Tears for Fears

Mendel Futerfas was a prisoner in Soviet labor camps for 14 years for religious activities.
He once related that on one occasion his fellow prisoners were sitting around recounting their previous lives. All were understandably bitter and depressed over loss of their freedom, contact with family, etc. One after another they tearfully lamented their fate and how they low they had been brought down by their imprisonment. All except one - Reb Futerfas. Finally someone opined that since Reb Futerfas was not complaining, it meant that he must have been not a great achiever before, when he was a free man, and so now he did not have much to lament over.

To this Reb Futerfas replied that he too had achieved a measure of material success before his arrest, he had successfully run a business, and that of course he also missed his family. He then added - "but my main concern in life is to be an "oved Hashem" - to serve G-d, before they imprisoned me I was doing it as a free man, as a businessman, etc. Now I'm doing it as a prisoner but my main occupation has not changed, I'm still trying to be G-d's servant, albeit under very different and trying circumstances."

A diferent type of horse

It’s not about “getting across the river safely”

Rabbi Mendel Futerfass was a Chabad Chassid imprisoned in Siberia for Jewish activities. He suffered terribly but afterwards would say that those were the best years of his life.

One of the prisoners in his camp was an old Cossack. The Cossacks were usually rabid anti-Semites but ‘misery loves company’. One cold winter night he opened his heart to Rav Mendel and reminisced about….his horse.

His eyes became moist and his voice emotional.

“A Cossack horse!!! There is nothing like it! A regular horse could cost five rubles. A workhorse -- up to ten. But a Cossack horse cost five hundred, six hundred !!

“The Cossack horse was totally different, A Cossack’s horse had a different heart!

“It would do anything for its master: jump into the fire, over trees, etc. It was stronger, faster, and braver than anything alive.

“But most of all, it had a different heart.

“I will explain,” continued the Cossack.

“How did they catch a Cossack horse? This is a story!”

“They were experts at this. They would wander the mountains and fields on horseback looking for wild horses.

“If they found a large herd of a thousand or two thousand horses, they would chase them to get them running towards the nearest river. Sometimes they would run for days until they got there, but when they did they would start screaming and shooting in the air and force the herd into the widest, deepest part of the river. Horses can swim and had to get across the current to the other side, or die.

“Another group of Cossacks was waiting on the other side and they would watch to see what the horses did.

“There were always three types of horses; the majority were the regular horses that made it to the other side and ran away to live their lives. Then there were older horses that couldn’t get across and drowned. The young horses had stamina but not the strength to cross over, so they just floundered in the middle of the river.”

His voice became serious.

“But sometimes… there was a fourth type; only one or two at the most, that were sort of crazy horses.

“They would make it across, but instead of running away, they would turn around, look back into the river to see if there were horses in trouble and then jump BACK in to save them. They would swim to the young horses, grab them with their teeth by their mane and start dragging them in. They just couldn’t stand to see their fellow horses in danger.

The Cossacks would throw some paint on these special horses and chase them for days until they caught them. Then it would take several months to train them. But the main thing was the heart; it was a horse with a heart.

“This was a Cossack horse!!!”

Rav Mendel immediately got the point. The Cossack horse is a Chassid.

A Chassid has to be ‘crazy’ and risk everything for his fellow man; he can’t stand to see him in danger of drowning. He can’t bear to just live for himself; learn Torah and do the commandments just in order to cross the river of life and get into heaven.

A Chassid has a different heart which is the secret of “brotherly love” that the Baal Shem Tov strived to teach.

Reb Zusha's Lesson

Reb Zusha lived very modestly and was known for his selflessness. He did have a secret patron who, form time to time would slip the tzaddik a few coins, unbeknownst to him.

This patron’s business began to prosper and he thought to himself “if this poor man Zusha can do so much for me, why don’t I go to his teacher! Surely I’ll get even more good from him!”

He immediately made a donation to Dov Ber from Mezritch but the following day his affairs worsened. Not understanding what was happening, the businessman went back to Reb Zusha for an explanation which was as follows: “So long as a person supports others without making distinctions, likewise Hashem makes no distinctions. But as soon as as person gets choosy, Hashem starts acting the same way.”

The Rebbe's dollar opened her eyes...

Here is a story that occurred in Kfar Chabad some five years ago.

Mrs. Schecter was really blind. She had been a housewife, a school teacher and normal, loving mother to her large family... until she got the flu.

It was some sort of strange flu that just didn't stop and after several weeks of it she decided that she had better visit the hospital for tests.

But after another week of intensive examinations and various tests nothing unusual showed up. 'Ordinary Viral Flu' they called it and sent her home to let the disease take its course and just naturally fade away.

But it didn't.

In fact, a few days later she was reading a book in bed when suddenly the letters became fuzzy. She looked up at the clock on the wall and became a blur. And then, as though someone turned off the switch, the room suddenly turned black with a few vague gray shadows.

She had lost her sight.

She kept calm, told her children to call their father from work and she was back in the hospital shortly after.

But this time, after a day of concentrated and intensive testing the doctors weren't so optimistic. They solemnly announced that the prognosis was dismal. Most probably the flu had affected her brain. There was no treatment for her condition and... they felt obligated to tell her that... the blindness could be, that is, most probably was, permanent.

Mrs. Schecter, a religious Jew, believed strongly in Divine Providence; if this was G-d's will then she would certainly make the most of it. But she was also a Chassid of the Lubavitcher Rebbe that never took darkness for an answer.

There was only one way to be sure. She dictated to her children a letter to the Rebbe and had them insert it in one of the books of 'Igrot Kodesh'; (to date 23 volumes of letters that the Lubavitcher Rebbe answered to various questions in the first 18 of his 42 years as Rebbe.)

The letter ended with the words "And may G-d, blessed be He, return the light of her eyes".

The letter was her only thread of hope... but it was a very strong thread.

She learned to function without eyes. She already knew all of the prayers that we Jews say thrice daily by heart and it wasn't long before she learned how to cook, clean the house and function almost normally while continuing to search for and visit better doctors and experts. But it was in vain. All they could do was raise their hands in defeat and suggest that she should learn to read Braille.

Her friends, neighbors and family added special psalms to say for her recovery, others added in good deeds but the weeks and months passed with no change.

Her best friend wrote another letter to the Rebbe for advice and inserted it randomly in volume 8. It opened to a long letter (page 143) to someone that had problems with his eyes, advising him to add in the learning of Torah which illuminates the world, and also in the Chabad Chassidic teachings which illuminate the Torah.

Mr. Schecter added a new early-morning Chassidut class to his already crowded daily schedule. But still no change - none at all.

One Thursday afternoon there was a knock on her door. One of her children answered and when she opened the door standing there was a woman that no one had ever seen. She asked if this was the Schecter residence and asked if she could talk to the lady of the house.

Mrs. Schecter appeared, the strange woman entered, they sat opposite one another and she held out a dollar bill and begged Mrs. Schecter to take it; it was a dollar from the hand of the Lubavitcher Rebbe that would restore her sight.

But Mrs. Schecter was not impressed. She thanked the woman warmly but explained that she herself had been by the Rebbe several times for 'dollars' (every Sunday thousands of people stood in line to receive blessings and at least one dollar bill from the Rebbe to encourage them to also give charity.) and had several of her own.

"But this dollar was different!" the woman insisted. She related that she herself had once been terminally ill and when a friend of hers passed before the Rebbe one Sunday and requested a blessing for her the Rebbe handed her a dollar and replied, "This will be for a miraculous recovery."

Just days later she unexplainably and miraculously recovered and since then she had given this dollar to many seriously ill people with amazing results. So when she heard about Mrs. Schecter's tragic blindness she knew that this dollar would help.

Needless to say she agreed to take it.

Two days later on Shabbat afternoon as Mrs. Schecter was carefully setting the table for the afternoon meal groping for the knives and forks suddenly her eyes began to vibrate almost painfully. She put her hands to her eyes and began pressing. she didn't know what was happening. But there was first a flash of strong light and then...

She could see!!! When she took her hands away she could see! She could even read! It was as though nothing ever happened.

The news spread like wildfire in Kfar Chabad and just hours later their house was filled with an informal thanksgiving 'Farbrengan' (Chassidic get-together) that was unforgettable.

After Shabbat the word even spread to the Israeli media and reporters with filming crews rushed in to cover the story. Finally there was good news!

Two days later the woman who brought the dollar appeared, took it back and disappeared just as mysteriously as she had arrived. (Interestingly, to this day no one has any idea who she is.)

In My Father's Footsteps

by David Sacks

In 1946 my father had just finished his military service and was living in Los Angeles, and was just beginning a stint at UCLA.
It was summer time, the new term was about to begin, and my father was looking for a place to stay. He went to the fraternity closest to campus, gave them a deposit and began to unpack.
A short while later there was a knock at the door. It was one of the senior members of the fraternity. He quickly assessed the situation, and began hinting that my father "might be more comfortable elsewhere."
This seemed strange. My father just landed a spot as close as you could get to the campus - what could be "more comfortable" than that? My father assured him that he was happy there, but the man persisted, saying that it might be nicer to be around people "more like yourself." By way of example, he mentioned the name of the Jewish fraternity nearby.
Naively, my father explained that having just served in the United States Army, he had been exposed to all kinds of people, and enjoyed - even thrived - on diversity.
The man repeated that my father would feel more comfortable elsewhere, but this time it wasn't a suggestion. They were his parting words. He gave my father back his deposit and left the room.
Suddenly, my father understood. No Jews Allowed.
My father recalls how as he walked down the stairs, the ping-pong game in the rec room abruptly stopped, and everyone became uncomfortably silent. It stayed that way until he left the building.
But the real story begins with what happened next.
There was any number of places my father could have gone. While anti-Semitism was still a potent force in American society, the flood gates of assimilation were open, and tens of thousands of Jews were rushing through leaving their Jewishness behind. It would have been a perfect moment for my father to do the same. After all, if this is what comes with being Jewish, then who needs it?
But my father made the exact opposite choice. He went to the Jewish frat house on 741 Gayley Avenue and took up residence there.
Cut to Yom Kippur, 40 years later. After a very unlikely series of events, I, too, ended up in Los Angeles. While attending Harvard, I started writing for the Lampoon, and decided to do comedy writing. Even more improbably, after graduating with no job prospects, the phone rang. "Not Necessarily the News," a show on HBO, called, offering me a three-week trial period on their writing staff.
I didn't grow up observant, but my parents' instilled within me a strong sense of Jewish identity. As a child, I remember my mother saying "Shema" with me before I went to bed. I remember reading Hasidic stories from "Talks and Tales”. In the years that followed, I always wanted to do more Jewishly, but somehow I had given myself permission to stagnate.
Then came Yom Kippur.
Even though I wasn't "religious," I wanted to go to an Orthodox shul that I could walk to. The closest one was the Chabad of Westwood. At the end of a long day, Rabbi Baruch Cunin concluded with a declaration that every Jewish male over 13 must put on tefilin every day except Shabbat, and that every Jewish woman must light Shabbat candles before sundown Friday nights. All I could think was - he's right. I owned tefilin. I had put them on during summer camp, but that was basically it. Nonetheless, they were incredibly precious to me.
After that Yom Kippur, I started putting on tefilin and never stopped.
That mitzva transformed my life. Before long, I was keeping Shabbat, marrying a wonderful Jewish woman, and sending my children to yeshiva.
And now for the part that continues to amaze me. That fateful encounter at the Chabad House on Yom Kippur, happened at 741 Gayley Avenue, the exact location of the Jewish frat house my father reaffirmed his Jewish ties at 40 years earlier.
It is astounding how precisely G-d governs the world. But I think there is an even deeper lesson. When we do something holy, not only do we elevate ourselves and our past, but we open up gates in Heaven for our future, and not just our own - but our children's and children's children until the end of time.
I heard from Rabbi Simcha Weinberg that when we experience moments of transcendence, we should use them to pray for our future descendants.
I don't know if my father had me in mind when he reaffirmed his commitment to being Jewish, but I am living proof that he opened doors for me that I continue to walk through to this day.

Say What?

When Reb Nachum of Chernobyl used to receive penitent Jews who had decided to mend their ways, he would always be specific as to what they had to do to clean up their act, be it fasting, charity, etc.

When Reb Nachum got older, he started referring the penitents to his son, Reb Mordechai. People would leave him with smiles on their faces: instead of a myriad fasts he would only request that they recite chapters of Psalms.

When his father asked why he was letting the sinners off at “half price”, he answered “I just move their “loads” onto my shoulders”.

Light me up

Talmid: Rebbe, what’s a chosid?
Rebbe: A chossid is someone who lights all the lamps he encounters on his way.
Talmid: But what if the lamp is in the desert?
Rebbe: You need to go out and light it so that the desert’s emptiness will become noticeable

Talmid: What if the lamp is at sea?

Rebbe: then you need to jump in and light it.

Talmid: yes, that’s a chossid, but Rebbe, I don’t see any lamps!

Rebbe: that’s because you’re not a lamplighter!

Talmid: so how do you become one?

Rebbe: by first removing the evil from within you, then you will see the lamp that needs to be lit in the other.

Pray tell

The 72^nd chapter of Psalms ends with “… and let the whole earth be filled with his glory…The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.”

R. Levi –Yitzchok from Berditchev used to say when referring to this verse that all the prayers ever uttered by Jews throughout the generations have asked for the same thing: that Hashem’s presence in the world become obvious. And when this finally takes place, when His glory is revealed, then there will not be a need for our prayers.

Money, money...

Rabbi Shmuel from Karov did not hold wealth in high regard. This obviously upset the local fat cats. One of them even cited words of the Sages:

- It’s written “tithe to the poor and you will be rich”. If even the Sages talk about wealth as a reward sent by G-d for good deeds, it must mean that riches is a good thing!

- Manure is also a good thing, very useful, answered Rabbi Shmuel, but very few like it under their windows.

Walk this way

Rav Shlomo of Rodomosk used to say:

-There is no creature in the world that goes against its nature the way man does. He is created to walk upright but instead chooses to walk on his knees if not on all fours.

Milky Way

There used to live a milkman in town. Every day he would get from his wife a bucket with freshly milked milk.
He would then dilute it down with water and take it around to his customers. The watering down had begun long before
even his grandfather’s generation. But one time our milkman decided to repent and stop diluting the milk.
The following morning the townspeople accosted him over an unusual milk taste. The milkman decided to approach the Kotzker Rav.
-Such is our world, the Rav said, people have gotten used to the taste of falsehood over all these years. They have forgotten
the taste of truth and spit it out in disgust, just like your customers with the undiluted milk.

The horses and me

The Ruzhiner Rav used to ride in a carriage pulled by a pair of excellent horses. Whenever the carriage came to a hill, the Rav would get out and climb the hill on foot. After reaching the hilltop he would get back in the carriage.

But Rebbe! – his students would exclaim. –The horses receive excellent care, they are fed the best food, and spend the nights in a warm stable. Their only responsibility is to take you on a leisurely ride for an hour a day! Would they really get overworked if they went up the hill once in a while?

-Perhaps you’re right, -answered the Rav. –After 120 years I will stand before the Heavenly Court and maybe the horses will accuse me of extreme cruelty. I will then offer your arguments and will be probably be acquitted. But who’d want to deal with a horse in front of G-d?!

Cat Air

The Chatam Sofer – the Rav of Bratislava was known to be very skeptical when it came to dissuading someone with strong arguments. To back this up, he used to relate the following story:

Two Jews had spotted a dark silhouette on a fence. One said – it’s a crow, the other – no, it’s a cat.
-Let’s throw a rock at it, suggested the first one, and if it flies then it’s a crow, if not, it’s a cat. And that is what they did and it flew.
-I did say it was a crow, uttered the first one.
-Had I not seen this with my own eyes, mumbled the second one, I would’ve never believed that a cat could fly.

Make hay

In his youth, Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev lived with his father-in-law who was a very wealthy man. His home was always full of guests. Levi Yitzchok was in the habit of preparing beds for the guests by arranging bundles of hay on the floor and covering them with sheets, etc.

Once his father-in-law remarked to his learned son-in-law:

-Why even trouble yourself with this? Give a few coins to a gentile and he’ll bring in the hay.

Levi Yitzchok replied:

- Why pass up a mitzvah to a goy and pay for it on top of that?!

Take a look at this

When the Alter Rebbe was imprisoned, he was not only interrogated about the accusations lodged against him,he was also asked a number of questions from various fields of knowledge.On one occasion he was shown a new, detailed map of America recently brought to Russia.The Alter Rebbe took a quick look and pointed out a few mistakes in it.After lengthy deliberations, the court geographers agreed with the Rebbe. The prosecutors were astonished at thedepth of knowledge the Rebbe had displayed in a “foreign” to him science.The Rebbe then explained that in the very first letter in the Torah, in the very beginning of the account of Creation, one can discernthe entire created world in minute detail. One simply has to know how to look.

Tea for Two

Related in the name of The Shinover Rebbe: The author of the Hasidic work Maor va’Shemesh was a student of the Rebbe Elimelech. Once he asked the Rebbe Elimelech to be allowed to serve him, thereby learning directly from his Rebbe. Rebbe Elimelech conceded and asked him for a cup of tea. After preparing the tea, the student entered the room to give it to the Rebbe. Inside he saw the awesome figure of an old man sitting beside Rebbe Elimelech. He was overcome by fear, trembling and shaking so much so that he dropped the cup spilling the tea on the floor and ran out. Later Rebbe Elimelech saw his student and asked him why he hadn’t given him the tea he requested. He answered that he had brought it but when he saw the figure of the old man he was so frightened he spilled the tea. The Rebbe then said to him in Yiddish “Oy vey iz das kind voos ken nisht kiken dem taten in poonim arayn: Woe is to the child who cannot look his own father in the face.” That old man you saw was none other than our forefather Avraham peace be upon him!

Really Deep

The Tzemach Tzedek used to call R. Hillel a half-chossid. Why half? Because R. Hillel’s other half was almost a rebbe. The Tzemach Tzedek allowed him an unheard of thing in the Chassidic world – to give blessings and answer questions posed by other Chassidim.

Once a Jew came to see R. Hillel and started complaining: “When I learn chassidus I feel a great depth in my soul but the minute I put on my talis and pick up the siddur, all that feeling goes away.”

The Tzemach Tzedek answered him “you simply manage to pray before you start praying, that’s not so bad.”

I want

At a farbrengen someone related that when he was a bochur his parents sent him to the Brunoy Yeshiva in France. The physical conditions there weren’t the best so after 3 months, the bochur wanted out. He was a bit of a rebel and decided to approach Rabbi Nissen Nemanov to tell him that he was tired of the place and wanted to leave. R. Nissen then responded “Vos is the Ich, und vos is the vill?” What is the “I” and what is this “want” !

Close Encounter

Upon seeing the Czar, the Alter Rebbe got up and said the appropriate blessing on seeing a king.
-How did you know it was me? Asked the Czar.
The Alter Rebbe answered:
-He who is accustomed to meeting the King of all Kings has no trouble recognizing an earthly king.

Thanks for Nothing

Rabbi Aharon from Karlin was once asked:-What did you learn from your teacher, the great Maggid?-Gornisht (nothing), - he replied.His students thought that he had meant to say that he had learned nothing in Mezrich, but he explained: I learned from the Maggid that there is nothing except for G-d, there is no thing – gornisht!