The Chabad community and those who cherish authentic Chassidic music recently parted with a Chassidic music pioneer, Rabbi Eliyahu Lipsker a”h. * His fascinating life story spans his childhood in Kutais, the family’s aliya to Eretz Yisroel, and the early years spent in the United States under the personal care of the Rebbe. * About his t’fillos at the Rebbe’s side and the special kiruvim, the rare recordings and the Rebbe’s guidance for success in his concerts, and about the Rebbe’s interest in every detail of his career.
By Shneur Chaviv and Avrohom Rainitz
During the Shiva for their father, R’ Yosef Yitzchok and R’ Menachem Mendel Lipsker went to daven at the Reines shul (in the Oholei Torah mesivta building on Troy Avenue) where their father, R’ Eli Lipsker, davened in recent decades.
One of the people there, today a learned Chassid with a Chassidishe family, told them emotionally: There are many others like me here in shul who are part of the Chabad family, but thirty years ago, when we made our first steps toward Chabad and did not know the difference between a Chumash and a Likkutei Torah, it was your father who was mekarev us. On Shabbos he learned Likkutei Torah with us and during the week he guided us in how to integrate into Chassidic life.
R’ Eli gave a shiur in Torah Ohr and Likkutei Torah until the final weeks of his life. When I went to the house to be menachem avel, his sons showed me a pile of big papers on which R’ Eli had printed the maamarei Chassidus in magnified print so he could continue giving the shiur even when his eyesight was weakening.
During the Shiva, a broad range of people, who were drawn to Chabad thanks to him, came to be menachem avel. Some of them were familiar to the family since they were also regular guests in R’ Eli’s open home. “A woman came who emotionally said that if not for our father’s listening to her, she would not be in the frum world today. He saved her and her three children. She said that our home was the only place that welcomed her as she was, even during the difficult situations she was in,” said the son, R’ Mendy. He remembered that period well and was very happy to see her and her children on the path of Torah and mitzvos.
Maybe it was because of these activities that R’ Eli received a bottle of mashke or wine, now and then, from the Rebbe, when he went by for kos shel bracha. He did not ask for it, but the Rebbe would occasionally give it to him. R’ Leibel Groner, who went to console the family, told them that he heard the Rebbe refer to R’ Eli as, “My baal menagen.”
FROM KUTAIS TO LUD
R’ Eli Lipsker was born on 21 Sivan in 1940 in Kutais. He was the sixth child of Aryeh Zev (Leibel) and Malka. In Kutais, the Lipsker children did not go to public school. They learned Torah in the attic which served as the secret schoolhouse. R’ Leibel hired a private teacher for his children who came every day to teach them.
Eli was nine years old when he arrived in Eretz Yisroel. The Lipsker family was taken to an immigrant hostel in Beer Yaakov and a few days later, R’ Leibel took his sons to the yeshiva on Rechov HaRav Kook 16 in Tel Aviv. It was the night of 19 Kislev and a farbrengen was taking place with the elder mashpiim and leaders of the Chabad community in Tel Aviv.
On Motzaei 20 Kislev, yeshiva began and the older boys remained in Tel Aviv to learn while Eli, the younger one, returned to Beer Yaakov with his father. After a while, R’ Leibel worked to open a school in Lud, and the Lipsker children were brought back from Tel Aviv in order to be the first students. The heads of the yeshiva were Rabbi Meilich Kaplan, later the rav of the Chabad community in Lud, and Rabbi Lazer Gurewitz, the son of the famous Chassid, R’ Itche der Masmid.
Following a special request from the Rebbe, a group of bachurim was sent from Lud to Haifa which included Eli. On Shabbos 5716, a group of shluchim visited Eretz Yisroel. They were sent by the Rebbe following the terrorist attack in Kfar Chabad, and they promoted the importance of visiting the Rebbe to Anash and the T’mimim. The shluchim’s visit made a deep impression on Alter Shneur Zalman, his older brother, and he decided to go to the Rebbe. When he told his father, he had him take Eli along.
THE TRIP TO THE REBBE
Since they had no visas for the United States, after receiving the Rebbe’s bracha it was decided that they would go via France where they would spend time under the influence of the mashpia, R’ Nissan Nemanov, until they obtained the necessary papers.
In the middle of the winter 5717, the brothers, Shneur Zalman and Eli, sailed to Marseilles and from there took a train to Brunoy, a suburb of Paris, arriving there on 15 Shvat. They went to the yeshiva and studied Nigleh and Chassidus. Their documents arrived in the summer but they did not have money for the ship.
Eli had a beautiful voice and he davened for the amud. He considered staying in France for Tishrei 5718 and being a chazan on the Yomim Nora’im and using the money he earned to buy two tickets, for himself and his brother. When the Chassid, R’ Yisroel Noach Blinitzky heard about this, he adamantly opposed the plan. “You need to be with the Rebbe for Tishrei,” he said. In order to demonstrate his sincerity he paid for their tickets, just so that they could be by the Rebbe for Tishrei.
When the brothers went to say goodbye to R’ Yisroel Noach, he asked them to come back to say goodbye when they were about to leave. The next day, with their luggage in the taxi, they went upstairs to say goodbye. To their surprise, R’ Yisroel Noach donned his outer coat, went into the taxi with them, and traveled with them to the train station where they would be taking a train to the port.
On 27 Elul 5717, three days before Rosh HaShana, the Queen Mary set anchor in New York. On the ship were the Lipsker brothers, R’ Meir Friedman of Kfar Chabad, and R’ Chaim Horowitz (Tashkenter). Two bachurim were there to welcome them, Itche Springer and Gershon Mendel Garelik.
THE FIRST YECHIDUS
The long voyage affected Eli’s health and he arrived at 770 with a fever. He could barely make it to the t’fillos on Rosh HaShana with the Rebbe. After Rosh HaShana he felt a little better and he had his first audience with the Rebbe during the Aseres Yemei T’shuva.
The Rebbe welcomed him graciously and asked how he was. “It was like a father-son talk,” R’ Eli later said. “The Rebbe asked how I feel, and whether I went to a doctor and what treatment I was getting. I was a 16-and-a-half-year-old bachur alone in New York and I suddenly felt that there was someone who cared for me like a father.”
Right after the holidays, Eli began learning in 770. At the same time, he worked at any possible job within the yeshiva framework so he could support himself. As soon as it became financially possible, he decided to realize his childhood dream and began studying music professionally.
“From the day I was born, I had a passion for music. I dreamed about music all the years, and to my great disappointment was not able to develop my talent. In Eretz Yisroel there was no opportunity and my parents could not provide me with a musical education. As soon as I was independent, I began studying music. At first I studied with music teachers and then I went to school to formally study music.”
THE REBBE ENCOURAGED HIS STUDY OF MUSIC
“You have to understand,” said his son Mendy, “that for a bachur to study music in those days was completely out of the question. It’s the equivalent of today, telling a bachur to have a television or unfiltered Internet ch”v.”
Said R’ Eli, “The truth is that at first, the hanhala of the yeshiva did not like it. It went against all the unwritten rules. But the one who supported me was the Rebbe.
“The members of the hanhala went to the Rebbe every two weeks to report what was happening in the yeshiva. They told the Rebbe that there is a bachur who goes to study music and they asked whether they should expel me. The Rebbe asked them in surprise, ‘To expel him? Maybe he needs help and support?’ I think the Rebbe saw the potential in me and wanted me to contribute to the dissemination of Chassidic music in the world.”
A short while later, young Eli was called to the yeshiva office where he was asked whether he needed financial assistance to continue his studies. Eli, who was always particular about not taking handouts, declined and willingly forwent the money they offered. From his perspective, the main thing was to remain a Tamim in yeshiva and to be able to combine this with studying music with the hanhala’s approval.
At that time, his father arrived to visit his sons learning in 770. He heard that his son had started studying music and he was apprehensive about his spiritual future. “At first, everyone was afraid I would go off the derech. The hanhala of the yeshiva was afraid and my parents were afraid too. But after hearing that the Rebbe approved, they were no longer nervous and they even warmed to the idea.
“At a certain stage, I began writing to the Rebbe and reporting to him about my progress in my music studies, and the Rebbe was very supportive. The Rebbe acknowledged what I was doing and it was obvious that he was happy with my choice. At the same time, I continued learning in yeshiva. I studied for smicha and sh’chita. I never shechted an animal but I have the certificate that I studied the laws of sh’chita. After that, I had nothing to do with sh’chita. When I finished learning, I received the Rebbe’s blessing to get married and establish a Jewish home.”
HOSPITALITY
R’ Eli married Leah Buchtman in 5723. She was from a religious, American family that was originally from Poland. Remaining frum was not a given in those days in America. Her father, R’ Moshe Buchtman, was a rabbi in the Bronx where many Jews lived in those days. R’ Altein, who was Rabbi Jacobson’s son-in-law, opened a school for girls and Leah was one of the first students. Later on, she went to Bais Yaakov in Brooklyn.
“When my grandparents had yechidus with the Rebbe at the time of my parents’ wedding,” said R’ Mendy, “they told the Rebbe about the family background. It turned out there had been some close connection at some point between my mother’s family and the Rebbe’s family.”
The Lipsker couple maintained a home of hospitality and chesed, like he saw in his parents’ home in Lud. Until today, the Lipsker home is known in Crown Heights by numerous guests as an open house. In Tishrei, they had hundreds of guests whom R’ Eli welcomed graciously and with open delight.
“My mother loves to cook and she prepares huge meals for the guests. People are always coming in and out,” says Mendy. “Last Sukkos, my father did not feel well. He was physically limited and could not walk, so we built a small sukka for him on the porch. But as Sukkos approached, this bothered him and he asked us to build a big sukka in the yard like we did every year, for the guests.”
THE FIRST DRUMMERS IN THE PARADE
R’ Eli began his musical career as a yeshiva bachur. He said:
“In 5720/1960, when I was still in yeshiva, they asked me to come up with a musical idea for the Lag B’Omer parade. I said I would try to make a children’s band with drums and it worked. The Rebbe greatly encouraged the drummers. When we passed by the Rebbe, you could see how pleased he was. Several times the Rebbe asked that the children and I be called to do another round with the drums to add to the simcha.”
Today, just about every Lag B’Omer parade around the world has drummers. Most people don’t know that the one who came up with the idea was R’ Eli Lipsker.
Having drummers at the parade was just one of his many musical initiatives. R’ Eli was a pioneer of Chabad music in the previous generation, whether with his work on the Seifer HaNiggunim, recording the Chabad nusach for the Yomim Nora’im, Shabbos and Yom Tov, with his many concerts and the forgotten niggunim that he recorded for the younger generation.
All along, R’ Eli merited warm and close attention from the Rebbe, both in his personal life and with his music. “Before going to big concerts, I would have yechidus. One time, the Rebbe told me, ‘At concerts you need to interact and have a rapport with the audience.’ That was a special guidance that I received regarding my profession.”
On countless occasions, R’ Eli served as chazan in the Rebbe’s presence. “Usually, on Chanuka there would be a rally for children. I would perform with a band and the Rebbe would stand facing us and encourage the singing.”
Sometimes, at a farbrengen, the Rebbe would ask someone to sing a niggun. One time, the Rebbe said, “Lipsker is here; he should sing.”
R’ Lipsker was chazan in the Rebbe’s minyan on the Yomim Nora’im. “I was often the chazan by the Rebbe, davening on Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur. There were some years that I was hired to be the chazan in various communities around the world, and from that point on I did not go back to daven as the chazan in 770.”
SIMCHAS BEIS HASHOEIVA IN CROWN HEIGHTS
After the Yom Kippur War, R’ Eli Lipsker did a few concerts in Eretz Yisroel. “I did concerts at the Heichal HaTarbut in Tel Aviv and in Binyanei HaUmah in Yerushalayim. I performed with my children’s choir and with Yigal Calek of London, and with someone who later became the king of Jewish music, Mordechai Ben David. It was a varied repertoire and people enjoyed it very much.”
Every Chol HaMoed Sukkos, R’ Eli was invited to play at the Simchas Beis HaShoeiva of Skver in New York. In 5741, a Hakhel year, after the Rebbe spoke about the importance of Simchas Beis HaShoeiva, R’ Eli began the tradition of Simchas Beis HaShoeiva in Crown Heights. It has since become one of the outstanding features of Tishrei in Lubavitch.
The Rebbe also encouraged R’ Eli to record his work. “Every recording or other material that I produced, I would submit to the Rebbe. The Rebbe always listened and commented. He once asked why it did not say ‘boruch Hashem’ on the cover. The Rebbe also told me to write on the jacket not to listen to the recording on Shabbos and Yom Tov. When I recorded Megillas Esther, the Rebbe told me to write on the jacket that one does not fulfill his obligation to hear the Megilla by listening to this recording.”
In his youth, R’ Eli did not dream of making a living from his involvement with music. The concept of a frum musician making money from music did not exist, certainly not in Chabad.
“My father’s self-respect did not allow him to benefit from people’s gifts. He never took food stamps or other government benefits, even when he was eligible. He believed in work and believed that a person has to do his maximum to support himself in dignity. As a bachur and even after he married, he worked at any job that supported him honorably, starting with jobs in yeshiva, leining and chazanus, and as a driver of a delivery route of kosher meat. When he began earning money from music, that was really a blessing from heaven,” says his son Mendy. “He did not do any advertising and the jobs kept coming to him. There were ups and downs in parnasa but he never stopped working.”
MUSIC FOR THE NEXT GENERATION
As he developed his expertise in the field of music, R’ Eli also began teaching music. Still as a bachur, he started working as a teacher in a non-Chabad yeshiva in New York. A short while later, they asked him to teach music in a Jewish school and that led to his teaching music to children for decades in a number of New York schools. Although officially he was only a music teacher, he considered his work a shlichus and spoke with his students about the meaning of life. He conveyed spiritual ideas from the teachings of Chassidus. Many of them became closer to a life of Torah and mitzvos, thanks to him.
Along with teaching music, R’ Eli was always busy with concerts in which he performed Chabad niggunim. In the 70s, during the conflict with Satmar, R’ Eli was the only Lubavitcher who entered Williamsburg. “They had no musicians and my father would play at all their weddings,” said his son.
R’ Eli was most proud of his work in writing the notes for Chabad niggunim to be passed along to the young generation. Thanks to him, Chabad niggunim were preserved. He was the link that the Rebbe cultivated at just the right time, in the right place, and with the knowledge to take the treasure of Chabad niggunim and convey it to the next generation.
***
In recent years he was ill. He passed away on 20 Shvat. He is survived by his wife, Leah, and his children: R’ Yosef, shliach in Reading, PA; R’ Mendy, Crown Heights; and Shani Katzman, shlucha in Omaha, NE.