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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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"They Took Away the Pencil"

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 430-432, no. 24

On Gimmel Tammuz, when the Frierdiker Rebbe was released from prison for a few hours before continuing to his exile in Kostroma, R. Zalman was admitted to see him. As he relates, he and his brother-in-law R. Yitzchak Minkovitch had stepped outside when Pinya came running with the news that the Rebbe had reached home; they ran in and found the Rebbe sitting in the children's room, and one of the daughters told him the yungeleit wanted to see him. The Rebbe's first question was whether they had been learning Chassidus during that time; when the brother-in-law answered that they had been saying Tehillim, the Rebbe replied at once, "I wrote the maamarim of Shavuos until they saw me and took away the pencil." A few hours later the Frierdiker Rebbe gave out the maamorim of Shavuos through our Rebbe, noting on them that they had been written in prison.

1 min to tellexcellent to tell 175 wordsR. Zalman Duchman story_000580

Mesiras NefeshChassidusHiskashrusLeadershipRebbe–Chossid relationshipRussian persecution

score 1.16 · person_role=0.00 topic_theme_strength=0.00 occasion_strength=0.00 keyword_fts=0.00 semantic=0.00 farbrengen_value=1.00 length_suitability=0.32

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)

score 0.98 · person_role=0.00 topic_theme_strength=0.00 occasion_strength=0.00 keyword_fts=0.00 semantic=0.00 farbrengen_value=0.80 length_suitability=0.35

Watching Over Rebbetzin Chana's Home

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 459-460, no. 68

After Rebbetzin Chana passed away, the Rebbe asked R. Zalman and his son Yisroel to watch over the Rebbetzin's home and possessions. R. Zalman organized a minyan to daven at her gravesite on the day of the hakamas hamatzeiva, and on her shloshim again arranged a car of chassidim to visit the gravesite and recite the special chapters of Tehillim; when he notified the Rebbe, the Rebbe thanked him deeply. In a heartfelt letter afterward R. Zalman reported what he had said at a gathering -- that the Rebbe's father, and near him in Gan Eden his brother R. Leib, and his mother are together, as the Zohar says that the women have 'their chambers' -- adding that he had thought this was written in parshas Naso but could not find it there, and that the Rebbe's mother had told him secret matters, how the Rebbe was born from a bracha of the Rebbe Rashab. In the margin the Rebbe noted the sources in Zohar and asked R. Zalman to please write whatever he had heard from Rebbetzin Chana.

2 min to tellgood to tell 213 wordsR. Zalman Duchman story_000624

HiskashrusRebbe–Chossid relationshipConnection to the RebbeTehillimEmesKever Tzaddik Pilgrimage

score 0.80 · person_role=0.00 topic_theme_strength=0.00 occasion_strength=0.00 keyword_fts=0.00 semantic=0.00 farbrengen_value=0.60 length_suitability=0.40