5 Black Boxes in the Rebbe’s Room

Rabbi Moshe Rabin, Executive Director of Rohr Bais Chaya Academy in Tamarac, FL

I last saw Rabbi Binyomin Klein, the long-time secretary of the Rebbe, at the Ohel on Wednesday afternoon last week.

I grew up in Edgware, on the edge of London, where his daughter came on Shlichus when I was just turning Bar Mitzva. I was a talmid by his son-in-law, Rabbi Mendel Gordon in London and a ben-bayis by his son-in-law, Rabbi Levi Garelik.

As a bochur, it was at his table that I have made kiddush nearly every Shabbos and then rushed back to 770 for the farbrengen. I had the zechus of spending every Pesach and Tishrei since 5748 in Crown Heights.

He knew how to keep a secret. He would listen, absorb but never reveal any information related to the Rebbe except on rare occasions. But as I look back, he is responsible for many aspects of my life. He gave me the Rebbe’s answer that sent me flying to New York on Beis Shvat, 5752 to be a bachur in Oholei Torah. He guided me in how to write to the Rebbe in 5754, when my shlichus from Oholei Torah to Russia had some hiccups.

He is the one who told me that the Rebbe used honey on Shemini Atzeres. He was my source on the Rebbe’s health after Chof Zayin Adar, but it was more what he didn’t say, that provided the correct information.

He was just a few steps away from me, as I stood behind the Rebbe’s chair on the eve of Adar 27th, and that long pause in the middle of krias shema, that felt like hours but was only a few minutes is forever etched in my memory…….

It was as from his table -during a Halachic discussion between himself and Rabbi Chaim Gutnick OBM, as to whether the Rebbe, our King, was permitted to come out in a wheelchair – that we ran to 770 on the 2nd night of Shavuos, 5752 to see our Rebbe in public, in his regal chair, for the first time since the stroke.

It was as his table, I heard Dr. Larry Resnick OBM, recount that the Rebbe used to amuse the speech therapist. When asked to repeat the words, ‘Bereishis and Shemos’, the Rebbe would smile and answer, “Vayikra, Bamidbar, Devarim.”

It was he who taught me, that when you write to the Rebbe, you should only give a multiple choice option, if you are prepared to follow all the choices listed (and the one you haven’t thought of).

It was he who taught me that the Rebbe looked forward to receiving the happy letters, the good news, especially the “good news” updates for the brochos that were fulfilled.

It was he that told me after Gimmel Tammuz, what the five black boxes on top of the Rebbe’s filing cabinet contained after years of nudging. They were filled with index cards, that during the Chof’s had enough space to contain the information of the entire Anash.

It was he who gave me the idea to hold the elevator door for the Rebbe, as he left shul and went upstairs.

It was he, who advised me after Gimmel Tammuz, where to go and learn S’micha.
His memory was unbelievable. His recollection of events from previous decades, his canny ability to strike up a conversation with anyone I introduced him to and his humility are a source of inspiration. He was a most dedicated Chosid and he will surely be first in line, accompanying the Rebbe, as he leads us to the Geulah for the final time.

May the family only know simchas from now on.