The Avner Institute presents four insightful anecdotes on the special, intense bond between the current Rebbe and his saintly father-in-law – the latter’s continual, guiding influence over the new Rebbe, whose early signs of leadership included total reverence and humility toward his predecessor.
In loving memory of Hadassah Lebovic A”h
“Teeth problems”
Rabbi Yoel Kahan A”H relates:
During the initial period following the passing of the Previous Rebbe Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn – the “Rayatz” — many of us witnessed many miracles under the leadership of the new Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson. Yet as far as the “Ramash” was concerned, these miracles occurred solely in the merit of his father-in-law, so great was the new Rebbe’s humility and submission to the saintly Rayatz’s authority.
One miracle stood out which I have remembered vividly ever since – one that was obvious to all, yet one that the Ramash firmly attributed to his predecessor.
Tzvi Zahler, then a student at the Chabad yeshiva, was friendly with a young man who had once learned there but subsequently went a bit “off the derech,” as we say today, abandoning Torah observance. Now this man looked down upon those still in yeshiva, considering himself the enlightened one.
It was summer of 5710 (1950), and the Korean War was in the horizon. This young man became concerned that he might be drafted, since he lacked means of military exemption. So he approached Tzvi and asked what to do.
Tzvi asked casually, “Why don’t you go to the new Rebbe and ask for a blessing?”
The man spat, “Are you joking? What can he do?” He quickly added, “I’m not just referring to him. I thought the same thing about his father-in-law.”
Nevertheless, Tzvi persisted, so the man finally gave in and went.
At this time, there wasn’t yet any formal arrangement for yechidus, a private audience. Whoever wanted to speak with the new Rebbe could simply knock on the door and walk in.
So the young man knocked and entered. Shortly later he emerged with the smirk of someone who’d been proven right.
“You see?” he told Tzvi, who was standing among the man’s friends. “I knew in advance he couldn’t help me.”
Tzvi, bothered at the man’s derisiveness, asked him, “Were you in the mikvah today?” Chassidic men traditionally immerse themselves every morning – especially before meeting their Rebbe – in a ritual pool.
The man shrugged. “No.”
Tzvi scolded him. “Is that the way to go in to see the Rebbe?”
The young man, taken aback, followed the ritualistic instructions Tzvi proceeded to give him, along with other preparations before undertaking such an audience.
Yoke of Torah
After all the preparations, the young man again went to the Rebbe. This time he emerged in quite a different fashion. Outside his friends, including Tzvi, waited.
“Before anything else,” the man gasped, “the Rebbe told me, ‘It says (Avos 3:5): One who accepts upon himself the yoke of Torah is exempt from the yoke of government duties and the yoke of worldly cares. Therefore, you must take upon yourself to learn a page of Talmud each day.’”
The man continued his story. When asked by the Rebbe what he had in mind to say during the medical exam at the draft office, the man answered, “I told him I had heard once from my parents that I suffered from heart problems following my birth, so I’m thinking of complaining about heart pain.”
The Rebbe frowned. “That is not a good idea.”
The young man groped for another ailment. “Both my parents had eye problems. Maybe there is something hereditary?”
But the Rebbe nixed that idea also.
And so it went. No matter what the young man suggested, the Rebbe answered in the negative.
Finally the Rebbe asked him, “Did you ever have problems with your teeth?”
“No,” the man answered.
“What about your parents? Grandparents? Did any of them ever have teeth problems?”
The man shook his head.
“In that case,” the Rebbe said, “you should complain about teeth problems.”
The man was dumbfounded. Nevertheless, at the draft office he complained about teeth pain – and received a full military exemption!
A few days later I heard from Rabbi Nissan Mindel what the Rebbe told him:
“We literally see how the Rebbe the shver [father-in-law] is with us in a manner that’s greater than during his lifetime. And we are witnessing open miracles on his part – much greater than what we witnessed before his passing.
“Here, for example, was a young man who requested an exemption from the military, and he complained there about tooth pain – something totally irrelevant to him. Nevertheless he received a full exemption.”
“Leader of the generation”
The renowned Chassid Shlomo Aharon Kazarnovky would farbreng in the zal, the private office upstairs in 770, after the meal on Motzei Yom Kippur. Among the stories he regularly related during that farbrengen was the following:
On 26 Teves 5711 (1951) the American press announced that Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson was expected to formally assume the Chabad leadership at the upcoming date of 10 Shevat, the first yahrzeit of the Previous Rebbe.
The Rebbe responded by summoning Rabbi Hodakov and bidding him call the newspaper offices and relay a denial in his name.
Rabbi Hodakov, taken aback, called three of elders – Rabbis Shmuel Levitin, Yisroel Jacobson, and Shlomo Aharon Kazarnovsky – relating the Rebbe’s instructions, and adding, “I don’t know what to do.”
The three men immediately entered the Rebbe’s office, where Shlomo Aharon burst out heartrendingly: “What is the Rebbe doing to us?”
He continued to cry and plead before the Rebbe for a half hour. Rabbi Levitin also argued, “All that was written in the papers was that the Chassidim have accepted the Rebbe as their leader and submitted a document affirming their connection. Isn’t this fact undeniably true?”
But Shlomo Aharon continued pleading, “Even if the Rebbe refuses to accept the Chabad leadership, the Rebbe should at least refrain from placing a denial in the papers.”
Solemnly the Rebbe assented.
The Dream
Several days before 10 Shevat, Shlomo Aharon had a dream. The Previous Rebbe appeared to him, along with his son-in-law. The Rayatz turned to the Ramash and intoned, “You should be the Rebbe.” But the Ramash refused.
The Rayatz sternly quoted Exodus 14:15: “G-d said to Moshe – G-d tells the leader of the generation, ‘Why do you cry out to Me?’ For you are the leader of the generation. ‘Speak to the children of Israel.’ Say a discourse of Chassidus, ‘and let them travel’ – and you will lead them until the arrival of Moshiach.”
The next morning, Shlomo Aharon arrived at 770 and submitted a note to the Rebbe in which he wrote down all the details of his dream. Shortly later, the Rebbe summoned him with the words “yasher koach!” (Thank you for it!)
The elders, standing nearby, nodded. “This is clearly an indication. The Rebbe has finally agreed to fulfill the request of Chabad Chassidim and accept the leadership role openly.”
Sure enough, on the eve of 10 Shevat, the Rebbe entered the farbrengen that ultimately because the event formally ratifying his leadership. Rabbis Shlomo Aharon Kazarnovsky and Ephraim Yolles walked behind him.
At the end of the farbrengen, Shlomo Aharon awaited the Rebbe near the entrance and wished him “Mazel tov!” The Rebbe answered with a smile.
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