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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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Ki SeitzeiParsha Assembled live from the corpus. Nothing on this page is stored or written ahead of time, so it grows as more stories are analyzed. Directly connected directStories the analysis tied to Ki Seitzei at strength 3 or above. Amalek Cannot Reach One Who Is With ChassidimAs I Heard Them, Vol. 1, p. 354, no. 56 The narrator's zeide, Mordechai Yoel, used to repeat a teaching in the name of Reb Aizel of Homil on the verse "Remember what Amalek did to you." Amalek can only attack one who is "lecha" — to himself, separated from others. But one who mingles with chassidim is beyond Amalek's reach. "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!" Strong thematic connections thematicStories carrying the themes this occasion is about, though not tagged to it directly. What Sort of Chossid Sleeps Until NineAs I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 204-206, no. 12 At Simchas Torah 5685 (1924) in Leningrad, the Rebbe Rayatz spoke passionately against the chossid who sleeps until nine, has davened and eaten by ten, and then strolls Nevsky Street looking where he should not, imagining that a kapotah and gartel or three rubles given to the Rebbe make him a chossid. He cited R. Hillel Paritcher's remark that he does not care for one who strayed and did teshuvah — who knows what sort of teshuvah it was — and explained the teaching that baalei teshuvah stand where perfect tzaddikim cannot: the baal teshuvah is not the same person, he is someone else. He then turned to a young man from Kherson living in Moscow, told him "It's not you," and instructed him to accept divrei chavrus and give a Kiddush on Shabbos Bereishis, adding that everyone must accept upon himself not to sleep past seven in the morning. "History Will Record This Disgrace"As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 263-265, no. 103 The Rashag, the Rebbe's son-in-law, came from Kostrama for Shabbos and after Minchah, near the balcony in the large zal, told a few people in the Rebbe's name what he had undergone and the questions the interrogators had asked. The interrogation room had thin plywood walls, an investigator with a stubby nose and a stutter, and senior officials seated further back. When Lulav and Nachmanson came in, the Rebbe said that history would record the disgrace of who was appointed to interrogate the Lubavitcher Rebbe; when they accused him of espionage he demanded they retract it at once and asked whether they wanted another Beilis Affair; and when they raised his spreading of Torah he said, "I am not a teacher; I salute learning Torah." He refused to answer any questions until his tefillin were returned, and when he put on his hat to say Shehakol over a glass of water and was told he could be made shorter by a head, he answered, "The whole earth is filled with His glory." The Tailors the Alter Rebbe Saw ComingAs I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 48-49, no. 26 Chaim Meir, the caretaker of the Alter Rebbe's ohel, told the narrator's zeide that two young men once asked to enter the ohel and wept there at length. They explained that they had been tailors working in the villages of the Kursk region who abandoned Yiddishkeit, eating treif and worse; on their way home they stopped at a non-Jew's house near Piena and asked for sausage, whereupon he locked them in and announced he would take their money and kill them, allowing them only time to pray and recite Vidduy. After a full day of weeping he returned their money, explaining that a great tzaddik who had stayed with him and passed away there had instructed him to bring to teshuvah two Jews who would come asking to eat treif. How Reb Aizel's Father Came Around at the SederAs I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 302-303, no. 35 The zeide related Reb Aizel's own account of how he became a chossid of the Alter Rebbe: whenever the Alter Rebbe heard of a promising young scholar he would send a shliach to draw him close to Chassidus, and such a shliach came to Homil after Sukkos and brought Reb Aizel to Liozna. Returning home for Pesach, Reb Aizel established a minyan davening nusach Chabad, but his father R. Mordechai — who spent much time in Leipzig and kept his distance from chassidim — returned shortly before Pesach and forbade him, on the grounds of honoring one's father, from davening there. At the seder, hearing his son's brilliant expositions on the Haggadah, R. Mordechai understood that Chassidus had not harmed him, permitted him to return to the minyan the next morning, joined the minyan himself for the rest of Pesach, and by Shavuos traveled with Reb Aizel to Liozna. The Dowry and the Villager's WagonsAs I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 79-80, no. 6 The Alter Rebbe asked the Tzemach Tzedek where his dowry money was; told it had been given to a wealthy man in Vitebsk to invest, he asked whether the Tzemach Tzedek would take it back and place it in the chest of contributions for the Rabbi Meir Baal HaNess fund. The Tzemach Tzedek remained silent, and shortly afterward the wealthy man went bankrupt and the money was lost. When the Tzemach Tzedek's wife came in tears to her grandfather, the Alter Rebbe said, "Should my own children not listen to me?" — and told how the Maggid had once sent him and a companion on a mission, where a Jew living fifty verst from the nearest town, hearing them wonder aloud how a Jew could never hear Borchu or Kedushah, had his wagons loaded to move to town before they had even finished davenen, once he learned they were the Rebbe's students. Sh'u Yedeichem Kodesh: Mochin and MidosAs I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 273-274, no. 116 In the middle of the seudah the Rebbe said that Chassidus should really be spoken but it was not an appropriate time — and then, saying so anyway, began. He related that the first Chassidus the Alter Rebbe said upon leaving the Tainy Soviet was on the verse "Sh'u yedeichem kodesh," because the Alter Rebbe and the Mitteler Rebbe held seemingly different perspectives: the Alter Rebbe considered lev (heart) most important, the Mitteler Rebbe mochin (mind). When the Alter Rebbe came from Petersburg he told the Mitteler Rebbe, "You are correct, only that we must ensure that mochin illuminate the midos" — explaining the verse as mochin being kodesh and midos being "your hands," which must be lifted so that mochin illuminate them. The narrator adds that this is what he remembers, that a few words may be missing, but that he has not added a single letter. "I Will Mention It at the Ohel" Is a Proper BrachaAs I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 462-463, no. 72 In 5712 (1952), when chassidim were still unfamiliar with the significance of the Rebbe's answer "I will mention it at the Ohel," R. Zalman Duchman met a couple in Toronto who had been married seven years without children and promised to request a bracha for them. Back in New York he approached the Rebbe, who replied that he would mention them at the Ohel of the Frierdiker Rebbe; feeling this was short of a bracha, R. Zalman pressed, "But Rebbe, why can't the Rebbe give them a proper bracha?" and the Rebbe did not respond. The following year he found the couple in Toronto holding a baby girl, and they attributed her birth to the Rebbe's bracha and gave a substantial donation despite their means. Returning to Crown Heights he reported the news to the Rebbe by the elevator, in the same spot as the year before, and the Rebbe turned at his door and said with a smile, "Nu, Reb Zalman, 'I will mention it at the Ohel' is a proper bracha!" The Ten Missing PagesAs I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 305-306, no. 40 The zeide told three stories about Reb Aizel; in the first, Reb Aizel kept the list of the Chalukas HaShas in the Lubavitcher shul in Homil, calling each participant by name to ask whether he had finished his mesechta before the Yud-Tes Kislev siyum. One man answered yes twice, but when asked a third time whether he had learned it that year, he admitted he had learned ten pages of it the previous year before Yud-Tes Kislev. Reb Aizel immediately instructed those present to take Gemaros and divide the ten missing pages among themselves. "Trust Me" — The Birthday LeChaim and the Miracle of Yud-Beis TammuzAs I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 268-269, no. 110 On Yud-Beis Tammuz, after being unofficially informed of his freedom, the Rebbe related that on Yud-Beis Tammuz 5654 (1894), his fourteenth birthday, they were on vacation and his father the Rebbe Rashab poured LeChaims. The Rashbatz asked where he had seen such a practice — by his father or his grandfather — and the Rashab answered, "Trust me"; the Rebbe concluded, "And I am grateful to him." Years later, in a yechidus about birthdays, the narrator told the story and the Rebbe Shlita corrected his understanding: the gratitude was directed to the Rashbatz, whose question drew from the Rebbe Rashab the words "Trust me" — and that, said the Rebbe, was the miracle of Yud-Beis Tammuz. The Swallowed Safety Pin and the MagnetAs I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 476-478, no. 21 R. Yisroel Duchman sought to teach his children hiskashrus, and some of his most important interactions with the Rebbe concerned them. When his second son Yossi was a young child he swallowed an open safety pin that lodged in his esophagus beyond the reach of instruments; doctors planned surgery, warning of possible negative consequences while saying that leaving the pin could be life-threatening, and R. Yisroel said he would consent to nothing before consulting the Rebbe. The Rebbe objected to the surgery and asked that the scheduled surgeon speak with him; the surgeon refused, so the Rebbe spoke by phone with the head of the emergency room and gave precise instructions for removing the pin by lowering a strong magnet down the boy's throat, which worked without difficulty. Afterward the original surgeon insisted on telling the Duchmans that had his own father, himself a doctor, claimed to remove such a pin without surgery he would not have believed him — it was possible only because of their holy Rebbe; and years later, when the grown Yossi asked his father to request a blessing, the Rebbe gave a generous bracha and added, "You can tell Yossi, I think about him more than he thinks about me." "A Person Can Live With a Heart Defect"As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, p. 224, no. 40 On Purim a young man submitted a pidyon nefesh through the gabbai R. Elchanan for a relative in Homil who suffered from heart disease, and at the Purim seudah that stretched into a farbrengen he asked the Rebbe aloud for a bracha for Zalman. The Rebbe spoke into his ear that he had already read the pidyon carefully, and that if the sick man would take upon himself the support of a cheder, the Rebbe would take his illness upon himself, striking his own heart and saying that a person can live with a heart defect. He added that ordinarily in yechidus he sits with a cigarette and says nothing even while his insides churn — but this time he was telling him. The Nigun of a BeinoniAs I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 279-280, no. 125 The narrator heard the Rebbe speak twice in Leningrad about the nigun known in Lubavitch as 'The Beinoni' (Sefer HaNigunim #46). Once, apparently on Yud-Tes Kislev 5687, the Rebbe said that he himself was not a singer but his father was, and that when Aharon Charitonov, the shochet of Nikolayev, composed the nigun, had he only pictured himself standing in yechidus before his father — something is missing. On motzaei Yom Kippur 5688, after the nigun was sung, the Rebbe said, "This is a nigun of a beinoni. What is a beinoni? You know. Then why aren't you...?" The narrator later wrote the story to the Rebbe in Brooklyn, concluding that each person can find the meaning within himself, and the Rebbe concurred. Short enough to tell in passing thematicRelated by subject and under 3 minutes to tell. The Agunah Pushed Into the StreetAs I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 306-307, no. 41 An agunah came to the Tzemach Tzedek in Lubavitch to ask about her missing husband, and the Rebbe sent her to Reb Aizel in Homil, who said he had no way of knowing where her husband was. She stayed in Homil for weeks, coming daily and weeping while Reb Aizel sent her away, until one day she refused to budge. Reb Aizel began shoving his meshares Mottel Gabeitzik, who in turn shoved the woman through all the rooms and out into the street — the Kiev-Petersburg highway that ran past the house — at the exact moment a wagon carrying her husband was passing. She screamed, the wagon halted, and a settlement was concluded. The Man Who Wept for Reb AizelAs I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 307-308, no. 42 The zeide related that when Reb Aizel passed away, one man who was not among his students wept uncontrollably. Asked why, he explained that in his youth he had set out to commit a transgression, and Reb Aizel, walking behind him after davening in the Lubavitcher shul, shouted twice, 'Where are you going!? Go to shul and recite some Tehillim!' He said Reb Aizel had saved his life, and asked how he could not cry over such a tzaddik. Reb Aizel used to tell him, 'You have mazel,' and the zeide revealed the man's identity only after he passed away. When Itchele Farbrengs, Heaven Asks What HappenedAs I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 368-369, no. 4 R. Yitzchak Masmid related that in a small town lived an eminent chossid, R. Itchele. A wealthy man whose daughter had fallen ill gave him money for a pidyon nefesh — and instead the chossid gathered his chassidim for a festive seudah and farbrengen. Challenged by the gvir, he explained that Itchele fasting and weeping is nothing new before G-d, but when Itchele gathers his chassidim and farbrengs, Heaven asks what the occasion is and discovers that the gvir's daughter is ill — which he applied to the verse "And He looked upon their distress when He heard their rejoicing." The Guest Who Needed His Own RoomAs I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 429-430, no. 21 R. Zalman's poverty was dreadful -- when Chaya Grunya pointed out that their chairs were so battered it was an embarrassment to have them around, he could only suggest moving them to a room where they would not be seen -- yet he never hesitated to bring guests home, and his tiny apartment had a partition set up to make a sleeping area for them. Every Shabbos after davening he brought home the most unfortunate individuals; when his wife wondered whether there were any normal guests needing a meal, he explained that by the time he finished davening the shul was empty and only these people remained. One day a Yid came needing a place to stay, and R. Zalman gave him his own "private quarters" while the family crowded into the other cordoned area; in the middle of the night loud moaning was heard from behind the curtain and R. Zalman watched over him the whole night. The family later realized the man suffered from epilepsy and that R. Zalman had placed him apart so as to spare embarrassment, and his children took on the same extraordinary kindness -- sharing their food with guests and giving away their own beds while they slept on the floor in a corner. The Melamdim Got Whatever Was in the PocketAs I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 195-196, no. 91 R. Yisroel Neveler related in the name of the gvir R. Nosson Gurary that R. Nosson traveled with the Rebbe Rashab to the Alter Rebbe's ohel in Haditch, where both gvirim and melamdim were to enter yechidus. The Rebbe instructed that the melamdim be admitted first and the gvirim afterwards, but R. Nosson reversed the order and told the gvirim to leave their contributions on the table. At the train station the Rebbe asked R. Nosson whether he had money for the tickets; when R. Nosson, who knew the gvirim had left money, was astonished, the Rebbe explained that since the melamdim came in afterwards there was money on hand, and he gave them whatever was in his pocket. The Medicine That Was Meant to Be SprinkledAs I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 486-488, no. 8 Some time later the rov's two-year-old daughter was badly burned by scalding water, and though the Rebbe gave a bracha for a complete recovery, her father was disappointed not to be told to make a kiddush as R. Eliyahu had been. Days afterward Rabbi Hadakov conveyed in the Rebbe's name that he should arrange a kiddush in the girl's merit, which he did for that Shabbos. On Motzaei Shabbos her condition collapsed and the doctors gave her hours to live; the Rebbe told them to go to the hospital and make a shturem about the incorrect medicine, and since the rov was reserved by nature, R. Eliyahu went in his place. The doctors discovered that medicine prescribed to be sprinkled on her burns was instead being given to her to drink; once administered correctly, she recovered completely. Sealed Lips at the YevsektziaAs I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 437-438, no. 36 The Yevsektzia eventually targeted R. Zalman, assigning a Jewish communist named Sorkin to bring him in for interrogation. Unlike most who were taken in, he was released each evening only to be forced back the next morning for long and painful interrogations day after day. His fingers were placed in a doorway's hinges and the door slammed on his hand repeatedly - for the rest of his life his fingernails did not grow - yet he would not give the interrogators the names and addresses of his fellow teachers of Torah. His daughter Rochel, about seventeen, accompanied him and waited outside, but he told even her nothing, refusing to add to his family's pain; only years later did he mention some of what he had endured. Partners in the TefillinAs I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 474-475, no. 18 R. Yisroel Duchman tried to connect everyone he helped to the Rebbe, and so brought a guest of honor from a Shamir fundraising dinner to the Rebbe, after putting on tefillin with him for the first time beforehand. When R. Yisroel proudly reported the first-time tefillin as they passed by, the Rebbe gently remarked that this was not something to be proud of, and then asked the philanthropist with a warm smile whether he would put on tefillin every day if the Rebbe gave him a pair; the man said he would. The Rebbe told R. Yisroel — who asked to be his partner in it — that they would be partners in other projects, and asked him to buy the tefillin at once and bring back a paid receipt. When R. Yisroel returned with the receipt, the Rebbe began handing him bills; R. Yisroel stopped after a few, saying he wanted to be the Rebbe's partner, but the Rebbe insisted he take the full amount for the tefillin, "We will be partners in other things." The Washing Machine and the Leather CoatAs I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 475-476, no. 20 In 5723 (1962), when R. Yisroel Duchman was earning very little, he served as a chazan in a nearby shul for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, earning around $300, which he set aside to buy the family a washing machine. That year an uncle came from Eretz Yisroel for a bracha to marry off his three older daughters; in yechidus the Rebbe told him that if he grew a beard he would find good shidduchim for them, but the uncle, clean shaven and ten years older than his wife, was certain she would not agree. Knowing that their aunt badly wanted a leather coat the couple could not afford, the Duchmans gave away all the money saved for their much-needed washing machine so the uncle could buy it for her. He began to grow his beard, and within a few months all three daughters found good shidduchim. "At Least I Can Do Another a Favor"As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 64-65, no. 4 Der Zeide (רמ"י) used to tell in the name of Reb Aizel that the Mitteler Rebbe once called him in and asked why he was not involved with the chassidim. Reb Aizel answered that he did not have a single peaceful moment for himself, so how could he ponder over others. The Mitteler Rebbe sighed, "Aizik … Aizik, why don't you learn from me? When I see that I'm already a lost case, the least I can do is help out someone else." The account adds that this seems to have taken place during the Alter Rebbe's lifetime. "You Have No Concept of How One Must Love a Yid"As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, p. 313, no. 53 One Pesach, after davening had finished and everyone was ready to leave, the narrator's zeide asked them to wait. They went to Reb Aizel's room, where he was sitting on a sofa, and upon seeing them he said, "You have no concept of how one must love a Yid. What is a Yid? Neshamah, emunah, and Torah and mitzvos. How could one not love that?" He repeated the words, and all who had stayed were very glad they had. "Who Would Dare Not Let a Yid Out?"As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 81-82, no. 8 At a farbrengen that was hot and badly crowded, a rav who wanted to get up from the table could not manage to, and said, "They won't let me out." Overhearing him, the Tzemach Tzedek said twice, "Who would dare not let a Yid out? Who would dare not let a Yid out?" Related by subject thematicStories about the subjects this occasion concerns. Stalietov Will Never Think to Ask ThatAs I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 119-120, no. 4 In the summer of 5675 (1915), lodging in Pinsk with R. Yisroel Yitzchak Lubinsky, the narrator heard this from him. The Rebbe Maharash would always say that a matter should be heard as it seems and answered as it seems — in a general manner. When the authorities in Semyanovka, Chernigov province, discovered untaxed alcohol being taken from the factory, a major trial was set for thirteen defendants with R. Yisroel Yitzchak as a witness, and the well-known investigator Stalietov was coming from Petersburg; R. Yisroel Yitzchak went to the Rebbe Maharash in Lubavitch and, because many Yidden faced prison, asked the Rebbe to hear out his prepared answers, ending with one question he did not know how to answer. The Rebbe told him that he is a Yid with a good head who is not sunk in physical desires, while Stalietov is a goy without such a mind and caught up in desires, so it would never occur to him to ask such questions — and so it was: the trial ended favorably. The Guest Who Was Konson's GrandsonAs I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 492-494, no. 14 A member of Anash phoned R. Eliyahu's house asking Mrs. Lipskar to host a family arriving in Toronto with nowhere to stay; things were difficult for her then and she did not answer at once, but when the husband himself called the next day from the road, travelling with his wife and small baby, she gave him her address and prepared her home. After they had rested she asked about their origins, and the guest, whose family name meant nothing to her, said his grandfather was Yisroel Konson of Leningrad and Tashkent — the R. Yisroel Konson who had risked his health to help her and her husband when they hovered between life and death. She was left speechless, and all who heard of the meeting were astounded by the Divine providence; the Lipskars then attended to the family's every need and offered them loans to buy a home in Toronto, so she was finally able to repay a debt that had weighed on her for years. Rashag Opened Jewish HeartsAs I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 219-221, no. 36 At a Yud-Tes Kislev farbrengen in 5685 or 5686, the Rebbe related that his father had received a letter from the Rav of Chevron reporting that missionaries were trying to buy the shul held by tradition to be Avraham Avinu's, and that 25,000 rubles were needed for a counteroffer. Father and son traveled to Moscow, where a meeting of Moscow gvirim went badly until R. Shmuel Gurary offered to give the entire sum on condition that the shul be purchased in the Rebbe's name, sending in the morning a note and a check for 5,000 rubles though he was then deeply in debt. When the Rebbe brought the note and check to his father, his father said: Rasag accomplished the opening of Jewish minds, and Rashag accomplished the opening of Jewish hearts. Outsiders or PeopleAs I Heard Them, Vol. 1, p. 236, no. 57 While the chassidim sat in the Rebbetzin's room before going out to hakafos, one of them remarked that there were zeitike menschen — outsiders — in the zal. The Rebbe responded by taking the phrase apart: if they are outsiders they are not people, and if they are people they are not outsiders. "Why Are You All Sleeping?" — The Founding of Ezras AchimAs I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 474-475, no. 17 In 5724 (1963), after R. Mendel Futerfas left Russia, he went straight to 770 to meet the Rebbe and appealed to the chassidic community that chassidim in Russia lacked basic necessities — some had nothing to eat, others had exit permission but no money for tickets — asking, "Why are you all sleeping?" His words moved R. Yisroel Duchman, together with several other chassidim of Russian background, to found Lishkas Ezras Achim to help Russian Jews, and R. Yisroel raised many thousands of dollars for it, saying humbly that he did not understand spiritual matters but understood material things: he wanted another Jew to have food, a bed, and to receive it with a warm, inviting smile. When the Soviet gates opened he made fundraising trips to help emigrants settle in Eretz Yisroel, and he partnered with Dr. Yirmiyahu Branover — whose own exit he had helped arrange — in Branover's organization Shamir for Russian immigrants there. The Shadar Who Was Sent So They Would See His FaceAs I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 461-462, no. 71 The Rebbe appointed R. Zalman Duchman as a shadar, and twice a year he traveled across the country collecting funds, spending a month each winter in Chattanooga, TN with an elder chossid and relative, Rabbi Chasdan, the local shochet, and a month between Pesach and Shavuos in Toronto, where his daughter and son-in-law lived. The trips were hard on him — he could not speak English, had few contacts, and did not bring in large sums — and he wanted to stop, but the Rebbe insisted he continue, saying he was sending him to Chattanooga "az men zol zen aza hadras ponim — that they should see his remarkable countenance." The purpose of such trips had always been to sow spirituality and reap material fortune, and with his warmth and genuine care R. Zalman connected with many Yidden, opened their eyes to the concept of a Rebbe, guided them to the Rebbe's door, and carried their requests to the Rebbe himself. The Night the Ramash Ran to Chaim LiebermanAs I Heard Them, Vol. 1, p. 277, no. 123 In Reshimos Hama'asar the Rebbe writes that by Divine Providence the investigators spent far more time in his home than they had planned, and their attempts to hurry were ineffective. Beryl Menier (may G-d avenge his blood) related that in the middle of that night the Ramash came running to take him to Chaim Lieberman, they told him what was happening with the Rebbe, and they arranged everything so that nothing incriminating would be found — and the police indeed came afterward to arrest R. Chaim. Later, once the Rebbe was already in Riga, great efforts were made and R. Chaim too was permitted to leave Russia. Porridge on the Windowsill in TashkentAs I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 483-484, no. 3 Drafted into the Red Army in the Second World War and wounded at the front, R. Eliyahu Akiva Lipskar was permitted to leave besieged Leningrad for medical treatment and to take one person with him; the lot fell on Rochel, daughter of Schneur Zalman Duchman, who was knowledgeable in medical matters. After great difficulties they reached Tashkent, where they married. Conditions there were desperate — people starving in the streets and sickness raging — and Rochel contracted typhus; R. Eliyahu, caring for her when she was alone without family, caught it as well, and both became critical. A chossid in Tashkent, R. Yisroel Konson, cooked porridge for them and brought it to the hospital, leaving it on the windowsill when he was refused entry because of the contagion, and so sustained them and saved them from certain death. He Married Off All Ten OrphansAs I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 491-492, no. 13 A family of twelve, chassidim of the Skulener Rebbe, arrived in Toronto; the father fell gravely ill and died, leaving a widow with ten young children. R. Eliyahu collected a large sum for them and established an official fund to support each member of the family, and as each child reached marriageable age he found a spouse, arranged everything the couple needed, and married off all ten as if they were of illustrious status, worrying for them as though they were his own children. After R. Eliyahu's passing, the Skulener Rebbe came to the shiva — arriving in Toronto at 3 A.M. after an airplane delay and asking the family to receive him at that hour — to thank them for the kindness shown to his chassidim. You Are a Jew — Make Another JewAs I Heard Them, Vol. 1, p. 240, no. 66 The Rebbe once asked how it can be that our holy and beautiful Torah opens with the mitzvah of "be fruitful and multiply." His answer: you are a Jew, so you must make another Jew. An Eleven-Year-Old in the Siege of LeningradAs I Heard Them, Vol. 1, p. 468, no. 1 Yisroel HaLevi Duchman was born to Zalman and Chaya Grunya on Shabbos, 8 Tishrei 5689 (1928), and the Frierdiker Rebbe, then in Riga, sent a letter with a bracha for the newborn. He grew up in Leningrad under communist oppression, taught at home by his father together with his brother Dovber Menachem Mendel while the oldest brother Mordechai Yoel was sent to the underground Tomchei Temimim in Kutaisi. When the Nazis besieged Leningrad in Elul 5701 (1941), both brothers were lost — one fell in battle with the Soviet army, the other left the house and never returned — and their father, broken and famished, was hospitalized. The burden of feeding the family fell on eleven-year-old Yisroel, who used charm and ingenuity to obtain scraps of food from a nearby Russian army camp, sustaining his family and others who turned to the Duchmans for help. The Rebbe's Matzah for Chaim GradeAs I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 471-472, no. 8 On Erev Pesach afternoon the Rebbe personally distributed a piece of matzah to each member of the community, and R. Yisroel would take a piece not only for himself but also for the Yiddish writer Chaim Grade, traveling the several hours to Grade's home so he would have the Rebbe's matzah for the Seder. Grade would send back greetings to the Rebbe together with a poem or short story as a gift, which R. Yisroel would deliver on the second night of Pesach, and the Rebbe would press him for details of the interaction. One year R. Yisroel was unsure whether to collect matzah and decided not to; regretting it, he came on the second night and explained that he should not lose out now that Grade had passed away, and the Rebbe replied that he had wondered the previous day why he had not come. From then on R. Yisroel received matzah every year, and after his passing his son R. Sholom inherited the merit, receiving a whole matzah "far der gantzer colel" — for Colel Chabad. |