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I was mystified as to the meaning of this message. I had not asked the Rebbe any questions recently, yet it sounded almost as if the Rebbe was answering me on certain points. I wondered what it all meant.
Rabbi Aharon Dov Halperin
This week we marked Yud-Aleph (11) Nissan, the birthday of the Rebbe. The seventh in the Chabad dynasty, the Rebbe furthered the movement’s ideals – outreach and dissemination of Torah Judaism throughout the world. Each year, mitzvah tanks roll down the streets of Manhattan in celebration, while in Chabad Houses everywhere matzah for the upcoming Passover holiday is distributed in the Rebbe’s honor.
The Avner Institute presents a stirring anecdote by Rabbi Aharon Dov Halperin, concerning an interview, cryptic message, and Brooklyn court case over the Rebbe’s library – all of which reverberated throughout Israel, showing the Rebbe’s massive influence over politics, as well as religion.
“The Cure Shall Precede”
Rabbi Aharon Dov Halperin relates:
It was early winter 5747 (1987) when I received an unexpected telephone call from the late Rabbi Chaim Mordechai Chodakov, the Rebbe’s secretary. He read me a very curious message from the Rebbe. This wasn’t a response from the Rebbe to something I had written in a letter, rather isarusa de’laeila (awakening from above).
Interview Rabbi Elberg?! After so many weeks!
Continuation with the Seforim from that which is occurring in the Holy Land, and without delay; and the cure shall precede [the injury], etc., for the dissemination of the wellsprings and the dissemination of Judaism, etc. and only the nimble, etc. [can be quickened], and immediately and instantaneously inform [me] in order, to mention it [the matter] at the Tzion [graveside of the Frierdiker (Previous) Rebbe].
I was mystified as to the meaning of this message. I had not asked the Rebbe any questions recently, yet it sounded almost as if the Rebbe was answering me on certain points. I wondered what it all meant.
The Interview
In fact, the meaning of the first sentence was fairly clear. The story behind it began at the Yud-Tes (19) Kislev Farbrengen [celebrating the release of the first Lubavitcher Rebbe from prison], which had taken place about five weeks earlier. At that time, three microphones used to be situated in front of the Rebbe. The first served as a microphone for the congregation of the shul (770), the second was used by the international live hookup lines which connected communities around the world to the Rebbe’s Farbrengen, and the third provided a live hookup to a radio station in New York City.
Occasionally, when certain individuals approached the Rebbe in the middle of a Farbrengen to speak to him, the Rebbe would cover the microphone with his hand so as to ensure that the public could not hear the conversation. Sometimes the Rebbe silenced only the microphone of the shul while the other microphones of the live hook-ups remained open. Nevertheless, they could not relay much of the conversation, as the singing of the niggunim [melodies] drowned out most of the dialogue.
That year, I had merited to be present at the Yud-Tes Kislev Farbrengen, and when it came to an end in the early hours of the morning, I returned to the place where I was staying. The following morning, I received a telephone call from my friend, Rabbi Naftoli Greenwald, a resident of Crown Heights.
“Do you know that you need to interview Rabbi Simcha Elberg?” he asked.
“No,” I replied. “Why?”
“Well,” answered Reb Naftoli, “yesterday I was listening to a live recording of the Farbrengen on the radio while I was out in my car. Towards the end of the Farbrengen, in the midst of the singing, I was able to hear someone speaking to the Rebbe. I recognized the voice as that of Rabbi Elberg.
“I wasn’t able to hear the conversation, I assume, because the Rebbe’s hand was covering the microphone, but I distinctly overheard the last sentence. Rabbi Elberg must have been moving away from the Rebbe, when the Rebbe suddenly spoke to him quite loudly.”
“What has this to do with me?” I interjected.
“You see,” replied Reb Naftoli. “I heard the Rebbe say this to Rabbi Elberg: `Aron Dov Halperin, the editor of Kfar Chabad, is over here [at the moment]. Give him an interview.”
Understandably, I was excited as a result of the information I had just received. However, I was unsure of what action to take. After all, I had not received any direct “instructions” from the Rebbe. It was only by chance that Reb Naftoli happened to inform me of the discussion he had overheard between the Rebbe and Rabbi Elberg.
I went straight to 770 to daven Shacharis while pondering my predicament. Yet, before I had finished davening, my problem was resolved. While I was still there, Rabbi Leibel Groner, the Rebbe’s other secretary, sent someone to find me. Rabbi Groner informed me that the previous day, during the Farbrengen, the Rebbe had told Rabbi Elberg to provide me with the opportunity to interview him.
“The Rebbe said that you should not wait until Rabbi Elberg approaches you,” said Rabbi Groner. “Rather, you should contact him and ask for an interview. It is logical to assume that he will agree.”
Without any hesitation, I immediately called Rabbi Elberg, introduced myself, and requested an interview with him. He consented immediately and informed me that the Rebbe had spoken to him about an interview. Rabbi Elberg asked me how long I was staying in New York. I answered that I was unsure, but I said, “Since you say that the Rebbe spoke to you about the interview, I would be happy to interview you at the earliest opportunity.”
If I remember correctly, we arranged a meeting for four or five days later. During this time, I received further instructions from the Rebbe through Rabbi Groner concerning which topics to discuss during the interview, the main topic of which was Who is a Jew? [Jewish identity by legal criteria: Jewish mother or Orthodox conversion.] A few days later, the interview took place as planned.
Back then, means of communication were not as sophisticated as they are at present. Our offices were not yet computerized, and as Rabbi Elberg had asked to see the interview before its publication, everything became delayed. It was at this point that I received the Rebbe’s unexpected message. When I read the first sentence, I realized what the Rebbe meant.
Allowing no further delay, the interview with Rabbi Elberg was published in its entirety in the subsequent issue of Kfar Chabad, which came out two days later. The article was entitled, “If the Orthodox politicians presented an ultimatum, the issue of Who is a Jew would be corrected within 48 hours.”
Victory
However, when I looked over the second sentence of the Rebbe’s letter, I was totally mystified. For instance, I did not understand the meaning of continuation with the Seforim from that which is occurring the Holy Land. The sentence The cure shall precede also meant nothing to me. When I asked Rabbi Chodakov’s opinion, he told me to call him back an hour later. When I did so, matters became slightly clearer.
During the previous week, the testimony of witnesses in the court case of the Seforim [that were stolen from the library of Agudas Chassidei Chabad] had concluded. The hearing had commenced three weeks earlier, on Yud-Tes Kislev. During this period, I happened to be in New York, and Rabbi Groner informed me that on various occasions, the Rebbe had shown an interest as to whether or not I had been present in the courtroom during the trial.
During the concluding testimonies of the witnesses, just before (the commencement of) the closing statements, I received, for the first time, direct instructions from the Rebbe to write about the court case.
The Rebbe asked me to describe the chain of events, the atmosphere and impressions of the court chamber, and our optimism and confidence in our success. The Rebbe wanted this account to be published in that week’s issue.
That day I was intending to return to Israel. I read my freshly written article over the telephone to my friend Rabbi Aharonov in Israel, who was then the manager of the magazine. The headline read “Optimism and Confidence Amongst Chabad Chassidim Worldwide that the Just will be Victorious.”
Rabbi Chodakov explained that this was what the Rebbe meant by the words Continuation with the Seforim from that which is occurring in the Holy Land.
770 Twin
The problem of the Seforim first came to light around Yud-Beis (12) Tammuz [release of the Previous Rebbe from Soviet prison] of the previous year. In connection with this, the Rebbe had requested the construction of a building in Kfar Chabad for Agudas Chassidei Chabad that would be described as the “twin” of 770. On Yud-Beis Tammuz, Agudas Chassidei Chabad [in Israel] were placed in a temporary building, which the council of Kfar Chabad had set aside for this purpose, until the new construction was completed.
Rabbi Chodakov explained, “This is what the Rebbe wishes you to write about. In the previous issue, you wrote your impressions about your last visit to New York, in which you described the activities and proprietorship of Agudas Chassidei Chabad. In connection with this, and in order to obtain a clear and complete picture of the situation, it would be correct to continue with a report to the readers about the ‘twin’ of Agudas Chassidei Chabad—the building in Kfar Chabad and the services and activities it provides to the community.”
Rabbi Chodakov did not only provide me with a general idea, but also with detailed instructions as to what to mention in the article. He told me to stress the following points:
In the building a large number of young men learn on a permanent basis, and shiurim [classes] in both nigleh [revealed Torah] and Chassidus take place regularly.
The building contains a large, growing library which serves the entire community, and especially the students of Torah and Chassidus.
Prayer services and Farbrengens take place with many participants.
All the functions of the building, including the library, will be transferred in their entirety to the new building of Agudas Chassidei Chabad in Kfar Chabad.
Now I understood must of the Rebbe’s message. However, the words and the cure shall precede, etc. remained unclear.
Finding the Cure
In the end, I had to wait less than a week for the explanation.
Suddenly, without any warning and without precedent, Shulamith Aloni (former member of the Knesset, who was a founding member of the extreme left-wing, anti-religious party) began a virulent public attack against the Chabad movement. She complained that the Department of Education had no right to allow Chabad lecturers to enter public schools to teach Judaism.
It was the start of a public debate which lasted for a few weeks. I cannot be sure if her accusations were connected with the case of the Seforim. However, I personally could not help but “put two and two together” and connect the incident with the answer I had received from the Rebbe a week earlier:
Continuation with the Seforim from that which is occurring in the Holy Land, and without delay; and the cure shall precede, etc. [the injury], for the dissemination of the wellsprings and the dissemination of Judaism, etc.
Yet, this is not the end of the story.
A year earlier, on the 25th of Kislev, I heard on the radio that Shulamit Aloni had suddenly announced her resignation from the Knesset, and from politics in general. My subconscious refused to let me forget the date. As it kept nagging at me, I felt the need to research and investigate. Sure enough, I discovered that on the 25th of Kislev 5746, exactly ten years earlier, Shulamit Aloni had begun her campaign against the activities of Chabad.
As it says in the Book of Psalms (2:4): He Who sits in Heaven will laugh.
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