Thank You Rabbi Lipskar For Standing by My Side

Rabbi Lipskar, with zero hesitation, replied, “I’ll make a deal with you on behalf of the Rebbe. If you start learning a Torah shiur with a friend who wouldn’t otherwise be joining a shiur every week, it’s going to be the good diagnosis.”

So I called my friend Zalmi Duchman and said, “Let’s do a shiur together.” He immediately agreed. We started learning once a week with my brother Aryeh, and two weeks later, the diagnosis came back — and it was, of course, the better diagnosis.

Four years later, we’ve never missed a shiur — other than when I was away, and even then we did it over email — and that family member is, thank G-d, doing great.

When the news first came out about my legal situation, there was unfortunately a cloud of doubt surrounding some of the circumstances, with some very false and very serious allegations being made. Rabbi Lipskar’s support for me was unwavering and steadfast, from the beginning to the end of the ordeal.

In March of 2023, I was sentenced to a prison term for insider trading. At one point during my time in prison camp (which BH ended up lasting only 84 days), I wasn’t in the greatest place, not knowing when I would be going home and having not seen my family members in over a month, as my visiting privileges had been cruelly taken away. Rabbi Lipskar himself got on a plane and made the trek to visit me at the Federal Correctional Institution in Otisville, New York. It’s not an easy trip to make, but of course, that didn’t stop him. He sat with me for a long period of time while I cried with him and he comforted me. He literally held me in his arms, the way a father would hold his child, lifting me up. When he left, I was like a different person.

Almost exactly one month later, I was standing in his office at The Shul back home in Miami, hugging him, and this time crying tears of joy and gratitude.

There is an amazing Rabbi Lipskar story that I experienced personally and shared recently. Throughout my whole legal ordeal, my friend Zalmi stood behind me publicly—and took a lot of heat for it. He called me up one day, and said, “I need you to send me your Hebrew name, and the names of your family members. I’m going to the Ohel, and I’m going to ask the Rebbe for a sign whether I’m doing the right thing.”

He later called me and said, “The Rebbe just spoke to me!” As he left the Ohel, he stopped by the welcome center at the Ohel, where a video of the Rebbe constantly plays. On the screen, there was a video of philanthropist Sami Rohr speaking to the Rebbe during a yechidus for donors of the Machne Israel Development Fund.

Sami Rohr: “I came to thank the Rebbe — a big thank you, because the Rebbe in his talk on the second day of Shavuos said that every person should teach a class with others. Rabbi Lipskar in Miami strongly encouraged me to teach people. I now give a class. And in my entire life, I haven’t learned as much as I do now, because I have to prepare for the class!”

The Rebbe: “That’s a very good thing. A very good thing.”

Sami Rohr: “It’s very good, and for this I came just to tell the Rebbe: thank you. A big thank you.”

The Rebbe: “You should add a few minutes to the class. My influence should be recognizable.”

Zalmi was completely blown away, because as people continued to criticize him for defending me, he had gone to Rabbi Lipskar for advice. Rabbi Lipskar had told him emphatically and without any hesitation, “Stand behind him 100% as I am doing, I know the truth and the truth will come out!”

So Zalmi was blown away by this double sign — here he sees a video where the Rebbe is discussing Rabbi Lipskar and discussing starting a shiur, which we had done together on Rabbi Lipskar’s advice as part of our “deal” regarding my family member’s health situation.

A few hours later, Zalmi found the video he had seen at the Ohel and sent it to me, and my world changed.

As I am watching the video, it zooms in on Sami Rohr’s name tag, and I recognized the name tag right away. As a child, I would join my father, Tuvia Schottenstein, and my uncle, William (Billy) Schottenstein, for these special moments with the Rebbe. And then I see myself in the background in the video, right in between Sami and the Rebbe. I was nine years old, visible right in the crook of the Rebbe’s holy arm. I excitedly called Zalmi, shouting, “I am in the video!!” We were both dumbstruck. A clearer message could not have been received.

After that, I always felt that the Rebbe was caring for me, and Rabbi Lipskar’s brachos to me on behalf of the Rebbe all came to fruition, both with regards to the health of my family member and with regards to the legal situation and the truth coming out.

Whenever I encountered an obstacle the rest of the way I thought back to this story and immediately felt better knowing the Rebbe was carrying me. When I shared the story with Rabbi Lipskar and showed him the video, he wasn’t one bit surprised. He said, “Of course, the Rebbe is carrying you. What did you think?”

There are so many pieces to Rabbi Lipskar’s legacy, with Aleph being one of them. It’s hard to comprehend what Rabbi Lipskar created with that organization alone. While I was always a supporter of Aleph, I never imagined that the organization would become such an important part of my family’s life. Our support now extends beyond just financial support, as my wife and I are actively involved with advocacy and other projects. Over the last two years, any time we have had a big win on the advocacy front, I would run to share it with Rabbi Lipskar. You could see the true joy it brought him, his smile radiating and lighting up the room. I certainly plan on doing my part to help continue Rabbi Lipskar’s incredible legacy and will help to grow it tremendously. As Rabbi Lipskar always said, “Get it done!” and “Over the top!” There is no other way!

 

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