THE INTERNATIONAL MYSTERY AND THE REBBE’S FARBRENGEN

PART I

770, New York. Shabbos, Parshas VaYakhel-P’kudei, 5747.

Thousands of Chassidim packed into the Rebbe’s beis midrash and listened closely to what the Rebbe had to say. It was seemingly a routine farbrengen on Shabbos Mevarchim. The Rebbe began with timely remarks about the special quality of Shabbos Mevarchim Nissan which is the “head” of the months. Between sichos, the Chassidim lifted their cups and the Rebbe responded to the l’chaims of each of them.

In the third sicha, the Rebbe brought up the topic of the s’farim. His voice rose and once again, the Chassidim heard that pained tone that they heard so many times before the big “Didan Natzach” that occurred only two months earlier. They had hoped they would never hear that pained tone again.

“There are those who want to appeal and take the s’farim and divide them up and distribute them around. They should know this will never happen! The shver will be victorious and no negative impression will remain.

“This matter pertains to the shluchim, for it has left my hands and even originally did not pertain to me but to the Rebbe, my father-in-law, and therefore, it pertains to his shluchim, for they will decide ‘with a great multitude is the glory of the king’ what to do.”

At this point, the Rebbe told a story (large portions of which do not appear in the sichos of those days). “It never was and never will be the opposite of what he wants. All of this comes from the ‘side of the double and redoubled darkness,’ and we are being shown this not only through hints but openly, for there was a woman who received as an inheritance from her husband a very large amount of s’farim, and she decided to send them here to the library of the Rebbe, my father-in-law.

“Nobody urged her to do this. She was at the Kosel and saw a Lubavitcher putting t’fillin on with a Jew. This is the fruit of the Rebbe, my father-in-law, and she was inspired …”

None of the astonished Chassidim knew who the woman was, about which books the Rebbe was talking about, nor about anything occurring at the Kosel.

PART II

Los Angeles.

He stood on the corner near a t’fillin stand and stopped passersby with the question, “Are you Jewish?” The street was busy, everyone rushing, trying to catch the next bus. Most of them ignored him or briefly said no, but some Jews said yes and were willing to put on t’fillin.

On the other side of the street walked a young hippie. His colorful, unkempt look did not stand out on the streets of Los Angeles at that time. When he got into range, the young Lubavitcher asked him, “Are you Jewish?”

“Yes,” he said.

“So how about putting on t’fillin?”

The hippie was annoyed and asked, “How old are you?” Then he continued without waiting for an answer. “I think I am older than you by some years. How dare you ask me about my origins and tell me what to do? Do you think I owe you anything? Where do you get your nerve?” And he walked on.

“I just asked …” mumbled the Lubavitcher, but the young man had already walked off while loudly complaining about rude kids who bothered him with peculiar questions.

PART III

Yerushalayim.

The Kosel plaza was filled with men, women, and children. Jews of all backgrounds were there. This is where Jews go to pour out their hearts by the remnant of our Beis HaMikdash. Near the entrance to where the men pray is a t’fillin stand where hundreds of thousands have put on t’fillin over the years. It is an inseparable part of the Kosel scene.

Near the stand is a man who offers t’fillin to passersby. There is usually no need to ask, “Are you Jewish?” since most people who visit the Kosel are Jews. Those who did not yet put on t’fillin are usually happy to do so.

Those who see the man with the gentle bearded face would never guess that he was once a hippie, that same one from the street corner in Los Angeles. Please meet Gutman Locks. Many changes took place over the previous year and it was all thanks to the t’fillin stand in Los Angeles.

The change began as soon as he left the stand fuming. After he calmed down he began to think. “Why did I get so upset? What did he want from me already, that I should do a mitzva?” He felt regret and guilt. “Have I deteriorated so much that the mere mention of a mitzva gets me so angry? No!” And Gutman decided, “I must change.”

In order to make sure his decision would be acted upon, he decided to commit to putting on t’fillin every weekday from then on.

Days and then weeks passed and as our Sages say, “One mitzva draws another mitzva,” and Gutman continued to grow spiritually. Within a few months he was religiously observant. At that point, he felt he wanted to move to Eretz Yisroel and imbibe of its holiness. Like every American, he began his visit at the Kosel.

He observed the crowds and then something familiar caught his eye. The t’fillin stand. It was piled with pairs of t’fillin and nearby were some Jews putting them on.

The memory struck him like a thunderbolt. The sight of the stand reminded him of the street corner in Los Angeles where he began his journey toward Judaism.

Once again, it was a decision made on the spot. “I will stay here near this t’fillin stand so I too can help Jews do the mitzva of t’fillin.”

Gutman established his residence in Yerushalayim and every day he went to the Kosel, stood near the t’fillin stand and did his work. He did Mivtza T’fillin for months and put t’fillin on with over 10,000 Jews. He found this enormously satisfying.

One wintry day at the end of Adar, Gutman went to the stand as usual and offered t’fillin to passersby. As he helped someone with t’fillin, he noticed an older woman standing on the side and watching him. At first he paid her no mind. He was used to tourists staring and figured she was a curious tourist.

When time passed and the woman was still standing there and watching him, he wondered about it. He did not understand why she was so interested. When the foot traffic was less he went over to her. She asked, “What movement do you belong to?”

Gutman was taken aback. He never thought he belonged to any movement but the woman had asked and was waiting for an answer.

“To Chabad,” he finally said. He figured that if he was standing there and putting t’fillin on with people, then he was acting like a Lubavitcher.

The woman nodded and thanked him and went on her way.

PART IV

New York. Adar 5747.

Two young men, R’ Nechemia Kessler and the Tamim Meir Yechiel Hershkowitz, set out from Crown Heights heading to Flatbush. Finding the address they were given, they approached a ranch style home where they were supposed to meet the widow living there. The woman invited them into her home. Entering, they were astounded to see a house packed with s’farim. Every room in the house was crowded with bookshelves overflowing with s’farim.

“I wish to donate these to the Lubavitch library,” the woman informed them. R’ Kessler, who was the director of the Levi Yitzchok library on Kingston Avenue, went through the collection and saw that some of them he already had copies of in his library and some were not suitable for a public lending library.

As the two of them were browsing the books, they continued their conversation with the widow. “Why do you want to donate the s’farim to us specifically,” asked R’ Nechemia with some surprise in his voice. “How did you hear about us?”

“I will tell you,” said the woman. “It has been some time since I was widowed from my late husband, who was a learned man and a dedicated bibliophile. Throughout his life he collected many s’farim, as you can see. To tell the truth, after he passed away I had no idea what to do with all these s’farim for which I have no use.

“Not long ago, I visited Eretz Yisroel. While there, I paid a visit to the Kosel Maaravi, where I couldn’t help notice the t’fillin stand. I saw them doing amazing work, with young men inviting the visitors to put on t’fillin. I asked one of the men there where he is from, and he answered me that he is a Lubavitcher Chassid. Since I was so impressed by the work that you do, I decided on the spot to donate the s’farim to Lubavitch. And so, when I returned to the US, I did some research and came across your library.”

R’ Nechemia Kessler could not contain his amazement at the tremendous divine providence, and he explained to her that the Levi Yitzchok library was limited and not every volume was appropriate for them. However, what he could recommend is that she donate the entire collection to a far more suitable library, the library of the Lubavitcher Rebbe.

The woman was thrilled with the suggestion and immediately agreed to have the entire collection transferred to the Rebbe’s library. By a stroke of amazing divine providence, this story occurred a very short time after the court victory and celebrations of “didan natzach,” at the very time that the Rebbe was asking the Chassidim to send books and manuscripts to the library of Agudas Chassidei Chabad.

R’ Nechemia Kessler returned to Crown Heights and rushed to tell his brother-in-law, the chief librarian of the Rebbe’s library, Rabbi Berel Levin, who in turn informed the Rebbe. Unfortunately, the joy was somewhat muted during that period, since the other side had filed an appeal against the court’s ruling in favor of the chassidim. This news pleased the Rebbe very much, and he sent out a response on the same day, “So should he deliver good news about the receiving of additional s’farim, also and especially the receipt of all the s’farim and manuscripts etc.”

On Thursday, 25 Adar 5747, R’ Levin received a delivery of thousands of volumes to add to the Rebbe’s library. The following Shabbos, the Rebbe chose to share a bit of this moving story with those who attended the farbrengen.

PART V

Yerushalayim. Monday, 29 Adar 5747.

Gutman stood, as was his practice, near the t’fillin stand, asking the passersby if they had already put t’fillin on that day. He was quite busy.

A young yeshiva student stood off to the side patiently, seemingly waiting for a break in the action so as to say something to Gutman. When Gutman was free for a moment, the bachur approached him and handed him a dollar bill saying, “This dollar is for blessing and success, from the Lubavitcher Rebbe. He sends you his blessings of ‘yasher ko’ach’ (an expression of thanks in the form of a blessing to have the strength to continue to do good and proper things).”

Gutman was shocked, “This is from the Lubavitcher Rebbe? For me?” He did not understand what he might have done to merit the dollar from the Rebbe and a personal thank you. The bachur didn’t know exactly what to tell him, “I don’t know a thing,” he shrugged. “Yesterday, I was on the famous line for dollars by the Lubavitcher Rebbe. When I told him that I was traveling to Yerushalayim, the Rebbe gave me an additional dollar and asked me to give it to the young man that runs the t’fillin stand at the Kosel. That is all I know,” concluded the yeshiva boy.

Still bewildered and befuddled, Gutman could not for the life of him think what connection he had with the Rebbe, or what the Rebbe might be thanking him for. The puzzle was solved not long after, when somebody gave him a copy of the summary of what the Rebbe had spoken about that Shabbos, and he read the story that the Rebbe told to the Chassidim gathered there.