The short answer is: “Your” wellsprings. The long answer is: Intensive programming within, and suited to, the community. * You live in a religious area? Spread the wellsprings!
By Devorah Leah Halperin
The phenomenon of learning Chassidus by the frum sector is gaining steam. We spoke with Mrs. Devorah Leah Kenig of Modiin Ilit and Mrs. Shoshi Horowitz of Beitar Ilit, who work with frum women and are mekarev them to the Rebbe MH”M and to Chassidus. Everyone can join in and be a part of this outreach and spreading the wellsprings of Chassidus to hasten the Geula.
THE BEGINNING
Shoshi: I came to Beitar Ilit to work in chinuch, knowing that every person is a shliach wherever they are. So I began reaching out to the women that I meet.
Six years ago I joined the seminary Ohr Shoshana, where I give classes on Chassidus and the Jewish Home. I started with a shiur in Tanya for religious women who are descendants of the Alter Rebbe. They wanted to learn and understand Tanya. The women come in all types of weather, including snow and freezing cold. Our activities have grown and more women have joined the shlichus. The big events that previously took place in the seminary, now take place in a large hall with about 200 women.
Devorah Leah: Right after we became engaged, we thought of where to go on shlichus. The idea of Modiin Ilit came up because of the need to work with religious people. Lubavitchers who grew up in that world suggested it to us. They feel that since they got to learn something that ignited them and gave meaning to their lives, other people should also benefit from this gift.
While we were discussing the idea of living in the Brachfeld section in Modiin Ilit, we were studying the Rebbe’s letters and came across a letter to a person by the name of Brachfeld whom the Rebbe asked to be involved in hafatza. We checked and discovered that this letter is the only one that has this name “Brachfeld.”
We had another response in the Igros Kodesh that although there would be difficulties, we were promised that in the end, “the hand of Chassidim would be uppermost.”
Indeed, when we first arrived in Modiin Ilit, people were suspicious of us and only those with whom we built a direct connection would come and learn Chassidus. It was out of the question for someone who had no prior connection to Chabad to come to a shiur in Chassidus, just out of curiosity.
Now, learning Chassidus is so widespread that even kollelim and yeshivos that are not Chassidic, have men who learn Chassidus with the aid of tests and other programs.
Also, having a connection with Chabad has become more accepted. Over the years, they accepted the fact that we are here and our goal is to spread Chassidus.
In the Chassidus Library that we started, there is an evening kollel that learns Chassidus in depth. During the day there are shiurim and farbrengens which are attended by many local residents.
WORKING WITH WOMEN
Shoshi: The influence also extends to women, in the building, the street, and the neighborhood, at every possible opportunity. Every Friday night, I do Kabbalas Shabbos with the children in the building, an activity which you can find on nearly every street in Beitar Ilit, which is carried out by Lubavitcher women at their own initiative.
A lot of our activities aren’t planned; it’s personal encounters and seeming chance conversations.
In my house I have nearly all the Lubavitcher children’s books and comics and we happily lend them to our neighbors. One neighbor borrowed the book Tanya for Children and she reads it to her children at bedtime. They also borrow books with Chassidic messages or Chassidic magazines for adults.
My children are in the local preschool until age three. At the graduation parties, I regularly deliver a short sicha of the Rebbe and the women are impressed by the Chassidic messages.
In addition, every year I put in thought before Purim to come up with a Chassidic-Geula message for my mishloach manos, like the Leviasan (a can of tuna), the Shor HaBar (a chocolate cow) and Yayin Meshumar, with an explanatory note.
In the Hakhel year, I made mishloach manos with that theme and one of the neighbors, who is a teacher, told me afterward that she brought it to the teachers’ room at school and told her colleagues what it was about.
Devorah Leah: For many years now, there is a shiur in my home every week on Chassidus on the parsha and we hold events on Chassidic dates, about once every two months.
The women who come to farbrengens and events are usually enthusiastic because they are discovering something new, another approach to life. But what makes the deepest and best impression is regular attendance at the shiur which leads to real change.
Even on the topic of encouraging childbirth, Chassidus brings a change. One of the ladies, since she began attending the shiur regularly, gave birth nearly one year after another. When I once spoke to her, she said to me, “It’s thanks to you. I have no doubt that it’s thanks to the shiurim.” As Chabad Chassidim who grew up with this and the Rebbe’s attitude towards childbirth, we need to spread the message further.
For the families that are more connected to Chabad, where the men already learn Chassidus regularly and are progressing in the adoption of Chassidic practices, we arrange a Shabbos in Kfar Chabad. During the Shabbos, the women begin to also connect and get into the atmosphere. It’s important that the process include both husband and wife, so that it have an impact on the home and there is collaboration between them.
Also, during the year, the women who are becoming more involved organize farbrengens and events for birthdays or Chassidishe dates, in addition to the big farbrengen, which they help with too. They arrange a farbrengen for their small group where you can ask questions, offer ideas and be together with others going through the same journey.
In this group, we’ve gone around asking, “What does Chassidus mean to you?” One said that thanks to learning Chassidus, she thinks differently, and this has positively affected her observance of mitzvos. Another woman said that for her, Chassidus is a serious pitfall, because she gets into arguments with family members and others. So we discussed this and tried to help her.
A Vizhnitzer Chassid and his wife began taking an interest in Chabad. For his birthday, his five daughters, ages three and up, decided to light candles, as a gift for him. You have to understand, this decision requires strength of character, whether because of a neighbor dropping in, or spending Shabbos away, because everyone will know they made a change, something not done in their circle. Yet, they realized the importance of doing this and decided to go ahead with it.
Review classes on the topic of family purity is not so widespread in the religious sector. A few times, we brought Mrs. Shoshana Lichtenstein for a series of classes. The first class brought out nearly 100 women, not necessarily connected to Chabad.
DIFFICULTIES AND SOLUTIONS
Shoshi: When you are active, especially among frum people, you need the knowledge and belief that you are doing the right thing. For example, mivtza mezuza. When you explain to someone who is not yet religious about checking mezuzos, she understands the importance and relies on you. With frum people, when you mention checking mezuzos, they tell you that the halacha is that you need to check only twice in seven years. And some treat this as merely a recommendation.
To be able to respond, you need to learn. I explain that in Rav Landau’s Machon HaHalacha, they say that today you need to check more frequently because the ink gets ruined by air conditioners and humidity, and nowadays it’s not the same kind of ink that they used in previous generations. Furthermore, I mention that in the holy books it says that those punctilious in observance and the pious would check mezuzos in Elul, as well as other sources. I’ve encountered mezuzos that weren’t checked in over 12 years!
The work here is slower, quieter, and more individual. As opposed to going on Mivtza Neshek in the mall, where you give out lots of kits, here, in order to influence a girl from a frum home to light a Shabbos candle, you need a Torah explanation with sources, and a conversation about increasing the light and opening channels of divine flow. So too with other mivtzaim, like a letter in a Torah scroll and listening to the reading of the 10 Commandments on Shavuos.
As far as tznius, you know what the frum world thinks about Chabad; it’s not flattering. But when I bring them to a national convention of N’shei Chabad, to events at Ohr Chaya or local farbrengens at the seminary, they see modestly dressed Lubavitcher women, which is a kiddush sheim Chabad.
For girls who think my goal is to make them into Lubavitchers, I tell them that is not my intention. What’s important is that they learn Chassidus so that they will have the strength to deal with the challenges of the period before Moshiach.
Devorah Leah: The main difficulty is in conveying that we have something new, that Chassidus has something to offer. The women in Modiin Ilit grew up in homes steeped in Torah study and mitzva observance and heard Torah ideas from their parents, so it’s not like they feel that they are missing something. There is also the need to dispel prior stigmas about Chabad and tznius (which unfortunately, at least in part, actually needs improvement). Which is why, when they came to Kfar Chabad and saw girls and women dressed modestly, that was encouraging to them, that it is possible to raise kids in Chabad schools where the acceptance policies are not as rigid, and children still do grow up modest and Chassidish.
Another difficulty is the social pressure, especially community pressure. When you live within a community, everyone tries to be the same. It’s not simple when someone wants to be different. The way to work with such people is through personal relationships and a friend brings a friend. When someone comes and enjoys, she can convince her friend to join as well.
What helps a lot is personal example. We try to make a kiddush sheim Lubavitch. Every Lubavitcher Chassid who acts as the Rebbe wishes, adds to the kiddush sheim of the Rebbe among the religious sector too. The way children behave contributes a lot. When they see our children who go to Chabad schools, behaving as the Rebbe wants, going on mivtzaim, proud of their Jewishness and being able to influence others to do mitzvos, this impacts them and gets them to respect a Lubavitcher chinuch.
HISKASHRUS TO THE REBBE
Shoshi: Writing to the Rebbe is very powerful. At first there was great opposition to this, but today, after I show them how to write, they write at home, and make a good hachlata, which they call a kabbala. Some of them call me and I open a volume of Igros Kodesh for them. Sometimes, this requires prior effort consisting of lots of conversations with them. In cases where their husbands don’t allow it, they just give me their name and I write.
Shoshi had a hard time picking a story to tell me, out of dozens of stories:
If I had the time to write a book … I had a neighbor who wrote to the Rebbe before giving birth. The Rebbe’s letter was about someone who worked in chinuch, saying he shouldn’t leave his place of work, because in Eretz Yisroel it is important to hold on to these types of positions. She was in shock. “How did the Rebbe know I want to leave my teaching position. I thought that after giving birth I wouldn’t go back to work.” And the Rebbe added that her job is to be a role model of someone who lives according to Torah and mitzvos.
The sister of one of my Litvishe neighbors was in bad shape after taking an antibiotic that was contraindicated for her. I asked for her name to be able to write to the Rebbe. The Rebbe’s answer said “check mezuzos” and she should have a refua shleima. It was hard for me to convey this message, because this sister was in critical condition and she was even transferred from Mayanei HaYeshua to Tel HaShomer, but I was brave and conveyed the message. After a while, she told me her sister’s condition stabilized and she’s okay today.
Another important point is to review and share Chassidic ideas at every possible occasion. In the building I used to live in, the ladies once got together to say T’hillim for a neighbor who was sick. I prepared a sicha of the Rebbe on Parshas B’Shalach that is connected to women, tznius and the Geula.
After saying T’hillim, a rebbetzin spoke harshly about the tzaros and chevlei Moshiach we are in now. As I listened to her, I thought about how this was Shabbos Mevarchim Adar and as a result of this woman’s speech, ladies who were sad about their neighbor would now be even sadder. Additionally, I recalled the words of the late R’ Shmuelevitz, who wrote not to wait until they invite you to speak, but simply to take the initiative and say your piece. When she concluded her talk, I got up and thanked her for her edifying words, and then added as a natural follow-up the idea that I had prepared in brief.
Two weeks later, I met that same rebbetzin on the bus, and we developed a connection. I invited her to visit our seminary, Ohr Shoshana. In one of our subsequent encounters, she told me, “The Torah of the Baal Shem Tov is the greatest thing that exists.” Every time we meet, she asks me to tell her a Chassidic idea. At our most recent meeting, she said, “Tanya is the thing that I most want to learn.”
The lesson that I learned from this is that it was specifically that encounter, when I had many concerns before I got up to speak, which led to results that I could never have anticipated.
Even on the subject of Moshiach, when I come prepared with all of the sources and information in a clear fashion, everyone ends up concurring.
Devorah Leah: Rebbe and Chassidus is one and the same. In the kollel, in the classes and farbrengens arranged by the Chassidic Library, the topic is brought out very clearly. There are women whose husbands have gotten them into things regarding this aspect as well, and for those that have not, it really does take a lot of explanation and internalizing. The more they hear about who the Rebbe is, and the essence of what a Rebbe is, the more they can relate.
In addition, whatever they see by you, the shliach/shlucha, is completely clear, will generally become more obvious to them as well. And if questions arise, that is what we are here for, to provide answers.
MIDRESHET OHR SHOSHANA
The seminary in Beitar Ilit has been in operation for 15 years, l’ilui nishmas Shoshana Ben-Yishai, may Hashem avenge her blood.
The seminary attracts women and girls from all circles in Beitar Ilit, including Beis Yaakov girls, Litvishe and Chassidishe women, who are interested in Chassidus.
There are classes in Chassidus and farbrengens on Chassidic dates. The seminary is currently run by Mrs. Osnat Chazan.
THE CHASSIDUS LIBRARY IN MODIIN ILIT
Modiin Ilit is the largest city in Yehuda-Shomron. The Chassidus Library was opened in the Brachfeld neighborhood in 5768 and serves as a Chabad center.
The library is run by Beit Chabad of Modiin Ilit, headed by the shliach, Rabbi Elozor Mordechai Kenig. The library has minyanim, Nusach Ari, mainly for those becoming interested in Chabad. Every Shabbos there is a grand kiddush.
Dozens of men of all Torah backgrounds learn Chassidus at the library in Kollel Menachem. The kollel is in addition to regular shiurim held at the library throughout the day.
Members of the kollel are also responsible for Mivtza Tefillin every day, among the irreligious Jews who live around Modiin Ilit. They help purchase tefillin and check whether tefillin are kosher.
Large farbrengens are held at the library on Chassidic dates that are open to all. Over 150 people regularly attend them. At the 19 Kislev farbrengen, about 1000 people participate every year.
Now and then, the library is closed to men and programs for women are held.
IN CONCLUSION
Shoshi: In order to work with the religious community, the first thing that you have to do is be a role model, and then most of the opposition melts away. Additionally, it is important that you have Torah knowledge and be constantly focused on the privilege to work and take part in the Rebbe’s shlichus to spread Chassidus and hasten the Geula.
Devorah Leah: It is a real pleasure to see women with very busy days, who have begun to learn Chitas, Seifer HaMitzvos of the Rambam, and are really keeping Chassidic customs. In the merit of the work of “hafatza,” may we merit the revelation of the Rebbe shlita as our righteous Moshiach, immediately now.