Didan Notzach — the seforim returned to the Rebbe's library (1987)
ה׳ טבת
5 Teves
"I Will Mention It at the Ohel" Is a Proper Bracha
As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 462-463, no. 72 · The Rebbe
Continued from the biography of R. Zalman Duchman:
Thousands of people merited to receive the response from the Rebbe, “I will mention it at the Ohel [ of the Frierdiker Rebbe];” words that left the recipient optimistically waiting for salvation. However, early on, chassidim were still unfamiliar with the significance of this answer.
In the year 5712 (1952), R. Zalman encountered a couple in Toronto who had been married for seven years but had not yet merited children. Being the Rebbe’s shliach, they begged him to request a bracha from the Rebbe on their behalf, and R. Zalman promised them that he would.
Upon returning to New York, R. Zalman went to 770 and personally approached the Rebbe to ask for bracha. The Rebbe replied that he would mention them at the Ohel of the Frierdiker Rebbe. Feeling it was something short of a bracha, R. Zalman’s gracious heart compelled him to ask for more. He boldly spoke up, “But Rebbe, why can’t the Rebbe give them a proper bracha?” The Rebbe didn’t respond and continued on to his room.
The following year, R. Zalman visited Toronto and was delighted to meet the couple holding a baby girl. Communication at that time was poor — long-distance phone calls were not common—and the good news hadn’t reached him in New York. The couple expressed their certainty that their daughter was born because of the Rebbe’s bracha. In gratitude to the Rebbe and to his shliach, they gave R. Zalman a substantial donation, despite not being so well-off.
Immediately upon returning to Crown Heights, R. Zalman hurried to inform the Rebbe of the good news. He stood by the elevator, in the same spot where he had stood a year earlier when he requested the bracha. As the Rebbe returned to his room after mincha, R. Zalman approached the Rebbe and respectfully said, “The Rebbe surely remembers that last year I asked for a bracha for children on behalf of a couple in Toronto. I am now happy to inform the Rebbe that they were blessed with a healthy girl. ”
Without saying a word, the Rebbe continued towards his room. As he was about to open the door, the Rebbe turned around and said to Reb Zalman with a smile, “ Nu, Reb Zalman, ‘I will mention it at the Ohel’ is a proper bracha!”
As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 204-206, no. 12 · The Frierdiker Rebbe
At one point during Simchas Torah , 5685 (1924 ), in Leningrad, the Rebbe Rayatz exclaimed passionately, “What sort of chossid sleeps until nine in the morning and, already by ten, has finished davening, eaten breakfast, and is strolling along Nevesky Street (Leningrad’s main thoroughfare), directing his eyes at the wrong places? With the notion that by wearing a kapotah and gartel he is a chossid. Or, he imagines, by giving three rubles [to the Rebbe], he is a chossid. Now three rubles are three rubles — but that won’t do it.
“R. Hillel (Paritcher) once said that he doesn’t like one who strayed and did teshuvah — such a person went far astray, and who knows what sort of teshuvah he did?
“For sure, stripping oneself naked is not the intention; but there is a concept of confessing one’s misdeeds.
“In truth — there’s a question: How can we understand the precept, In the place where baalei teshuvah stand, perfect tzaddikim are unable to stand?59 This one ate pupiks (gizzards ) — while the other one learned Torah and davened! The answer is: He is not the same person; he is someone else.”60
And the Rebbe turned to a young man from Kherson living in Moscow: “It’s not you ... You must take upon yourself ‘divrei chavrus’;61 you will give a Kiddush on Shabbos Bereishis.
“Everyone must take upon himself ‘divrei chavrus’ that he will not sleep past seven in the morning (an early hour for Leningrad’s winters, when sunrise is at nine). ”
He has transformed himself entirely. See also Rambam, Hilchos Teshuvah 2:4: "The way of teshuvah is … saying, 'I am someone else and not the same person who did those actions. " ↩
A term borrowed from the days of the Mishna, when there were conditions to be considered a "chaver" (a Jew of integrity who could be trusted regarding maaser [tithes] and ritual purity). ↩
The Frierdiker RebbeEmesKabbolas OlTeshuvah out of love
"Trust Me" — The Birthday LeChaim and the Miracle of Yud-Beis Tammuz
As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 268-269, no. 110 · The Rebbe
On Yud-Beis Tammuz, after being informed unofficially that he was free, the Rebbe related that on Yud-Beis Tammuz in 5654 (1894 ) (Yud-Beis Tammuz is the Rebbe’s birthday, and in 5654 he became fourteen years old) they were on vacation and his father, the Rebbe Rashab, poured out LeChaims.
“Where did you see such a practice?”2 the Rashbatz asked him. “By your father? Or your grandfather?”
“Trust me, ” the Rashab replied.
“And I am grateful to him, ” concluded the Rebbe.
(When I was discussing the subject of birthdays in yechidus with the Rebbe Shlita, and I related the above story, the Rebbe asked me, “Whom did the Rebbe have in mind when he said, ‘I am grateful to him’?”
I answered that I always tell the story with the understanding that the Rebbe meant his father. “No, ” the Rebbe replied, “he meant the Rashbatz, who caused the Rebbe to say, ‘Trust me’ - this was the miracle of Yud- Beis Tammuz.”)
As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 263-265, no. 103 · The Frierdiker Rebbe
The Rashag, the Rebbe’s son-in-law, came for Shabbos from Kostrama, and, after Minchah, near the balcony in the large zal, told a few of us, in the Rebbe’s name, many questions the interrogators had asked, the Rebbe’s responses and, in general, what he had undergone.
When he entered the interrogation room an investigator with a stubby nose and a stutter was seated there. The walls were thin, made of plywood. Senior officials sat further back in the room.
When Lulav and Nachmanson came in, the Rebbe told them, “History will record this disgrace: who was appointed to interrogate the Lubavitcher Rebbe. ” When they began to accuse him of espionage, he reacted sharply, “Retract this at once. Do you want to make another Beilis Affair?”26 And when they started talking about disseminating Torah, he said, “I am not a teacher; I salute learning Torah. ”
Until they returned his tefillin he would not answer any questions.
When the interrogator gave him a glass of water and he put on his hat to recite the blessing Shehakol, they said, “You think you’re so important; you don’t think you can be shorter by a head?”
“The whole earth is filled with His glory,”27 he answered.
Menachem Mendel Beilis was a Ukrainian Jew accused of ritual murder in the notorious 1913 blood-libel trial known as the “Beilis Affair. ” ↩