ParshasVayeira

 

Hey there Junior Shluchim!
I hope you’re all sitting comfortably, because I have a really special story to tell you. As I’m sure you all know, or you will by the time you finish reading this week’s Connections, we are fast coming up to one of our chassideshe Yomei Depagra. This Shabbos is Chof Cheshvan, which is the birthday of the Rebbe RaShab, the fifth Lubavitcher Rebbe.
The Rebbe RaShab wrote and explained a lot of Chassidus. He was also known for the way he was able to explain Chassidus very clearly. In fact the Rebbe RaShab is sometimes called the Rambam of Chassidus – during the thirty eight years of his nesius he wrote over 2000 maamarim! Some of the Rebbe RaShab’s maamarim have become very famous. Today I’m going to tell you about the time the Rebbe RaShab statrted writing the famous ‘Hamshech Samech Vov,’ which explains some basic ideas of Chassidus.
The Rebbe RaShab once visited a park in Paris together with his son, the Frierdiker Rebbe. It was a very special park, very carefully taken care of. All the Kings of Europe had their own private tents in the park that only they were allowed to use, that were kept locked up when they were not using them.
There was a rule in the park that visitors had to wear special white slippers so they shouldn’t make the park dirty. The Rebbe RaShab didn’t want to wear these slippers because he was worried that they might be made of shaatnez, so instead the Rebbe RaShab and Frierdiker Rebbe tied clean, white handkerchiefs around their shoes.
The Rebbe RaShab decided that he wanted to visit the tent of the King of Germany, Kaiser Wilhelm. The Frierdiker Rebbe said that he would try his hardest to arrange it.
The park had a special area where guests could sit and eat lunch. There were special waiters who would take orders and serve. The Rebbe RaShab and the Frierdiker Rebbe sat down by one of the tables and ordered a mineral water. When the waiter brought them the water, the Frierdiker Rebbe paid him with a large coin and told him to keep the change. The Frierdiker Rebbe then asked the waiter to help them get into Kaiser Wilhelm’s tent. The waiter realised that he may be able to earn some more money, and he agreed. He told the Frierdiker Rebbe to wait until most of the other visitors had gone, and then he would help them.
A short time later, the waiter came back to the Frierdiker Rebbe and led him and the Rebbe RaShaB to the tent. Two guards were standing outside the tent, but the Rebbe RaShab and the Frierdiker Rebbe were allowed in. In the tent was a small writing table, with special paper and ink, and next to the desk was a comfortable armchair.
The Rebbe RaShaB sat himself down in the chair. ‘This is a wise chair’, he said. Then he picked up the pen and started to write some chassidus right there in the tent. When he finished, they left the tent and went home.
That story is one of my favourite Rebbe RaShaB stories and I hope you enjoyed it too. It always reminds me of how everything in this world can be used to serve Hashem and for kedushah. And of course it reminds us of how much we have to be grateful to the Rebbe RaShab for all the chassidus he gave us, and especially for the special Tomchei Temimim yeshivos that he set up.

See you next week kinderlach!
Dr. Getzel

 

כ' חשון

כ‘ חשון is the birthday of ר‘ שלום דובער , the רבי רש“ב .
Before the רבי רש“ב was born, the מיטעלער רבי      (ר‘ דובער ), together with the אלטער רבי , came twice to his granddaughter רביצין רבקה in a dream and told her that she would be blessed with a son. At that time the מיטעלער רבי also asked that the child be named after him.

In one of the פריערדיקער רבי ’s manuscripts, it said that there was a third person in the dream who said at that moment, “Mine also” (that the child should be named after him as well).

When רביצין רבקה told these two dreams to her father-in-law, the צמח צדק , he asked her to describe the people she saw. He then told her that the three people were the מיטעלער רבי , the אלטער רבי , and his (the צמח צדק ’s) father, ר‘ שלום שכנה . That is why the name שלום was added to דובער .

When the רבי רש“ב was three years old, he had his upshernish and the צמח צדק ‘anointed’ him to be a leader of חב“ד חסידות . The צמח צדק explained that a jug of רוחניותדיקע oil was handed down from the בעל שם טוב to the מעזריטשער מגיד to anoint the אלטער רבי and his descendants. The רבי רש“ב was then taken to חדר for the first time and the צמח צדק threw candies at him.

 

 

In פרשת וירא , אברהם was told by ה‘ to offer his son as a קרבן . יצחק was tied on the מזבח and אברהם was about to offer him as a קרבן , when a מלאך called out and told אברהם to stop.

אברהם looked around for something else to offer as a קרבן to ה‘ and saw a ram caught in the bushes. The תורה tells us that both of its horns were caught. Why were both of its horns caught?

The ram’s horn - a שופר - showed אברהם how much ה‘ loves the אידן . Throughout the year, אידן are often caught up in doing עבירות . But still, on ראש השנה , when we blow the שופר , ה‘ forgives us. So, through the שופר we are redeemed from the control of the יצר הרע .

Also אברהם knew that in the future, the אידן will be caught up in גלות and that they will be redeemed at the end by משיח . How will we know that משיח has arrived? When we hear the sound of the great שופר .

Since there are two things that אידן are caught up in: עבירות and גלות and they are redeemed through the שופרות of ראש השנה and משיח , the פסוק tells us that the ram was caught in the bushes by both its horns.

(Adapted from ‘Vedibarta Bam’)

 

 

Outside the door of the צמח צדק 's study stood his little grandson, a boy of four or five years old, who would grow up to be the רבי רש“ב . He was waiting for יחידות to receive a ברכה in honor of his birthday, כ‘ חשון .

As the door opened, the little boy walked in. He burst into tears. The צמח צדק lovingly calmed his grandson and asked him, "Why are you crying, my child?"

Trying to muffle his sobs, the boy said. "זיידע , I just learned in חדר that ה‘ appeared to אברהם אבינו . Why doesn't He appear to us, too?"

Gentle, wise eyes gazed deeply into the child and comforted his little heart. "My dear grandson," explained the צמח צדק , "When a ninety-nine year old איד , a צדיק , decides to give himself a ברית מילה , then he deserves to have ה‘ appear to him."

Children often burst into tears when they do not get what they want. But are those things really worth crying about?

We can see from this story what a אידישע child should insist upon, and what could bring him to the point of tears. Every איד has a נשמה which is part of ה‘ . Because of that נשמה , a איד , and especially a אידישע child, wants to actually see קדושה , not only to be told about it. The רבי רש“ב 's example teaches every child to desire and ask for this.

This is especially true today when there are so many signs that משיח is coming soon. When the גאולה comes, we will be able to see ה‘ 's holiness all around us. Just like the רבי רש“ב cried for something he really wanted, we should cry out to ה‘ and insist that He bring the גאולה now!

When we cry out and demand the גאולה , we may have tears in our eyes, but these are not tears of sorrow or sadness. We are crying in determination, because we want it very much. But we have a happy feeling in our hearts, because we know that משיח is coming very soon.

‘Please Tell me What the Rebbe Said’

 

(Continued from last week)
A few hours later, the מלמד was startled by the sound of wagon wheels. Peering through the rain, he saw two men get off the wagon and stand for a moment in front of the inn, pointing to one of the darkened windows. They knocked on the door, and were immediately let in. In the beam of light from the doorway, the מלמד saw that one man was carrying a weapon.

The מלמד was not a wild man, but the wonderful events of the last few hours gave him courage. Jumping to his feet, he began to bang on the window of the inn. "Help!" he shouted. "Murder! Murder! Don't let them get away!"

Everyone in the inn woke up. Lights flashed in the windows. There was a clatter of wheels, and the would-be-murderers escaped.

In the morning, the מלמד was once again on his way, richer by 300 rubles. The grateful old man, who seemed to have suspected the plot, would have given him more. But the מלמד had refused with a smile. He had his nine hundred rubles. Let the rest wait for עולם הבא .

He had no other adventures, and within a few weeks he could see his village up ahead. There was the stream he had swum and played in when he was little, the old שול on the hilltop, the crooked main street, all the same as when he had left, twelve years ago. And around the bend, and down the road, his own house.

The מלמד remembered the last warning of the Rebbe, so he did not turn to his home and family but he was so excited, he thought his legs would take him there on their own. Instead, he stood on street corners, at the entrance of shops, pretending to be a curious stranger, chatting with the אידן of the town. The years he had been away must have changed him a lot and made him look older, because none of the townspeople recognized him, though he knew them all, or their parents.

Casually, he asked about the innkeeper who had left the town about twelve years ago. Everyone he asked answered the same thing. Ah, yes, the poor man had disappeared, not a trace of him for twelve years. And there’s something funny going on with his family. But no one would say what.

The מלמד listened to their words feeling very nervous. What could possibly be happening to his family? But he remembered the Rebbe's advice that cost him so much money: "My son, only believe what you see with your own eyes."

That night the מלמד stood outside his home, behind a tree. In the pale light of the moon, he saw a young, non-Jewish, man approach his house, and knock on the window. His wife appeared at the window and then the door opened. Hours later, the boy left, as quietly as he had come. The מלמד didn’t know what to do. Who was this strange non-Jewish boy visiting his house so late at night? But with the words of the Rebbe in his mind, he waited. He decided that he would simply ask his wife what was happening

The next morning, the מלמד knocked on the door of his home, wearing nice new clothes, holding gifts, a father returning to his family. Everything was as he had dreamt a thousand times. His wife ran towards him, her face shining with happiness and excitement, "My husband, my husband!" His children, so grown up that he barely recognised them, surrounded him with kisses and tears.

Later, when he was alone at last with his wife, he decided to ask her. "I’ve heard some funny rumours about our family but I don’t want to believe them without speaking to you."

"Stop, please stop!" his wife's worn face was full of sorrow. "Don’t you remember our youngest son, משה ?"

Then the מלמד realized that in all the excitement and tumult of his homecoming he had not noticed that his youngest son wasn’t there.

"The Poretz took him, when I could not pay our rent. For months, for years, I cried, and pleaded. How we suffered! But it was no use. He has been in the Poretz's house ever since. But ה‘ has been good to us. He is a fine boy. Every night, he has stolen away from the manor and come home, and I have studied with him, a little חומש , a ברכה . It wasn't much," she finished simply. "But ברוך ה‘ , at least he knows he is a איד . Now do you understand?"

Wordlessly, the מלמד nodded. He understood.

In the days that followed, the מלמד paid off his debt and his son, משה was allowed to return home, and he married off his daughters. He spent the rest of his days learning תורה in peace, together with his good wife.

The מלמד realised that the Rebbe had indeed been right to make him pay so much money for each piece of advice, because if not, he would never have listened to them so carefully.

(Adapted from Chabad.org)

 

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