“My Encounter” Books now Online

Due to public demand, The Jaffe family has made available online all of Zalmon Jaffe’s unedited books of “My Encounter With The Rebbe.”

To whet your appetite, the following are excerpts from his famous books about his many encounters with the Rebbe and his wife Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson and the daily life and routine in 770.

From encounter 25:

“Rabbi Chadakov (Z.Tz.L.) once told me – “I always wished that there had been someone like you, Zalmon, during the lifetime of the Alter Rebbe (Z.Tz.L.)

We possess ample records of his writings – the Tanya, Shulchan Oruch, Sichos and Maamorim, but no one has described to us – for posterity – the daily and even routine matters and occurrences that took place at the headquarters of Lubavitch in those early days just as you narrate the daily events at 770 in “Your Encounter with the Rebbe.”

“Even today, your first installments are already history.”

And that in essence, was the point of his books. He wrote 26 of them. Amazingly, there were no repetitions, and the Rebbe always encouraged him to continue writing, and increase in quantity every year. So much so, that when he hit Encounter 25, it contained 328 pages!

And besides all that, there are of course the stories, of the most incredible of relationships with our Rebbe and Rebbetzin, a relationship of friendship, care, devotion and of course, most importantly, the humour.

This is shown in the following excerpt from encounter 6:

“Last year the Rebbe gave me a Brocha “iber dem kop” which really means that the blessings should be unlimited. I suggested to the Rebbe that I was very satisfied last year and that I would like the “same again please?” The Rebbe was keenly disappointed. “Have you no ambition?” he said and added “next year will be even better.”

The Rebbe disclosed that he had read my Diary which he had enjoyed. He then made the correction about “taking a drink before going to the Beth Olam”. (See page 1 of that diary).

The Rebbe also ‘suggested’ that I should include more Torah in future editions. I hope that the Rebbe will be pleased with my efforts in this ‘Encounter.’ I do not have to quote the Maamorim nor the out-standing sichas which are, of course, printed and distributed all over the world even in the English language. I then hinted to the Rebbe that I should now discontinue to write these diaries. It would be better to concentrate on editing the previous editions and printing them into one book. In any case, it was becoming difficult to find new material every year.

The Rebbe asserted that whether I intended to publish this book or not, did not make any difference. I had already published five installments so I had a chazoko. (If one did a certain action three times or more – this constituted a chazoko, which could only be ‘broken’ with the permission of the Beth Din). Therefore, the Rebbe was looking forward to seeing my ‘Encounter 1974’ otherwise I would have to attend the Beth Din to be ‘matir neder’ (literally to get my vows annulled). So I must carry on writing. And with the Rebbe’s Brocha I would certainly find something new (and how!).

The Rebbe then asked me why I had sent him five bottles of vodka. “Was it for five children?” “No,” I answered, “the reason is quite a simple one. We were allowed to bring with us five bottles free of duty, so the price is very cheap, and as a businessman, I thought why should not Jewish people have this benefit. Therefore I sent them to the Rebbe.” “But what shall I do with them?” questioned the Rebbe. I suggested to him that after the Farbrengen, the Rebbe should take them home and take a glassful every night. The Rebbe revealed that “Mrs. Schneerson would be surprised to see me drinking vodka. I don’t like it and I don’t drink vodka.”

And lastly, just a small piece about the Rebbetzin, showing this friendship, and concern, from Encounter 25:

“On every occasion we visited Crown Heights we always saw the Rebbetzen at her home in 1304 President Street, accompanied by some of our grandchildren.

She treated us like royalty with plenty of cake, fruit, soda and ice cream for the children and Russian tea for the adults. It took us many years before we realised that neither we nor the Rebbetzen ever drank this tea.

The Rebbetzen was of the opinion that English people loved their tea and therefore she served this to us. We certainly love our tea, as long as it was of the English variety – together with milk.

We used to phone the Rebbetzen regularly every single Friday at 3.45 p.m our time – 10.45 a.m in New York. To save any hassle and expense she would always be sitting by the telephone when I rang. So, I made certain that I phoned exactly on the dot of 3.45 p.m.

We would also discuss the contents of my weekly, Friday letter to the Rebbe which was received every Wednesday.

I had been very ill and the Rebbetzen asked me how I was feeling. I gave her a glowing report but she was not fully convinced and she interrupted me by saying, “Please let me speak to Roselyn so I can obtain an unbiased opinion.”

She cheered me up one day by saying, “Mr. Jaffe, all those (people) whom you mention in your book are generally annoyed, but those whom you do not mention are insulted.”

I asked the Rebbetzen whether the Rebbe disturbed her when he came home at 4.30 a.m early morning from 770. She replied, “Oh no, I always wait up for him.”

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These excerpts are just samples of the incredible stories.

All the the ‘Encounters’, and the ‘Mr Manchester’ book, of the Rebbe’s letters to Zalmon Jaffe, can be accessed at http://zalmonjaffeencounters.com/

with special thanks to Yisrolik Kievman for helping to prepare the Encounters for going online.