Dear Alumni Sheyichyu!
Sholom U’Brocho!
Heartfelt wishes to haTomim Sholom Dov Ber ben Miriam for a complete and immediate refuah shleima. The Rebbe said (based on the gemoro) that הרואה ניסן בחלומו ניסים נעשים לו. Now that we can all see Nissan, and not just in our dreams, but we are all actually ushering in the month in real life, and we are personally (and collectively) entering into it, it is surely a time for us to expect, demand and witness the most wondrous miracles, nisei nissim, beginning with an immediate, complete and miraculous recovery!
Mazeltov to Shloime Schwei on the occasion of his engagement. Mazeltov to Mendy Vogel on the occasion of his engagement. May they use out the period of yokor mikol yokor to its’ utmost! Mazeltov to Rabbi and Mrs. Chanina Freeman on the birth of their son. Mazeltov to Rabbi and Mrs. Zalmy Ceitlin on the birth of their daughter. Mazeltov to Rabbi and Mrs. Avi Minkowitz on the birth of their son. Mazeltov to Rabbi and Mrs. Levi Raichik on the birth of their son. Mazeltov to Rabbi and Mrs. Yehuda Hoch on the birth of their son. May they bring them up lTOveCHuMAA”T mitoch harchovo, and to be true chayolim/os! (If anyone is aware of any mazeltov’s that I omitted please let me know).
Thank you as always for the feedback, it is much appreciated.
The following story was shared by Rabbi Leibel Schapiro, Rosh Yeshiva of Miami, Florida (zechus horabim toluy boi):
R’ Alter Yissochor Dov Halevi Lieberman was a chosid who was living in New York. He was the father in law of Rabbi Leibel Schapiro, of Miami, Florida. He had been originally a Poylishe chosid (his mother’s mother was the daughter of the Divrei Chaim, the Tzanzer Rebbe), and he had become a Lubavitcher chosid.
Once (in the beginning of the mem’s, the 80’s) he took ill, and had to be hospitalized. The situation was serious, and the family wrote to the Rebbe, who instructed that they should check his tefillin. He had recently acquired new tefillin, but, of course, they checked them. However, the tefillin were found to be Kosher.
A few days passed with no improvement, and the family wrote in again, and again the Rebbe responded to check the tefillin. Once again they were checked, and again no flaws were discovered. This was repeated a third time, but the condition of the patient continued to deteriorate.
One Friday, late in the afternoon, before candle-lighting, Rabbi Lieberman’s daughter, Mrs. Schapiro, who was with her father in NY, called her husband, Reb Leibel, in Miami. “The situation”, she informed him, “is desperate. My father is suffering from internal bleeding, and none of the medications that they are trying are being effective. He is rapidly losing blood, his strength is ebbing, and we don’t know what to do”.
Hearing this, Rabbi Schapiro said to her: “There is one thought that occurred to me, that I didn’t mention until now, but it bears considering. The Rebbe, after all, instructed three times to check his tefillin, and no problem was discovered. Perhaps there is another way to understand this answer: Your father is still wearing tefillin according to the nusach and minhag of his family (who were Poylishe chassidim). Maybe the Rebbe means that – since now he is a Lubavitcher chosid – he should be wearing tefillin according to nusach and minhag of Lubavitch”.
She promised to convey the message to her father.
Reb Leibel Schapiro spent a very tense and nerve-wracking Shabbos in Florida, not knowing how his shver was doing, and knowing how terrible his situation had been right before Shabbos.
As soon as Shabbos was over, he called New York, and received the following update from his wife: Following her conversation with him right before Shabbos, she approached her father (who was in ICU, in a very weakened state), and told him that ‘Leibel suggested that maybe the Rebbe means that you should change your tefillin to Lubavitcher tefillin’, and she asked if he agrees to do this. He listened to her, and nodded his acquiescence.
Not even 5 minutes passed, and a doctor came in saying that he thought of a new treatment to try (which was actually an old medicine, which had been used during the second world war, and was no longer used because they had newer medications, but since the newer ones weren’t being effective with this patient, why not try the old one).
They tried that medication, and – sure enough – it worked, and the bleeding stopped!
After Shabbos, they wrote the entire story to the Rebbe; - that Rabbi Lieberman had agreed to change his tefillin to Lubavitcher tefillin, and he began to recover. The Rebbe replied:
ובטח גם תפלין ,ת"דר מוחין) דאבא – שייכות מיוחדת ,ט"לאויוש נוסף על התפלין ,בכלל מנחות ,מדא"סע)
[“Surely he will do so also with his tefillin of Rabenu Tam, which have a special connection with long life and health, in addition to the connection of tefillin in general to good health”].
Indeed, the patient made a full recovery, and lived many more healthy years thereafter!
[Interestingly, my father a”h (who’s yahrzeit we will be IYH commemorating this week, on the 4th of Nissan, and we hope to do so together with him, with הקיצו ורננו שוכני עפר), who did not consider himself a Lubavitcher, also put on his tefillin according to the Lubavitcher nusach. This even necessitated, before my bar mitzvah, him sending me to a friend to learn how to put on my tefillin, rather than showing me himself (because he planned that I, at least, should put on my tefillin “normally”).
He once explained me the reason for this: During the year in which he learned in the Lubavitcher Yeshiva, in Bedford and Dean, his mashpia was Reb Dovid Raskin a”h. The Lubavitcher bochurim in his group (some of whom he remained close with throughout his life) all had tefillin that were daled daled daled (large, as is the Lubavitcher minhag), and his tefillin were, apparently, smaller ones (as is customary in many circles).
Seemingly this fact bothered him then, and R’ Dovid Raskin offered to buy him a pair of daled daled daled tefillin, on condition that he commit to wearing his tefillin according to nusach Chabad. Although my father acquired new tefillin since then (in my days I don’t believe he had daled daled anymore), he continued to honor his commitment to wear them according to nusach Lubavitch].
Every Jew has to wear tefillin. And we know that, besides for the mitzvah, there are many segulos, many additional benefits that result from this mitzvah. Besides the basic – good health and long life, as mentioned in the story, we know that in times of war the Rebbe spoke about the effect of tefillin on our enemies, ויראו ממך.
But sometimes, as is seen in the story, it is necessary that they be Lubavitcher tefillin: Tefillin, we know, are about shibud halev vehamoiach; - subjugating our hearts and minds to Hashem. According to halacha, when we don the tefillin we must have in mind the Oneness of Hashem and how He runs the whole world, and how our thoughts and all of our mundane desires must be subservient to Him.
But we may be falling short of the Lubavitcher tefillin. The Oneness of Hashem, without chassidus, can mean that there is no second or third G-d out there somewhere. The Lubavitcher teffillin, the Lubavitcher Oneness of Hashem, in contrast, is – simply – Ein Od Milvado. Period. Lubavitcher tefillin is the realization, recognition and acknowledgement that there is no world, no existence, except for One Hashem.
Likewise with regards to subjugating our thoughts and desires to Hashem. We can carry this out in a full and proper manner. We can subjugate our desires, by not following or giving into our inclinations when they lead us to disobey Hashem ch”v. We can quash those thoughts that are of a rebellious or heretical nature. Or we can put on Lubavitcher tefillin. Which means to completely do away with our own feelings, agendas and outlooks, and be completely consumed with “anonosiv malko”; - with the sole goal of giluy Elokus. Whether it’s in shlichus or in avodas Hashem in general, with our Lubavitcher tefillin there is no room left for our own self, they represent a total, unconditional and unmitigated dedication to Hashem.
Lubavitcher tefillin represents caring completely and only about Moshiach, about Vehoyo Hashem leMelech al kol ho’oretz, and as long as there is no giluy Elokus in the entire world – regardless of how good and successful our life seems to be – we are broken and shattered.
R’ Mendel Futerfas was in Siberia, chopping wood, and – for one period – he was partnered (at the two ends of a saw) with another (irreligious) Jew. Naturally, the many hours spent together sawing were spent by R’ Mendel farbrenging with the Jew. When the time came for them to part ways, the Jew said to R’ Mendel: “I really enjoyed, and was inspired by, the time we spent together. I don’t know when and if we’ll see each other again. I am not ready to commit to become religious, despite how impressed I am with you, so I’ll ask you to give me at least one mitzva, that I can commit to”.
R’ Mendel said to him: “I understand that you’re not prepared to keep Torah and mitzvos. I realize that you would not even be ready to start keeping Kosher. I couldn’t even ask you to refrain from eating dovor acher from now on, because even that would prove too difficult. But I would ask you this, - when you’re eating meat from the dovor acher, at least don’t suck out the marrow from the bone”.
It may seem, at first glance, that – left with no choice – R’ Mendel let this Jew off easy. He was afraid that anything more difficult, more significant, would be too much for him.
But I think the opposite is true, R’ Mendel was demanding a lot. In fact, he was telling him to don Lubavitcher tefillin! R’ Mendel was telling him not to be yotzeh with anything specific, but, rather, that he should give up his ultimate pleasure in worldly matters. ‘You are a Jew’, he told him, ‘and this means forfeiting some level of worldliness in any situation, which should come out in the fact that even when you are committing the most severe aveira r”l, you can no longer fully enjoy it, because, essentially, you belong to Hashem’!
[Once, bochurim were going on mivtzoim, visiting apartments on Ocean Parkway. One old Russian man came out of one apartment, and, when he learned that they were Lubavitchers, he began to scream at them and chase them away. The bochurim were surprised. From where does an old Russian get such vehement antagonism to Lubavitch?!
Finally, he calmed down, and explained himself: Many years before, he himself had been a talmid in Tomchei Tmimim. Since then the Communist oppression did its’ work, and he was distanced from Yiddishkeit. “But since learning in Lubavitch, although many decades have passed, I am no longer able to fully enjoy worldly pleasures, and for that reason I am upset with Lubavitch”!]
We are nearing the last stretch before Yud Aleph Nissan, and we’re (probably most of us) scrambling to figure how exactly we’re preparing for this date. We may do well to focus on an answer of the Rebbe (which often gets publicized and re-publicized around this time of the year. The answer was regarding a group of bochurim-shluchim who wrote in to the Rebbe their plans to travel to their place of shlichus in the beginning of Nissan. The Rebbe wrote:
מהו הטעם והגעשמאקשיסע ומכאן ימים אחדים לפני א' ניסן?
Of course, אין ענין יוצא מידי פשוטו. But, perhaps, on a deeper level, this answer can be applied to all of us in light of the above: Yud Aleph Nissan is “Anonosiv malko”, it is the ultimate ibergegebenkeit, the complete putting our own cares aside the sake of giluy Elokus; - it is the Lubavitcher tefillin!
Some of us come along for the ride; - we like a lot of things about Lubavitch. It has exciting farbrengens, simulating Torah, amazing outreach opportunities (“join Lubavitch, see the world”), and so on. We apply ourselves fully and wholeheartedly into every aspect of Lubavitch, and we wouldn’t trade it for anything.
But we stop just short of the ultimate dedication, of “anonosiv malko”; - we “leave” just before Yud Aleph Nissan.
And the Rebbe says to us: ‘What are you doing? You’re missing out on the main thing (on the lifnei Hashem yishpoch sicho)! You’re a Lubavitcher (even if you only learned for one year in Tomchei Tmimim...), and you need to put on Lubavitcher tefillin! You need to stay all the way until the end, all the way until Yud Aleph Nissan’!
Of course, we each need to figure out our specific hachonos, what specific extra things we each will increase in as our preparation for Yud Aleph Nissan. But, at the same time, we need to remember that Yud Aleph Nissan is “Anohnosiv malko”, it’s disregarding the duchsin, ifrichin and istartilutin; - all of the greatest worldly achievements and even all of the loftiest spiritual levels, and be wholeheartedly and whole soully dedicated to the ultimate giluy of Atzmus of Elokus in every point in the Universe, immediately NOW!!
L’chaim! May we all do our avoda of preparing our declaration of anonosiv malko, and may the Eibishter reveal to the whole world His choice in Yidden, with the immediate revelation of Moshiach Tzidkeinu TUMYM!!!
Rabbi Akiva Wagner
