Why did the Rebbe send a devoted follower to a place out of the ordinary? What was the Rebbe trying to accomplish? The Avner Institute presents the moving story of Hendel Lieberman, famed Chasidic artist, whose trip to Paris under the Rebbe’s careful directive and whose encounter with a lost soul taught him the power of the Rebbe’s vision.
In loving memory of Hadassah Lebovic A”h
“To Return Completely”
Hendel Lieberman, who passed away in 1976, was a well-known Chabad Chasidic artist and disciple of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Trained in the Moscow Academy of Art, Reb Hendel became noted for his lively, colorful portrayals of shtetl life. His paintings, with their trademark scenes, hang today in the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, London’s Tate Gallery, and Paris museums.
For Reb Hendel, who had lost his wife and two daughters in the Holocaust, his paintings were a source of solace, enabling him to forge a connection with a lost world. Following the tragic events of the war, a broken Reb Hendel arrived in New York. The Rebbe breathed new life into him: Reb Hendel not only revived his art career, but used his work to inspire others and draw fellow Jews back to Judaism.
Strange Visit
Reb Hendel was once invited to attend a Paris exhibition where many prominent artists were to display their works. Before accepting the invitation, he requested the advice of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, who instructed him to attend but not to stay at the hotel where the exhibition was being held — rather, at another one nearby. Reb Hendel did as the Rebbe asked. Renting a room, he brought with him enough kosher provisions for the duration.
His paintings proved to be popular among the viewers. His appearance especially, attracted attention: a rabbi of the “old generation,” with side locks and a pious look.
During his spare time, Reb Hendel sat in his hotel room studying Torah. One day, while poring over a volume, he heard a knock at the door. A middle-aged stranger stood there and asked for a few minutes of his time. Curiously, Reb Hendel ushered him in.
“May I borrow your tallit and tefillin?” the man asked.
Reb Hendel was startled, since the man did not look Jewish. Nevertheless, he happily complied. The man took the pair, thanked Rabbi Hendel, and returned to his hotel room down the hall.
Later in the day, while passing by the man’s room, Reb Hendel heard sounds of sobbing. He was tempted to inquire, but decided that the man, engrossed in spiritual communion, was in need of privacy.
An hour later, the man knocked on Reb Hendel’s door. “Here they are,” he said, tallit and tefillin in hand. “Thank you again.” His eyes were red and his face full of emotion, but Reb Hendel pretended not to notice.
Melodies & Memories
The man came by over the next few days, always asking to borrow Rabbi Hendel’s tallit and tefillin. His curiosity aroused, Rabbi Hendel engaged the man in conversation.
The man sighed. “In my youth, I had been a yeshiva student.” Seduced by the gods of communism, he left Judaism completely and pursued a career in art, eventually becoming successful. When he arrived at the hotel for the exhibition, he had passed by Reb Hendel’s room and heard the familiar melodies – which untapped a flood of memories.
The man described his Chasidic parents who had observed all the commandments. “The home had been filled with such warmth, the Sabbath and holidays the highlights of their lives,” he said. No longer able to suppress his feelings, he decided to borrow the tallit and tefillin from Reb Hendel. As the longing for his childhood faith grew within him, he could not let a day pass without prayer.
Reb Hendel was deeply moved. At last he understood the scope of the Rebbe’s vision. This was why the Rebbe had asked him to participate in the exhibition and to stay in that hotel. The Rebbe, with his special sensitivity, had foreseen that another Jew would be there — a Jew whose soul Reb Hendel was assigned to reignite. Reb Hendel’s presence caused the man to remember his past and return to his Creator.
At the close of the exhibition, the two men parted and Reb Hendel returned to his home in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. He wrote to the Rebbe about all that had happened, and how a fellow artist had been inspired to return to Judaism.
Not long afterward, Reb Hendel was dumbfounded to read in a newspaper that this artist had passed away. The Rebbe had sent Reb Hendel on a special mission — to help this man return to G-d completely in his final days.
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