Parshas Shmini

 

Hey there my favorite Young Shluchim,
Well it sure is nice to have my full name back. I wasn't really too worried because I was sure that the Shluchim Office were taking proper care of my ‘el,’ but still it is always good to be myself again. Unfortunately I’ve lost more things than I care to remember, and I sure didn't want to lose my name - that would have been a bit too much even for an absent-minded Professor like me!
So are you ready for this week? For these next seven weeks? It is really time to throw ourselves into the Sefirah and make sure we come out on top come Shavuos time. We are lucky enough to have seven whole weeks to prepare ourselves for Matan Torah, and I sure don’t want to waste one second.
Of course the next few weeks are going to be busy enough just by themselves. We have Tiferes sheb’Tiferes coming up, followed by Pesach Sheini and then Lag Ba’omer. It is sure going to be a busy time. So much to do, so much to learn, so much to farbreng about, and, like always, so little time to do it in.
But before we get to any of those exciting days, we have another very important day coming up this very week. Yup, straight after Shabbos (well actually a couple of days after Shabbos, but that is still close enough for me), we are going to be hitting smack-bang into one of the really important dates in the Dor Shevii Calendar. Have you realized what I am talking about? Well if you read Connections like I do, that is, to go straight to page two to reread what I wrote a couple of days earlier, then you might not know what I’m talking about. But if you look through the whole Connections quickly before you start to read my column, you probably noticed that on page three this week there is an article about Chof Ches Nissan.
What a start to the Sefirah the Rebbe gave us that year, and what a start to the Sefirah we have had every year since. ‘Bring Moshiach,’ the Rebbe told us. ‘Everything depends on you,’ we were told. ‘Do all you can,’ we were instructed. The Rebbe was giving the baton over to us to carry to the finishing line. He was giving us the power to bring Moshiach. But we have to make sure that the race doesn't become a marathon. We have to make sure that we don’t slacken up for one second or let our yetzer hora get the better of us for even a moment. We need to bring Moshiach!
So this kinderlach, is our mission. At the same time as we are counting up the Sefiras Haomer until Shavuos, we need to also make sure that we are doing our best to bring Moshiach closer and to count down the days until he comes. Not just to let the days go by, but to actually make the days count. To use each day out as much as possible to bring Moshiach here as fast as we can. Because of course, if the Rebbe gave the job over to us, he for sure gave us the kochos that we need to do the job properly.
So let’s take all those kochos that the Rebbe is giving us and make a special effort this week, all Junior Shluchim together, to finally bring an end to this golus with Moshiach now!

See you next week - in Yerushalayim!
Dr Getzel

 

כ“ח ניסן

16 years ago, on כ“ח ניסן תשנ“א the Rebbe gave over a שיחה . The Rebbe said that now is a very special time and a very good time for the גאולה . But still משיח has not come. In a very strong way, the Rebbe said that it is not understandable why משיח hasn’t come yet and that the only thing he can do is to give it over to us, his חסידים , to do all we can to bring משיח . We have to do this with great cheerfulness and strength but in a practical way. Straight after this, the Rebbe said that he is giving out צדקה because ‘גדולה צדקה שמקרבת את הגאולה ’, ‘צדקה is great because it brings the גאולה closer’, and אי“ה this צדקה should really bring theגאולה האמיתית והשלימה , the true and final גאולה closer!

Children, this Monday is כ“ח ניסן .  On this day we have to strengthen our עבודה to complete the mission that the Rebbe gave us to truly bring משיח now!!

טוט אלץ וואס איר קענט צו ברענגן משיח“ ”

 

When ה‘ told us which animals are כשר and which animals are non-כשר , He had something very special in mind.

ר‘ ברכי‘ explained that in the days of משיח , ה‘ is going to make a special meal for צדיקים . People who are careful to eat only כשר food now, will be allowed to eat from that meal. This is what משה רבינו had in mind when he gave the מצוה , telling us which animals we can eat. He wanted us all to eat כשר in order to have the זכות and be able to eat at this very special meal.

 

There are six שבתות between פסח and שבועות .  It is a מנהג to learn a פרק of פרקי אבות each שבת afternoon in preparation for שבועות . The חב“ד מנהג is to continue this through the summer, until ראש השנה . This is to remind us that even though summer is a more relaxed time, the weather is warm and we don’t have school, we must not be relaxed in our  אידישקייט and we must make sure to improve and not ח“ו the opposite.

This week, we say פרק א‘ .

Rabbi מרדכי Dubin was a well known חסיד of the פריערדיקער רבי . He was an extremely talented man and at one time he held two high positions in the Lithuanian government. In fact he used his influence to help save the Rebbe's life, free him from prison and get him out of Russia.

But his talents made him a target of the communists as well and he too was imprisoned a few times and came close to being killed.

He had been imprisoned for several months already in one of the several thousand prisons in communist Russia in a dark, cold, concrete cell with eight or nine other 'criminals'. They knew that any minute they could be sentenced to terrible punishments: many years labor in Siberia or even ח“ו to death.

Suddenly the iron door opened, "DUBIN!"

Two guards stood at the open door behind an official who took one step into the room and was reading from a paper. "מרדכי Dubin? On your feet! Come with us!"

Was this the end? Would he never see his family or friends again? He stood upright, walked to the door. It was pointless to argue or to plead. Exactly the opposite, his only chance was to show them that he was not afraid.

He said words of תניא by heart as he walked down the corridor and with every step he became filled with a strange pride. He was far superior to his captors. They were animals, worse than animals, living a lie; they were really dead. But he was attached to life, to infinite, undying truth. He was a follower of a true servant of ה‘ ; the only man in Russia to defy Stalin; the Lubavitcher Rebbe!

"DUBIN!" Another voice broke his thoughts. He looked up to see he was standing near the main entrance of the prison. They would probably take him outside and shoot him. Just throw him in the snow somewhere for the wolves and dogs to drag him away.

"Your name is מרדכי Dubin?"

"Yes" he answered firmly.

A smile came across the face of the officer speaking to him. "Congratulations", he said as he handed him an envelope "Your period of correction is over. Here are your papers of discharge and a few other things."

He nodded to the guards at the door and they began to open the massive iron door.

"But, my clothes? My clothes? At least a coat?" As the words came out he knew it was a mistake.

"Ahhh! He wants to stay," smiled the officer. "Close the..."

"No, no!" he whispered as he moved toward the door. They opened it a bit more and he slipped out into the bitter cold grabbing the envelope in his fist. It was freezing cold.

The iron door closed behind him and he heard the laughter of the guards. It must have been after midnight. In the distance he could vaguely see the outline of a nearby town, lucky the moon was full.

He put the envelope in his shirt and began to run. He had to keep moving, it was his only chance to keep from freezing. The snow wasn't too deep...another blessing! He hugged himself to keep warm and ran.

He wasn't used to running; in ישיבה there was no running, but he ran. The night was spinning around him, he got out of breath quickly, he couldn't breathe but he ran. He tripped, rolled on the ground, his nose was bleeding, his knees hurt but he stood up and ran again.

Finally he was there. Who knows how many times he had fallen. He knew that his only chance was to find a איד . No one else would open the door, especially not at two in the morning. He was shivering uncontrollably. A איד . A איד would open for a איד . It was his only hope. Aha! A door with a מזוזה !!!

He began knocking, pounding. His head was spinning. But he mustn't wake the non-Jewish neighbours - they could kill him. "ראטעוועט ! ראטעוועט ", he said. He pressed his mouth to the door and whispered as loud as possible "ראטעוועט !!".

He was going numb. He didn't feel his feet at all. It must be twenty below zero, up to now he hadn't noticed any wind. He gave thanks to ה‘ for that, no wind up till now. And with his last ounce of strength he knocked for the last time.

A small hole opened at the side of the door and closed. He heard the man say to his wife in אידיש , "A drunken meshugana! Prison clothes, no coat, saw our מזוזה , pretends to be a איד ."

Rabbi Dubin slid slowly down, he couldn't stand anymore. His face pressed to the door until he was huddled up in a ball on the ground near the door. His strength was gone. He would go to sleep. It wasn't so hard. He stopped shivering, closed his eyes and said his last "שמע ישראל " thankful to ה‘ that at least he wouldn't die in jail. Maybe he'd get a אידישע burial. Maybe...

Suddenly he opened his eyes. Wait a minute!!!

A terrible thought occurred to him.

"When this איד opens his door tomorrow morning and sees me dead at his doorstep and realizes that I'm Jewish, he will never forgive himself! Never!! I know how I would feel!!! I can't let that happen!"

He stood again and began pounding with all his might, yelling in אידיש . "It's no trick!! I'm מרדכי Dubin. My mother's name is such and such and my father's is such and such. Let me in! Let a איד in!! שמע ישראל ה‘ אלוקינו.... "

The door opened and he fell in the house, almost unconscious but alive and safe.

His love for another איד actually saved his own life!!!

 

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