slowly exposed me to the
world of Chassidus. When I
was ready, he told me that the
sichos were from the Lubavitcher
Rebbe.
We arranged to learn Tanya
together and over the course of
three years we got to chapter 32.
We learned in great depth. We
also learned Derech Mitzvosecha
of the Tzemach Tzedek and
other Chassidic works. At this
point, I was completely immersed
in Chassidus. I began davening at
the Chabad shul and even went to
the Rebbe.
One of the things that helped
me greatly to progress in learning
Chassidus and consequently, in
the darchei hachassidus, was
the order and structure of the
learning. I am Swiss with a Swiss
nature, so everything must be
organized and orderly for me.
One of the rabbanim with whom I
consulted when I was first taking
an interest in Chassidus made

me a learning schedule. I stick

to it meticulously until today. I
have daily learning schedules for
Nigleh and Chassidus. I learned
the three volumes of maamarim
kuntreisim of the Rebbe Rayatz
in daily increments. Then I
moved on to the teachings of
the Rebbe Rashab. Now I am
learning Hemshech 5672 with
the explanation of Rabbi Arad. I
learn everything twice and then I
learn it a third time. This way, I
am able to retain the information.
It really helps me tremendously.
Now its time for me to add
the teachings of the Rebbe
Maharash. This is in addition to a
fixed schedule I have in studying
the teachings of the Rebbe which
I learn every day.

GOING GLOBAL
Professionally,
R
Yossi
continued to advance. He was
appointed section head in a large
company that was bought by the
international Siemens firm and
became the liaison between the
company and Siemens. From
there he was moved to the sales
support division. Along with
professional
promotions
he
began to travel more often.
In his travels, he meets with
top scientists and engineers.
Somehow, he always ends up
talking about the Jewish religion
and faith and R Yossi uses these
conversations to speak about
the Rebbe and about Moshiach.
Often, his long beard and

Chassidic appearance mislead his

conversation partners, but when
he begins talking they realize that
he is someone with his feet on the
ground.
Even when the conversations
touch upon sensitive subjects,
such as chai vkayam, he
manages to convey the message
in keilim of tikkun. He explains
what it says in Chassidus that
the Chabad leaders, like all
Jewish leaders throughout the
generations, are souls from
the world of Atzilus who retain
the unique characteristics of
the world of Atzilus even when
descending to this world.
A neshama from the world of
Atzilus is above time and space
and death does not apply to it,
he explains. We are the ones
who are limited and suddenly
dont see the Rebbe, but he
himself remains above these
limitations.

THE SHLICHUS IN
GUANGZHOU
Lately, R Yossi Pogatch
has been living in Guangzhou,
China where he has been helping
the shliach there, R Eliyahu
Rozenberg. After being there
for several weeks, R Rozenberg
has come to enjoy R Yossis
ability to connect with high-tech
people and influence them and he
suggested that he stay and help
out at the Chabad House.
At the same time, at work
they also suggested I move here.
At first I said there was nothing
to talk about because there was
no way my wife would agree.
A short while later I spoke with
my wife about something else
and she asked, Whats with the
shlichus in China? I said that I
thought she would not agree but
she asked me to look into it.
Through a third party I

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sent a message to the company

administration
that
things
changed and I was open to
the offer. They jumped at this
opportunity. Of course, before
I signed a contract, we wrote
to the Rebbe and asked for a
bracha. We opened to an amazing
answer in the Igros Kodesh and
my mashpia said the Rebbe was
guiding us to work together
with the local shliach who is
responsible for the outreach
there. I would be there only to
help him.
The HR department took
care of all the arrangements,
finding a nice apartment, the
visas, a drivers license; I got
it all on a silver platter. Thats
how I can be involved in spiritual
matters without worries about
material things. Sometimes,
people say to me, what mesirus
nefesh you have! I respond by
saying that I dont think its
mesirus nefesh; on the contrary,
the Rebbe is pampering me from
beginning to end.
Along with the wonderful
work of R Eliyahu Rozenberg,
and his right-hand man, R M.
M. Dworkin, R Yossi takes the
opportunity G-d gave him and
in every free moment from work,
he goes to the Chabad House,
gives shiurim to businessmen,
and learns Nigleh or Chassidus
one on one with people. On
Shabbos he farbrengs with hightech people and his presence
gives the Chabad House a special
atmosphere.

THE LONE JEW IN

TASMANIA
Before I fly anywhere, I
send an email to the shliach and
ask him just one question: What
do you need? And I mean what
I say. Sometimes, shluchim
politely decline the first time, but

then we get to know one another

and when I go I bring suitcases
full of goodies for them.
The
trips
around
the
world, and constant search for
opportunities to elevate sparks,
all lead to countless stories which
R Yossi shares, one by one.
The most fantastical story
I had occurred over twenty
years ago. I was returning from
Australia on Olympic Airways
where you could still smoke in
the back rows.
A very old man, who looked
90, sat near me. He did not say
a word to me but when I received
my kosher meal he asked me in
English, Whats that? I told
him, Kosher food. He declared,
Thats impossible! I told him,
It is possible. You can order a
kosher meal through your travel
agent. Once again he declared,
Thats impossible. Only Jews
ate (past tense) kosher food.
I said, Right, and Im Jewish.
He looked at me incredulously
and continued mumbling, Its
impossible.
I asked him, Why do you
think its impossible? He gave
me this unexpected answer,

Because there arent any more

Jews!
I told him that in Eretz
Yisroel there are a million and a
half children learning there. He
maintained, Thats impossible.
I told him that in Eretz Yisroel
there is also a Jewish army and
tanks and planes and yeshivos. I
told him whats going on there.
As I heatedly set him straight
I saw his sleeve move up and I
noticed a concentration camp
number tattooed on his arm.
The woman accompanying
him told me that this man had
escaped a concentration camp
but his mind was permanently
affected. He emigrated to
Tasmania where he lived in a
house alone in a forest, cut off
from the media and society and
he was convinced that Hitler had
exterminated all Jews and that he
was the last surviving Jew.

ANGEL IN BLACK IN JAPAN

A number of years ago, I was
in Atsugi in Japan, three hours
south of Tokyo. I was there for
the Japanese automaker Nissan.
I was hosted in the largest hotel
in town, over the Hon-Atsugi

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Profile

train station, and I was the only

westerner in the hotel.
One day, as I left the
elevator, someone passed me
whose profile looked western. I
dont know why, since this is not
what I usually do, but I called
out, Yehudi, do you want to
put on tfillin? The man did not
react and he continued walking,
ignoring me entirely. I figured I
was mistaken and went toward
the bus stop.
Suddenly, I heard a voice
behind me asking, How? I
turned around and saw the man I
had called to earlier. I asked him,
What do you mean, how? He
said, How did you know that Im
Jewish? And how did you know
that I speak Hebrew?
I didnt know what to tell
him. Then he said, Ive been
running away from Him all
my life, but if He chases after
me until here, then bring the
merchandise. I didnt have my
tfillin with me, so I said, Give
me a second. Im running up to
my room. I asked him to watch
my bag and I dashed off to my
room in the hotel.
As always, when youre in a
rush, the elevator doesnt come
I was afraid the man would
leave. I was thrilled when, after I
returned many minutes later, he

was still waiting for me. He told

me this was the first time he was
putting on tfillin. I had him also
read the morning blessings and
Shema, and we parted ways.
Some years went by. At the
end of Elul this year I was in
Koh Samui in Thailand and the
shliach, R Mendy Goldschmid,
asked me and my wife to help
him for Rosh HaShana. One
evening, I was sitting with
tourists and I told this story
about the Israeli I met in Japan.
A man of retirement age stood
up and asked me, It was you? I
said, Yes, it happened with me.
Then he said, I will fill in the
other part of the story.
The man you met is a good
friend of mine. This is how he
told me what happened from
his perspective. I went out one
morning to the train. I was going
to get on when an angel in black
came down from heaven and
yelled, Put on tfillin. I felt that
I couldnt move. (I had been
afraid he would run away and
he simply couldnt move!). Until
you went and came back and put
tfillin on him, he felt he couldnt
move. All his life he opposed
putting on tfillin but he told me,
when the angel in black came
down from heaven, he could not
say no.

A SHORT SPEECH WITH A

BIG IMPACT
In 5765, in my work with the
Swedish company Volvo, I was in
Gothenburg in Sweden. As usual,
I was in touch with the shliach, R
Alexander Namdar, and he asked
me to stay for Shabbos since it
was the sheva brachos of a very
special couple and he needed to
complete a minyan.
Over Shabbos I heard the
story about the marriage of this
young couple. In Gothenburg
there is a large Reform
community. A few months
earlier, R Namdar was invited to
speak to the Reform community.
Before the speech, they gave
him a detailed list about what he
couldnt speak about: Shabbos,
kashrus, family purity. There was
one thing they forgot to include
and that was intermarriage, so he
accepted the invitation.
The
president
of
the
community introduced him to the
crowd that packed the large hall.
He made it clear that it had been
arranged ahead of time that the
shliach would not speak about
anything that would make people
uncomfortable.
R Namdar went to the
podium and said, I was asked by
the president of the community
not to speak about Shabbos,

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kashrus, etc. I will respect his

request and wont speak about
that. But I will speak about
one very important point that I
was allowed to speak about. I
want to thank the president for
allowing me to speak about the
prohibition of intermarriage. You
should know that it is extremely
important that a Jew marry only
another Jew and not a gentile.
He couldnt say more than that
because within seconds the place
had erupted and R Namdar was
led down from the podium.
At a gas station near the
airport, a local young woman
worked as an attendant. She was
in contact with a local young man

who pumped gas somewhere

else. They were engaged to be
married. One morning, the
young man went to the gas
station where the woman worked
and with tears in his eyes, asked
to speak to his fiance. The two
stepped aside and he told her, I
dont know how to explain this
but we cannot marry. Listen, my
mother was at a rabbis speech
yesterday, a rabbi is like a Jewish
priest, and he said that a Jew can
only marry a Jew. I dont know
why and what connection I have
to this, but I cannot marry you
because my mother is Jewish and
my father is Jewish and I cannot
marry you. Dont be angry at me.

I dont want to hurt you, but this

is the situation.
Then
the
unexpected
happened. To his astonishment,
the girl burst into hysterical
laughter. You wont believe this,
but I was also going to tell you
that we cannot marry because my
mother and father are Jewish and
they were at the same speech.
The couple got married with
a chuppa and kiddushin and I
participated in the Shabbos sheva
brachos. In the end, they both
became baalei teshuva and moved
somewhere else where they can
live a Jewish life more easily.

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STORY

AN ETERNAL
COVENANT
By Menachem Ziegelboim

PART I
The tremendous hustle and
bustle of Manhattan did not
faze the two bachurim who
stood that day, in the summer of
1979, on Seventh Avenue near a
Mitzva Tank. They invited Jewish
passersby to enter the tank and
put on tfillin.
Excuse me, are you Jewish?
they asked people earnestly.
Those who said yes were invited
to enter the tank where they were
told what tfillin are and how they
connect a person to G-d.
The two bachurim stood there
for hours and couldnt help but
notice the stares of a young man
who stood nearby. Of course, the
bachurim went over to him and
asked the same question they
had asked so many times before,
Are you Jewish? He said no,
shaking his head vigorously. No,
he wasnt Jewish.
The bachurim continued
accosting passersby. They had
a job to do, to connect Jews to
their Maker, and this was the call
of the hour. They couldnt waste
time.
A long time passed and the
young man was still standing

there.
The
bachurim
felt
uncomfortable. Why was he
standing there and watching
them? The asked him again,
Perhaps you are Jewish? But
like before, he gave a firm no.
The bachurim went back
to work while the young man,
as though not getting the hint,
continued to stand there, not
removing his eyes from them.
At a certain point, his presence
and stare became disturbing to
them. They, who had left the big
beis midrash of 770 where they
learned Chassidus and had heard
many times the Rebbes outlook
on the world, sensed there was
something going on here. Maybe
he had a soul that was attracted
to Torah and Judaism without his
knowing it!
The bachurim revised their
question and asked, Are your
parents Jewish?
This time, the answer was,
Yes, my parents are Jewish, but
Im not.
Mystery solved.
The bachurim smiled and put
a loving arm on his shoulders.
You are mistaken, my friend.
You are Jewish too. According
to the Jewish religion, if your

mother is Jewish, you are Jewish

too.
The young man shook his
head and said, My parents are
Jewish but Im not Jewish. The
bachurim got into a conversation
until the young man finally
opened up and said that his
parents were from Europe and
had survived the Holocaust. They
immigrated to the United States,
married, but decided not to have
children lest another Holocaust
happen and their children suffer
the fate of the millions of children
who were killed in Europe, may
Hashem avenge their blood.
They went into business and
did well and became wealthy.
They bought a palatial home
in the suburbs and enjoyed
a respected position in the
community.
Ten years and more went by
and they began to worry. They
were successful, but they were
afraid that after they died, not
having any heir, the money they
worked hard for would go to the
government, and they didnt want
that. After much deliberation,
they decided to write a will in
which they bequeathed their
money to charitable organizations

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dear to their hearts. They went to

a lawyer whom they knew and
had him prepare their will.
When the lawyer heard their
request, he looked at them in
astonishment and said, Excuse
me for mixing into your lives, but
you are relatively young people.
How is it that you dont have
children? If you have a medical
problem, I can recommend a top
doctor whom I know personally.
The couple told him their sad
past, about the horrors they went
through during the war, and
their fear that a Holocaust would
happen again, which is why they
chose not to have children.
The
lawyer
was
quite
surprised. He certainly hadnt
expected an answer like this.
But then he laughed and said,
Do you really think there could
be another Holocaust, like what
happened in Europe? We are in a
different era now.
After a long discussion, which
required great personal courage,
the lawyer managed to convince
them to try and receive heavens
blessing and bring a child into
the world to carry on their name.
Indeed, after some time, the

woman gave birth to a son, and

that son is me, said the young
man to the bachurim.
Although they had me,
my parents still feared another
tragedy would occur and they
emphasized to me, again and
again, from when I was a young
child, that although they are
Jews, I am not a Jew.

PART II
Lubavitcher bachurim would
not forgo such an opportunity
to bring a Jewish soul back to its
roots. They took the opportunity
to explain to him that since his
mother is Jewish (and that both
his parents were good Jews), he
was a Jew in every way.
Despite his surprise, he
quickly recovered and asked
whether he could go on the tank
and see what they did there. The
bachurim were happy to oblige.
They invited him onto the tank
and explained what tfillin are and
about the bond they create with
G-d. He looked greatly moved.
Can I put them on? he asked,
pointing at the tfillin.
Of course, they said.
When he removed them, he

was very emotional. He pointed

at the tfillin, yarmulke and
siddur and asked where he could
purchase them. I want the best
there is, and I will pay whatever
it costs.
They
exchanged
phone
numbers and that same week
they provided him with beautiful
tfillin, a siddur and a yarmulke.
There was nobody happier than
he.

PART III
His parents looked at the
package
and
immediately
realized what it contained. They
remembered what tfillin look
like. They were shocked into
silence. His mother recovered
first and began to scream,
Where did you get this? This
belongs to Jews and youre not a
Jew!
I am a Jew! he responded
quietly. He had prepared himself
for this encounter.
No! Youre not a Jew! You
are an American like everyone
else, she screamed in a mixture
of fear and anger.
I checked it out and if you
are Jewish, then I am Jewish.
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Story
Voices were raised. Even his
father, albeit in a calmer voice,
tried to dissuade him. Before
their eyes, they saw all their
training going down the drain.
At a certain point, his parents
went into another room to
discuss things and decide how to
proceed. They realized that their
screaming wasnt being effective
and they had to strategize.
After a long while, his father
came out and sat down for a
father-son talk. Listen, he
began in a conciliatory tone.
You are right. You are Jewish.
All our lives we wanted you to
think you are a gentile but we
knew the truth. We were just
afraid for you.
However, you cant use
those, he said, pointing at the
velvet bag with the tfillin.
Why not? asked the son in
surprise.
Because
you
are
not
circumcised and a Jew needs to
be circumcised. That is a most
important basic requirement.
The father tried to dissuade
him from using the tfillin. He
was afraid. Very afraid. So he
used various excuses to convince
his son not to use the tfillin, but
the son was suspicious and wary.
Thank
you
for
the
information, but I need to check
it out. I want to find out for
myself. He got up to indicate the
conversation was over.
He made contact with one of
the bachurim and asked him. The
bachur said, True, a bris mila is
essential and fundamental, but
you can definitely put on tfillin
even if you are not circumcised.
The two mitzvos are not
interdependent in any way.
Furthermore,
said
the
bachur, seeing the time was right,
you can have a bris now. Its
never too late.

The young man was excited.

Having just discovered his
Judaism, it was obvious that
he was consumed with a fiery
passion that caused his soul to
shine brightly.
His parents were aghast when
he returned home and told them
what the bachur said, and about
his desire to undergo a bris. As
the days went by, they began to
slowly get used to the idea that
their attempt to protect their child
from future anti-Semitism was
unsuccessful and he was making
his way, slowly but surely, toward
the Jewish people.
Since he was their only
son, born after many years of
marriage, their love for him
overcame their fear for his
fate and they decided to take
part in his process. They even
courageously decided to attend
the bris mila that was arranged
in a well-appointed medical
facility in New York. The bachur
from the mitzva tank who was
in touch with him the entire
time, arranged for a mohel and
an anesthesiologist and even
promised to bring some friends
to complete a minyan.

PART IV
Intense emotions could be felt
in the facility where the bris was
to take place. Moments before
the ceremony was to begin,
the young man requested the
attention of those in attendance,
as he wished to say a few words.
The truth is that this bris
should have taken place decades
ago. I am now 22 years old, and
I am fulfilling this mitzva after a
great delay. Since this is taking
place after such a delay, I am
asking that I not be given any
anesthesia. It is my wish to feel
how I am entering into becoming
an integral part of the Jewish
nation.

The
mohel,
the
anesthesiologist (who was a
Reform Jew), and all those
present were shocked by the
unexpected
request.
They
were not used to hearing
such a request. The mohel
acknowledged that it was
possible, but warned the young
man about the tremendous
pain involved. If, at any point,
you want it, we can give you an
injection to still the pain, added
the pain specialist grudgingly.
There was not a dry eye in
the room during the event. Even
the Reform anesthesiologist burst
into tears as this special soul
returned to its people in such an
amazing fashion.
A few weeks later, during
the Ten Days of Repentance at
the beginning of the Jewish year
5740, the parents organized a
large celebration, to which they
invited all of their friends and
acquaintances. The invitation
that they sent out announced a
Return to Judaism Party.
At that celebratory event,
the parents recounted their life
story, including the horrors they
had lived through during the
Holocaust, which had caused
them to make such a firm
decision to escape and disconnect
as much as possible from their
past so as never to have to live
through such horrors again.
They proceeded to recount the
story of how their son came to be
born and the recent events they
had lived through, concluding
with the announcement that
the purpose of this event was to
publicly proclaim their return to
Judaism with pride...
(Story heard from Rabbi Nachman
Yosef Twersky, who heard it from Rabbi
Gershon Ber Jacobson, one of the invitees
to the party thrown by the parents.)

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28 TEIVES

THE KING HONORS

THE ROYAL MOTHER
Why did the Rebbe, at age 15, stand silently
near his mother when it was suggested that
he go to Lubavitch? When did the Rebbe
walk with his mother in Crown Heights?
Why did the Rebbe say that his mothers
slippers should be placed on his desk? *
A compilation of stories about the mitzva
of honoring parents as exemplified by the
Rebbe. * Presented for 28 Teives, Rebbetzin
Chanas birthday.

FACE TO FACE
Rebbetzin Chana
Schneersohn, the Rebbes
mother, said that from the time
her son was bar mitzva he was
particular about not turning his
back to her. Since he did not
want people to realize this, he
would walk from one side of
the table to the other as though
he wanted to straighten out the
chairs. This enabled him to leave
the room while facing her.

OUT OF RESPECT
FOR HIS FATHER
R Shmuel Grossman was
very close with the Rebbes
family. In Elul 5677/1916 he
traveled to the Rebbe Rashab in

Lubavitch for Tishrei 5678. On

his way to Lubavitch he passed
through Yekaterinoslav and spent
Shabbos with R Levi Yitzchok,
the Rebbes father.
On Friday night, R Levi
Yitzchok said a drasha. Each
time he quoted maamarei
Chazal, he would pause and ask
his son, the Rebbe, to cite the
sources. The Rebbe cited many
sources in the Talmud Bavli and
Yerushalmi, Zohar, sifrei Kabbala
and Chassidus.
Afterward, R Shmuel asked
R Levi Yitzchok: Why did you
ask this son (when he had two
other sons, R Yisroel Aryeh Leib
and R Dovber). R Levi Yitzchok
answered: He is a great baki (he
has wide-ranging knowledge).
He added that whenever he

heard his son cite new sources

that he, the father, had not
thought of, he saw the fulfillment
of and from my students [I
learned] most of all.
On Sunday, R Shmuel
wanted to continue on to
Lubavitch and he thought of
taking the Rebbe to the Rebbe
Rashab. The Rebbe stood quietly
near his mother. The Rebbetzin
said: He yearns to go but his
father does not let.
(Perhaps this was like the
Baal Shem Tov saying that
the Alter Rebbe should not
be brought to him because he
belonged to his disciple, the
Rav HaMaggid of Mezritch).
R Shmuel was very
impressed. The Rebbe was 15
years old and greatly desired

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28 Teives
to go to the Rebbe Rashab, but
since his father did not consent,
he accepted this. R Shmuel was
also impressed that the Rebbe
himself did not say a word when
he so greatly desired going. He
was standing near his mother,
not his father, and could have
said something about wanting
to go, but he kept quiet out of
respect for his father.

RAISINS FROM
AMERICA
R Yaakov Kaplan related:
Before Pesach, when I asked

Rebbe. We were told that the

flight had been delayed three
hours. Each of us went our
separate ways and agreed to
meet at a certain time before the
planes arrival.
Rebbetzin Chana was all
keyed up in anticipation of her
sons arrival. R Zalmans wife
took her shopping to buy a hat.
The Rebbetzin had wanted to do
this earlier but had been unable
to. When she heard about the
flights delay and her tension
increased, R Zalmans wife
wanted to distract her.
When we left the house, my

When we left the house, my brother and I saw a

taxi stop next to the building. A young, handsome
man quickly came out. My brother immediately realized
that this was the Rebbe and he went over and held out
his hand in greeting...

Rebbetzin Chana what she

planned on doing about the four
cups of wine, she told me that
they had sent her raisins from
America. She planned on making
wine out of them for the four
cups. She refrained from saying
that her oldest son, who lived in
New York, sent it to her. Rather,
she said obliquely, May the Jews
of America live long.

brother and I saw a taxi stop

next to the building. A young,
handsome man quickly came
out. My brother immediately
realized that this was the Rebbe

and he went over and held out

his hand in greeting.
The Rebbe immediately
asked, Where is my mother?
We said she went to buy a hat.
The Rebbe said that in the
meantime, he would go up to
the place that served as a shul.
He stood there and davened.
He also asked that when his
mother arrived, they should not
immediately inform her that
he was there, but should do so
gradually. When the Rebbe came
down to the room where his
mother was, other people were
present. The Rebbe paused in
the doorway. He looked at his
mother and she looked at him for
a long time. For many minutes
not a sound was uttered. Then
they went to a side room where
they spoke for the first time in
fifteen years. Fifteen minutes
later they came back out and
the Rebbe farbrenged with the
people present.
The Rebbe cried a lot as he
said that he had not had the
opportunity in so long to honor
his parents. He mentioned the
Chazal (Megilla 17a) that Yosef
was separated from his father for
22 years and could not honor
him. Although it was impossible
for him, it was still something
lacking.

EMOTIONAL
ENCOUNTER
R Herschel Slavin describes
the day the Rebbe arrived in Paris
in 1947:
I remember that we met early
in the morning at the home of
Rabbi Zalman Schneersohn in
order to go and welcome the

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TZIVOS HASHEM

MEMORIES

OF THE GULF WAR

By Menachem HaNegbi

Will he leave or wont he

leave, will he leave or wont he
leave? I remember it as though
it were yesterday, the deadline
the Americans had given Saddam
Hussein to remove his army
from Kuwait, January 15, 1991.
All day we tried to guess what
would happen. Would he leave
and everything would return to
normal, or would he stay and
a terrible war would break out,
something we were so afraid
would happen.
Tuesday, the 29th of Teves,
passed and nothing happened.
The next day too it was quiet.
nd of
On Thursday, the 2
Shvat, the skies over Iraq were
covered with combat planes
belonging to the United States
and its allies. They began heavily
bombing important targets in
Iraq. Within a day, these planes
had carried out more than 1000
sorties and had destroyed many
targets belonging to Hussein
missile launchers, weapons
government
storehouses,
buildings, and more. All this
happened far away from us. In
Eretz Yisroel it was still quiet, but
not for long.
At 2:00 that night we heard

a siren that rose and fell, along

with the code words, nachash
tzefa (viper) which meant get into
your sealed room because there is
a missile attack. People were very
frightened. What is happening?
What should we do now? People
ran about in confusion. They went
into the sealed rooms and put on
their gas masks. Some people did
not manage to get their masks on
properly and nearly suffocated.
There were moments of
tension and fear and then a
BOOM, a mighty explosion shook
the entire area and rattled the
windows. After a few seconds,
there was another explosion.
Thousands of pieces of
shrapnel scattered everywhere

Patriot missiles in Tel Aviv shooting down Scud missiles.

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TZIVOS HASHEM

and people were asking: Who

knows what happened? Where
did the missiles land? Who was
hurt? Are relatives and people we
know okay? What do we do now?
The situation slowly became
clear. Despite the missile attack,
nobody was injured! For many,
this was an absolute surprise
but for those who had already
encountered Lubavitchers and
heard that the Rebbe said Eretz
Yisroel is the safest place, it was
no surprise. In 770, for example,
when they heard that missiles had
landed in Eretz Yisroel with no
injuries, many Chassidim simply
got up and danced.
If you want to know what
a Chassid is, listen to what the
Chassid, R Itche Springer ah
said, when they told him that
missiles landed in Eretz Yisroel.
Do you know what he said? So
it seems to them. That is what a
Chassid, who is confident in what
the Rebbe said, has to say.
That night was the first of
many nights of missiles falling
and shrieking sirens, a situation
which lasted for weeks. Every few
days (and mostly at night), sirens
were heard and people ran to their
shelters and sealed rooms. After
they heard the mighty explosions,
they went out fearfully to see what
happened. It was only as time
passed that the miracles became
known, that huge Scud missiles
landed in Eretz Yisroel but caused
no deaths. Entire buildings were
destroyed but the people living in
those buildings all emerged alive
and well from them.
In one attack, a large missile
landed on the roof of a building
in the center of a residential
neighborhood, but it did not
explode! And there were many

more miracles experienced by

many people. Instead of referring
to the sending of missiles,
people started speaking about the
sending of miracles. Peoples
emuna was strengthened.
an
made
Rebbe
The
middle
the
in
announcement
of all this, on Shabbos Parshas
Mishpatim, in the middle of the
war. The Rebbe said that Hashem

already chose Moshiach and

appointed him to the task. What
remained to be done was for the
people to accept his authority.
These astonishing words had
never been heard before. Every
such phrase from the Rebbe only
increased peoples anticipation
for something very great that
would be happening soon.

B"H. 15 Tevet 5777

13 January 2017 Number 1052
Price: $6.00 Part 2 of 3
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