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Farbrengen Gimmel Tammuz , Rabbi Shmuel Lew - 5785
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Transcript
Auto-generated transcript. Not time-synced to the video.
We are at
with special permission to record for
the voice notes just a vertim
and a story which I believe is probably
the first time I'm saying it in public
and we were at the oil today
and personally I'd like to just mention
[Music]
Amen. That this Fangian, my part of the
FBI is dedicated to that person and uh
subsequently Moses Shapiro will continue
the FBI.
I told a story.
I I was in school and I asked the class
ask questions. It was toim
and one of the
about 18 years old. See there's a girl
she said why do I need a reba
now you understand the question was not
trying she it's really sincerely trying
to seek
implicit in that question is I do
everything I'm supposed to do I have
But why do I need a reb?
What does that add? So in order to
answer it, I began with a stories that
happened and then I gave an explanation.
I want to share it now. The story was a
year or two before I came to London for
three or four years. And Rabbi Sudakalam
Ashak told me this story. There was a
woman from the Kaf community in Stamford
Hill, North London. who had a major
medical
problem
with not a very good prognosis according
to the doctors
and Kabad just came you know idea of lab
house as in there and but so Rabbi Sudak
told this person write to the
and she did and she got an answer got a
braha and miraculously
The
illness disappeared, evaporated.
Her rabbi was a very sincere
European,
very big, respectful, eventually
extremely close to Labavage. He had big
respect, but he had a major question on
the advice to send a letter overseas
that takes four days to get there, four
days to get back. He said there's a
rashi in the Kush. There's a story that
Haga and Yeshmo
were in the wilderness
and
Yeshua became very sick and they both
ded. And it says there
and Hashem listened to the voice to the
to the prayers of that sick boy. And you
check
from here you know that
or something like that
better stronger more effective is the
prayer of the person who's ill than
somebody else who ds for them. So why do
you give her advice to send a letter
overseas
and ask someone else to pray
when tell her to dab a bit stronger
herself?
Somehow or another that question reached
the rebba either from this case or from
a different case. But the Reb addressed
that question in in a letter
and the Reb said the idea of coming to a
sadic for a braha is not an innovation
it's not a kush of kabat which is just
200 years old nor is it a innovation of
kis the generalidic movement which is
300 years old itself 250 whatever ever
it was
the Gomorrah.
The Gomorrah of almost 2,000 years ago
says
if there's a sick person in your home,
go to the go to the for you.
So it's not something someone says kabat
has now come to England and you come
with a new mic. It's something which
goes back thousands of years.
But the Reb said
it answers why it's not aasha
but it raises the question that there's
a seems to be a contradiction between
the gum and baba which says go to the
for you and the rashi
in in in
wherever
who who says that better the of the sick
person than somebody else. And the Reb
said the answer to that question to that
contradiction is that a Reb is not
somebody else.
A Reb is an
allincclusive soul which contains within
him all the
generation.
The wordb is an acronym
is
and means the head.
The head is the brain.
The head is the central nervous system
which controls what happens in the body.
It doesn't replace the body. If you want
to go somewhere, you have to get up on
your feet and you have to walk there.
The brain can't walk there. The feet
take the brain where it wants to go. And
if you want to give someone something,
the brain can't give.
You need the limbs of the body. On the
other hand, you might be very fit and
athletic and doing all your jogging and
exercises and everything else.
But if something happens in the brain
the connection a person could become
partially or more than that paralyzed
even though that the all the whole limbs
of the body remain strong
because it's through the central nervous
system which runs what's happening
and another is every person's the med
says there are Five names to the
explains
says it's not just five names, five
synonyms. It's five levels of the nish
relates to and to emotions and to
analytic understanding
is
and is the connecting with the upper
worlds with Hashem
and the clown world just like there's
the marshall of the with the G there's
the marshall of the nishama
of all of Israel is like one big
configuration, one
and the Reb represents
of Israel. And through a connection to
the Reb, you are able to access
one's own that's in your own.
It's true that it accesses your own. So
when you say why do I need a and you can
point to thousands and thousands of
I just saw a letter in the kudish this
week the writes somebody who doesn't
know about so it means that doesn't
expected them previous generations he
writes why when you know about why it's
necessary to connect
so those people are 100%
But I promise you that if they had a
connection to the Reb, they would be
able to access a much deeper reservoir
within their own
people operate at a a fraction of
capacity
and the way to get into in other words
why do I need a you can say he has an
obligation
you can say it's it's such a a kadic
alien you know there's so much you can
say to say why it's good but talking
about the benefit to yourself because
through that you will come closer to
your own inner self then I asked this I
said does that answer your question and
she said yes I said but the question
might come back again a few months later
don't be afraid the the same questions
always come up in a person's mind who's
sincere here and what it means is that
your is telling you go deeper into that
same uh understanding of what it means.
So it's gimmel
it's a day which is and writes the
many many times the days which follow
especially until shabas the coming
shabas there's a whole week here to
connect and to connect deeper and deeper
to the and through that you bring a a
deeper connection to your own inner
self. Now I want to tell you the story.
I don't know why I never really
publicized it because it happened 27
years ago on
I tried to go I was there many many
other the first years when I came to
Kabad
through that was 10 years I was here in
New York and I went but in the
subsequent years when I was already on
uh I was but I came for all the 10th
anniversary besides
and
oil and
so this was I think it was
it was
and I was I was shabbrangi
somewhere in Europe and then Monday if I
remember correctly I was in my the
school to be there at the beginning of
the day and I made a a a a uh a reserva
a uh an airline with a seat and I
checked in over the phone as much as you
could in those days
and I was and I timed it that I should
be able to leave the school and take the
underground the subway in England to get
to the airport on time. I got on the
train which is going to Heathro. It's a
1 hour and 5 minutes, 28 stops.
And about 15 minutes before the airport,
they suddenly said, "We changed our mind
somehow. This train is going to stop
over here and you have to wait till the
next train if you're going to the
airport."
And the wait was about 15 minutes. As a
result of which I lost my seat, I didn't
lose the flight. I came there, it was
British Airways. They said, "Sorry, we,
you know, you didn't come. It's already
it's 45 minutes now. An hour before we
gave it to someone else." I said, "Find
me a different seat." And they did. They
found me a seat which was actually
better because it was three seats
together. I had an aisle. And then just
before the plane took off, there was a
major ruckus, a major fight. There was a
lady that the person in front of her was
trying to move their seat back to see if
it works.
And this woman is screaming, "You're not
going to be doing that when when this
plane is flying. You're taking my room."
And the flight attendants got all, you
know, all nervous. And they went over
and they told this lady who was
screaming, "We got another place for
you." And they put her on the other
aisle just two seats away from me.
So I I was talking with her, you know,
trying to see to and I asked if I if she
was Jewish
and she says my parents were
butman
she actually actively joined a different
religion at a young age as a girl
because there's that it's not relevant.
At that moment when she told me this, I
remembered a
inch
of
it was one month after when the launched
at that time my it was a it was a
Thursday night there was going to be
hundreds of people the whole night and I
thought it's going to be a one
It was actually one of the longest I
ever had. But one of the things that
told me it was before I became the
principal 6 months after that. Then my
work was traveling to campuses around
the country having shim in London
universities one Monday this place
Tuesday that place different days and
there was no kabat on campus and there
was no really kabat houses. That's so my
work was dealing with
and the told me that when of compasses
when you go he told me in when you go on
campus
you're going to meet female students
of the universities who keep nothing
and I want you to speak with them about
lighting a candle for
tonight. But you must make a condition
with them that it has to happen before
the before sunset.
And if they missed
the
week, better not to light that week than
to go in. And the said an interesting
I mean there's a question. If they don't
keep anything, how can he be sure they
won't do this? He didn't say the
question. He probably just said
they will keep the condition
not because they're because they're
observant but because they are honest
and since they're undertaking a special
custom with a certain condition they
will keep the he's twice he mentioned
that
and then here's this woman telling me
that since she's 11, 12, whatever it
was, she's
identifying with a different religion.
So I told her about the
I said it was this great saddic and
she's very interesting and he told me
that I'm going to meet you.
When was this? I said 25 years ago,
whatever, however many years it was. He
told me he was a very holy person and he
said that I should speak to you about
lighting a candle on Friday and I
explained to her the whole idea and she
said she would do it.
[Music]
So um I said and I I take your contact
details and I will buy you a candlestick
and I'll get someone to give you
candles. Where do you live? She said she
lives in Greenwich, Connecticut.
And uh she said, "I have cand religious
objects shop in Greenwich." So she said,
"I have plenty of candles." I said, "I
said I want to get that I'm giving you
since we're we have the agreement."
And we shared details. We spoke was
friendly. We we keep in touch. At the
end of the flight, just before we got
off, she said, "I just found out. You
know who's in first class? You know
who's on this plane? I said, "Who?" She
says, "Nelson Mandela is on the plane
with us."
So I said, "There's somebody bigger than
him on this plane."
And she said, "Who's that?" I said, "God
Almighty, Hashem.
He's on the plane." And way do you see
it? I said, "You know something?
I actually was not supposed to be in
this seat.
My train and the last minute stopped and
therefore I was delayed and I lost my
seat and they gave me this seat. And you
know something, you weren't meant to be
in that seat.
So, Hashem orchestrated that we should
meet together. It was in order that you
should be lighting the candle like the
Reb told me all those years before.
very uh moved by this party. I went
straight I took a taxi from the airport
to the oil. It was packed. It was
many many nothing like today, but it was
really full. He couldn't move around. It
was less organized in a sense.
And there
I bumped into a a Baltua from England.
is not from England but he studied in
England. We met there had a few years
kesher. He's now married with children
of a young man
and he there was another young lady
there with him and he said this is his
cousin or his wife's cousin a girl her
name is Reena
and I said okay nice to meet you will
she what do you do are you in seminary?
She said, "I finished seminary and I was
looking for a to help and I got a a
position with the Kabad of Greenwich,
Connecticut."
I said, "Wow." I told her the whole
story which I told you and I gave her
uh the details of this woman
and this girl
every Friday used to go with a freshly
baked kala and with a candle and meet
her the lady went to a sedan pes various
things you know I spoke to the lady from
England and she screamed at me you know
don't don't make me into your project or
something and uh whatever But uh there
was a a followup. That's not why I'm
telling you the whole story. The whole
story I'm telling you is that a week or
two later, I got an email from the girl.
The girl post
and she said, "I want to tell you the
story behind the story.
I finished semin
useful where I'm needed and I looked for
a place and I took this place. I was
there for a few months and I felt that
somehow or another I was not really
fulfilling
myself. Maybe I could do something
somewhere else. Maybe that's not really
where I'm supposed to be. And it's I
went into the oil and I said to the deba
I'm there. I want to be where you want
me to be. Give me a sign if the if
that's really a place where I can
achieve something. And I walk out and
five minutes later I meet you with this
whole story with the thing. And she felt
the answer. So the reason I'm saying it
is the said
take your request your question I know
many many stories with either personally
or people that I met
that had such uh situations
and I've been thinking about just lately
that story I want to share with
everybody that maybe so often that we
should connect with it
and it's a good practice because very
soon is going to be
very soon and it'll help then also
because the the his connection to the
Reb
can be
according to the way the wants at every
given moment. It's not like a
membership. Okay, you're in. You're in
every single day.
But you can renew it and you can deepen
it and you can make it into something
more than it was before at every given
moment. We have the ability to be able
to do that. So we should see
and the seconds or whatever that we that
we're waiting it should be in a way that
we connect to whatever because through
that you connect to your own inner self
and your own purpose and you get not
just a partial or majority fulfillment
of your potential but you can get the
full potential.
square.
Uh yeah, I did it.
So, it's a few hours later and we're
still at the Hashem. A lot of people
have spoken.
Um I was asked to say a few words. I
want to say what is his kashus? What's
the way to his cautious and I want to
suggest
three kim three lines
number one the said to me when I was a
ber under the age of 21 just before my
birthday
that the
cautious is if you learn what I learned
and that means
today and it means having a
teachings how much everybody has needs a
mashp to to help guide them exactly
what's the right amount but it should be
regular something you take a
you take something from theic heritage
if you need whatever it is something to
help you learn a sika
and learn it twice three times four
times 10 times I I was asked to give to
speak to him in London of dimema
Garcia Masha in English
like by Harris Sadulski group of about
less than 10 people probably mostly
South Africans
and I we spoke and do we spoke about the
ma at the end I asked him what are you
going to learn next
he said
they said this is the sixth time we made
a on it and we're learning it they go
deeper into it each time. So it it's
it's gained you learn the ma try to
understand it the second time you'll
understand it a bit the third time try
to see if it can talk to you about
something etc etc till you get it. The
second thing is
getting the Reb said to um to Rabbi
Shapsi Katz in Ptoria
many years ago
that a personal favor to me is to help
another Eid. It's it's a profound idea
because
why are you in the world?
You look at the prepare yourself on this
world
or you go to
to have great spiritual experiences
[Music]
and
to to to be able to develop your own
perfection as a person. And obviously
these are all you have to say it and
there's a medish that says that
and
it's and especially especially the
everything centers around action
and obviously you'll get and obviously
you'll become a better person and
obviously you'll be you'll the
but that's what you're going to get
is what Hashem is going to get and
that's the definition of of
is doing something for somebody else
because that's what Hashem wants. It's
it's fulfilling the purpose that there
is in creation.
And that's something that everyone can
do. You don't have to be living in
Zambia or even in Long Beach or in in
Sanford Hill. Wherever it is, wherever
we are, it's it's uh something that a
person can do. You can do it in your
business or you can do it in your in
your interaction with people. You can do
it um you can do it
just by having an open house. And if
you're not that way, you meet the people
and you some people give a certain two
three hours mapped out every week on
their in their calendar. This is the
time I'm I dedicate they're not
available then and they're doing they're
they're like they may be a balab running
a business but there's a certain time
that they have a specific time whatever.
So I want to tell you a story that with
me.
It was in Tshin Iintest. It was six and
a half years ago
on a Sunday in South London. There's a a
area called Wimbledon. It's known for
tennis games and things, but there's a
very very active kabad there. And they
were having a kuga sabayas.
And I went I went I don't drive and I
didn't I figured the time I'm gonna ask
somebody to find out who's going from
North London. It's take an hour over an
hour an hour and a half. I went with the
underground at the subway. On the way
back it's about 4 5:00 in the afternoon
and I get on to there's two trains on
both platform. It's the last stop there
and I wanted to get to Victoria station.
So, I take the train near Stanford Hill
and I get on the train. It's a Sunday,
quiet. There's one man there. And I ask
him, "Where uh which train goes to
Victoria?" He says, "The one across the
platform, not this one. This one's going
somewhere else." Starts the same.
I said, "Okay, I'm about to go off the
train." He says
I said you I didn't I thought he was an
Englishman. Turns out he's an Israeli. I
said have you put on fillin today?
He said kabad.
I said yes. I didn't have chillin with
me unfortunately. But I spoke to him
about it. I unfortunately unfortunately
didn't take his number or anything. And
the whistle starts blowing on the other
train. And I ran across to the platform.
And I said to myself,
you are not
how do you get out? Go with the train.
Who cares if it's going to to to
Scotland? You know, meanwhile, let him
How do you let him go without taking
number
that on the most practical level, I
could have taken the train one or two or
three stops and talked with him. No one
else was in that whole car in that
carriage
and I felt really bad and I went to
Rabbi Dubo who's the shik in Wimbledon.
I said what can I do to find this guy?
He said it's David Cohen is the shak for
campus. This man told me he's a student
studying there are a lot of colleges in
Wimbledon for studying English as a
second language ESN ESL.
So I offered500 pounds if he finds me
the guy donation.
Anyway, I get some he found different
people but I don't know if he ever found
that person but I made a
made
that I was going to that
Thursday.
uh that Thursday
to give a talk in forat
and I'm on that plane. I'm going to find
the Jew get some get still chilling on
with at least one person. So I come onto
the plane. I'm sitting here then there's
an empty seat and then there's some a
man sitting by the window.
He's an Israeli. I say to him,
he said, "Later,"
about a half hour later, I said, "Maybe
you put on film." He said,
I said, "It's getting it's getting dark.
You got to do it." So, he did it sitting
down. And it turns out that he lives in
London from a what we think of as a
secular family.
and um he's married but not
he's married in like publicly there in
England
and
I said do you belong to any synagogue?
No. Do you ever go? No, that's not, you
know, it's not. But we're talking on the
flight and at some stage he said,
"That's what it says in Shàu
which was
I said, "What do you know about Shabu?
You don't even belong to a synagogue."
He said, "I don't belong to a synagogue,
but I'm spiritual."
I said, "You're spiritual.
You have to own your own pair of trillin
your own personal pair not just put on
once in a while and didn't argue when we
changed we exchanged details I looked
around for a fillin bank to to get to be
able to buy him a pillin
he was also gone for five days we both
to Israel came back and then from then
on till every Friday we're in touch and
Um he bought his own he I got him put
him in touch with snare glintenstein
who's for Israelis
and uh he paid £500 that was then about
£700 a pair of fillin
and uh he started putting on fillin
and uh he went to sh forious
at that stage eventually during the
lockdown we spoke how could he can
increase. He got divorced.
His wife was also coming to the Kabad
house. But then that was it's something
separate. But since then he's remarried
and he's today he davs he goes to Davin
7:00 every morning minion.
He's he's uh I spoke to him last Friday
a week ago nine days ago. He says don't
forget Gimmel Thomas is coming up and
and he's like in touch with everything.
He didn't shave spir and and and uh he
pushed for
lab
and working to be of other people to a
lot of stages in between. He went on
business trips to to RIA. He worked for
security systems and and he was in Las
Vegas. He was in Florida with in each
place I put him. That was the early
years. But um tonight is the 30th of
and would say how many hundreds of other
people could you have done the same
thing with and you didn't do don't be so
happy what you did. So I'm sharing it.
I'm sharing it knowing. But how easy in
a sense when you meet a person to speak
to them about a mitzvah and if you see
the and you and you work on it little by
little. I thought I'm doing it as
one of the things you cannot do for is
because you don't know who you stole
from. I would I didn't know who I missed
putting on filming with on that train.
But one of the sigulas they say is to is
to
like people they sponsor park benches
they sponsor projects for.
So anyway that's the second line. Line
number one is learning. Lie number two
is
because that is part of
when you do something for another Jew
you are implicitly
almost explicitly you're saying
I don't only care about my own
I care about the what Hashem wants that
my is based not on my this real love is
not when you're sitting around with the
person you love all the time. It it's
love but it's also has a lot of
self-interest in it. But when you're
doing something for them somewhere else
says doing something for someone else
that's called a real ae.
And the third thing is and for many
people it's the most difficult of all
that I deal with high school students
very difficult thing for many young
people and also for many old people.
Difference is the old people think they
don't need it. The young ones know they
need it but they just don't want to do
it. And that's to get yourself a mashia
and to talk with that mashia. And the
said I heard recently the himself had a
mashp. pointed someone not really
I think I mean the notab that's my own
interpretation because my zman jaffi
asked the rebbber whether his who is his
son
Jaffy who's a very
young man in Manchester he asked the
rebba can I use him as my when the rebb
is talking
about say can I take my son and just
told him it's can't
get someone else but uh uh to to appoint
someone and to get in touch with them
you you should call them up wait make up
I just want to call you once a month or
once a week uh preferably just for a
minute and misman
issue comes up. You have someone to talk
with and it it it's it's it's a it's a
benefit to bring out your own innermost
self, but at the same time, it's also a
tremendous tremendous way to connect to
your own inner self and it's a
tremendous way to connect to the so
that we should
take steps
to connect with
all the story.
We're still out of
and
people asked tonight is
it's
not just
I met his great grandson tonight after
at 7:70
and he said that he was there by when he
was Nostalik it was he woke up that
morning and they used to it was hard for
him. They used to say to him Tanya
used to say to him Tanya the Shia Tanya
Tanya Dining and then he dav they were
ding with him and then he went to sleep
and
you know that he went by the rebal once
he's very if you look at a picture of a
menal he's always looking on the
pictures in the reb's presence very
uh serious ious, very intent. There's
one where there's a semi smile. I have
that I I have like somebody gave me that
picture a young man in London uh of a
mandal he's getting a dollar and he's
smiling
semi smile not a whole smile. What
happened was he came by the it's on a
tape and said
you are named after and I'm named after
or maybe said himself and then he said
it's a connect it's a sign that we have
a connection together
and you know whatever You can look
interpret you want. I didn't come here
tonight to speakal not but mental said
when you go to
you should prepare beforehand what
you're going to say
and when you get there say something
different.
It's a very big insight into life
generally
being always being prepared always
having being
and then being able to adjust the to the
kay to the specific situation that
you're facing. So I'm just random going
to tell two or three things that I heard
from there was he lived in London
obviously after uh he came out of Russia
test of
that year the first time and he was
there until beginning of
or end of B maybe
and he was very much learned with people
you'll see many people said he had he
had anybody
not young
didn't speak Yiddish that well he he and
he also teamed up with people on he was
very much into
and I had the
to go with him maybe
besides going on the tank it wasn't
called a tank then this was in the late
and we called it it was called a caravan
there he had something which was uh like
anticipating the thanks and I also went
with him on Sundays when I didn't have
school to uh the chronic disease
hospital in Tottenham down about a half
a mile from Stanford Hill a mile down
and the conversation the patter with
mendle just when you were walking so
I'll just tell you a couple of things
that he said it was right after the six
day war within a year
And he said, "What is the message of the
six- day war in Ava?"
And he and his answer was he said, "What
happened in the six- day war is that the
Egyptians
got frightened. Israel had control over
the skies. They ran away from the tanks
and the Israelis got into the Egyptian
tanks and turned them around against
them."
So he said the six day is as a good cup
is a good tank. If you have a good head
and you have great
talents and and and faculties,
it means you have a good tank. But the
question is which way is it pointing? It
it should be shooting in the right
direction. Should be it's in other
words, it's not the abilities that you
have, it's the direction that you that
you use it. Another thing
um to me on a personal level
the biggest
um the most meaningful fabion that I
had.
I had a few that I went with him on a
train different times when I I was ill
and he was he was the one that was
accompanying me carrying my bags. uh but
with a different time he used to go to
gates head every year and he had people
who supported his inolin and he visit he
gave a sha and then when when there was
a lot of tension with you know there
there was there were different things
happening but he always had obviously a
man like that it was always a ba
somebody going with him accompanying him
but one year I was near in the house I
used to vish sometimes in that house by
Rebe
and um
this was approximately it was in the
early MEMS
and um I think it was he went in but
that year it was August there was still
camp there was nobody around to go with
him
and so I phon to my wife who this
vibranian is also
you know
And um she said look men gave me to go
with him. So it was a fivehour train
ride going there
and five hours coming back was in the
middle of the night. The train left
about midnight. I mean about 5:00 in the
morning. I'll tell you at least one vote
from the way there and one from the way
back. I heard things then that I never
heard before.
On the way there, first of all, we
passed a a brick factory. I didn't know.
He said, "That's a brick factory." I
said, "How do you know?" He says because
I once worked at in in a big factory
with Yanko Gorkov,
but he told he was telling me about what
happened in Siberia
and that they had to get up
at 6:00 in the morning
and they would walk to the work site.
They were actually cutting trees. It was
for lumber for Russia. They were
providing uh trees.
They would walk for 3 hours and then
they would work for 6 hours or something
and then they would walk back. It was it
was dark in the winter. The the way
there from 6:00 to 9 and coming back was
dark. So he had a problem with fillain.
How to put on fillain. They were
leaving. It was hours before Natala
and then he didn't have to be working
the whole time. So what did he do? He
said he had friends, not Jewish people
who were there who were who had a very
big
admiration, a reverence and appreciation
of what Raendel was and they would make
a little but as they were all marching
together they would make a circle around
him like they would they would be
blocking him. He had like like a
anyway
in the basic he had some what entourage
yeah they had these these people around
him covering him so he wouldn't be
noticed by the gods and he would very
quickly put on the
I don't know if anything more and take
him off
but he said it was so cold that one
morning
he put on fill in. So, this was probably
about 7 8:00 when the when the sun rose.
He put on the and the it was so cold
that the leather strap snapped.
So, I said, "You didn't have children
anymore." And he was trying to describe
to me how he fixed it. And I I couldn't
get my head around it that he took a
napkin from the British rail napkins
there that they have with the with the
Coca-Cola with the coffee and he and he
made he actually made a
uh he cut it out to show he made like an
arrow on one and he made a little slit
on on the other end and he put it
together and it became a rur again for
the next day. Uh that was one of the
stories which I didn't say I think now
I've told it to people who writing this
forum and he must have told it to
somebody else.
Um, another thing was on the way back
somehow, I don't know how it happened,
but I was telling him about my first
visit to Russia with Nelson Vogel, Bobby
Vogel.
This was at night about 11:30, 12 before
the train left. Then we were both
dreling on the train. Um
and I told him about the balu
in Russia, you know, there was we talk
communities
that not all were kabad. They all had
some connection. They started maybe with
kabad. It was something like everywhere
else in the world in a sense. You can
see I saw them as different groups and
to me this was Asian and this is this is
you know you could tell what this what
style they would have been if they were
in the west
and he told me that he was in
oh I forgot the town
um
he was in one of the what maybe I don't
he was in a town
where there was a bait mitzvah one one
day you know
Monday Thursday they had bait mitzvah in
the week like a minute
and it was like a rarity the first time
in years and years
and the gaba of that shul was about 90
years old very
and he said
told me that this guy said to menal
Um,
he said,
"I'm living on the round ones," meaning
on pills. I'm living I'm I'm I'm living
on pills.
That's what he said.
And that
really impacted that question. What's
where's the future?
And then he said he he heard all about
all the vulturas there by the by by the
thousands. There was then at this time
by by in the in the mems
and uh
the said that the that put in in Russia
you know that that that was there
and
another story of a menal I'll tell you
one other one just connected to gimlas
Yes. told me I think it was on a purim
came we we went on to we came back and
we I remember we told me it was in our
house at that time that he heard a story
from
maybe it was Aba was somebody his was
his very very close friend but it was a
very close friend who was actually in
the second world war in the army
and said he told me a story
that he witnessed
as just an interesting thing and he said
and I realized sometimes somebody tells
you something and you realize that they
don't themselves see the depth of the
whole you know all the different
ramifications of that story and the
story was that there were a group of
Russian soldiers
and they came under attack from the
Germans
And it was a very very
deadly attack.
They went like flies like like many many
were killed
until they finally escaped or they
overcame whatever it was. They wound up
with a a far lesser number of soldiers
in their group.
And the officer
like was trying to an officer there was
trying to gather them together. You need
leadership. You see what happened just
now in Israel when in where they they
forgot the leaders because people get
confused. You don't know where to go and
what to do. It's it's not rag tag. So he
said um
this man he said okay everybody line up
and get get together. And he he got all
the soldiers organized. Whatever was
left, if this was 50, 100, whatever it
was, he got them all lined up and ready
to listen to orders. But one of the
soldiers said, "Can you tell me how do
we know that you are authentic? How do
we know that you're supposed to be
you're doing what you're supposed to be
doing?"
So he said, "Come to the front." The man
came to the front and this general, this
officer shot him in the head right on
the spot,
killed him.
This is what Aba was saying. He said was
in order because he if he didn't he felt
if he didn't get them organized
together,
he didn't get them organized together
then they were lost all of them. He was
doing this as
and this would have
this would have
gone against every single thing that he
was trying to do was to keep them
organized. It would have disorganized
them given doubts and and and
aimlessness to all the people. But said,
"Why is this guy is that a is that a a
capital offense?"
That he asked he he said to him, "How do
I know that you are that you are
authorized to do what you're doing?" He
says, "A person who doesn't recognize
that that the isb,
he's forfeiting everything. He's
forfeiting his own." He said that's what
he saw in the story that somebody says
how do I know I start right when you
start meaning you know person it's
something which is there and you're
supposed to know it so
we should recognize
and it should be at the end of the day
it sometimes it says that
but that was
say someone mentioned before
from Zambia that that
it you have to be ready to
surrender a Yiddish guy. So that
explains the minor we understand
means to do what you have to do to help
a person
or to to move tables sometime whatever
it is.
means sometimes you you're learning
Torah or your your whole
is not exactly on the rama it's not
exactly on the level that it would have
been otherwise but you're doing it in
order to
fit and to and to be able to adjust to
be able to help somebody else to find
this place that's called
but at the end of the day is the famous
story which I heard from the Reb it's a
very well-known story when after a heavy
night
that
said oh you know like uh something to
the effect of I don't I don't want to
say any wrong
but you know he's something like
is it all worth it or you know what is
what what how difficult how much
sacrifice It was he said this to his the
was he had there a shafer bookshelf with
many many forum of things that he wrote
and uh so this the asked the mar asked
would you have had all this if not for
that
and his father
You're right. So in other words,
sometimes you surrender it's things in
the missing. I remember
he came to 770 once uh he had been to a
conference on that Friday morning that
told me. So when he came Friday just
before there was for in the in the
corridor upstairs and he told me
afterwards he said people come to the he
says uh
they hear that's for sure when you meet
friends that's also something he said to
me I can answer I have no minion where I
am and for me just to answer is already
like
so but at the end of the day you don't
lose out even itself becomes enhanced
and and deepened and and and empowered