The Rebbes of Chabad and the Klozenberger Rebbe

In honor of Vov Tishrei, Rabbi Sholom Ber Schapiro shares a not-so-well known point of interest about the revolutionary “style of public learning and teaching” which the Rebbe instituted in honor of his mother, Rebbetzen Chana.

The Rebbe started to teach at his weekly farbreingens a Rashi sicha, and he did this every Shabbos for the first year after the Rebbetzen’s passing and then often throughout the years.

This new way – teaching Chumash and Rashi/p’shuto shel mikreh in public – was at first a shocking idea to the Jewish world.

The only other Jewish leader to have done so was the Klozenberger Rebbe – whose close connection with the Rebbe was well known. The Rebbe was very happy about this.

When the Klozenberger Rebbe, Admur Yekusiel Yehudah Halberstam, visited America for the first time in 1946, he met with the Frierdiker Rebbe. The topic of their discussion centered around the best ways possible to help the sh’eiris ha’pleita/the remnants of survivors who were still in Europe at the time, help in both material and spiritual matters. The Frierdiker Rebbe praised the Klozenberger Rebbe for his amazing and exemplary efforts on behalf of our brethren and showered him with great warmth and love.

Two years later, in 1948, the Frierdiker Rebbe sent a mazal tov letter to the Klozenberger Rebbe on the occasion of his marriage, on the 6th of Elul. (this was the Klozenberger Rebbe’s second marriage, as he tragically lost his first wife and eleven children at the hands of the Nazis y’sh).

The Klozenberger Rebbe writes a letter to the Frierdiker Rebbe, 29th Tishrei 1948 – addressing him in extremely warm and respectful terms, calling the Frierdiker Rebbe, “Dear friend, a friend of all Jews, and aspaklaria ha’me’ira/a clear looking glass, pure and shining and leader of the Jewish People.

“Greetings suitable for a great person: I was honored by his warm words on the occasion of my chuppah – a sign of special love, a reciprocal love which is reflected back to the one giving it. Accept my heartfelt thanks and in the merit of our holy ancestors, he should be blessed with abundant blessings from the source of all blessings – for good health and long life, so as to enable him to spread his activities and the light of Torah throughout the world and among his thousands of students, with his pure fear of Heaven in the tradition of our fathers.

“Hashem should gather us from all corners of the world and speedily bring our true redeemer.” Signature

The Rebbe and the Klozenberger Rebbe, some points:

Although the Rebbe never met face to face with the KLozenberger Rebbe, they nevertheless showed great interest in each other’s activities. One such point of interest is a fascinating personal audience that a delegation of Klozenberger chasidim and communal activists had with the Rebbe in 1980.

The Historic Treasures Thursday night program will touch on an interesting subject spoken about at this audience.

After a number of tragedies that occurred between Eretz Yisrael and Egypt, the Rebbe announced that the reason for these is that they are not careful about intermarriage in Eretz Yisrael and they are accepting as Jews those who are not halachically Jews.

The secular press and government officials went out strongly against the Rebbe for his stand and the Klozenberger Rebbe then went out publicly denouncing these attacks by the secular people and supporting the Rebbe and his honor.

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