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Stories from As I Heard Them (Lesheima Ozen) by Reb Zalman Duchman · © The Duchman Family; please share this sheet as printed
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"Those Were Early Chassidim" — Eating Before Davening

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 456-457, no. 60

R. Zalman's directness and warmth gave him a unique relationship with the Rebbe, so chassidim would ask him to present their requests. In his diary he records a yechidus in Elul 5728 (1968) where the conversation turned to eating before davening: he repeated to the Rebbe what he had heard from R. Binyomin Althoiz, that when a doctor told Meir Shlomo the rov (the Rebbe's grandfather) to eat before davening he took a 25-kopek coin and traveled to Lubavitch, and the Rebbe Rashab told him that one recites Krias Shema in tefillin and should recite Shmoneh Esrei as well; and that Yehoshua Beshenkovitzer, a rov in Vitebsk, was similarly told by the Rebbe Rashab that since the doctor said to eat early, he should finish davening early and then eat. After hearing him out, the Rebbe said, "Those were early chassidim. Today, one must eat, but not like those in Kfar Chabad who eat bread and herring."

2 min to tellvery good to tell 279 wordsR. Zalman Duchman story_000616

TefillahAvodas HaTefillahKabbolas OlYechidusHiskashrusHealth

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A Sewing Machine in One Hand, a Tehillim in the Other

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 429-430, no. 20

Life in Leningrad was hard: housing was scarce and dilapidated, and most families had to share apartments and a common kitchen, which was especially difficult for Jewish families whose apartment-mates were not Jewish. R. Zalman was fortunate to rent an apartment in the home of a prominent doctor and did not have to share it. One small sewing machine gave him a minimal income -- the government supplied raw materials and he sewed them into garments -- which let frum Yidden set their own schedules and not worry about taking off for Shabbos and Yom-Tov. Those who saw him at work recall him in full Chassidic garb, one hand turning the machine and the other clutching a Tehillim, lovingly reciting its words.

1 min to tellvery good to tell 179 wordsR. Zalman Duchman story_000576

TehillimParnassahShabbosAvodas HaTefillahMesiras NefeshTemimus (sincerity)

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On the Wall of the Ohel, Erev Rosh Hashanah

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 421-423, no. 4

Zalman records that on erev Rosh Hashanah — 5667 (1906) or 5668 (1907) — while they were at the Ohel of the Tzemach Tzedek and his son the Rebbe Maharash, some children told him that if he wanted to see how the Rebbe stood inside the ohel he should climb up on the wall, since the ohel was open to the sky. He saw the Rebbe in a silk hat and black coat with a white silk scarf at his neck, holding a long pidyon in one hand and a large bundle of further requests in the other, his face extraordinarily pale. Terror seized him and he leaped down to the ground.

1 min to tellvery good to tell 138 wordsR. Zalman Duchman story_000560

Sanctity of a tzaddikKever Tzaddik PilgrimageAvodas HaTefillahConnection to the RebbeHiskashrusTefillah

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"Shacharis Was Also Very Joyous!"

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 447-449, no. 48

On Shabbos Parshas Ki Teitzei, a week after arriving in New York, Reb Zalman Duchman led Shacharis and Mincha with great joy in anticipation of his son Yisroel's wedding, which was to take place the next day in faraway Paris. A chossid's diary records the atmosphere in 770 that Shabbos: after the farbrengen, R. Yochanan Gordon, the gabbai of 770, told the Rebbe that since Reb Zalman had made kiddush and was in high spirits he davened Mincha so joyously. The Rebbe replied, "Shacharis was also very joyous!"

1 min to tellgood to tell 113 wordsR. Zalman Duchman story_000604

SimchaAvodas HaTefillahTefillahFarbrengenMarriageRebbe–Chossid relationship

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