We were greatly saddened to hear the news of the passing of R’ Aharon Eliezer Ceitlin, a”h, one of the Rebbe’s shluchim to Eretz Yisroel, a mashpia in Tzfas, and director of the network of Chabad preschools in Tzfas. He suffered from a lengthy illness and was only 62 years of age.
R’ Ceitlin was born in Montreal on 8 Tishrei 5714. His parents were the mashpia, R’ Yehoshua Heschel and Rivka. He was named for his paternal grandfather who was killed al kiddush Hashem. The personality of his grandfather for whom he was named as well as his father’s special uncompromising Chassidishe chinuch, shaped R’ Aharon Lazer’s personality. He always strove towards deep hiskashrus to the Rebbe along with uncompromising Chassidishe conduct and he always demanded more of himself.
He went to Chabad schools in Canada and when he graduated he began learning in Tomchei T’mimim in Montreal where he was a talmid of R’ Menachem Zev Greenglass and a mushpa of R’ Peretz Mochkin about whom he would always relate memories.
One of the stories that express what R’ Aharon Lazer was about took place when he was still a yeshiva bachur. At a farbrengen in honor of 11 Nissan, he took more mashke than the g’zeira allowed. His father censured him as a result of which he wrote a letter to the Rebbe, asking for a tikkun for transgressing the g’zeira. The Rebbe told him what to do to make up for it. After a short while, when bachurim were selected for shlichus to Australia, he was the only one the Rebbe approved out of the group of bachurim who had transgressed the g’zeira and did not ask for a tikkun.
In 5733, when he was 21, he was sent by the Rebbe with a group of bachurim to distant Australia in order to strengthen the local yeshiva.
R’ Ceitlin would tell the following episode of how the bachurim transformed the city:
In 5733 I had the privilege of traveling on the Rebbe’s shlichus to Australia with another five students. A year later, the Rebbe announced the mivtzaim campaigns. I won’t forget how a letter arrived from the Rebbe with five lines, no more – soul request to increase strength in all five campaigns (at the time there were five mivtzaim: Mivtza Torah – that every Jew should learn Torah every day, Mivtza T’fillin, Mivtza Mezuza, Mivtza Tz’daka – every home should have a pushka, and Mivtza Bayis Malei S’farim).
How inspired we were! It is hard to convey. We simply turned the city over. We were in yeshiva in Australia and there were shluchim along with talmidim from Chassidishe homes who were the majority of the talmidim. In addition, there were students who were just becoming religious. When the Rebbe started with the mivtzaim, we did not think of taking along those beginner students on mivtzaim for they themselves needed kiruv and could not be relied upon yet.
However, after the Rebbe sent the “soul request,” we decided that we would include those bachurim. We did not send them on their own. We went in pairs, a bachur who knew more with one of the newcomers. I remember that evening, after learning in yeshiva, when all the bachurim left together and everyone returned so excited.
As much as we worked with those bachurim, learned with them and farbrenged with them in order to instill some Chassidishe chayus in them, a chayus of hiskashrus, nothing was as effective as that night of mivtzaim, when they spoke to others about strengthening their connection to Hashem. They returned with an indescribable uplift of spirit. After that, we always took them on mivtzaim. It created a revolutionary metamorphosis!
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In 5736, R’ Aharon Eliezer married Itta Rus (daughter of R’ Tzvi Greenwald of Kfar Chabad). Between 5736 and 5738, the Rebbe sent groups of shluchim to Eretz Yisroel to the holy cities of Yerushalayim and Tzfas. The Rebbe announced this at a farbrengen and said whoever was interested should register with the secretary. R’ Aharon Lazer registered and he was among those picked by the Rebbe to be his shliach.
TRAILBLAZER
In Tzfas too, he stood out from the crowd, being first for all of the Rebbe’s inyanim and mivtzaim. He was eventually appointed mashpia of the community and member of the vaad of administrators and the menahel of the network of Chabad preschools which, today, number dozens of schools throughout the city. Over 1000 children attend them.
The trait that most characterized R’ Aharon Lazer was his dynamism and his resoluteness. He was never fearful of carrying out that which he knew was correct. Throughout his years of outreach work, the motif of blazing new trails was always apparent. He was among the first to carry out the Rebbe’s wishes even in things which did not seem possible.
R’ Sholom Levkivker, a resident of Tzfas, relates:
One of my childhood memories, since I was in third grade, is from the early years of Ohr Menachem. Things were not as organized as they are today. Until first grade we were in a nice building given to us by the municipality in the center of the city, but then Kiryat Chabad was built and the members of the community who lived in the old city began moving there. So the menahalim of the school which had just opened looked for an alternative place for our school.
When we started third grade, the school was located in the apartments owned by the Amidar Corporation near Kiryat Chabad, but at a certain point, the company decided we had to leave. One day, they sent construction workers who began building a wall blocking the entrance to the apartments. Some of the students ran to R’ Ceitlin who was the principal at the time. He quickly came and was shaken up when he saw the wall that had been built. The contractor and his workers and the people from Amidar were still there and he began raising a hue and cry which I will never forget.
With a heavy American accent he yelled about how his father was moser nefesh as a child to learn Torah in Soviet Russia and here, in Eretz Yisroel, they did not allow children to learn Torah.
His rant was effective because it came from the heart. As was his wont, he did not suffice with that but yelled Shma Yisroel and broke the wall. The contractor and his staff together with the various company officials were embarrassed and they left without reacting. They did not return and we only moved when the number of students doubled and we had to look for a bigger place.
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This was also the case with the printing of the Tanya in Lebanon, when all attempts at obtaining entry permits to Lebanon, which was under heavy fire, failed. The IDF was unwilling to grant approval to Chabad Chassidim to enter with a printing press. All doors were closed. R’ Ceitlin, who had gone to bed late at night, could not begrudge himself the little bit of rest and he got up after midnight, and drove to the Command Center of the IDF Northern Command. There, following a dramatic performance, he managed to get in and meet with the General Officer in Command (GOC) of the entire northern region in the midst of an ongoing war, and convinced him to issue the necessary permits. It was his passion and hiskashrus to the Rebbe that enabled him to get a tough general on board. His fellow shluchim in Tzfas, who were also involved, could not believe it when he knocked at their doors toward morning and showed them the papers. By five o’clock, they were all at the border checkpoint ready to enter Lebanon and print the Tanya in various Lebanese cities, a project undertaken under heavy fire and with the protection of IDF soldiers.
Needless to say, R’ Aharon Lazer took the opportunity not only to print the Tanya but also to do mivtzaim with thousands of soldiers. It was one of the most heroic campaigns that Chabad Chassidim undertook in this past generation.
R’ Ehud Bashari relates:
I first met R’ Ceitlin when I learned in the yeshiva g’dola in Tzfas in 5741. Back then, the Chabad schools in which he was a senior partner were expanding greatly and there weren’t enough teachers. I was asked to teach and I began working in chinuch. I worked for a while until I married. After that, we moved to Kfar Chabad. We kept in touch, at R’ Ceitlin’s initiative. Every so often he would come to Kfar Chabad to raise funds. On each of these visits he would visit us, say l’chaim, and emphasize to us the importance of going on shlichus. “Melamdim are needed in Tzfas,” he would announce every time.
One of those times, he managed to convince my wife and myself and we moved back to Tzfas. We settled in the yishuv Birya near Tzfas where we work in shlichus in addition to chinuch. When I am asked what made me go on shlichus, I say that R’ Ceitlin gets the credit.
R’ Ceitlin was a commanding leader who pulled others after him, due to his intensity and his personality; you couldn’t ignore those attributes. When we would arrange a meeting for the parents at the preschools and he would get up to speak, the parents would be so inspired. In general, he would start any meeting or gathering with a point from the Rebbe’s sicha.
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R’ Ceitlin was known for his entrancing farbrengens. He would farbreng with fervor and speak in a way that captivated his audience. He would farbreng a lot, as per the requests of shluchim around the world. He always knew the way to reach people’s hearts and it made no difference how old they were or their level of religiosity or Chassidishkait. He would speak before elder Chassidim as well as before children who knew nothing about Judaism, at evenings for women, for balabatim, mekuravim, and even for shluchim and yeshiva bachurim.
R’ Eliezer Ashkenazi relates:
A few years ago, I asked him to come and farbreng with the talmidim of Chanoch L’Naar in Tzfas. He happily agreed and it was one of the most powerful farbrengens we had in the yeshiva. The bachurim sat there for a long time and drank in what he said. One of the things he talked about was the special atmosphere and anticipation of the Geula that enveloped the Chassidim in the 90’s.
LEADING THE “GROUPS”
His hiskashrus to the Rebbe penetrated every bone of his body, in his very being. He lived the Rebbe every moment, in every circumstance, and in everything he did. With every subject he would ask himself: What does the Rebbe demand of me? What does the Rebbe want now?
He was a role model of someone for whom the Rebbe was the essence of his life. This is what he was involved with and this is what he would farbreng about at every opportunity. He wasn’t only talk; he walked the talk. He did not merely “live” it, he infused life into others. This is what he radiated to everyone around him. When he was present, when you heard him, when you saw him, you thought it could not be otherwise.
He once said, “When the Rebbe turned 70, the Rebbe asked for 70 new mosdos. If the Rebbe told us this and demanded this of us, then it seems that we too can achieve this. Obviously, the Rebbe demands of each person according to his capabilities and opportunities, but if the Rebbe said this, we need to know that we can do it. The Rebbe did not demand unrealistic things of his Chassidim.”
As part of his chayus in the Rebbe’s matters, he eagerly brought people to the Rebbe and connected people to the Rebbe. He knew that every Jew who went to the Rebbe would be tremendously influenced. He invested tremendous chayus into this.
Before the first group arrived at 770, R’ Ceitlin went to the US a few times to arrange all the details. He wrote to the Rebbe about this and the Rebbe responded, “may it be with great success and good news.” Before the arrival of the second group, for Lag B’Omer 5750, he received an amazing answer from the Rebbe that showed the Rebbe’s special fondness, “May it be a kiddush sheim Shamayim in good health and happiness.”
The first group that he brought to the Rebbe received special attention from the Rebbe. The Rebbe said a special sicha in their honor and then even edited the sicha. At the farbrengen that Shabbos, the Rebbe answered l’chaim with a luminous countenance to the members of the group and encouraged them several times to sing louder. At dollars too, they were singled out, as R’ Ceitlin related, “When I passed by with the group, I told the Rebbe that these people are from the group from Tzfas. The Rebbe gave each of them two dollars for tz’daka and every so often the Rebbe would ask those who passed, ‘Are you also with the group that came from Tzfas?’”
During their visit, they submitted requests to the Rebbe and the Rebbe responded with, “I will mention it at the gravesite,” to all of them. They did not all understand what this meant and some of them were annoyed by the brevity of the response. When all of R’ Ceitlin’s explanations did not help, he wrote to the Rebbe. In the Rebbe’s response he underlined the words, “I will mention it at the gravesite” and added “etc. etc.” as if to say that the blessing, “I will mention it at the gravesite” consists of numerous blessings. In addition, the Rebbe wrote, “And the distribution of dollars in shul includes quite a few [blessings].” “And Chanuka gelt twice?!” i.e. what are they complaining about?
A year later, in 5751, a group of over two hundred people came. They had a group photo taken of them in front of 770, but about thirty of them were missing for various reasons. A few days later, R’ Ceitlin submitted the picture to the Rebbe and noted, “They were not all in the picture.” The Rebbe added the words, “that’s surprising.”
R’ Ehud Bashari relates:
As part of my work with him, I joined the groups that flew to the Rebbe in order to help out. On these trips I was able to see how a shliach of the Rebbe conducts himself when in action. He simply set himself aside and devoted himself totally to imbuing them with the messages of the Rebbe. I remember that when the group would arrive at the first passport checkpoint and the sending off of the luggage at Ben Gurion Airport he would get up on a crate and begin singing “U’faratzta.” All eyes from the huge numbers of travelers at the airport were upon him but he didn’t care.
On the plane he did not rest for a moment. He would ask to be able to use the sound system and would say words of inspiration not only for the group but for the hundreds of passengers. He would sing niggunim with them and would sweep them up into Lubavitch while they were still in the air. I remember one trip when a hundred people got up and began dancing until the stewardesses were afraid it would affect the stability of the plane.
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Even after the Rebbe’s health was compromised in 1992, R’ Ceitlin still brought people to him. For Shavuos 5753, R’ Ceitlin asked the Rebbe whether to continue bringing groups. When the secretaries read the question to the Rebbe, the Rebbe nodded yes.
Since then, even after Gimmel Tammuz, R’ Ceitlin continued bringing groups to the Rebbe, knowing that being in the Rebbe’s presence would have a deep influence on them.
Over the years, he also brought groups of girls to the Rebbe for Chof-Beis Shevat, the yahrtzait of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka. On these trips he did not suffice with simply connecting the girls to the Rebbe. He invested tremendous efforts so that the results would be that whoever went to the Rebbe would be devoted, heart and soul, to him and would become his shlucha. There were many cases in which one farbrengen of his with them, men or girls, or one personal conversation, brought about a significant change in their lives.
HISKASHRUS WITH EVERY FIBER OF HIS BEING
R’ Ceitlin was always “in the middle of things.” His primary commitment was to the Chabad preschools in Tzfas. Despite the prodigious difficulties he had to contend with, he was utterly devoted to it. He was willing to suffer countless indignities so that the Rebbe’s institution would continue to exist for another day and another hour, at any price and no matter the situation. Then there was his devotion to be mashpia to Anash and T’mimim wherever he was invited, in Eretz Yisroel or abroad, farbrengen after farbrengen, with his entire being pouring forth Chassidus and darkei ha’chassidus and hiskashrus to the Rebbe.
He once described how a Chassid who is mekushar ought to look: with a booklet of Rambam, the daily Chitas, and the weekly compilation for that week in one suit pocket, and in the other pocket a copy of the brief points of the daily sicha, the weekly hanacha of the farbrengen on Shabbos and a kuntres of the maamer that the Rebbe recently edited, so that both pockets are full and the mind is busy learning the abundance of material the Rebbe gave us, running to do mivtzaim or the regular learning program in yeshiva or kollel.
He walked the talk. He always had a story or a Chassidic vort, a recollection of the Rebbe’s farbrengen or a farbrengen of Chassidim.
His hiskashrus to the Rebbe was an example to others. He never compromised or made allowances for himself in anything having to do with carrying out the Rebbe’s wishes.
R’ Aharon Shiffman, shliach to Moshav Shefer near Tzfas, relates:
R’ Ceitlin kept closely in touch with the Chabad House at the moshav. For many years he joined me at the Lag B’Omer parade that we made there, and his presence was a help. He stood out when it came to the Rebbe’s inyanim and people loved to connect with him.
I remember how about a decade ago, before the expulsion from Gush Katif, I met him at the grocery store in Kiryat Chabad. He was uncharacteristically downcast. When he saw me, he sadly asked, how can this be prevented? He did not ask “why,” he asked “how.” He did not only talk; he was a man of action.
On the spot, he asked me to join him and together we went to the home of R’ Dovid Meir Drukman of Kiryat Mochkin and from there we went together to Netivot. We somehow bypassed the police roadblocks and arrived at Kfar Maimon. We navigated our way through the fields and vineyards alongside the youngsters. The entire time I was impressed by his mesirus nefesh, by his leaving his dignity behind and his going forth to carry out the Rebbe’s orders to cry out and protest the expulsion decree.
You could see his caring in so many ways. Because I was one of the gabbaim of the central shul in Tzfas, he would sometimes tell me about improvements that he thought ought to be made. For example, he asked me more than once why there were torn Siddurim. Not many people were bothered by using worn-out Siddurim, but it bothered him. He was even willing to take the responsibility for fixing torn Siddurim at the shul.
His passionate caring for the Rebbe’s mivtzaim is well known. He not only arranged them but also “allowed himself” to take part in them personally and financially.
Mrs. Nechama Navon, principal of the Chabad girls’ school in Tzfas, had this to say about R’ Ceitlin being at the forefront of every one of the Rebbe’s inyanim:
R’ Ceitlin had mesirus nefesh to carry out the Rebbe’s horaos. I remember how thirty years ago I began working as an educator in a government-religious school in the city. During those years, we were thinking of opening an Ulpana (religious girls’ high-school). In order to prepare the girls for dormitory living, they would come to me once a week to sleep and eat. I looked for someone to teach them Chassidus in the morning and R’ Ceitlin unhesitatingly agreed to do it. Although they were relatively young girls from homes where not much was observed, he was happy to undertake the challenge. He came once a week at seven in the morning to teach Chassidus.
When the girls came to my home erev Purim, I knew that at home they would not hear the Megilla. Upon asking him, R’ Ceitlin dropped everything (and he had so much to do) and he came and read the Megilla for us. He was a distinguished shliach, a menahel of a big school, and yet he conducted himself simply. He gave every person his full attention with tremendous caring.
I won’t forget a conversation I had with him in which he spoke from the depths of his heart about the nachas we shluchim need to give the Rebbe. He had mesirus nefesh to make the Rebbe’s name and the name of Lubavitch beloved. It truly mattered to him in the essence of his soul.
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When the Rebbe raised the level of intensity on the subject of Moshiach, R’ Lazer was totally permeated with the issue and did a great deal to spread the Besuras Ha’Geula. At one of his farbrengens for bachurim he said that at a certain point he had the idea of making a “Bruchim HaBaim” sign and hanging it at the entrance to the cemetery in Tzfas, “For the dead will soon be resurrected and they need to know that we are happy to welcome them.”
He once told of an incident that occurred when he was a yeshiva bachur:
R’ Shmuel Zalmanov (one of the editors of HaTamim and Kovetz Lubavitch and the editor of Seifer HaNiggunim) was once in Montreal and between Mincha and Maariv he spoke quietly with R’ Peretz Mochkin. Together with some others, we tried hearing what they were talking about and I heard how R’ Shmuel was telling R’ Peretz about a Chassid who told the Rebbe in yechidus that the Rebbe always uses the wording that Moshiach should come soon “mamash,” and “mamash” is an acronym for the Rebbe’s name. The Rebbe said, “Let it be, as long as Moshiach comes already.” So it is clear that the Rebbe is Moshiach! R’ Peretz responded, “What’s the question? That is certainly the case!”
ROLE MODEL
R’ Ceitlin was “alive” in a way that infused “life” into others. He did not merely do his shlichus but was a role model of a shliach of the Rebbe who was permeated with kabbalas ol and simcha to carry out the mission he was assigned. There was a reason that Anash and shluchim all over the world often invited him to farbreng. Many became involved in Torah and Chassidus because of him.
One of the things he was involved with was visiting shluchim in the field. He was devoted to the shluchim and didn’t worry about his comfort or energy level. He spent days and nights traveling in order to strengthen shluchim and their mekuravim. Last Chanuka, instead of being home, he was in eastern Russia with the shluchim of Vladivostok, Khabarovsk and Birobidzhan. He not only visited but farbrenged with the people in the community, with the families of shluchim, talking to them and encouraging them.
And after he left he kept in touch and would write reports about what he thought needed strengthening and support.
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Last Adar is when R’ Ceitlin discovered he was sick and since then he underwent many difficult treatments with simcha and bitachon that Hashem would cure him. Chabad Chassidim around the world prayed for him and did mitzvos in his merit.
He got the bad news from the doctors when he was about to make another trip to shluchim. Although the doctors told him not to travel, he insisted he had to and they had to strongly pressure him not to. Even after that, he asked rabbanim whether he had to listen to the doctors and it was only at the last minute that he canceled his plans.
Even when he was in the hospital, despite all the suffering he endured, he continued doing the Rebbe’s mivtzaim cheerfully. He derived great joy from being able to convince another person to put on t’fillin. Even in the hardest times, he lived and breathed the daily Chitas and Rambam.
On Simchas Torah he was able to get the aliya for Chassan Torah and on the day of his passing, with superhuman strength, he managed to daven Shacharis and put on Rashi and Rabbeinu Tam t’fillin.
Clear-minded, in the presence of all his children, to the sorrow of Anash and the shluchim, his neshama rose up, laden with Torah, mitzvos, Chassidus, and chassadim.