The unforgettable Pesach night with the Rebbe began one day in Nissan of 5724/1964 when R’ Moshe Leib Rodstein, the secretary of the Rebbe Rayatz and later the Rebbe’s secretary, asked me, “Are you interested in working upstairs?”
I remember that seder until this very day even though over sixty years have passed since then!
When the editor texted me asking for a column about a special seder in my life, the first thought I had was that I could whip up an article like that in a second. How many words? I texted him back. 600/700 he responded. No problem, I’ll send it, I wrote him.
Thirty-eight years ago, like today, we lived in Afula. For Pesach 5736/1976 we planned to be with our parents which is why, although we cleaned the house, we did not kasher the kitchen. Instead, we packed our suitcases, shopped and were busy with Mivtza Matza.
One of the significant aspects of the Seder is the emphasis we place on questions, and specifically, the Four Questions.
A group of Chabad Chassidim from the city of Telenesht (a city in Bessarabia [now Moldova] in Eastern Europe) made its way to Lubavitch in order to see the third Rebbe, the Tzemach Tzedek. It was a long journey in those days, from their homes to the capitol of Chabad Chassidus. They wanted to spend Pesach with the Rebbe and had left home a few days after Chanuka.
The doctor’s grim face did not bode good tidings. He cleared his throat and said, “A tumor was found in your head and your condition is quite serious.”
When a person dies, he is free from Mitzvos – specifically a regular person, but this is not so regarding tzaddikim, who are called “alive” even posthumously. And of course this is not so of Yaakov Avinu, who “did not die”; it is certain that he is obligated in Mitzvos. * But how can tzaddikim fulfill Mitzvos, such as eating matza and the like, in the actual, real sense?!
A fascinating look at Pesach based on the Midrash, Kabbala, and Chassidus Chabad
In issue 872 there was an article about the Kublanov family and their suffering in the Soviet Union. R’ Krepel Kublanov passed away shortly before Pesach one year ago. He was one of the old-time Chassidim in B’nei Brak who suffered for years in labor camps in Russia. * A number of years ago, he told me his life’s story. The following is about Pesach behind the Iron Curtain.
“To see the seder of a Jew” – that is how the Rebbe himself referred to the rare privilege that bachurim in 770 merited in the first twenty years of the nesius. * Four rabbanim and mashpiim, who saw the Rebbe’s seder as bachurim, describe those unforgettable moments. * From a special video presentation that was made in honor of the Shabbos Achdus for talmidei HaYeshivos by Atah – 770.
Buried deep within the closet behind all the antiques was an old box. When we opened it, we found to our horror that this innocent-looking chest was filled with a collection of … * As Jewish homes are beginning the process of cleaning in preparation for the holiday of Pesach, one of the shluchim in Europe gives us a first-hand account of a thrilling story in connection with these preparations, resulting in a miraculous personal salvation.
The rebellious Jew may also go so far as to deny his or her identity as a Jew. However, no matter how many times one may try to deny his or her essence it cannot change that essence. A Jew remains a Jew notwithstanding strident protests. Thus, every time someone denies his or her essential identity it constitutes a new violation.
March 31, 2015