ז ה ה י ום ע ש ה ה' נ ג יל ה ו נ ש מ ח ה ב ו. -תהלים קיח:כד

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1 ז ה ה י ום ע ש ה ה' נ ג יל ה ו נ ש מ ח ה ב ו. -תהלים קיח:כד $5.95 ISSUE 80 (157) MAY 2019

2 DerherContents ISSUE 80 (157) ב"ה A Chassidisher Derher Magazine is a publication geared toward bochurim, published and copyrighted by A Chassidisher Derher under the auspices of Vaad Hatmimim Haolami. All articles in this publication are original content In every issue The Rebbe s Haggadah CONCISION. PRECISION. DEPTH. Peace In The Galilee THE FIRST LEBANON WAR Lessons For Nissan DVAR MALCHUS A Serious Matter LEBEN MITTEN REBBE N - NISSAN 5711 When Facing Challenge KSAV YAD KODESH Mitzvas Hador RABBI MORDECHAI AVTZON A Fishy Business Deal A CHASSIDISHER MAASEH On the Cover: 19 Tishrei 5751, Levi Freidin via JEM Hisvaadus Chassidim SHLUCHIM FARBRENG ABOUT 11 NISSAN 42 Perfect Clarity DER REBBE VET GEFINEN A VEG 56 Havdalah MOMENTS Derher Letters 67 > The Life of a Chossid > Yechidus > Dor Hashvi i - What we re all about > The Rebbe s View A Chassidisher Derher is honored to feature unique and historic photos from Jewish Educational Media s Living Archive photo collection. The Living Archive is a project to preserve, and provide access to the video, audio, and photographic recordings of the Rebbe. These photos are copyright by JEM and are available at TheLivingArchive.org JEM Vaad Talmidei Hatmimim Rabbi Tzvi Altein Publisher Rabbi Yossi Kamman Editor in Chief Rabbi Mendel Jacobs Administration/Development Rabbi Levi Kesselman Rabbi Mendel Treitel Editors Rabbi Moshe Zaklikovsky Rabbi Eliezer Zalmanov Advisory Committee Rabbi Mendel Alperowitz Rabbi Dovid Olidort Design Rabbi Mendy Weg Contributors Rabbi Shmuly Avtzon Rabbi Yanky Bell Rabbi Yossi Bendet Rabbi Koppel Chaiton Rabbi Levi Dubov Rabbi Tzemach Feller Rabbi Yossi Feller Rabbi Levi Greenberg Rabbi Menachem Mendel Greenberg Rabbi Mendy Greenberg Rabbi Zevi Kaplan Rabbi Levi Katz Rabbi Levi Levertov Rabbi Shmuly Levertov Rabbi Mendel Misholovin Rabbi Levi Raichik Rabbi Mendy Shemtov Photo Credits Israeli Government Press Office Jewish Educational Media Kehot Publication Society Mivtza Ois B sefer Torah Vaad Hanochos B Lahak Blesofsky family Goldstein family Sholom Yisroel Hodakov Special Thanks to Kehot Publication Society Rabbi Chaim Shaul Brook Rabbi Aaron Goldstein Rabbi Zalman Goldstein Rabbi Mendel Gourarie Rabbi Shmuel Greisman Rabbi Sholom Ber Levin Rabbi Shmuel Lubecki Rabbi Michoel Seligson Rabbi Elkanah Shmotkin Schabse Soffer Rabbi Avraham D. Vaisfiche Printed by The Print House Reproduction of any portion of this magazine is not permissible without express permission from the copyright holders, unless for the use of brief quotations in reviews and similar venues. Submit your questions and comments: (718) , Feedback@Derher.org To subscribe, order a copy, or access back issues visit us at נא לשמור על קדושת הגליון. A Chassidisher Derher (ISSN ) (USPS 21880) is published monthly by A Chassidisher Derher Inc, 784 Eastern Pkwy. Brooklyn, NY Subscription price $71 a year. Periodicals postage paid at Brooklyn, NY. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to A Chassidisher Derher, 784 Eastern Pkwy. Brooklyn, NY

3 לע נ הרה ח ר אליהו ציון ע ה בן הרב חנני ע ה נלב ע כ ז ניסן ה תשע ג ת'נ'צ'ב'ה' נדפס ע י בנו הרה ת ר יגאל ישראל וזוגתו מרת חי צירליא ומשפחתם שיחיו ניאזוף Hisvaadus Chassidim Yud Aleph Nissan As we approach the auspicious day of Yud-Aleph Nissan, A Chassidisher Derher sat down for a farbrengen with two shluchim, Rabbi Yossi Paris of Montreal, QC and Rabbi Binyomin Scheiman of Des Plaines, IL. They shared with us some recollections from their time by the Rebbe, and guidance on how to approach Yud-Aleph Nissan today. 33

4 A Yom Tov for Everyone Rabbi Paris: I was a bochur in 770 in the late 5720s* and early 5730s*. Those were the years that Yud-Aleph Nissan really became the public Yom Tov that it is today. We were zoche that the Rebbe shared the day with us Chassidim and all of klal Yisroel, giving us the opportunity to take part in his simcha. Today it is a given that we add in our hachlatos in preparation for Yud-Aleph Nissan, we give matanos to the Rebbe, make farbrengens and do all we can to be by the Rebbe on this day. But like many things in dor hashvi i, this was something built up over time. In general, if we look back at previous generations, the Rebbeim celebrated their birthdays privately. The Rebbe Rashab said a maamar every year on his birthday. If Chof Cheshvan fell out on Shabbos he said it publicly but if it was a weekday he said it only in the presence of the Frierdiker Rebbe. Chassidim also didn t celebrate their birthdays and many in previous generations did not even know the exact date of their birth. Chai Elul was a chassidishe yom tov for centuries before it was revealed by the Rebbe Rashab that it was the birthday of the Baal Shem Tov and the Alter Rebbe. Even when the Rebbe 3 TISHREI 5745, LEVI FREIDIN VIA JEM z 5720S-1960S, 5730S-1970S

5 Rashab revealed it, he only told this to the Frierdiker Rebbe, who chose to make it public many years later. When we look at Yud-Aleph Nissan, we find the same. Nobody really knew when the Rebbe s birthday was. Interestingly, when the Rebbe published Hayom Yom in 5702*, he placed the Frierdiker Rebbe s instructions regarding a yom huledes in the Hayom Yom for Yud-Aleph Nissan, but no one really knew this was the Rebbe s birthday. The first time Chassidim learned about the date was in 5707*, when the Rebbe was visiting his mother, Rebbetzin Chana, in France. Rebbetzin Chana suggested to a small group of Chassidim there that they should ask the Rebbe to farbreng because it s his birthday and the Rebbe agreed. However, it remained a Yom Tov among Chassidim for many years before the Rebbe began fabrenging and officially celebrating the day with us. The first time the Rebbe made a farbrengen for Yud-Aleph Nissan was in honor of his sixtieth yom huledes, in 5722*. That year, Tzach (Lubavitch Youth Organization) made a huge shturem all over the world for people to make hachlatos in the number 60 in honor of shnas hashishim. On the day of Yud-Aleph Nissan, Rabbi Hodakov went into the Rebbe s room before Mincha with the stacks of duchos containing all the hachlatos. When he came out, he announced that the Rebbe would hold a special farbrengen that night. But besides for that one year, Yud-Aleph Nissan was still celebrated quietly. When I was growing up in Kfar Chabad there was a big public farbrengen on Yud-Tes Kislev and Yud Shevat, but not on Yud-Aleph Nissan. In yeshiva, we farbrenged in the dormitory rooms ourselves. I remember one year Reb Yoel farbrenged in a bochur s house, not in yeshiva. I heard from Reb Leibel Raskin a h that when he was a bochur in the 5710s*, they were uncomfortable to even farbreng openly, and they made secret farbrengens for Yud-Aleph Nissan. This all changed in 5731*. That year when the Rebbe returned from the Ohel, it was announced that he would hold a farbrengen between Mincha and Maariv. This caught everyone by total surprise. In that farbrengen the Rebbe said the famous maamar Beyom ashtei asar. It was a short farbrengen with one sicha and a maamar. Perhaps the purpose of that surprise farbrengen was to kick off the festivities for the Rebbe s seventieth year, shivim shanah, Yud-Aleph Nissan 5732*. That year thousands of people came from all over the world. It was the largest crowd 770 had seen until that point. For months before Yud-Aleph Nissan, bochurim and anash made hachlatos in the number maamarim by heart, 70 blatt Gemara, 70 dollars to tzedaka, etc. The hisorerus was incredible. There were four niggunim made that year on the Rebbe s new kapitel! There was also great excitement in the Jewish world and beyond. Many world leaders and elected officials sent letters of recognition, scrolls of honor, and keys to cities to present to the Rebbe at the big farbrengen, in recognition of Yud-Aleph Nissan. The hachanos reached their peak at the Purim farbrengen, about a month before Yud-Aleph Nissan, when the Rebbe spoke openly about it, responding publicly to those that had asked what they could give the Rebbe as a matana for his birthday. The Rebbe requested that all matanos Chai Elul was a chassidishe yom tov for centuries before it was revealed that it was the birthday of the Baal Shem Tov and the Alter Rebbe , , , 5710S-1950S ,

6 for his birthday should also include an element of Torah. Never before had the Rebbe so clearly and publicly addressed the celebration. On the day of Yud-Aleph Nissan, Rabbi Hodakov, in the Rebbe s name, distributed $71 to the head of every Chabad mosad. The Rebbe was celebrating together with his Chassidim. There is no need to describe the famous farbrengen that year. Everyone is surely familiar with the Rebbe s announcement of the formation of 71 new institutions, and pledging 10 percent of the costs for each new mosad. 1 There is a video of that incredible farbrengen and I highly suggest that people take the time to watch it. From that year on, the Rebbe farbrenged every year on Yud-Aleph Nissan (until 5745*). We are truly fortunate that the Rebbe chose to celebrate his own birthday with his Chassidim, something that did not exist in all the previous generations. The Day it all Started Rabbi Scheiman: Obviously, for us as Chassidim, Yud-Aleph Nissan is the most important day on the calendar. If אי לאו האי Nissan, not for Yud-Aleph ) 2 day... (...If it weren t for that יומא In the farbrengen of 7 Adar 5745, the Rebbe speaks about the birth of Moshe Rabbeinu. Rashi says that when נתמלא Moshe Rabbeinu was born the house became filled,הבית כולו אורה with light. The Rebbe elaborates on the chiddush in Rashi s words: Even before Moshe Rabbeinu had a bris, before 36 z

7 10 NISSAN 5744, YOSSI MELAMED VIA JEM KSAV YAD TO A CHOSSID WHO VISITED THE REBBE FOR YUD-ALEPH NISSAN 5732*: ת"ח על הקורת רוח וכו' מביקורו כאן בימים אלו. ויה"ר שיהא ג"כ לתועלת הרבים )נוסף על שכל יחיד עולם מלא הוא(. אזכיר עה"צ להנ"ל ולחה"פ כשר ושמח. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE PLEASURE OF HAVING YOU VISIT HERE IN THESE DAYS. MAY IT BE HASHEM S WILL THAT IT ALSO BE FOR THE BENEFIT OF MANY (IN ADDITION TO THE FACT THAT EACH INDIVIDUAL IS AN ENTIRE WORLD. I WILL MENTION ALL OF THE ABOVE AT THE OHEL, AND FOR A KOSHER AND HAPPY PESACH. he even had a name, as soon as he entered the world, he didn t even have to do anything, the house was filled with light. 3 In a farbrengen on Yud-Beis Tammuz, the birthday of the Frierdiker Rebbe, the Rebbe explains that the house refers to Hashem s house, this world. The Rebbe s birthday is not just a simcha for those who live in his house, his Chassidim, but for the whole world, because on that day a new light began illuminating the entire world. 4 On a personal note, Yud-Aleph Nissan always stood out to me more than any other yoma depagra. I started noticing that the Rebbe comments on the number 11 at every opportunity. In Chassidus the number 11 symbolizes higher than hishtalshelus. The world is made up of ten sefiros, that s the natural order, and 11 is above that, reaching the atzmus of Hashem. 5 Eleven represents the deepest connection with Hashem. In the farbrengen of Yud-Aleph Nissan 5745*, the Rebbe connected this with the famous words of the Alter Rebbe that he doesn t want מער ניט אז haba, Gan Eden or olam only דיך Hashem Himself. In אליין another sicha, the Rebbe says that the coming of Moshiach is connected specifically with On another occasion, the Rebbe offered a lengthy explanation on when the early seeds of yetzias Mitzrayim and the birth of am Yisroel actually began on the Sunday before they left Mitzrayim, which occurred on, you guessed it, Yud-Aleph Nissan ,

8 JEM THE FARBRENGEN OF YUD-ALEPH NISSAN 5732*. On Chof-Beis Shevat 5752*, the Rebbe even said that the uniqueness of the number 22 is that it s double 11! Rabbi Paris: On this note, I remember something interesting the Rebbe said in connection with Yud- Aleph Nissan on Shabbos Hagadol 5729*: The possuk in Yehoshua tells us that the Yidden who were born in the desert did not have a bris mila until the end of the 40 years, right after they crossed the Yarden. What date did this occur? The Rebbe quoted several sources that indicate it was actually on Yud-Aleph Nissan. The mitzvah of mila is unique in the fact that it is one of two mitzvos aseh that warrant karres if they re neglected (the other one being Korban Pesach). When one fulfils the mitzvah of mila, the potential karres is transformed into a positive act. This is זדונות נעשו לו similar to the concept of that כזכיות when one does a proper teshuva, his aveiros are transformed into merits. I remember how a few days later at a farbrengen with Chassidim, someone pointed out that the Rebbe is actually hinting to the nature of Yud-Aleph Nissan and what it really means: The Rebbe s whole life is about bringing myriads of Yidden back to Yiddishkeit. No wonder this lesson about mila happened on Yud-Aleph Nissan! Traveling to the Rebbe Rabbi Scheiman: During the court case over the sefarim, the Rebbe spoke,מה זרעו בחיים אף הוא בחיים a lot about just as his [the Rebbe s] children are alive, so too he is alive. On numerous occasions, the Rebbe says that when we see zar o bachaim, then we know that hu bachaim. We are the zar o bachaim of the Rebbe. When we act as zar o, the Rebbe s children, then most certainly af hu bachaim, the Rebbe is alive and relates to us in this way too. As the zar o bachaim of the Rebbe, it is important that we make the effort to go to the Rebbe as often as possible, on the various yomei depagra and especially for Yud-Aleph Nissan. Before Yud-Aleph Nissan 5742*, the Rebbe s 80th birthday, the Rebbe said in a sicha that people should not travel to come in. Many shluchim couldn t resist and went anyways; it s the Rebbe s birthday, how could one not be there?! By nature I m a kabbalas ol nik, so I stayed in Chicago that year. I also convinced some of my fellow shluchim to stay. Imagine how we felt when we watched the hookup and heard the Rebbe thanking everyone for coming, adding that he would give each participant a Tanya as a token 38 z , , ,

9 Not knowing what to do, he asked the Rebbetzin, and the Rebbetzin answered him we didn t mean friends. of appreciation. We saw the shluchim from Chicago who had gone in, go by to get a Tanya. The others who I had convinced to stay with me were very upset with me, to say the least. Interestingly, it was later published in the Encounters by Reb Zalmon Jaffe, how he was planning to be by the Rebbe that Yud-Aleph Nissan, but after the Rebbe said not to come in he was thinking of cancelling his trip. Not knowing what to do, he asked the Rebbetzin, and she replied that, We didn t mean friends. We are friends, or even more so as I said earlier, children. This is our father s birthday. If one asks his father whether or not to fly in for his birthday party, of course he ll say not to. Every father would tell his children not to waste their money, not to bother themselves, etc. But certain things you don t ask! You go, and once you re there it is very much appreciated. Especially now after Gimmel Tammuz, we have to show even more that zar o bachaim, and the way to do that is by going to the Rebbe just like before. After Gimmel Tammuz, my wife and I decided that our family s schedule of going to the Rebbe would continue unchanged. A few years later, we were driving for Yud Shevat, and one of my younger daughters asked if this time she would get a dollar from the Rebbe. I guess she realized that the last few times she didn t get one. My wife told her that when we go to the Rebbe we always get brachos. If the Rebbe has time, maybe he ll come out and daven with the Chassidim, farbreng, have yechidus or give out dollars, but we always get the brachos. The Rebbe is certainly pouring out brachos on this day. There is no more opportune time to be in close proximity to the Rebbe than on Yud- Aleph Nissan. Bringing Nachas to the Rebbe Rabbi Paris: The focal point of Yud-Aleph Nissan is to bring the Rebbe nachas. In Montreal for a number of years, Rabbi Berel Mockin would arrange a meeting in the weeks approaching Yud-Aleph Nissan to determine what 39

10 40 Not knowing what to do, he asked the Rebbetzin, and the Rebbetzin answered him we didn t mean friends. matana we would bring the Rebbe that year. One year we decided that our matana was a new mikvah in Montreal. Every member of anash gave $1000 and we built a beautiful mikvah. It was clear to every person that Yud-Aleph Nissan was about bringing something to the Rebbe, you couldn t come empty handed. Every year, as it gets closer to Yud- Aleph Nissan, our shlichus centers around what we are bringing to the Rebbe for his yom huledes. Every extra mitzvah that we do with someone, every tefillin that we put on, every shiur that we make, at the forefront of our mind is that this is something I can take to the Rebbe for Yud-Aleph Nissan. A Matana for the Rebbe Rabbi Scheiman: You can t come empty handed to the Rebbe. You have to bring a matana and it has to be something substantial. This year marked 90 years since the Rebbe s chasunah on Yud-Daled Kislev. Chassidim all around the world took on extra hachlatos in honor of this milestone. The shluchim in Chicago had a farbrengen on Chof Cheshvan. At that farbrengen someone recounted how he was once discussing a maamar he was learning with Reb Mendel Futerfas. Reb Mendel was animatedly talking about the finer points of the maamar, as if he had just learned it. So the bochur asked him why he punkt now learned this maamar. Reb Mendel told him that he learned this maamar as a bochur over 70 years earlier but he was taught that you have to live with a maamar for a year. So he reviewed it every single day for a year. When you learn something 350 times it stays with you even after 70 years. So we made a hachlata that each of us would take something and learn it every day from Chof Cheshvan until Chof-Beis Shvat, 90 days in honor of the 90 year milestone. For my hachlata, I chose to learn the sichos the Rebbe said on the day I came on shlichus to Chicago, on Rosh Chodesh Adar 5740*. That day the shluchim were going to leave to Australia. Before Mincha, totally out of the blue, Rabbi Groner came out of the Rebbe s room and announced that there would be a farbrengen after Mincha. As that was the day we moved on shlichus, and the whole farbrengen was in essence a tzeischem l shalom for shluchim, I feel a special connection. Over the years I have come to see more and more how so many things in that farbrengen applied directly to me and my own shlichus. The matana that we bring to the Rebbe accomplishes two things. First of all it s a present for the Rebbe. But in addition to that, it s also beneficial for us, as it helps us live with the Rebbe more. Rabbi Paris: In 5735*, the Hebrew schools that my wife and I started in Montreal for public school children were already quite successful. We had around 400 students by then. I decided that for Yud-Aleph Nissan that year I was going to bring the Rebbe a booklet with the Hebrew names and mothers names of all the students in the school. This was a very difficult task. Many of the children didn t know their Jewish name so I had to go to each parent, and getting the parents names was another difficult task. Of course this made us work hard to enroll even more students, to make the list longer. We wanted to bring the Rebbe as much nachas as possible. When I came to New York on 9 Nissan I submitted the booklet to mazkirus as our matana to the Rebbe. Shortly afterwards, I received a beautiful answer from the Rebbe. "נת' ות"ח ודבר בעתו כו' ואשרי חלקם ודכל המסייעים וכו' שליט"א. אזכיר עה"צ ולחה"פ כו"ש וכל המברך מתברך בבר' של הקב"ה כו'." It was received; thank you. The timing is appropriate, etc. Fortunate is their lot and that of everyone who assisted etc. shlita. I will mention this at the Ohel, and for a kosher and happy Pesach. [In response to the blessings for Yud-Aleph Nissan:] Anyone who blesses another is blessed with Hashem s blessing, etc. It s interesting to note that in the letter accompanying the booklet I wrote that we made all the preparations for Pesach in school, with a model seder and ma nishtana along with everything the kids need to know, and the Hebrew school program was now closed for Pesach. At the farbrengen, the Rebbe spoke about this. He said it s ווילדע זאך ; א it doesn t make sense that the yeshivos and Talmud Torahs are closed at the time of year when children need the most education, about how to celebrate the seder and to observe the halachos of Pesach. All that is accomplished is that the kids are home for a week disturbing their parents preparation for Pesach. Better they should be busy practicing the ma nishtana. Since then the school is in session until erev Pesach. There was a period of time that I didn t get any answers to the duchos I had sent to the Rebbe. One year I came back from the Rebbe to Montreal z ,

11 YOSSI MELAMED VIA JEM THE REBBE LEAVES 770 FOLLOWING THE FARBRENGEN OF YUD-ALEPH NISSAN 5737*. on Yud-Aleph Nissan and went to visit some baalei batim. One of the people I visited never wanted to put on tefillin. This time I told him, Today is the Rebbe s birthday, how about you give him a present? and he agreed. So I suggested that his present to the Rebbe could be to put on tefillin today. He was happy to do the mitzvah in honor of the Rebbe. When I wrote this story to the Rebbe, I received the first answer in a long time. Mivtzoim Rabbi Paris: I once heard a vort from the veteran shliach in Montreal, Rabbi Simcha Zirkind a h, that Yud- Aleph Nissan is an opportune time for doing mivtzoim. I always found this to be the case, seeing tremendous hatzlacha on the mivtzoim I did on that day. One needs to do all they can to be by the Rebbe on Yud-Aleph Nissan, but after being at the Ohel and doing what we have to do, we are certainly on the right track if we spend the rest of the day doing the Rebbe s mivtzoim. Indeed, when the Rebbe spoke about not coming in for Yud-Aleph Nissan in 5742* (as mentioned by Rabbi Scheiman earlier), the Rebbe said that instead people should be active in spreading Yiddishkeit in their place, especially through doing the mivtzoim! 8 Rabbi Scheiman: In addition to all the hachalatos and matanos, we should remember that sometimes, the best matana we can bring to the Rebbe is ourselves. Showing up can be the greatest gift of all. Chazal say that when Moshiach comes, all the Yomim Tovim will be cancelled with the exception of Chanukah and Purim. In Chassidus it is explained that other Yomim Tovim are a reflection of a specific quality of Elokus, but Chanukah and Purim are not a specific quality rather Hashem Himself. 9 So too, Yud-Aleph Nissan is the day when it all began. It is about the Rebbe himself! I don t know what will be with the other chassidishe Yomim Tovim but we will certainly be celebrating Yud-Aleph Nissan when Moshiach comes. 1. For a complete description of this farbrengen and the whole period of Yud-Aleph Nissan 5732, see A Time To Expand, Derher Nissan Based on Gemara Pesachim 68b. 3. Hisvaaduyos 5745 vol. 2 page Sicha 12 Tammuz Yahel Ohr page Hisvaaduyos 5745 vol. 3 p Hisvaaduyos 5749 vol. 3 p Hisvaaduyos 5742 vol. 2 p Torah Ohr Megilas Esther page 90: ,

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