BH. 27 Kislev 5775 19 December 2014 Number 953 Price: $6.

00 Part 2 of 2

The international weekly heralding the coming of Moshiach

A LIGHT UNTO
THE MASSES
R MORDECHAI
KANELSKYS PUBLIC
MENORAS

JEWISH PRIDE
AND A TALE
OF TWO
BAR MITZVAS
STORY

May it be G-ds will that even

prior to our adding in practical
activities pertaining to Chanuka,
G-d Alm-ghty shall give Chanuka
gelt to Yisroel is a young lad and
I love him, in the matter that is
most necessary and obligatory to
bring about the true and complete
redemption through Dovid Malka
Meshicha, in the literal sense.

CHANUKA
OUTSIDE
THE TOWN
TZIVOS HASHEM

(Shabbos Parshas Miketz 5752)

BH. 27 Kislev 5775

19 December 2014 Number 953
Price: $6.00 Part 2 of 2

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LONG LIVE THE REBBE MELECH HAMOSHIACH FOREVER AND EVER!

16/12/2014 12:43:27

CONTENTS

6
FEATURED ARTICLES

WEEKLY COLUMNS

3
11
21
30
34

A LIGHT UNTO
THE MASSES
By Avrohom Rainitz

OUTREACH
12 MAJOR
EFFORTS THANKS TO
THE REBBE

Dvar Malchus
Shlichus
Moshiach & Geula
Parsha Thought
Tzivos Hashem

Oholiav Abutbul, Yisroel Lapidot,

and Zalman Tzorfati

12

- THE SOFT
22 CHALLA
AMBASSADOR THAT
WORKS HARD!
Miri Kenig

PRIDE AND
27 JEWISH
A TALE OF TWO BAR
MITZVAHS

Menachem Mendel Arad

Beis Moshiach is not responsible for the content

and Kashruth of the advertisements.

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business? asked the Rebbe.

Hershel could not stop his
tears from coming. Rebbe,
I cant take it anymore. My
children are dying of starvation
and I have no money with
which to buy enough food and
blankets for the cold. I cannot
bear to see the suffering of my
wife and children.
The Rebbe closed his eyes
and was quiet for a while. Then
he took a small piece of paper
and wrote a few words on it.
He folded the note and gave it
to Hershel and said, When you
leave Berditchev on your way
home, open the note and read
what I wrote. But remember,
you must keep a close watch
over the note so it does not get
lost. As soon as you leave town,
open and read it. If the note is
lost, I will not be able to help

you.
Hershel took the note. He
realized that his fate and future
depended on the folded paper
whose contents he still did not
know.
the
use
to
tried
He
the
in
had
he
e
time
ing
remain
ly.
proper
ce
nce
presen
s
Rebbe
He spent time with the
heard
Chassidim,
ah
Torah
Divrei
e
the
from
and
Rebbe,
d
warme
was
holy
the
by
atmosphere.
few
A
days passed
and Hershel
o
to
prepared
xt
leave the next
ld
day. He could
hat
not sleep all that
night. He satt in
h
idrash
the beis midras
orah.
and learned Torah.

At dawn, he davened in
the Rebbes beis midrash and
then hurriedly got on the first
wagon leaving in the direction
of his town.
There was a storm and
Hershel held tightly to the note.
In a few minutes they would
be leaving Berditchev and he
would be able to open the note.
Stop! Hershel ordered the
wagon driver as soon as they
left the town. The wagon driver
stopped the wagon in surprise,
happened.
what
wondering
. He took
explain
Hershel did not
it, but
opened
out the note,
d
grabbe
wind
Oy! The strong
blew
it
and
hand
it from his
away!
Hershel jumped out of the
wagon in a fright and began
chasing after it. He ran quickly
but the wind was quicker than
he and the note remained out
of his reach. Hershel continued
to chase after it, determined
to retrieve it. The wagon driver
just watched in astonishment,
not understanding what had
overcome his passenger.

Then Hershel stopped. The

note had landed in a small hole
in the ground and no longer
blew about. Around the note
were brambles. That did not
stop Hershel. He carefully made
his way among the thorns until
he was able to reach out and
touch the note.
He looked up and couldnt
believe his eyes. A pile of shining
coins was under the note as
though waiting there especially
for him.
With a hand trembling both
from the cold and excitement,
Hershel scooped up the treasure
and returned to the wagon,
elated.
Now he understood why the
Rebbe had told him to open
the note outside the town. The
Rebbes words had been precise.
All the way back home,
Hershel hummed the Chanuka
words, For Your miracles and
Your wonders in which
he included his own personal
Chanuka miracle.

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DVAR MALCHUS

THE MIRACLES
OF CHANUKA
Chanuka was established on the day when
two things happened triumph at war as well
as the miracle of the cruse of oil, two distinct
matters that occurred on different occasion. *
From Likkutei Sichos Vol. 30, pg. 204-208. *
Continued from last issue.
Translated by Boruch Merkur

CHANUKA VS. PURIM

3. To elaborate:
There are two approaches as
to how the date of a particular
holiday is established in
remembrance of a miracle: a) It
is set in honor of the salvation
and redemption of the Jewish
people, irrespective of the
particular manner by which the
salvation transpired; b) besides
simply commemorating the
fact that the Jewish people were
saved, the date set for the holiday
also reflects the particular
manner by which the redemption
occurred.
According to Rambam,
Purim and Chanuka differ in
this regard. Both holidays, of
course, honor the deliverance
of the Jewish people from their
enemies. The date for Purim,
however, was set strictly in
accordance with the result
the salvation of the Jewish
people. The reason underlying
this approach for Purim is as
follows. Since the salvation of
the Jewish people on Purim and
their victory at war did not occur
as a result of an open miracle

but by a miracle invested within

natural circumstances, the
emphasis is not on the manner
of the miracle but on the result.
[That is, the date set for Purim
follows the more prominent
aspect of the historical event,
which is security and peace for
the Jewish people, and peace
was only realized on the day
following the victory at war. The
miracle itself was less dramatic
in comparison, being subtle, not
readily discernable as a miracle.]
(In fact, [historically] the main,
openly revealed salvation and
redemption of the Jewish people
took place on Purim, for then
they were rescued from the
decree of Haman, who strove to
annihilate, murder, and decimate
all the Yehudim from youth to
the elderly, children and women
in a single day.) The date of
Chanuka, on the other hand [and
the open miracle of the oil that
occurred then], was not set in
accordance with the result alone
the deliverance and salvation
of the Jewish people but also
in accordance with the manner
of the miracle: for the miracles,
etc., You delivered the mighty

into the hand of the weak, the

masses into the hand of the few.
Purims victory at war is
considered as only a preparation
for and preface to the main
thing: the salvation of the Jewish
people. Thus, the holiday was
not established on the day of
the victory itself but on the day
following, when there was peace,
when the salvation of the Jewish
people became fully apparent.
The victory of Chanuka,
however, was an essential part
of the miracle and relevant to
the holiday. Thus, according to
Rambam, Chanuka begins on the
very day the war was won.

THE ALTER REBBES VIEW

4. Now, it was mentioned
above that the Alter Rebbe
follows the opinion of Miri.
Chanuka, from their perspective,
was established on the day of
the cessation from war (and
the victory took place on the
preceding day), whereas Pesach
was established on the day the
miracle transpired. (The Alter
Rebbe explains that, according
to mystical teachings, when the
day of the victory and the day of
the holiday differ, it signifies that
the vanquishing of the enemy is

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Dvar Malchus
something that is independent
of the holiday itself (and it is
merely a preparation for it).
On Pesach, G-d Alm-ghty King
of kings was revealed, in His
glory and essence, transcending
variegated levels, and the miracle
resulted from this unique G-dly
revelation. Thus, on the fifteen
of Nissan, two things occurred
simultaneously. Indeed, there
was nothing distinguishing
between smiting the Mitzriim
and healing [i.e., saving, freeing]
the Jewish people.)

THE ALTER REBBES

EXPLANATION ACCORDING
TO RAMBAM
The underlying principle of
the Alter Rebbes explanation
also fits with Rambams opinion
(that the war was won on the
25th of Kislev), based on the
notion that Chanuka is unlike
Pesach, as follows. The Pesach
miracle has two aspects that
occurred as a single event the
vengeance against the Mitzriim
(i.e., the Plague of the Firstborn)
as well as healing the condition
of the Jews (the exodus), as
the Alter Rebbe writes (and
he adds, The fact that there
are writings that state that one
of the two took place prior to
midnight, and the other took
place after midnight that is
not so. Rather, it all took place
at the same time.) However,
regarding Chanuka, although
the victory at war is part of the
miracle for which the holiday
was established, nevertheless,
the main miracle of Chanuka
is the miracle of the oil and
the lights, for this miracle was
overtly apparent, as there was
only enough oil in it to light the
lamps for one day. But a miracle
happened to the oil and they
used it to light [the Menora]
for eight days. Moreover, the

miracle of the lights signifies the

salvation of the Jewish faith (the
opposite of the enemys goal
to bring about the decimation
of their religion, etc.). Thus,
there are two different miracles
that took place on two different
occasions the miracle of the
victory at war and the miracle
of the cruse of oil (together
comprising the full salvation and
redemption of the Jews).
(And what underlies the
dispute between Rambam and
Miri whether the victory on
Chanuka took place on the
twenty-fourth or the twentyfifth is this: According to
Miri, although in comparison
to Purim, the military victory
of Chanuka is considered part
of the miracle, nevertheless, the
main miracle of Chanuka is the
religious triumph (especially
since the military victory was
not as overt as the miracle of
the cruse of oil, for the triumph
came about embedded in
natural phenomena). To Miri
the miraculous victory at war is
considered only as a preparation
for the main miracle. Thus, he
maintains that also regarding
Chanuka, the holiday is held
(not on the day of the military
triumph but) on the day of
cessation from war, as is Purim.
(In this sense we can understand
the precise wording of Miri
that on the first night A blessing
is said for the redemption and
as thanksgiving for finding the
container [of oil], as cited
above.) Rambam, on the other
hand, maintains that the military
victory (and the bodily salvation)
is also an essential aspect of
Chanuka (although, at the
same time, Rambam holds that
one of the main aspects of the
victory on Chanuka is religious
emancipation).)
It comes out then that the

opinion of Rambam includes

three different positions for each
of the three holidays respectively:
The holiday of Purim was not
established on the day of victory
but on the day of the cessation
from war; the holiday of
Chanuka was established on the
day when two things happened
triumph at war as well as the
miracle of the cruse of oil, two
distinct matters that occurred on
different occasions; and the two
aspects of the Pesach miracle
(the smiting of the Mitzriim
and the healing of the Jews)
occurred in a single instance.
It is explained in several
places (in the inner, mystical
aspect of the Torah) that the
nature of a particular Yom
Tov coincides with the unique
revelation and manifestation of
(additional) G-dliness that there
was (and is) in the world at the
time [and celebrated annually
thereafter]. In this respect, the
three approaches described above
signify the three manners of the
revelation of the G-dliness of the
Alm-ghty in the world:
The revelation of G-dliness
on Purim was primarily the
salvation and emancipation
of the Jewish people. The
elimination of Haman and
the victory at war were a kind
of preface to this revelation.
On Chanuka, the military
triumph was also a revelation of
G-dliness. However, the intensity
of G-dliness was not equal to the
revelation of G-dliness associated
with the miracle of the cruse of
oil. On Pesach, however, there
was such a lofty revelation of
G-dliness that the it was in both
matters equally smiting of
the Mitzriim, the Plague of the
Firstborn, was a revelation that
was on par with the revelation
of G-dliness that was manifest

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in the redemption of the Jewish

people [from Mitzrayim].

IN AVODAS HASHEM
5. All the matters discussed
above exist in terms of mans
service of G-d. The order of
ones Divine service is [first]
flee from evil and [then] do
good. In fleeing from evil (the
victory at war) that exists within
each and every Jew, there are
three approaches:
a) Fleeing from evil, which
entails eradicating the evil from
within the person, rendering him
as a pure vessel and fit for the
resting of the Divine Presence
upon him. This manner of
fleeing from evil is no more
than a preparatory initiative in
comparison to the main avoda,
which is to fulfill G-ds Mitzvos
do good: It is analogous to a
king who wishes to have a home
for himself in a new palace.
Then, he must first arrange for
it to be cleaned up from any dirt
or mess. So too, in the Divine
service of man. One must first
eradicate the evil You shall
eradicate the evil from within
you so that there should not
be any mess or filth, G-d forbid.
The latter describes the avoda
of feeling from evil. This
avoda enables there to then be
the fulfillment of Mitzvos Assei,
positively stated commandments,
which is analogous to setting up
and arranging fine furnishings in
a home. In so doing, a dwelling
place [for the Alm-ghty, King
of kings] is established in the
lower realms, drawing down the
holiness of G-d into the world.
b) A higher level than the
latter avoda is when a person
does not require a process of
cleansing dirt and filth, being
scrupulous in the fulfillment of
the prohibitive commandments;
he is a pure vessel. He still must

On Chanuka, the military triumph was also a

revelation of G-dliness. However, the intensity
of G-dliness was not equal to the revelation of G-dliness
associated with the miracle of the cruse of oil.

have, of course, the avoda of

fleeing from evil, which is the
concept of turning away from
improper behavior and accepting
the yoke of Heaven; he compels
himself to do so, exercising
self-control, disregarding his
personal interests in order to
fulfill the will of the Creator.
For, by one being egocentric
and self-centered, affirming his
existence as separate from that of
the Alm-ghty, this itself impedes,
as it were, the indwelling of the
Divine Presence. Indeed, the
Alm-ghty only resides in that
which is nullified to Him. It is
precisely when one exercises
self-discipline and disregards his
egocentric interests i.e., the
movement of fleeing from evil
that it is possible for there to
be within him the indwelling of
G-ds holiness. In this manner,
the avoda of fleeing from evil
is not only a preparation and
preface, but it is part and parcel
of the manifestation of the
holiness of G-d.
c) Higher than that still is
a manner by which the two
approaches are equal:
Even one who is clean of
all filth, and his approach to
fleeing from evil is with selfdiscipline and self-nullification,
refraining from asserting his own
ego and independent existence,
nevertheless, there is still a
distinction in him between the
service of fleeing from evil
and doing good. That in the
doing good he is cognizant
and perceives that he fulfills the
Supernal will, which draws into

him G-ds holiness. And in his

fleeing from evil he perceives
the negation of the obstacle, for
he compels himself and denies
his ego, for if not that would be a
contradiction to the indwelling of
the Divine Presence.
Yet, there is still a higher
level in the service of G-d,
that ones deference to the
Supernal Will is absolute, to the
point that he does not perceive
the distinction between the
pathways by which the Divine
Presence is manifest, whether
it is by means of subverting the
negative or by drawing down
holiness, being a transparent
medium to the Supernal Will.
One at this spiritual height
fulfills G-ds will without any
calculation (reminiscent of
the statement of Rebbi Akiva
that the Jewish people, at
the time of the Giving of the
Torah, said Yes to the positively
stated precepts and Yes to the
prohibitions, indicative of not
distinguishing between Mitzvos
Assei and Mitzvos Lo Saasei
(positively stated commandments
and prohibitions), but they
perceived and felt the (general)
commandment of the Alm-ghty).
Specifically by means of this
manner of absolute eradication
of ego, without any calculation,
the ultimate state of perfection
of the indwelling of holiness is
achieved.
(From the address of Shabbos
Parshas VaYeishev, Erev Chanuka
5726 and 5746)

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FEATURE

A LIGHT
UNTO THE MASSES
Since receiving a letter from the Rebbe, R Mordechai Kanelsky puts up
public menorahs on bridges, at airports, and other locations that are seen
by the masses, bringing the light of Chanuka to fifteen million people!
By Avrohom Rainitz

rev Chanuka, Friday

afternoon.
At
the
entrance to the Goethals
Bridge in New Jersey,
near the toll booths, stand two
people whose outer appearances
are completely different. One is
dressed as a Lubavitcher and the
other is dressed in fashionable
sporty clothes. Thousands of cars
pass on their left, pay the toll and
cross the bridge, one of the main
bridges in New Jersey.

Both of them stand next to a

public menorah that was placed
at the entrance to the bridge, a
location where nobody can miss
it and the message it broadcasts.
The Chassid is a shliach and
director of Bris Avrohom, R
Mordechai Kanelsky. He turns
to his mekurav and gives him the
honor of lighting the menorah.
The
mekurav,
one
of
the
steady
supporters
of
the organization, who also

contributed to the costs of setting

up the menorah, went over to
light it. As he lit it, he began to
cry.
Why are you crying? asked
R Kanelsky.
The mekurav said, As a
Russian Jew, I never dreamed
that the day would come when
I would have the merit to light a
public menorah, near one of the
busiest bridges in the state.
R Kanelsky decided to take

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Top picture:
The shluchim of
Bris Avrohom
near the menorah
at the Goethals
Bridge
Middle right:
R Kanelsky giving
a menorah to Bill
Bironi
Middle left:
Shluchim of Bris
Avrohom at the
entrance to the
upper level of the
George Washington
Bridge
Bottom:
At the entrance to
Port Authority

advantage of the intensity of the

moment. He remembered that all
the times he had tried to convince
the man to start putting on tfillin
regularly had been unsuccessful.
Even after he bought tfillin, he
said he would put them on once
in a while, but did not commit to
putting them on every weekday
since he had to be at work very
early. Now was the time to push
him.
He exclaimed, I want you to

look at the lights of the menorah

and promise me that from now
on, you will put on tfillin every
day!
The mekurav, who was
emotionally
overwrought,
agreed on one condition, that R
Kanelsky get him another pair
of tfillin so he would have tfillin
at home and at the office. Since
then, he puts tfillin on daily
and its all thanks to lighting the
menorah at the Goethals Bridge,

one of fifty menorahs placed in

prominent locations throughout
New Jersey.
***
It all began in 5747 with a
letter that the Rebbe sent for
the sixth annual dinner of Bris
Avrohom. The Rebbe compared
the work of the organization
to lighting a menorah, both of
which arouse the Jewish neshama
to light up the environment with
the candle of a mitzva and the
light of Torah.
Upon receiving this letter, R
Kanelsky decided that in Kislev
the organization would focus
on arranging Chanuka parties
for Russian immigrants and
on placing public menorahs in
prominent places. The Chanuka
outreach grew from year to
year with the organizations
activists making connections
with additional mayors who were
happy to join the circle of light
until twenty-five large menorahs
were placed in the centers of
many cities in New Jersey a
decade ago.
The lighting of the menorahs
is part of a festive event. Russian
Jews who live in these areas enjoy
attending the menorah lightings
every year. In those years, when
a public menorah was not yet
lit in Russia, old people would
have their picture taken near
a menorah with the city hall
building in the background, and
then would send the pictures to
their relatives in Russia so they
should know that in America
menorahs were lit publicly and
without fear. At one of these
events, one of the women asked
permission to speak. With
tears flowing from her eyes,
she said that this menorah lit
up her neshama as well as the
neshamos of her parents who
were murdered by the Nazis at
Babi Yar.

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Feature

You, Mr. Baroni, are in charge of all the bridges

and highways and you can enable tens of
thousands of people to realize their dream. If you give
the permit, they will all feel the difference between
Soviet Russia and the United States of America. Over
there, lighting a public menorah would have landed
them in prison, while here we light a public menorah with
government approval!

A FIVE MINUTE
FATEFUL MEETING

TO BRING THE LIGHT

OUTSIDE THE CITY
During those years, whoever
passed through these major cities
during Chanuka couldnt avoid
seeing the display of Jewish light
and the message of Chanuka, but
the intercity highways which are
traversed by millions of people
every night still did not have the
light of Chanuka.
That was the case until
Tishrei of ten years ago. One
of the senators of New Jersey,
Robert Gordon, moved to a new
office and he asked his friend,
Mordechai Kanelsky, to come
and put up mezuzos. R Kanelsky
set out with his father-in-law,
R Berel Zaltsman. At the last
moment, his mother-in-law,
who was very involved in Mivtza
Mezuza, decided to join them.
Two days later, on Erev Yom
Kippur, his mother-in-law was
killed in a car accident. When
Senator Gordon heard about
her passing, he came to console
Rebbetzin Kanelsky and he
asked, What can I do in her
memory?
At that moment, R Kanelsky
thought of the dark highways of
the state of New Jersey and said
to the senator, If you really want
to do something big, use your
connections to get a permit to
light a public menorah on the
Goethals Bridge! It will be an

the bridge itself but he would be

able to obtain a permit to light
a public menorah at the Port
Authority headquarters. An entire
year went by until that official
actually managed to obtain
the necessary permits and the
first menorah was set up at the
Goethals Bridge, viewed by the
tens of thousands of people who
pass by daily.

The Rebbes letter for the sixth

annual Bris Avrohom dinner

eternal light for my mother-inlaw.

The senator agreed but it took
quite some time until he finally
reached the right person who
held a top position at the Port
Authority. (The Port Authority
of New York & New Jersey
builds, operates and maintains
infrastructure critical to the New
York/New Jersey regions trade
and transportation network.
These facilities include Americas
busiest airport system (at
Kennedy and Newark), marine
terminals and ports, the PATH
rail transit system, six tunnels
and bridges.)
At their first meeting, the
official said he could not get
permits to set up a menorah on

R Kanelsky was not satisfied

with one menorah. At his next
meeting with the official, he
explained the Talmudic concept
of one who has one hundred
wants two hundred, and
suggested that he be the guest
of honor at his annual dinner.
The official refused the honor
but offered to give the honor to
the Deputy Executive Director of
Port Authority, Bill Baroni.
It turned out that the director
of the Port Authority was so
busy that half a year went by
until R Kanelsky managed to
arrange a meeting with Baroni
in his Manhattan office. Before
the meeting, the official told R
Kanelsky that his meeting was
limited to only five minutes.
At the very start of the
meeting, Baroni said: I know
that you want to put up public
menorahs on all the main bridges
and I want you to explain to me,
why is this important?
R Kanelsky decided to try
to reach Mr. Baronis sense of
human compassion and he said
emotionally, I arrived from
Russia thirty years ago where
my father had to change jobs
eighteen times just so that he
could avoid desecrating the
Sabbath. I myself had to hide
for a year and a half in a cellar
so that I would not have to go

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R Kanelsky with his friend, Danny Kahane

to public school and desecrate

the Sabbath. We endangered our
lives every day and ultimately we
managed to observe nearly all the
mitzvos.
There was one mitzva we
could not do even with selfsacrifice and that was lighting a
public menorah to publicize the
miracle. It was obvious that if we
were to give public expression to
our mitzva observance we would
be thrown into jail. All my life I
thought, when will I be able to
do this mitzva fully? There are
30,000 Russian Jews in New
Jersey, all of whom share the
same dream.
You, Mr. Baroni, are in
charge of all the bridges and
highways and you can enable
tens of thousands of people to
realize their dream. If you give
the permit, they will all feel
the difference between Soviet
Russia and the United States of
America. Over there, lighting
a public menorah would have
landed them in prison, while here
we light a public menorah with
government approval!
Baroni was very moved by this
plea and immediately approved
the placing of menorahs at the
four biggest bridges in the area:
the George Washington Bridge,

R Kanelsky and his father-in-law, R Zaltsman with members

of the Freeholder Board of Bergen County

Goethals
Bridge,
Bayonne
Bridge, and the Outerbridge
Crossing.
***
At that time, Baroni was
invited to be the guest of honor
at the Bris Avrohom dinner which
took place along with marriage
ceremonies for Russian couples.
Baroni accepted and was very
moved by the sight of the gala
weddings. In his speech at the
dinner, he said in the year in
which they were celebrating
eighty years of the George
Washington Bridge, one of the
largest bridges in the world, the
menorah would be lit for eight
days and light up the way for
eleven million people who crossed
the bridge during Chanuka.
With the help of Baroni, the
necessary permits were arranged.
The following Chanuka, three
public menorahs were set up at
three entrances to the George
Washington Bridge, the upper
level, the lower level, and the
Palisade Parkway ramp through
which thousands of Jews from
Monsey/Rockland pass through.
On the appointed day, R
Kanelsky arrived with some
mekuravim to light a public
menorah for the first time in the

history of the bridge. Employees

of Port Authority set up the
menorah and stopped traffic
on the nearby lane for fifteen
minutes. Since there were ten
Jews, R Kanelsky decided to
daven Mincha on the closed
off lane of the bridge. Many
Jews who passed by enjoyed the
unusual sight and honked their
approval.
Four years have passed since
the menorah was lit for the first
time on the George Washington
Bridge and every year, a few
days before Chanuka, Port
Authority employees set up the
menorahs. After Chanuka, Port
Authorities employees take the
menorahs down and store them
in Port Authority storage. The
menorahs end up being seen a
few days before Chanuka and
a few days after Chanuka too,
thus publicizing the message
of Chanuka to hundreds of
thousands more people who pass
by.

A LIGHT (ALSO)
FOR GENTILES
As you can guess, R Kanelsky
is not the type of person to remain
content with past achievements.
He always strives to advance, to

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Feature
give the Rebbe more nachas.
After successfully bringing the
light of Chanuka to all the main
bridges in the area, he decided
to move forward. Since Port
Authority is in charge of all the
airports in the area, he used his
connections with the official who
opened all the doors for him and
was able to get a permit to put
up a huge menorah, 12 feet high,
at the airport in Newark. That
year, a large menorah was also
lit at the entrance to the largest
train station in New Jersey, the
PATH station at Journal Square
which connects New York and
New Jersey and is also under the
control of Port Authority.
One mitzva draws another in
its wake. In the merit of lighting
a public menorah at the airport in
Newark, near the El-Al passenger
terminal, a special relationship

was struck between R Kanelsky

and the administration of ElAl and they asked him to open
a Chabad stand at the site. R
Kanelsky was happy to do so and
his sons man the stand which
is active during flights to Eretz
Yisroel.
Two years ago, when the
donor of the menorah at Newark
came to light the first light,
he brought his children, his
parents and his in-laws along to
show them what Jewish pride
is all about. After lighting the
menorah, he said that although
he puts on tfillin every day,
previously, when businessmen
would walk into his office while
he put on his tfillin, he would
close the door because he was
embarrassed. However, since he
lit the public menorah in Newark,
he realized there is nothing to be

In Crown Heights area: 1640/1700AM

USA phone: 718 557 7701

ashamed about keeping mitzvos.

When Jewish businessmen come
in, he offers them tfillin before
they talk business!
There were some businessmen
who did not believe that he
himself put tfillin on every day
and he told them: Not only do I
put on tfillin but I know how to
put them on others!
Last year, when fifty public
menorahs were placed by Bris
Avrohom at all central points in
New Jersey, there wasnt a single
Jew who wasnt exposed to the
light of Chanuka. This great light
also impacted the nations of the
world a light onto the nations
and the members of New Jerseys
Senate and Assembly decided
to give Bris Avrohom a special
award for the light they bring
with the fifty public menorahs.

worldwide, online: www.RadioMoshiach.org

In Israel (Nechayeg Venishmah): 08-9493-770 (press 1 # / 9 # / 3 #)

LIVE SHIURIM 0NLINE

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SHLICHUS

ANASH-SHLICHUS
Name:
Aryeh Leib Schneersohn
Age:
35
Location:
Kfar Chabad
Occupation:
Runs Schneersohns fish
store in Kfar Chabad
By Zalman Tzarfati

We
are
the
Rebbes
Reservists.
There
are
the
bachurim, the shluchim and
the rabbanim who comprise the
army regulars. We married men,
Anash, are the reservist soldiers.
We work at various jobs, earn
our living from this and that, but
every person needs to find time
when he is in the reserves and
devotes this time to mivtzaim.
R Aryeh Schneersohn of
Kfar Chabad runs the famous
Schneersohn fish store. If your
flight for Tishrei leaves on
Sunday between 2:00 and 6:00,
you are likely to meet R Aryeh
putting tfillin on someone or
explaining to a tourist where
he can have a Shabbos meal
in Verona or how to find the
Chabad house in Sri Lanka.
Schneersohn was born and
raised in Kfar Chabad. He
learned in Tzfas and then in 770
where he also helped out at the
Chabad house in Queens run by
R Shraga Zalmanov.
R Aryeh begins the week
with four hours of mivtzaim as a
volunteer at Ben Gurion airports
Chabad house which is run by R
Nachman Maidanchek.
I purposely picked the

beginning of the week. It is the

most convenient time for me as
far as work goes and this has
enabled me to keep it up for
years. Most importantly, it lights
up the entire week for me. Four
hours on Sunday give me an
injection of chayus and energy
for an entire week.
R Aryeh volunteers for four
hours but they are four intensive
hours in which he doesnt rest for
a moment.
There is something special
about the tfillin stand at the

airport. I dont know whether

its the mood people are in
before they fly, before going
abroad, or something else, but
their willingness to put on tfillin
and their interest is many times
higher than at any other tfillin
stand in Eretz Yisroel.
I used to do mivtzaim in
Ohr Yehuda. If I had 20 people
putting on tfillin within four
hours, I was happy. Today, I have
150 people put on tfillin in that
amount of time.
He has a message:
The most important thing is
to pick a day and time that you
can stick with. Sometimes people
make good hachlatos that are at
the expense of something else or
require sacrifice on the part of
the family, and then they cant
stick with it for the long run. I
know that the end of the week
is very busy for me which is why
I chose Sunday. The store is
closed and I spend the morning
on dealing with the banks and
money matters, then in the
afternoon I go on mivtzaim. That
is how I was able to maintain
my commitment over the years
and never missed a day, boruch
Hashem.

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FEATURE

MAJOR OUTREACH EFFORTS

THANKS TO
THE REBBE
The Rebbe said repeatedly that spreading Torah
and Judaism is not exclusive to Chabad but is
the responsibility of everyone. * Beis Moshiach
hosted the founders of large kiruv organizations
in Eretz Yisroel who declare, Our success is the
Rebbes success!
Interviewers: Oholiav Abutbul, Yisroel Lapidot, and Zalman Tzorfati

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WE DID NOT
INNOVATE
ANYTHING;
ITS ALL THE
REBBES
CREATION
Rabbi Reuven Elbaz, who directs Ohr
HaChayim, hosted us in his office
attached to the yeshiva in the Beis Yisroel
neighborhood of Yerushalayim. He shared
his memories of the shluchim in Morocco,
the Lubavitcher who inspired him to
do the work that he does, escaping his
Litvishe yeshiva for farbrengens in Kfar
Chabad and the son of a shliach who
moved him tremendously. * R Elbaz states
proudly, In spreading Judaism I am the
Rebbes disciple.
By Oholiav Abutbul
Managing Director of Beis Moshiach in Eretz Yisroel

long line of buses packed

with IDF soldiers made
their way toward the Mea
Sharim neighborhood. It
was almost zero hour, noontime.
The buses stopped and the

soldiers alighted and stood at

order. Their commanders gave
their final instructions before
entering the neighborhood and
hundreds of soldiers began
walking in perfect formation.
Surprisingly, the appearance of

the soldiers did not arouse any

opposition on the part of the
residents. It looked as though
they all knew where the soldiers
were headed. After a few minutes
they reached their destination,
Yeshivas Ohr HaChayim.
The sight of the huge room
filled to capacity impressed them
and they were drawn into the
electrifying atmosphere.
In the center of the room
stood the rosh yeshiva, R Reuven
Elbaz. In his inimitable manner
he kept the crowd spellbound. He
pointed out that we are already
in the time of Geula and now is
the time to do tshuva out of joy.
He concluded with a story of the
Baal Shem Tov and the crowd
began to recite Slichos.
The new floors that have
been added to the already
huge building are the greatest
testimony to the spiritual growth
taking place here, and especially
at the top. The building which is
in the heart of the Mea Sharim
neighborhood in Yerushalayim
now rises majestically to great
heights. We sat in R Elbazs
modest office and talked.
R Elbaz was born in 5704 in
Morocco and made aliya alone
at the age of ten. His parents
and brothers joined him some
years later. He began his Torah
learning after his bar mitzva
in the Litvishe yeshiva Tiferes
Yisroel and after he married he
joined Sephardic institutions in
Yerushalayim.
We know that one of the first
outreach activities of the Rebbe
was in Morocco. What do you
remember about Chabad in
Morocco?
The shliach that the Rebbe
sent, R Michoel Lipsker ah,
was someone we all admired. He
did holy work and although not
everyone met him face to face, he
was known throughout Morocco.
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Feature

ISIS?

They accept it! Of course they accept it. Do this? Who implanted this within
the Jewish people? The Rebbes
they have another choice? Who do they want? power is something we cannot

From the great tzaddikim to the

simple people, they all admired
him.
Unfortunately, I did not
attend the Chabad schools there
since I was too young, and was
not sent to learn there since we
lived far from the central city of
Casablanca. But my brothers and
sisters attended Chabad schools
and boruch Hashem received
a quality chinuch. It was quite
remarkable, all the Torah they
built there. You could see it on
whoever learned in Chabad
schools. They were different than
the rest; they were full of Torah
and mitzvos with holiness and
purity.
How did a student of a
Litvishe yeshiva get involved in
hafatza decades ago when the
opposition to this was much
greater?
I will tell you a secret which
I have not told others; only I
and my friends know about this.
Although I learned in Litvishe
yeshivos, every year, for Yud-Tes
Kislev, I would go with a friend
or two to the celebration in Kfar
Chabad. Im talking about more
than fifty years ago. We would
blunder on the roads but would
finally arrive. Their bonding, their
love, friendship, and the special
atmosphere is indescribable. I
saw august Chassidim, rabbanim
of stature along with regular
Jews.
When
I
would
return
from Kfar Chabad after this
magnificent experience, I would
think that we too must bring and
connect other Jews to Hashem.
With this tremendous feeling of
inspiration, I would go to my

parents home in Teveria and

resolve to use the gifts Hashem
gave me to bring in more Jews.
Hashem gave me the power of
speech. I would give a speech in
the shul on Shabbos and then
at a bar mitzva, etc. I saw I was
having an impact and it motivated
me to continue.
One of the people who had
a great influence on me and
pushed me into doing this was
a Lubavitcher, the tzaddik,
R Moshe Weber ah. When I
learned in the Old City, I would
see him standing at the Kosel
for hours and putting tfillin on
people. Even when he was quite
old, he continued doing this.
One time, he came over to me
and said that he had started a
network called Shiurei Torah,
and he asked me to give shiurim
in exchange for meager pay
in the Musrara neighborhood
of Yerushalayim. It was a
neighborhood that was starting
to go downhill.
I agreed but R Moshe asked
me whether I am really taking
this on wholeheartedly. I said
I was. Boruch Hashem, every
week I give a shiur there and
everything started with that.
I must tell you that when it
comes to spreading Judaism, we
are all disciples of the Rebbe. I
am a disciple of the Rebbe. There
is no one who can do what the
Rebbe does. He fully devoted
himself to this and took people,
it made no difference whether
they knew the language, knew
the name of the country, and
immediately after they married
he sent them to spread Judaism.
Who else could do something like

begin to describe.
Since the Rebbe began this
revolution, there are dozens
if not hundreds of other
organizations that do outreach
work. Can you point out the
different approaches?
Its all the Rebbes work.
He raised up all of Am Yisroel.
It is undeniable. We are all
perpetuating what he started. We
did not invent anything!
What did Avrohom Avinu
do? He made souls in Charan.
We make souls. The approach
that I learned is to appeal to the
Jewish feeling, to the neshama of
a person. In the teachings of the
holy Ohr HaChayim we see very
deep matters of the mind, but it
is all with a flame. We see how
he fans the holy fire, the fire of
kdusha. Enthusiasm, simcha. He
puts the emotional intensity into
divrei Torah. There are people
who think you need to take the
scientific approach but what can
I tell you In the time it takes
them to be mekarev one or two, I
am able to bring several hundred.
The Jewish people are described
as
bashful,
compassionate
and doers of kindness; its all
emotion.
This is the motto of Chabad,
this is what they do. They appeal
to the Jewish heart, to the
neshama. I am sure that if all
the organizations that deal with
spreading Judaism would take
this approach into account, the
entire Jewish people would have
done tshuva already.
How important do you think
it is to learn Chassidus?
The rav chuckled. Shall I
tell you another secret? I have a
chavrusa to learn Tanya. From
this book we draw emuna, real
emuna. If you walk around the

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beis midrash downstairs, you

can see how nearly all the sifrei
Chassidus are Chabad. In my
yeshiva and in my drashos I draw
upon Chassidus and Gemara
along with musar and inyanei
Geula. But by us the emphasis
is more on the study of Gemara
and daily Halacha.
You are invited all over the
world. Can you tell us about
encounters with the Rebbes
shluchim?
I recently had to fly to Las
Vegas to cut the hair of the
three year old grandson of a
very wealthy supporter, Sheldon
Adelson. It was a big simcha and
when it was over I asked where
we could daven Mincha. Adelson
jumped up and said: We have
a Chabad house here. Directly
opposite the hall was the Chabad

house and I went in. I couldnt

stop marveling.
A few years ago I was in South
Africa, in Cape Town, where I
also visited a Chabad house. Its
a beautiful place on the sea and
I was very moved because I met
the son of the rabbi. They live
among gentiles, at the end of
the world, and hes a pure child,
refined, holy. Its the koach of
the Rebbe. Wherever I go, I try to
visit a Chabad house.
You are known for speaking
a lot about the times we are
living in, the time of the Geula,
even with those who are not yet
religious. What do they think of
this?
(Surprised by the very
question and banging on the
table:) They accept it! Of course
they accept it. Do they have

another choice? Who do they

want? ISIS? Its one of the
things that Chazal say, Ben Dovid
(Moshiach) wont come except
when our minds are diverted.
Everything going on in the world
today diverts our minds from
the anticipation and belief in the
coming of Moshiach. Everyone
will be asked, did you anticipate
the salvation?
We just had the Kinus
HaShluchim. What would you
like to tell them?
I wish all Chabad Chassidim,
especially the Rebbes shluchim,
the greatest success; in whatever
you do be successful. Bring
Hashems blessing everywhere.
The main thing is that you merit
to complete the work in bringing
the Righteous Redeemer speedily
in our days, amen!

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Feature

TO ME,
EVERY
CHABADNIK
IS A SHLIACH
R Dov Begon, founded Machon Meir forty
years ago. * In an exclusive interview with
Beis Moshiach he praises the Rebbes
shlichus empire and explains the connection
of his lifes work to Chabad and reveals for
the first time his Chabad connection at the
start of his journey toward Judaism.
By Yisroel Lapidot

Dov Begon was born in

5700/1940 in Cholon.
He grew up secular and
was even active in the
HaShomer HaTzair (virulent antireligious) movement. He served as
an IDF combat officer and fought
in the Six Day War.
My mothers roots were
Chassidic. My grandfather was
R Dov Ber Sofer ah. He was a
scribe and was a chavrusa (study
partner) with the Ostrovtze
Rebbe. My father came from a
Misnagdic family.
He was one of the first
kibbutznikim who became a baal
tshuva. At age 23 he decided
to deepen his knowledge of
Torah and Judaism. Under the
influence of R Aharon Keller, rav

of Nahariya, he began learning

in Yeshivas Kfar Chassidim and
later in Yeshivas Merkaz HaRav
in Yerushalayim He learned
there for over ten years by R
Tzvi Yehuda Kook and became
his devoted disciple and received
rabbinic ordination from him.
After the Yom Kippur War, he
decided to found Machon Meir,
named for the paratrooper Meir
Lifshitz, Hyd, whom he knew as
a talmid chacham, who fell at the
Suez Canal a few months earlier.
***
In the course of your
personal
journey
toward
Judaism, did Chabad play a
role?
Yes. The one who was
mekarev me at the beginning
was a Lubavitcher, R Moshe

Segal. He was one of the first to

settle in Kfar Chabad and after
the Six Day War he was the first
Jew to settle in the Old City of
Yerushalayim.
R Segal was a very
courageous man. He simply did
not know what fear was. He had
a very principled worldview and
this made a powerful impression
on me. He would put on tfillin
at the Kosel, he would blow the
shofar there under the British
and I had the privilege of being
niskarev through him.
Our paths crossed when I
was a guide for the Society for
the Protection of Nature in Israel
(SPNI) and he was the secretary
of the yishuv Kfar Chabad. One
day, I led a group of secretaries
of yishuvim and he was one of
them but he stood out because of

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his long white beard. He saw that

I was a little interested in Judaism
and he invited me to his home for
Shabbos.
What do you remember of
Kfar Chabad of those days?
I only vaguely remember that
visit. It was many years ago. I
was a kibbutznik and had no
prior awareness of Chabad.
During the visit they tried to
fill in the gaps for me They
showed me pictures of Chabad
Admurim and told me who each
one was. This is the first Rebbe,
the second
But what I remember is that
I saw all kinds of symbols of the
various Jewish Undergrounds
of which he had been a member
and I was surprised. What was
this doing by an older Chassid

like him? I asked him and he told

me his history, about how he was
one of the founders of the Brit
HaChashmonaim and an active
member in Etzel and Lechi. That
was an experience, to meet a
Jew like this, a Chassid, in Kfar
Chabad.
What motivated you to
start an organization to spread
Judaism to the general public?
Having been a product of the
kibbutzim and having learned in
yeshiva for a number of years,
people approached me to teach
Torah, especially after the Yom
Kippur War. That is when we
founded Machon Meir, in order
to help those who were searching.
Until today, we see that there
is a great interest. Hundreds of
people come to our yeshiva to
talk, learn Torah, and strengthen
their Torah study. This is in
addition to a website that has
become a place for tens of
thousands to learn Torah.
Do you have any interaction
with shluchim of the Rebbe?
I dont know what that means,
shluchim of the Rebbe. To me,
every Chabadnik is a shliach of
the Rebbe, and Ive met many
Chabad Chassidim over the
years.
The truth is, every Jew is
a shliach of Hashem. What is
the shlichus? Being a personal
example that makes a kiddush
Hashem! Its like the Gemara
in tractate Yoma says about
someone who merits and the
name of heaven becomes beloved
through him, as opposed to
someone who desecrates
Rashi there explains that you
sanctify Hashems name by
personal example.
So every Jew needs to be
a role model and to make
Hashems name beloved to
others. That is called shlichus,
Hashems shlichus.

Ive been saying this to myself

for years now. I was taught Torah
not for myself but to pass it
forward.
This is how the Rebbe
educated his Chassidim, that
everyone is a shliach. That is
what I teach my students, to
live with this mission of being
a personal example, to sanctify
G-ds name and to be mekarev
Jews to Hashem. And if not now,
then when?
Many people see your
important work as having a
connection with the Rebbes
global outreach efforts. Do you
see it that way?
The Rebbes shluchim are
doing holy work. I am a talmid of
Merkaz HaRav and from there I
have taken strength and direction
in the spirit of the saying, Be
of the students of Aharon,
love peace, pursue peace, love
creatures and draw them close to
Torah. This is the path that I try
to take.
The approach we use is not to
love briyos in order to draw them
close to Torah, but to simply
love briyos. Drawing them close
to Torah is a separate matter. If
you do everything for the sake
of heaven, to be mekarev Jews
to our Father in heaven, then
you have the siyata dShmaya
(heavenly assistance) to be
successful in kiruv.
Is Chassidus learned in your
yeshiva?
In our yeshiva there is a
bookcase packed with many
sifrei Chassidus. The teachings of
Chassidus are sweet, really sweet!
And Chassidus is a large tree with
many branches.
Our approach is to allow
every student to learn according
to the root of his soul. Some
are inclined toward Chassidus
and some toward Halacha. Just
as their faces are different, their
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Feature
outlooks are different.
What about you?
I read and learn sifrei
Chassidus, although not as much
as I would like. I have learned
Tanya a bit which deals with
the foundations of Jewish faith,
similar to kabbala, if I can say so.
What message do you have
for the shluchim?

I wish you strength, that

you sanctify Hashems name
wherever you are, and know
that you are literally involved
with saving lives, as the Rebbe
says. Its a big mitzva; there is
no greater mitzva than drawing
people close to our Father in
heaven, as the Chovos HaLevavos
says. No other mitzva compares
to this.

G-D FORBID
TO PUSH
ASIDE THE
TOPIC OF
GEULA
R Zamir Cohen, who runs the Hidabroot
organization, which spreads Judaism
through a variety of means, particularly
the Hidabroot cable station, spoke with
Beis Moshiach about the revolution the
Rebbe wrought in Jewish awareness. *
He says people are ready to hear about
Moshiach and Geula, but you have to
know how to present it. His most watched
lecture on Hidabroot is a talk about
prophecies of the Geula.
By Zalman Tzorfati

e is familiar to many
people
from
the
television screen. He is
a popular lecturer who
has vast numbers of people tuning
in to his lectures in Eretz Yisroel
and the world over. R Zamir
Cohen, who runs Hidabroot, sees
spreading Jewish knowledge to
every Jew as his lifes task, just
like the shluchim. He says the
Rebbe gave the push to whoever is
involved in kiruv today.
What do you think of the
Rebbes shlichus empire?
The Rebbe is the one who
started and promoted the
importance of kiruv. Its not just
awareness about it, but the belief
that it will succeed. When the
Rebbe started sending shluchim
to distant places, there was no
precedent and nobody could
guarantee that it would succeed.
But the Rebbe instilled the
imperative to take action within
the public as well as the belief
that this would be successful.
Today, Jews come from every
corner of the world and report
about being in the most distant
places where someone displayed
love and kiruv toward them. The
turning point in their lives took
place there, in that faraway place.
This is something that previously
one would have been skeptical
about its success. This gave the
push to all those today who are
involved in kiruv.
Do you think that Chassidus
is an added dimension in kiruv?
If so, what does it offer?
Chassidus is based on the
teachings of kabbala and it makes
the deep concepts of kabbala
accessible to the masses. Without
learning
pnimius
haTorah,
mitzvos are done because this
is what we do or because this is
what is written. Torah consists
of PaRDeS, four dimensions.
The more we delve, the more

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a person comes to recognize

his greatness in the world and
his capabilities. He learns that
every little action that a person
does, positive or negative, has
a great spiritual repercussion.
This inner understanding moves
people away from doing mitzvos
by rote to doing mitzvos with
enthusiasm. It is basic and
necessary for every Jew.
Do you use ideas from
Chassidus?
Now and then. In our
lectures we try to incorporate
any and all information that will
contribute toward strengthening
people, from a wide range of
fundamental works especially the
principles from kabbala. There
are also entire lectures that deal
with these topics.
One of the primary things
the Rebbe spoke about was the
Geula. Some people push aside
talk on this subject. How much
is this part of your lectures?
Heaven forbid to cast it
aside. According to information
given to me by the managers of
the Hidabroot website, the most
watched lecture on the site is one
called: Prophecies of the End of
Days. I talk about the signs that
were said about this time. Anyone
who thinks about it, even if he is
not religious, sees that there was
no generation in which these
signs were fulfilled, one by one,
like our generation. We cannot
deal with dates, Chazal already
said negative things about those
who do, but the signs that were
said about the period of Yemos
HaMoshiach are coming true. I
am talking about explicit signs,
not those things which were said
as riddles but clear things said in
the verses and in Chazal.
The last part of the lecture
is about Yemos HaMoshiach.
Recently, there has been a
tremendous interest in knowing

about this, perhaps as a result

of the rise of Islam in the world,
with world terrorism and the
world shocked by the cruel acts
perpetrated by Moslems. I am
about to go on a lecture tour to
the US and South America and
the main topic will be a lecture
about prophecies of the Geula.
People are ready to hear it?
Yes, but you have to know
how to present it. If you
talk about
Geula as

the Internet and continue

their learning with their local
shluchim.
We have seen that using
satellite and cable in Eretz
Yisroel and the Internet all
over the world has proven to be
extremely effective. I must say
that the Rebbe is the first one to
announce that we must use the
various forms of communication
to spread Judaism and reach
every Jew. At the time he said
this, it all seemed far-fetched,
but today we see it coming to
fruition. When Jews report
from their area that they were
niskarev through the Internet,
and you cannot become a fully
religious Jew over the Internet,
they go out and look to see how
to practically live Judaism and
find Chabad shluchim.
Ill tell you about something
that I heard from a young
man who came to a
lecture in Atlanta.
He grew up without
any connection to

In the past, you were mekarev someone because

you were concerned about his Olam Haba, while
now you need to be mekarev Jews so that they have
Olam HaZeh too. Because today, without Torah, there is
no Olam HaZeh and no Olam Haba.

something abstract, people feel

that its remote.
As
someone
who
is
involved in kiruv, where do
you encounter the work of the
shluchim? Are there areas of
overlap?
Of course! We sometimes
hold lectures in Chabad houses
like in Bangkok and in China,
and everywhere where there is
collaboration between the local
shluchim and Hidabroot. There
are also the people who get a
smattering of Judaism through

Judaism and came to the lecture

with a friend. During the lecture
something was ignited in him
and he watched other lectures
on the Internet. Then he heard
about a Chabad house in his
area. On Simchas Torah he went
for hakafos and when he danced
there with everyone, he asked
the shliach where he could buy
tzitzis. He was dumbfounded
when the shliach took off his own
tzitzis and gave them to him.
This act of Ahavas Yisroel so
impressed him that he committed
to observing Shabbos. When you
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Feature
see Ahavas Yisroel and mesirus
nefesh, you cannot remain
indifferent; you have to connect.
On a more personal note,
what got you involved in kiruv?
First, when you love a Jew,
you cannot bear to see him
suffering. In the past, you were
mekarev someone because you
were concerned about his Olam
Haba, while now you need to
be mekarev Jews so that they
have Olam HaZeh too. Because
today, without Torah, there is
no Olam HaZeh and no Olam
Haba. During the period when
I served as a rosh kollel for
rabbinic ordination, I saw what
ignorance and even hostility
there was to Torah, to mitzvos, to
mitzva observant people, just due
to lack of knowledge. From there,
they deteriorate until even in this
world they suffer in all aspects of
life whether with shalom bayis,
with their children, with their
character and handling various
situations.
Today, the yetzer hara makes
it seem that if a person goes
with Torah then he wont have
Olam HaZeh. Its the other way
round; with Torah he has more
of Olam HaZeh, and this can be
demonstrated.
By the way, this is the last
lecture in every seminar. I always
dedicate the last one, before
everyone goes home, after all
the lectures on proofs of Torah

from heaven and other topics, to

showing that someone who goes
with Torah enjoys this world.
When you love a person and
see how things are not going well
for him, it obligates you, even
if it requires a certain sacrifice
of your time, to say things
which seem obvious to you and
which you need to prove. I saw
something interesting in the
Chasam Sofer. He writes that
Hashem referred to Avrohom as
my beloved although seemingly
there were people no less great
like Chanoch and others. Why
was Avrohom singled out? The
Chasam Sofer says its because
if Avrohom had removed himself
from the world and had stayed at
home, he would have ascended to
a higher level than he achieved.
After all, when he had to go and
talk to idol worshipers and prove
the truth to them, to him it was
a waste of his time. He had to
sit with Arabs who worshiped
the dust of their feet and prove
to them that this is not rational;
for him, this was a total waste of
time.
It looks as though he lost out
but it was a man like this who was
beloved to Hashem. This ought
to be a lesson to us. Whoever
does this work anywhere in
the world needs to know this.
Sometimes, a person can feel that
he is losing out and that he could
have done more with himself, but

he needs to know that someone

who is beloved to Hashem is one
who cares about his brethren and
goes and takes action on their
behalf. Hashem then gives him
a blessing in his Torah and his
learning.
So youre saying it helps in
his Torah study?
Thats what it says, that the
early Chassidim would spend an
hour before they davened and
an hour after they davened. The
Gemara says they achieved in
a short time what it took other
people more hours.
Do you think other groups
should go on shlichus?
There is a call from gdolei
Yisroel of all groups for bnei
Torah to devote a tenth of their
time for others just as they give
a tenth of their money to tzdaka.
This is certainly something that
ought to be done, but first, a
person needs to fill himself up
with Torah. Then the quality
and quantity of his giving will be
altogether different.
To conclude?
I wish all those who are
involved in this holy work, may
blessing rest upon what you do
and may you continue to sanctify
Hashems name wherever you
are, with lots of siyata dShmaya,
and may we soon merit to see all
the Jewish people united with the
Geula shleima, amen.

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MOSHIACH & GEULA

MOSHIACH

AND CHINUCH

Dear Reader shyichyeh,

By Rabbi Gershon Avtzon

In our previous article we
discussed the basic principle of
Chinuch, that before you can
demand anything from them
and expect positive results (you
can always demand...) they must
feel that you trust and care for
them. As the famous truism goes:
They wont care how much you
know, till they know how much
you care.
Building on that principle,
one may be mistaken to think that
developing and enforcing strong
guidelines is counterproductive.
For after-all, how can we work on
inspiring someone and limiting
them at the same time? Nothing
can be further from the truth!
There must be clear guidelines
and they need to be enforced. It
is how the rules are packaged
and explained that determine
whether the student/child will
feel restricted and resentful or
happy and grateful.
To explain: There are two
types of rules: 1) Rules for a
prison, where the objective of

the rules is that the guards can

control inmates; 2) Rules for
successful people, where a person
that has strong capabilities is
taught the discipline they need to
be successful.
When the Rebbe Rashab
created his Yeshiva, he gave it
a very unique name: Tomchei
Tmimim, which means, the
supporters of the Tmimim.
While most schools are built
around the faculty and the
subjects taught, the Rebbe
Rashab made it very clear that
this Yeshiva is built to support the
students. Yet, at the same time it
was the strictest Yeshiva in the
entire Russia!
This is obviously not a
contradiction: The best support
you can give someone is
teaching them responsibility,
accountability, self-esteem and
values.
By having rules, you are
sending the message that you feel
that the student hasthe potential
to be successful and is not a
nebach case that needs to be

supported by others.
One of the best times for
encouraging educational growth
is when a student/child sees that
you do not punish by impulse,
but rather by a predetermined
system, and that even when being
punished he is cared for. He
should never feel that a teacher
or parent got even with a
punishment, as this will only
teach him to hurt and control
others. It breeds a vicious cycle
of emotional violence.
If you are consistent with
enforcing the rules and consistent
with the concern and care you
demonstrate to the child, the
child will thank you eternally for
the biggest present that you gave
them: The present of being the
best person that they could be.
Rabbi Avtzon is the Rosh
Yeshiva of Yeshivas Lubavitch
Cincinnati and a well sought
after speaker and lecturer.
Recordings of his in-depth
shiurim on Inyanei Geula
uMoshiach can be accessed at
http://www.ylcrecording.com.

ADD IN ACTS OF GOODNESS & KINDNESS

TO BRING MOSHIACH NOW!

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SHLICHUS

CHALLA

THE SOFT AMBASSADOR

THAT WORKS HARD!

This true story about ShiraLee will surely
convince you to follow in the path of our
matriarch Sarah. * Challa not what you thought!
By Miri Kenig

heard the following moving

story from ShiraLee herself,
a charming woman who
is a dynamic shlucha. It is
absolutely true and has a powerful
message.
If today, 27 years after that
first Shabbos when we were
guests there, I am working so
hard in our place of shlichus,
says ShiraLee, it is much to the
credit of the abundance of chayus
that I drew from there and
thanks to one shlucha, utterly
silent in thought, speech and
action, but soft and particularly
flexible
with
penetrating
eyes, which can bring about
unbelievable changes.
How is that possible, you
wonder? Read on.
ShiraLee tells:
I was in the eleventh grade.
My parents were getting more

involved in Judaism in general

and Chabad in particular. I
hopped along at my own pace.
For me it was a particularly
intense
time
with
plans,
matriculation exams, projects and
assignments. I was disconnected
from my Judaism except for the
Shabbasos we spent as guests at a
Chabad family in the city we lived
in, in the center of Eretz Yisroel.
They were a special family who
opened their hearts and souls to
us. They had endless patience
and loved to explain things to us
and greatly inspired us.
I
remember
that
first
Shabbos. That Friday, I was
exhausted after having taken a
history exam the day before. We
had been invited for Shabbos by
our host family (whom you will
soon get to know) and this was
a wonderful break for my parents
and me.

We were greeted with the

scent of Gan Eden and a table
crowded with guests from all
walks of life. After a warm
welcome from our host, our host
recited Kiddush and we were
asked to wash our hands. I was
guided, for the first time in my
life, by the hostess, in how to
wash and its significance. And if
you want, she winked at me, we
can continue talking afterward.
I sat down together with my
parents and was impressed by
our hosts patience in waiting for
the very last of the guests to sit
down. Then he said the bracha,
cut the challa, and distributed it.

A TASTE WHICH
COMBINED STRENGTH
AND GENTLENESS
Ive always had a weakness
for dough, but this taste I

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never tasted this before! The

taste was far more complex
and refined than my ability to
verbalize. Today I know that the
taste is of Shabbos.
While I was enjoying my piece
of challa, I found myself putting
another piece and then another
piece into my mouth. My mother
could not understand what had
happened to me. The hostess
urged me to try the many salads
but I could not eat anything but
those heavenly challos.
My mother hinted to me,
more than once, that I should
be polite, for what I was doing
was not acceptable, and even my
father shot astonished looks at
me, but I was somewhere else,
as I thought I had discovered a
magical world which began and
ended with challa.
Until today, 27 years later,

I dont know what came over

me. How did my senses of taste
and smell become so absorbed
and zero in on one taste, the
taste of challa, and how was I
not embarrassed to finish nearly
an entire challa during the first
course? Apparently, something
stronger than me made me forget
all my manners.

MY WEIRD DECISION
At that moment, I resolved
that if I ever had a home like
the home we were visiting, and
if I became a baalas tshuva, I
would commit to baking amazing
challos like these every week. I
have no idea where this idea came
from. I am the cool, rational type
who is not swayed by emotion,
nor did I know at the time what
was involved and what sort of
logistics awaited me but let me

not get ahead of myself.

There were Divrei Torah and
niggunim which filled a deep
void within me. When we said
goodbye to our hosts I timidly
asked, Um, do you have
would it be possible would it
be okay to bring some challa
home?
My parents, who were
no less surprised than me,
apologetically said to the hostess,
Her exhaustion from the
matriculation exams and tests is
having an effect on her
Fortunately, the hostess did
not show any signs of displeasure
and with her natural graciousness
she placed a fragrant challa in
my hand and said, I am happy
that you asked. I saw that you
enjoyed it and had planned on
giving you a challa. I was afraid
I would forget so thank you for
reminding me.
My parents, as expected,
rebuked me all the way home
for my boorish behavior. I
understood them but what was
done could not be undone.
Now and then we went back
to that family. My parents and I
progressed. Every Shabbos there
drew us into a gold mine of depth
and beauty. We were good clients,
it seems, and Hashem has many,
creative ways to get people back
to their roots. More than all the
Shabbos experiences, I felt that
I had a special connection with
that heavenly taste and fragrance.
There was something about the
Challa that was mekarev me
swiftly to my Father in Heaven.
I was accepted into seminary
as a Bas Chabad in every respect,
and at the end of my fourth year
of study I married a Lubavitcher
bachur and we went on shlichus
in the south of the country. My
dream was beginning to come
true.
One of the first things that I
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Shlichus

Word got around and we had mobilized a small

army of children. The crowd is large and quite
varied. The youngest is three months and the oldest is
seventy.
did as a shlucha was of course to
bake challos for Shabbos. At first
I made challa out of just one kilo
(2.2 lbs.), but the more guests
we had, the more challa I made.
Today, I bake four and a half kilo
nearly every week. Homemade
challos, as you probably all know,
are unobtainable in any bakery no
matter how wonderful.

WHO IS GETTING A
CHALLA TODAY?
Five years ago, I committed
to make Mesibos Shabbos every
Friday night for children. I did
not advertise my hachlata. That
first Shabbos I just went out
and gathered the children I saw
and the rest is history. Word got
around and we had mobilized
a small army of children. The
crowd is large and quite varied.
The youngest is three months
and the oldest is seventy. A
few times already I have found
myself sitting facing a child
plus an accompanying parent
(grandmother) who is there to
see and hear and check out what
the child is doing there for an
hour every week.
It requires me to develop
acrobatic tightrope walking in
language, content, style and ideas
in order to challenge, interest
and to connect the content and
Jewish-Chassidic message for the
seniors, on the one hand, and to
make it palatable for the youngest
children, on the other hand. This
is a challenging task which leads
me to look into Likkutei Sichos,
Mayan Chai, Shulchan Shabbos
and stories of Chassidim to

prepare for them. And then,

to try and synthesize all that
wondrous depth into simple
language that is understood by all
my customers.
It is very clear to me that
Hashem hears prayers and helps
me every Shabbos to arrange
the words and sentences so that
I dont mess up. I pray that the
message be understood and
absorbed by young and old.
The structure of the Kabbalas
Shabbos repeats itself as a
ritual every week. I start with
a message from a sicha of the
Rebbe; we say the 12 Psukim,
make a good hachlata, give out a
treat and give out challa! Ever
since I committed to making
challa every week thanks to those
challos which were mchazek me
and were mekarev me, I made
another commitment to give a
challa every week, in rotation, to
a boy or girl who comes for the
Kabbalas Shabbos.
The children look forward
to the challa and since the scent
hits them as they come in, they
always ask, one after the other,
Who will be getting the challa
today? When the boy or girl
gets a challa, everyone rejoices.

THE CHALLA THAT

CHANGED THE LIFE OF
RONI AND SHOSHI
Sometimes it happens that
I am so tired from my Shabbos
preparations that when Shabbos
begins I wonder where Ill get
the strength to host 25 children
and their parents and to give a

lecture/presentation too. And

each time, the tiredness makes
way for a sense of shlichus and an
inexplicable renewal of strength
that comes from the meshaleiach
himself.
That is what happened one
Friday night for which I prepared
from sun-up until nearly sunset.
I prayed that I be granted new
energy to complete the task
ahead.
At precisely this point, two
sweet girls came in and asked, Is
the Kabbalas Shabbos here?
Yes, of course, I answered,
welcome. I smiled and brought
them in. They lit candles for the
first time in their lives, saying it
word by word after me. From
the purity that shone forth from
their faces, I could sense their
excitement. That Shabbos was
Parshas VaYeira and I spoke
about the mitzva of Hafrashas
Challa, about Sarahs eagerness
and joy, and about the meaning
of this special mitzva. When
we finished, I gave a challa to
the two lovely girls and said,
Shabbat Shalom, Id be happy if
you joined us again.
Three weeks went by and I
had forgotten about them. Life on
shlichus is demanding Then
Hashem, in extraordinary Divine
Providence, had me see Part Two
of the story. Excuse me, are you
ShiraLee? I was suddenly asked
when I returned from work.
Yes, hello, how can I help
you?
You live here, right?
Right. I was tired from my
morning shift and additional
shifts awaited me at home.
Do you need something? I
asked, trying not to display my
impatience.
Yes no how I can
tell you I wanted to tell you
something personal having to do

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with you ...

Go ahead! I said, and
listened quite curiously.
My name is Shoshi. I live on
the next street. Im not religious
but I come from a home that
is Shomer Shabbos to some
extent. My father always made
Kiddush over wine. When I
grew up, I knew that I would
have Kiddush in my home,
just like in my fathers house.
But it didnt exactly work out.
My husband comes from a
HaShomer HaTzair (virulently
anti-religious) kibbutz, and he
greatly opposed all my Jewish
wishes. For seventeen years now
I have been pleading with him
every Friday night, Roni, please
make Kiddush. What do you
care? For you, for me, for the
girls, and tradition But he is
not willing to do anything. I feel
disappointed and frustrated and
as far as doing it myself, I dont
want to. It reminds me of my
father who passed away.
She wiped away a tear and
carried on. Three weeks ago was
my fathers yahrtzait. It was on
a Friday and I went to his grave
with the entire family and cried
like a baby. I cried over my father,
for the pain and sorrow, and also
for the frustration that I cannot
continue in his way. I promised
my father that if a miracle
occurred and my husband would
make Kiddush, I would start to
pray every day. When I left there,
I felt an inexplicable feeling of
relief.
We went home and when I
finished preparing for Shabbos, I
went for a walk with my girls. We
passed by your house and saw the
children gathered there. I asked
them whether something had
happened and one girl said, We
get together here for Kabbalas
Shabbos with ShiraLee. I
loved the idea and said to my

daughters, I would like you to try

joining this Kabbalas Shabbos.
When youre done, I will be
waiting here on the bench.
My girls caught my excitement
and went in to you. When they
returned, I welcomed them. I
saw girls with shining eyes and
a fragrant challa, one that could
warm my broken heart. Thank
you, how beautiful! I enthused.
Come, lets go home. Abba is
waiting.
At home, I placed the challa
carefully on a nice tray in the
center of the table and stood
there silently together with my
daughters. My thoughts were a
combination of prayers of thanks
for the present, sad thoughts of
the past, and hopes for a more
Jewish future.
My husband also came over
to the table and my girls, who saw
the surprise on his face, told him
what happened when we went on
a walk. I saw him contemplating
the challa for some time as
though trying to win over the
storm raging within him.
Then, as he cleared his
throat, trying to find the right
words, he mustered the strength
and surprised us all when he said,
Such a beautiful challa and not
to make Kiddush?!
I was in shock! I couldnt
move until I heard my husband
say, Shoshi, go bring your
fathers Kiddush cup. For this
challa, I am willing to make
Kiddush!
Shoshi cried and I also
shed some tears. I

hugged her and said, Your

father and your Father in Heaven
heard your prayer and on that
same Friday they sent you an
answer from Heaven with the
gift of challa. Who ever said that
challa cannot bring people back
in tshuva?

G-DLY RECIPE. REALLY

It seems that the G-dly
machinations within the reality
of our existence extend beyond
anything we can imagine.
ShiraLee continued:
I
recently
went
to
Yerushalayim for my fathers
yahrtzait. I prayed and hoped
that this would be the last hour of
galus and a year of Geula for all
of us. It was a Friday and I got
home exhausted. A quick glance
at the time let me know that it
would be Shabbos in four hours.
The pace of the preparations
was not especially gratifying and
I remembered that I was having
guests, one of whom called and
said she got our number from
Shoshi, her good friend. Because
I was busy, I did not even ask her
name.
I began giving orders from
the front lines to the rear guard.
The children, I was happy to
notice, had an unusual fighting
spirit, and within a four hour
marathon we arrived at the finish

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Shlichus
line, Shabbos HaMalka, with
smiling faces. I was just a bit
bothered about my challos that
did not have enough time to rise.
You cant have everything,
I repeated to myself for the
umpteenth time. I sent up a silent
prayer to Hashem and my father,
whose grave I had visited that
day: My father and my Father in
Heaven, please help me so that
from Above all the tastes of the
finest and most heavenly baked
goods that exist in the world
will join my earthly, homemade
challos on the Shabbos table...
and not shame us and the
Shabbos table, so we can fulfill
our shlichus and our mission on
this earth.
As I was finishing this prayer
as I lit candles, I heard a knock
at the door. Shabbat shalom, I
am Dalia who called to be your
guest. My good friend Shoshi
recommended that I call you. She
lives one block over and loves
you! She said you are a wonderful
person. Thanks in advance for
the fantastic hosting. I am happy
I came to the right place, right?
Yes, I replied warmly.
Shabbat
shalom
and
welcome Dalia. Make yourself
comfortable.
While
we
exchanged
pleasantries, the time passed and
my husband walked in with our
four sons plus two angels. As
they sang the traditional Shalom
Aleichem, I took advantage of
the presence of the angels to
express a silent prayer to the
Creator of the world and His
angels that they do something
about my challos before they
leave.
Please G-d, do it for the sake
of the ladies of the house so they
are not shamed, do it for Your
Names sake, do it for the sake of
the Hafrashas Challa that is done
as a part of the shlichus to reach

out to Your children...

For you Dalia, I placed a
piece of challa in front of her and
waited tensely. Dalia tasted it,
closed her eyes and then her
face lit up.
I cant believe it. This is
the first time I am tasting such
excellent challa, baked inside,
and baked outside, just right!
How do you do it?
Uh, I stammered. Its a
G-dly recipe, I said (and meant
every word I said).
You can tell, nodded Dalia
as I heaved a sigh of relief.

CLOSURE AFTER 27 YEARS

Before I served the second
course and was collecting the
challa, Dalia said to me, I dont
understand whats happening
to me. I am usually particular
about eating special organic spelt
bread, and even if Im a guest
somewhere and forget to bring it
with me, I dont have any other
bread, not even a taste. I manage
with vegetables and grains. But
here, something inexplicable is
drawing me to eating more and
more of this special challa. Please
dont take the challa near me.
The meal was engaging, with
niggunim and Divrei Torah.
When it was time to say goodbye,
I couldnt help but ask Dalia,
How did you get to us?
Dalia, as though waiting for
this question, said, Shoshi and
I were junior detectives at the
police station for ten years here
until I moved abroad. I became
interested in religion, Chabad
in particular, and whenever I
came to Eretz Yisroel I spent
Shabbasos with Shoshi which
was not a problem. But this time,
I couldnt stay with her. I keep
a higher standard of kosher and
Shoshi is still not there yet. I
asked her before I flew in if she

has an idea for me and she said,

Yes, I do. Our shluchim will
probably be happy to have you,
ShiraLee bakes fantastic challos
thanks to which my husband
makes Kiddush every Friday
night.
I listened to Dalia and some
things fell into place for me.
If you wouldnt mind my
asking ... Dalia asked shyly.
There is something G-dly about
your challos, an unusual flavor. If
you have any extra challa um,
Id be happy to have some.
What?! I wanted to shout, but
I restrained myself. I gave her a
large and fragrant challa and we
parted with a warm hug.
I barely managed to keep
my tears in check until Dalia
had left. They were tears of joy,
emotion, and endless thanks
to Hashem. Because precisely
this very situation is one I had
experienced 27 years ago when I
asked for challa, and now I gave
challa Hashem has amazingly
creative ways to connect the
dots, to inspire people and to
affect closure. For me, it was a
special gift and a wonderful way
to develop greater appreciation
and deeper insight into Divine
Providence.
Thank you Hashem for
teaching me a lesson in
hospitality that the calculations
we make dont necessarily match
with the G-dly plan. G-d wisely
directs His world so that very
often the biggest disadvantages
for us are advantages for others.
I took something else from
this story. I made the firm
hachlata to bake more and
more and more challa! We
have the ability to reach out to
others with pleasantness and
blessings, love and compassion;
in the neighborhood, at work, on
shlichus, and mainly within our
own homes.

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STORY

JEWISH PRIDE
AND A TALE
OF TWO BAR
MITZVAHS
By Menachem Mendel Arad

n the middle of Chanuka

six years ago, IDF forces
carried out Operation Cast
Lead. Naturally, tensions
ran high in Moslem countries that
tuned into Al Jazeera which incited
against Israel. I was working as a
shliach in Marrakesh in Morocco
at the time, and we could feel a
definite tension among the local
population.
As is done every year, we
brought four bachurim from the
yeshiva in Brunoy to help out,
mainly with children and youth.
The bachurim called me early in
the morning from the home of the
family that was hosting them and
they asked whether I had heard
the news from Eretz Yisroel.
They updated me about the IDF
(finally) going in to attack Gaza
and also told me that their host
was very nervous and was telling
them to remove their hats and to
wear caps in the street to hide
their Jewish identity.

Actually, from when I first

arrived in Morocco, local Jews
had suggested removing my
hat but I refused. I said I am a
shliach of the Rebbe and I had
to look like one. I relied on the
shluchim who had lived all those
years in Morocco who always
wore Chassidic dress.
I told the bachurim they could
do as they saw fit, that I wouldnt
decide for them, but I would
continue wearing my regular hat.
That morning, the discussion
came up again when we were
in shul. The local Jews, who
usually wear caps or nothing at
all on their heads, told me not
to take unnecessary chances and
to change my hat until things
quieted down. They referred
to the massacre at the Chabad
House in Bombay as an example
of it being forbidden to take
unnecessary risks and to be
careful. Some broadly hinted that

it was likely that people would

refrain from being in contact
with us because of fear of being
identified on the street as Jews.
I consulted with the shliach,
R Sholom Eidelman. He said
that removing the hat was the
most dangerous thing to do
because Arabs admired those
who stuck to their principles and
attacked those who displayed
fear and weakness. He said with
a smile that he and his fellow
shluchim had experienced nearly
all the Israeli wars while living in
Morocco and had never removed
their hats.
In any case, I wrote to the
Rebbe about it and opened to
this astonishingly precise answer:
As to your question about
learning a secular profession
while bareheaded where there
is room to say that this would
make it easier to find a common
language

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Story

Right: A dinner meal that turned into a Chanuka farbrengen. Left, top: Celebrating a bar mitzva in Marrakesh
Left: A tourist after putting tfillin on for the first time in his life

I was in shock over this

direct beginning. The Rebbe
then went on to say that matters
of Shulchan Aruch were not
business deals in which you
conceded on a small mitzva for
the sake of a big mitzva. The
Rebbe then went on to teach me
ironclad rules in my work with
the community:
Most importantly, we
see, especially with the youth,
that a compromise, even a
minor one, diminishes the value
in their eyes and all the trust in
the one making the compromise.
For if a compromise is possible
in some laws of the Torah and
mitzvos, that proves that these
things are not utterly true,
for truth leaves no room for
compromise and deviation of
even a hairs breadth. If there is
room for compromise, then it is
not the path of truth.
The Rebbe then went on to
say that all of the above was as it
relates to the students, but as far
as the mashpia, he must be a
dugma chaya not only for what
he demands of them, but for the

entire way of life that he speaks

about...
I understood from this that
the Rebbe was teaching me: 1) If
you make compromises, people
will understand that everything
you represent all that important
to you is not absolute truth,
and 2) if you remove the hat,
other people will take off their
head covering altogether or will
deteriorate in other areas.
There were demonstrations
in the streets of Marrakesh in
support of the Palestinians.
The king allowed the people
to
express
their
feelings
without sliding into violence. I
remember that one day, a student
demonstration
passed
near
our house, five minutes after I
and my wife and children had
been there. Another time, three
Arab youths approached me
and one of them said in Arabic,
I am a Palestinian. I coolly
replied, Good for you, I am a
Marrakeshi, and I walked on
to shul and not to my house so
as not to reveal to them where I
lived.

That year, the Jewish children

did not go to school (I dont
remember whether it was because
of the tensions or whether it was
winter vacation) and every day
there was day camp for about
fifteen kids (and sometimes for
their parents too) throughout
Chanuka. We also arranged a
special Chanuka party for the
community with policemen on
guard outside the shul. Not only
local Jews attended these parties,
but also many Jewish tourists.
This took place in the Beis
E-l shul in the new neighborhood
of Marrakesh where we lived.
Fortunately, policemen guarded
the shul and the street we lived
on 24 hours a day.
I also went to the ancient
Lazama shul (the shul of those
expelled from Spain) that is
within the old Jewish quarter
(the Mellah), which today is
full of Arabs. The way there is
dangerous for I had to walk
through streets and alleyways of
the old city without protection.
One day, I met a family of
tourists from Pennsylvania in the

28 27 Kislev 5775
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2014-12-16 12:58:10 AM

old shul. The father, it turned

out, was not Jewish, the mother
was Jewish, and of course her
son was Jewish. When I asked
him whether he had had a bar
mitzva, he did not know what I
was talking about. I sat down to
talk to them. The boy had joined
his parents on this trip to mark
his thirteenth birthday but had no
idea what a bar mitzva is.
I was excited by our
providential meeting. If I had
been afraid to walk in the street,
I would not have come here
and met them, I thought and I
announced that we would make
him a bar mitzva then and there.
The mother was very moved
and began to cry. She said that
before they had entered the shul,
she had told her son that it was
a holy place for Jews and that he
too was a Jew. I did not know
what else to add, she said.
I put tfillin on with the boy
and asked him to open the Aron

If I had been afraid to walk in the street, I would

not have come here and met them, I thought.

Kodesh and to make his requests Ba, and that the time for the
of Hashem. I also gave him a Geula was more imminent than
bar mitzva present, a menorah ever. I told him what the Rambam
and candles with a brochure says, that every Jew needs to
that explained how to light the see the world in a balance, half
unworthy and half meritorious
menorah.
A few minutes after the family and one mitzva can tip the
had left, a tall man walked in, scale and bring the Geula. Just
also American. When I suggested imagine, I said emotionally,
that he put on tfillin, he refused that it is quite possible that your
and said, I never put them on putting on tfillin, here and now,
and I dont think I will ever want will be what brings the Geula.

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To my surprise, the man was
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of

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the bar mitzva I had just made,
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PARSHA THOUGHT

DRIVE
CAREFULLY
By Rabbi Heschel Greenberg

RELUCTANCE
TO SEND BENJAMIN
Joseph, though sold by his
brothers into slavery in Egypt, has
risen to the position of Viceroy.
The Pharaoh has placed him in
charge of feeding the world in a
time of devastating famine. Jacob
sends all but one of his sons to
purchase grain in Egypt. He
does not send Benjamin though
because he said, Perhaps a fatal
accident will occur to him.
When the brothers finally
make it to Egypt they are
confronted by Joseph, whom they
do not recognize as their brother.
He feigns hostility, accusing them
of being spies. Joseph demands
that they bring their youngest
brother, Benjamin, back to Egypt
with them; otherwise they will no
longer be welcome. In addition,
he demands their brother Shimon
as a hostage.
When
Josephs
brothers
returned home, they told Jacob
that the viceroy of Egypt required
that they bring Benjamin to him.
Jacob demurred, saying You
have bereaved me! Joseph is
gone, and Shimon is gone, and
you want to take Benjamin!
His brother is dead, and he is the
only one left. A fatality will occur
to him on the way
Finally, when the family has
exhausted their food supply, and

Yehudah has given his guarantee

of Benjamins safe return, Jacob
relents.
Why was Jacob so concerned
about Benjamins safety? And
why did he finally accede to
the demand to send him when
Yehudah guaranteed his safety?
Rashi addresses the first
question and answers: From
here we deduce that the Satan
makes accusations at a time of
danger. Satan represents the
destructive forces of evil that
prey on us when we are most
vulnerable.
However, the question has
been raised, why was Jacob
concerned only with the danger
to Benjamins life and not the
lives of the other brothers?
One answer is (see Likkutei
Sichos volume V P. 213ff) that
Rachel passed away and was
buried on the road back to the
Land of Canaan, and Joseph,
likewise,
disappeared
when
Jacob sent him to inquire the
peace of his brothers. Jacob was
particularly concerned that the
Rachel branch of his family was
particularly susceptible to the
dangers of traveling.
We may still ask a question:
What persuaded Jacob to send
Benjamin after Yehudah took
full responsibility for his safety?
Could the promise of a mere

mortal remove ones vulnerability

to the perils of the Satan?

FEAR OF TRAVELING: LOSS

OF LEGACY
One
may
see
Jacobs
reluctance to send Benjamin as
more than the fear that he could
lose another child. Jacob was
deeply concerned that Benjamins
loss would mean the loss of his
own legacy. This particular fear
did not arise with respect to his
other children. In addition to the
family history of tragedy on the
road, to Jacob his son Benjamin
represented both the future of
the Jewish nation and its shield
against the satanic forces that
would repeatedly try to cripple us
on our journey.
Only Yehudah was able to
convince Jacob that, come what
may, nothing dreadful would
happen to Benjamin and, by
extension, Jacobs legacy.
We must now try to
understand what it was that was
so unique about Benjamin and
how Yehudah was able to assuage
his fathers concerns.
Jacob stayed in his uncle
Labans house for 20 years. It
was only when Joseph was born
that Jacob decided to return
home. Indeed, our Sages tell us
that Jacob was punished for the
22 years (the 20 he stayed with
Lavan and the two years of his

30 27 Kislev 5775
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journey home) during which he

did not observe the Mitzvah of
honoring his father and mother.
Why, indeed, did he wait so
long?
Jacob wanted to delay his
return as long as possible to avoid
reopening the dangerous conflict
with his brother Esau. G-d
predicted this intense conflict
even before Jacob and Esau were
born, as the Torah recounted in
an earlier parsha. What power
did Jacob have to ultimately
prevail over Esau? The answer
is provided by our Sages in the
Talmud (Bava Basra 123b) and
Midrash, cited by Rashi, on why
Jacob waited until Joseph was
born. He knew that it was Joseph
who possessed the power to
vanquish Esau. In the prophetic
words of Ovadia: And the house
of Jacob shall be a fire, and the
house of Joseph a flame and the
house of Esau for stubble. Fire
without a powerful flame does
not dominate at a distance. Once
Joseph was born, Jacob trusted in
G-d and wanted to return home
to his parents.
Joseph possessed the unique
power to overcome the threat
from Esau. Chassidic literature
asserts that
Josephs
soul
transcended both Jacob and
Esaus souls and was therefore
not threatened by Esaus power,
unlike Jacobs own soul.
When Joseph disappeared,
Jacob hoped that his power
would be transferred to his
younger
brother,
Benjamin.
Though not possessing a soul as
lofty as that of Joseph, Benjamin
would nevertheless share some
of his characteristics. In the
terminology of Kabbala, Joseph
was the upper tzaddik and
Benjamin the lower tzaddik.
Joseph possessed the ability to
transmit this transcendent power
down to the lowest of levels;

Benjamin was similarly able to

transmit his inferior transcendent
power in the inverse manner, by
elevating and uplifting the lower
level.
Jacobs concern was not just
for the present but also for the
future. His success as the father
of the Jewish nation depended
on his ability to remove, repair
or sublimate the obstacles on
the path to Mount Sinai and
from there to the Messianic

What was it about Yehudahs

guarantee that overcame Jacobs
apprehension?
Yehudah was to be the
progenitor of King David and his
dynasty of leadership that would
endure until Moshiach. Other
kings and leaders were also
destined to emerge and provide
leadership, for better or worse,
for the Jewish people. What is the
difference between the Davidic
dynasty and the other leaders?

The alternative path is to view the obstacle itself

as an important part of our mission. We can and
should take it with us on our trip and deliver it into the
Messianic Age. A postman cannot wish for there to be
no mail to deliver because then hed be out of a job. Our
spiritual job is to deliver the obstacle.

Age. Without Joseph, Jacob

depended on Benjamins ability
to accomplish the same goal,
albeit with less intensity.
Jacobs reasonable fear was
of a mishap that Benjamin might
suffer while he was traveling.
The danger of losing Benjamin
on his trip from Canaan to
Egypt threatened to undermine
our journey towards the final
Redemption; the path is riddled
with obstacles precisely because
its destination is so critical. In
G-ds system, the greater and the
more crucial a goal is the more
obstacles will appear on the way
towards fulfillment of that goal,
necessitating greater persistence
and fortitude.

YEHUDAHS GUARANTEE
It was only when Yehudah
guaranteed that he would return
home with Benjamin that Jacob
felt able to send his youngest
child off to meet the Egyptian
viceroy.

TWO FORMS OF
LEADERSHIP
There are two forms of
leadership;
functional
and
essential, or, extrinsic and
intrinsic. Most leaders are
created by the people they lead.
If a group of people proclaim
someone as their leader this
individual is thereby empowered
to lead and govern. The peoples
devotion to their leader helps him
unleash whatever hidden talents
he may have. Those chosen for
leadership roles become leaders
because they have been anointed
by the people and they function
as such. But leadership for them
is not intrinsic to their existence.
The kings of the Davidic
dynasty,
particularly
the
Moshiach, by contrast possess
intrinsic and essential royalty.
Their power of leadership
transcends that of Joseph,
because no obstacle can possibly
deter it. While Joseph is likened

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PARSHA THOUGHT
to a flame which will consume
the straw, Yehudah transforms
obstacles for good and brings
that goodness into the Messianic
Age.
This concept of bringing
the obstacle into Redemption
is illustrated with the following
anecdote:
A truck driver was driving
along on the freeway. He passed
a sign that said Low bridge
ahead. Before he knew it, he got
stuck under the bridge.
A police car pulled up. The
officer got out of his car and
walked around to the truck
driver, put his hands on his hips
and said, Got stuck, huh?
The truck driver said, No
officer, I was delivering this
bridge and ran out of gas!
There are two ways we
can look at the obstacles we
encounter on our way to Geula:
The first approach is to view
them as an impediment that we
must struggle to surmount. We
believe we must do something
to blow up the bridge or lower
the highway. That is how
most great leaders deal with
obstacles; they try to plow
right through them.
The alternative path is to
view the obstacle itself as an
important part of our mission.
We can and should take it
with us on our trip and deliver
it into the Messianic Age. A
postman cannot wish for there
to be no mail to deliver because
then hed be out of a job. Our
spiritual job is to deliver the
obstacle.
When Jacob heard the
conviction and certainty in
Yehudahs voice, he detected
the spirit of Moshiach and
knew that Yehudah would
succeed in the immediate task
of bringing Benjamin back
safely and, in so doing, ensure

the final redemption.

Yehudah (read: Moshiach)
would certainly be assisted
by Joseph and the other great
leaders who have battled all
forms of adversity to facilitate our
continued survival in exile and
pave the way for Redemption.
However, only Moshiach can
enable us to reach our final
destination; he is the only one
who can guarantee success and
empower us to transform all
obstacles into positive forces.

CHANUKAH LIVE
This weeks parsha is always
read during Chanukah and there
is a deep connection between the
two.
The light of Chanukah,
wielded by the holy and
courageous Maccabees, was
able to destroy the Syrian-Greek
obstacle. But, alas, it was only
a matter of time before the next
obstacle appeared. Nachmanides
states that when the heroes of
Chanukah, notwithstanding their

righteousness, failed to install

a leader from the House of
David, the victory of Chanukah
could not last. Chanukah had
many of the trappings of the
Final Redemption; there was a
rededicated Bais HaMikdash
and no subservience by the
Jewish people to another nation.
The crucial element missing
was Moshiach, the leader who
possesses intrinsic and essential
leadership. The Hasmonean
dynasty was eventually destroyed
and the Roman hegemony began,
leading our people to the present
state of exile. If the Maccabees
had restored leadership to the
descendants of Yehudah and
David, the light of Chanukah
would have transformed the
darkness into light and endured
forever.
It is up to our generation to
complete the task of bringing
on the Redemption by greeting
Moshiach in our Chanukah
celebration, and he will redeem
us!

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TZIVOS HASHEM

CHANUKA

OUTSIDE THE TOW N

By Nechama Bar

Hershel, what will be?

Malka asked with tears in
her eyes. She pointed at the
two children lying on straw
mattresses, shivering in the
cold. Look at Moishele and
Chaim. They are so thin and
weak. What shall I give them
to eat tomorrow morning?
From where will we get warm
blankets to warm them up a
bit?
Hershel lowered his gaze.
Their circumstances were dire
indeed. Each day he tried his
luck at some job or another and
brought home a few coins but
he did not see blessing in his
labor.
Malka, we must strengthen
our trust in Hashem. Hashem
watches over each one of us
and He sees our plight and will
surely help us. Let us not fall
into despair.
Malka remained silent.
In a few days we will
Chanuka.
celebrating
be
Hershels eyes lit up. I will go
to Berditchev to the Rebbe.
Over there I will get strength
and joy. And also, I will ask the
Rebbe for a bracha. Only the
Rebbe can help us!

Where will you get the

money for the expenses for the
trip to Berditchev? practical
Malka wondered.
Hashem will help! In
mind
optimistic
Hershels
the
picture
y
he could alread
s
Rebbe
his
in
menorah lighting
was
alone
t
house. The though
enough to warm his body and
give him renewed energy.
With Hashems kindness,
Hershel managed to gather a
few coins that were enough for
the journey. He said goodbye to
his family and set out.
Glistening snow covered the
earth. The rooftops looked as
though they were blanketed in
white and tree branches shone
in sparkling white.
All along the way, Hershel
sang Chassidic tunes and was
joyful and excited to be going to
see the Rebbe.
Night had already fallen
as they entered the town of
Berditchev, but it looked like
noon. Numerous wagons had
entered the town, one after
the other, bringing Chassidim
to Rabbi Levi Yitzchok of
Berditchev.
It was the first night of

Chanuka. The beis midrash was

full and one could hear the
murmuring of conversations,
davening.
and
learning
a hush.
was
there
ly,
Sudden
into
walked
had
Rebbe
The
to
over
walked
He
room.
the
at
placed
ah
menor
large
the
beis
the
of
wall
rn
southe
the
midrash. A large candle was in
the holder on the right, waiting
to be lit.
the
recited
Rebbe
The
tremendous
with
brachos
concentration and all the
Chassidim burst into song,
HaNeiros HaLalu.
After the lighting, the Rebbe
retired to his room and his
students went to arrange the
tables for the seuda to take
place later that evening, as they
did every year.
In the meantime, many
the
at
waited
Chassidim
doorway of the Rebbes room,
yearning to enter and be
blessed by him. One by one they
entered and then emerged,
encouraged and blessed.
It was Hershels turn and he
walked in quietly with his gaze
lowered.
How are you and how is

34 27 Kislev 5775
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CONTENTS

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WEEKLY COLUMNS

3
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A LIGHT UNTO
THE MASSES
By Avrohom Rainitz

OUTREACH
12 MAJOR
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Dvar Malchus
Shlichus
Moshiach & Geula
Parsha Thought
Tzivos Hashem

Oholiav Abutbul, Yisroel Lapidot,

and Zalman Tzorfati

12

- THE SOFT
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AMBASSADOR THAT
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Miri Kenig

PRIDE AND
27 JEWISH
A TALE OF TWO BAR
MITZVAHS

Menachem Mendel Arad

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business? asked the Rebbe.

Hershel could not stop his
tears from coming. Rebbe,
I cant take it anymore. My
children are dying of starvation
and I have no money with
which to buy enough food and
blankets for the cold. I cannot
bear to see the suffering of my
wife and children.
The Rebbe closed his eyes
and was quiet for a while. Then
he took a small piece of paper
and wrote a few words on it.
He folded the note and gave it
to Hershel and said, When you
leave Berditchev on your way
home, open the note and read
what I wrote. But remember,
you must keep a close watch
over the note so it does not get
lost. As soon as you leave town,
open and read it. If the note is
lost, I will not be able to help

you.
Hershel took the note. He
realized that his fate and future
depended on the folded paper
whose contents he still did not
know.
the
use
to
tried
He
the
in
had
he
e
time
ing
remain
ly.
proper
ce
nce
presen
s
Rebbe
He spent time with the
heard
Chassidim,
ah
Torah
Divrei
e
the
from
and
Rebbe,
d
warme
was
holy
the
by
atmosphere.
few
A
days passed
and Hershel
o
to
prepared
xt
leave the next
ld
day. He could
hat
not sleep all that
night. He satt in
h
idrash
the beis midras
orah.
and learned Torah.

At dawn, he davened in
the Rebbes beis midrash and
then hurriedly got on the first
wagon leaving in the direction
of his town.
There was a storm and
Hershel held tightly to the note.
In a few minutes they would
be leaving Berditchev and he
would be able to open the note.
Stop! Hershel ordered the
wagon driver as soon as they
left the town. The wagon driver
stopped the wagon in surprise,
happened.
what
wondering
. He took
explain
Hershel did not
it, but
opened
out the note,
d
grabbe
wind
Oy! The strong
blew
it
and
hand
it from his
away!
Hershel jumped out of the
wagon in a fright and began
chasing after it. He ran quickly
but the wind was quicker than
he and the note remained out
of his reach. Hershel continued
to chase after it, determined
to retrieve it. The wagon driver
just watched in astonishment,
not understanding what had
overcome his passenger.

Then Hershel stopped. The

note had landed in a small hole
in the ground and no longer
blew about. Around the note
were brambles. That did not
stop Hershel. He carefully made
his way among the thorns until
he was able to reach out and
touch the note.
He looked up and couldnt
believe his eyes. A pile of shining
coins was under the note as
though waiting there especially
for him.
With a hand trembling both
from the cold and excitement,
Hershel scooped up the treasure
and returned to the wagon,
elated.
Now he understood why the
Rebbe had told him to open
the note outside the town. The
Rebbes words had been precise.
All the way back home,
Hershel hummed the Chanuka
words, For Your miracles and
Your wonders in which
he included his own personal
Chanuka miracle.

Issue 953

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35

16/12/2014 12:43:30