He was drawn to Lubavitch as a young student in 5708, but it was only in 5712 that he first attended a farbrengen of the Rebbe. When he walked in and saw the Rebbe who had a black beard and who had elder Chassidim next to him, he innocently asked, “Who is the Rebbe?” * For nearly fifty years he has been serving as the vice president of the Rabbinical Alliance of America (Iggud HaRabbanim), and over the years he received many personal directives from the Rebbe in private audiences and detailed letters. * Rabbi Noach Bernstein, the man who worked to defer the draft for thousands of yeshiva students during the war in Vietnam, in an exclusive interview with Beis Moshiach.
Photos by Shmuel Amit
I saw him hundreds of times in 770, standing in a corner of the zal and davening, or sitting near one of the tables and learning the daily shiurim. I never thought that behind this modest Chassid with the quiet smile and the graying beard lies a fascinating life story of public service on many fronts. But life is full of surprises.
When I sat in his home in Crown Heights and leafed through the files that document his communal work over the years, along with dozens of letters he received from the Rebbe, it struck me that the life story of Rabbi Noach Bernstein is actually the story of a Chassid of the seventh generation. This is what the Rebbe demands of every one of us; to learn Nigleh and Chassidus, to do the Rebbe’s shlichus, and to be influential in every possible way, including over the nations of the world.
***
Rabbi Bernstein descends from a long line of Slonimer Chassidim. His grandfather was the gabbai for the Slonimer Rebbe and his father learned in Ohel Torah in Baranowitz by Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman, Hy”d. In his youth, his father was orphaned of his parents. His older sister, who had immigrated to the United States, sent boat tickets for her brothers and sisters. That is how his father arrived in the U.S. shortly after World War I.
His father continued learning in the Yeshiva of the East Side, later known as Yeshiva University, and after receiving smicha was appointed as rav in a shul in Brownsville where he also ran a Talmud Torah.
Due to financial difficulties, the family moved to Brighton Beach. His father began davening at the Nusach Arizal shul where Rabbi Chaim Tzvi Konikov was the baal t’filla on the Yomim Nora’im.
Young Noach learned in Brighton Yeshiva but his father wasn’t satisfied with the education there and he began looking for a yeshiva with more of an emphasis on yiras Shamayim.
In the summer of 5808/1948, R’ Mendel Cunin went on vacation to the Brighton Beach area which was a popular vacation spot for religious Jews at the time. He went to daven in the shul where the Bernsteins davened. Noach’s father was very impressed by R’ Cunin and poured out his heart to him about his concern for his son’s yiras Shamayim. When R’ Cunin told him about Yeshivas Tomchei T’mimim, which was then located at the corner of Bedford and Dean, he quickly registered Noach in the Chabad yeshiva. “And that is how I came to Lubavitch,” said R’ Bernstein happily.
“Over the years, I learned by R’ Avrohom Popack, R’ Yitzchok Dov Ushpal, R’ Gurfinkel, R’ Pesachovitz, R’ Yehoshua Tanchum Kastel, R’ Chaim Meir Bukiet, and others. They all implanted Chassidishe fear of heaven in me and my father was definitely pleased with the new yeshiva.
“My father was only able to enjoy this for four years because in 5712 he passed away suddenly. My mother, on the other hand, lived to 105 in good health and enjoyed Chassidishe nachas from me and my family.
“She lived that long thanks to the Rebbe, who in the middle of a yechidus blessed her with long life. And the Chassidishe nachas is also thanks to the Rebbe’s bracha in a letter that she received after she wrote that she was worried that I don’t plan on going to college. The Rebbe wrote to her that there was no reason to be concerned about a shidduch and subsequent parnasa, as they would both come along in the right time, and he concluded the letter with a blessing for true Jewish Chassidic nachas.”
THE FIRST FARBRENGEN AND THE FIRST YECHIDUS
Although he came to Lubavitch in 5708, he never saw the Rebbe Rayatz, as he was then still a young boy. It was first in 5712 that he went to 770 and attended a farbrengen of the Rebbe.
“I was not yet into the goings-on,” says R’ Bernstein with a smile, “to the point that when I walked in and saw the Rebbe whose beard was dark and next to him were elder Chassidim, I asked which one is the Rebbe …”
Over the years, R’ Bernstein had many private audiences with the Rebbe. The first yechidus, which he remembers clearly, was for his 17th birthday. He was not yet a full-fledged Lubavitcher Chassid but his Lubavitcher friends urged him to go and get a bracha for his birthday.
“The Rebbe gave me instructions for my birthday and said I should start saying chapter 18 of T’hillim. Since I wasn’t used to saying T’hillim, I had no idea whether it was a short or long chapter. I hoped it was short. To my great surprise, the Rebbe, as though reading my mind, said, ‘It’s a big chapter.’
“My birthday is on 23 Av. One of the times I had yechidus, the Rebbe said: You probably will attend the Chof Av farbrengen. Say l’chaim but don’t wait until I motion to you to say l’chaim, just say it on your own.
“Back then, the yeshiva also had secular studies until we were 17-18 years old, and since I wanted to concentrate on the Jewish subjects, I asked permission to only learn limudei kodesh. The hanhala asked the Rebbe, who told them that if I hadn’t started it would be better not to learn it, but since I started, I should finish and get a high school diploma.
“Since I wanted to finish up the secular studies as fast as possible, I registered for summer classes which would enable me to earn my diploma earlier. I arrived at 770 for the Chof Av farbrengen directly from a course I was taking. I was dressed like a typical American kid without a hat and jacket and was embarrassed to enter 770. I stood in the yard near the window of the small zal where the Rebbe sat and farbrenged. The Rebbe noticed me and after a few minutes he sent me lekach and l’chaim through the window.”
While in yeshiva, his friend, R’ Velvel Konikov suggested they open a gemach for the talmidim of the yeshiva. They both gave an initial donation and then raised more until they had an amount that enabled them to lend $10 to every bachur. In those days, that was a considerable sum of money. When they reported about it to the Rebbe, the Rebbe gave them an $18 check for the gemach. Although the Rebbe usually only wrote the amount in numbers and signed the check, this time, he wrote out all the details.
NOT LISTENING TO THE REBBE IS PLAYING WITH FIRE!
After graduating high school at Yeshivas Tomchei T’mimim on Bedford, he went to Yeshivas Achei T’mimim in Newark, New Jersey. The rosh yeshiva was Rabbi Yisroel Leib Shputz. Then he went to learn in Achei T’mimim in Pittsburgh where he became every close with the Lubavitcher rav there, Rabbi Zalman Shimon Dworkin, who later became the rav of Crown Heights.
For the following school year, the Rebbe told him to continue learning in Pittsburgh. R’ Bernstein wanted to go to Yeshivas Tomchei T’mimim in Montreal for the summer together with his friend, Mordechai Tzvi Berkowitz (who is known today as a baal t’filla for the Yomim Nora’im in 770). He spoke to the menahel of the yeshiva on Bedford, R’ Menachem Mendel Tenenbaum, who was a good friend of the menahalim of the yeshiva in Montreal who approved the trip and even made all the necessary arrangements.
“After the plan was already in place, one of the balabatim in Pittsburgh raised the idea that the talmidim of the yeshiva should stay in Pittsburgh during the summer and learn with men in the community one-on-one, thus drawing them close to Lubavitch. His suggestion placed us in a quandary, because our summer plans were already arranged. We asked R’ Dworkin but he did not want to decide and suggested we ask the Rebbe.
“We sent an express letter to the Rebbe and within a short time, received a reply.”
The reply was to the effect that all such questions should come from the hanhala of the yeshiva, who know what is best for the bachurim and are in a position to consider all of the issues. It concluded with the instruction that since they already asked and received an answer from the hanhala, there was no point in asking again.
“Of course, after an answer like that, it was clear that we would be following our original plan and going to Montreal. Before we went, we had a yechidus and received the Rebbe’s bracha for the trip. The Rebbe said that if they would ask me to run a camp, I should refuse and continue learning in the yeshiva.
“We arrived at the yeshiva in Montreal and joined the learning schedule. Since it was summertime, some of the students were in camp and the atmosphere in yeshiva was a little weak but we tried to keep the s’darim. A short while later, one of the members of the hanhala of the yeshiva asked me to join the camp and take the place of a counselor.
“Of course I refused and said the Rebbe told me not to leave yeshiva for camp. I suppose he was under pressure to find a counselor because he said that in light of the weakness in the study sessions in yeshiva, even the Rebbe would agree that I should be a counselor. Since I did not yet understand what a Rebbe is, and to me he was like a rav, a big rav, I accepted what he said and went to camp.
“Color War was going on at the time between Teams Day and Night. I was in charge of Team Night and one of the things we did was light huge bonfires, to demonstrate the era when they sanctified the new moon and the beis din would light bonfires to announce the sanctification of the new month. I took a long stick, wrapped the end in rags and tried to light the torch. When the rags did not ignite, one of the guys came and poured kerosene on it. The torch quickly lit but so did my clothes. I managed to roll on the ground and was saved from severe burns, but I immediately realized that not listening to the Rebbe was playing with fire and I left camp that day and returned to yeshiva.
“I learned the hard way, but from that point on I knew that when the Rebbe says something, it is essential to obey the Rebbe’s instructions with the utmost exactitude, without any tricks.”
The story that occurred in the camp in Montreal reminded R’ Bernstein of a story that took place a few years prior. Until 1956, the year that Gan Yisroel opened for the first time, Chabad Chassidim would send their boys to Camp Yeshiva. R’ Bernstein worked there as a counselor one year. In 1956 the Rebbe asked him in yechidus why he wasn’t working as a counselor in Gan Yisroel, and he answered that he had worked for Camp Yeshiva the previous year when there was not yet a Lubavitch camp, and at the end of the last season they had come to an agreement that he would work there again the next year.
The Rebbe then told him, “I want you to take your day off and be our guest in Camp Gan Yisroel, and afterward to write a report about everything you saw.”
Obviously, for the next year, R’ Bernstein knew exactly what the Rebbe wanted of him, and he signed up as a counselor in Camp Gan Yisroel.
ADVANTAGE OF A NEW YORK WEDDING
After two years in Pittsburgh, R’ Bernstein went to 770. When he turned 24, he asked the Rebbe in his birthday yechidus whether to get involved with shidduchim. The Rebbe did not respond. A year later, on his 25th birthday, when he asked again, the Rebbe said: You are still young.
When he turned 26 and asked a third time, the Rebbe said: It is still not necessary to look, but if suggestions come your way, think about it. In this yechidus the Rebbe blessed him that he would become a chassan that year.
“That year, my wife’s name, Adela Avtzon (daughter of R’ Meir a”h) was suggested. Her father had been a shadar (traveling fundraiser) for the Rebbe Rayatz in Russia. When he arrived in the US he worked to spread Judaism among Russian immigrants in Detroit.
“When we met, I understood why the Rebbe had had me wait, because that year she turned 18.”
The kalla’s parents wanted the wedding to be in Detroit, where the kalla lived, and also because they were a very large family and it would be hard for them to travel to New York with all their little ones. R’ Bernstein, who was already working as a rav in the Anshei Polin shul in Coney Island, and also ran a small business, preferred a wedding in New York so he would not have to leave his congregation and his business throughout the wedding period.
When he had yechidus before the wedding, the Rebbe asked him where the wedding would be. R’ Bernstein, thinking that the Rebbe wanted to tell him to do as the kalla’s side wanted, said the invitations were not yet printed. If the Rebbe wanted the wedding to be in Detroit, that could be arranged. To his surprise, the Rebbe said: There are many advantages to making the wedding here and one of them is that on the day of the wedding it is possible to be at the tziyun of the shver (i.e. the Rebbe Rayatz).
At that time, there was a grocery store for sale in one of the religious vacation spots. The owner wanted to sell it to R’ Bernstein at a good price. R’ Bernstein asked the Rebbe about it and received a detailed answer in which the Rebbe spelled out a long list of concerns about getting involved in the deal.
THIS IS A CAR
AND THIS IS A CAR
As the Rebbe told him, R’ Bernstein learned for smicha and became the rav of the Anshei Polin shul. He would make an “oneg Shabbos” for the congregation with nearly 400 people participating, every Friday night. When he wrote to the Rebbe about this, and also mentioned a certain matter that was on his mind, the Rebbe wrote on his letter: Thank you for the good news. Certainly it will be recognized from the aforementioned that there is no foundation for your previous concern. May you continue with your matters in serenity, joy and goodness of heart.
He also opened a car rental business. At this time, Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka needed to have her car fixed and she rented a car from him for a month. “Although I gave the Rebbetzin the best car that I had, it wasn’t as good as a Cadillac. I later heard from R’ Sholom Dovber Gansburg that the Rebbe told the Rebbetzin, ‘This is a car and this is a car …’”
A new mikva was being built in his neighborhood of Brighton Beach and when the project got bogged down, R’ Bernstein got involved and started moving the project forward at a significant pace. The members of the community offered that he run the mikva and be paid a salary by the community for this. When he asked the Rebbe about this, he once again received a detailed answer about the need to ease into the new job, if he truly felt that it suited him, while maintaining his existing source of income.
A short while after he married, large corporations entered the car rental business and offered such cheap rentals that he simply could not compete with their prices. He closed the business and was able to procure a government job with the city of New York, while continuing his spiritual work with the people of his community.
“HASHEM IS HAPPY WITH YOUR WORK THERE”
R’ Bernstein thought things were settled in his personal life, but then Rabbi Moshe Feller, shliach in Minnesota, offered the young couple a shlichus position in Duluth, in the northern part of Minnesota. R’ Bernstein asked the Rebbe and did not receive an answer. Nevertheless, R’ Feller continued to pressure him and suggested that he come just for a short time and if afterward he decided to leave, the door would have at least been opened to send a Lubavitcher to the community.
In the end, R’ Bernstein yielded to Rabbi Feller’s importuning and said yes. After writing to the Rebbe about his decision, he received the following answer: May it be in a good and successful time (upon consulting with those who are knowledgeable and have seen the contract in similar cases).
He also had a yechidus before he left.
“During the yechidus, the Rebbe spoke to me about the character of the people living in Duluth and said: You need to transform the place into ‘Eretz Yisroel.’ Knowing how far the people there were from the level of ‘Eretz Yisroel,’ I wondered how I would be able to do that. As though reading my mind, the Rebbe said: At least close to ‘Eretz Yisroel.’
“The Rebbe’s brachos came at an opportune time. The Six Day War took place soon after and following the great miracles that happened then, Jews everywhere were greatly inspired and the people in the Duluth community increased in their Torah observance.
“Boruch Hashem, we were very successful there. My wife, who had shlichus experience from her work in Detroit before we married, ran a Jewish school and even hosted a radio program on a local station. Together, we raised the spiritual level of the community.”
THE REBBE: CONQUER THE CONFERENCE
Along with his work with the Jewish community, R’ Bernstein also got involved in public advocacy and became well-liked by politicians who asked him to join a number of government committees, including the Human Rights Committee. He accepted their offers and that is how his influence spread beyond the Jewish community.
For example, during the Vietnam War, when the mandatory draft was instated and the military wanted to draft yeshiva students, R’ Bernstein met with his friend, Congressman Blotnick, who was head of the committee in Congress that dealt with this matter, and convinced him to pass legislation deferring the draft of yeshiva students.
In 1970 there was an International Conference on Education. R’ Bernstein was invited to attend the conference as the rabbi of a community. After he asked the Rebbe, he received the following response: Participation in the conference is important and very very good, and the secretariat will transmit to him what is known here about it. Certainly you will speak with the other participants from Anash, and after that with more of them, and all of them together will conquer the conference etc.
R’ Moshe Feller was also invited to the conference and from his conversations with the Rebbe’s secretaries, R’ Bernstein learned that Rabbis Avraham and JJ Hecht, Avraham Shemtov, David Hollander, and Rabbi Nissan Mindel, the Rebbe’s secretary, would also be attending.
Regarding the events at the conference, R’ Bernstein recounts:
“The secretaries told us that the Rebbe wants us to meet each day in order to coordinate our positions and to come to an agreement about courses of action throughout the conference, and also to contact the secretaries to report to the Rebbe about what we managed to accomplish. During the course of the day, each one would be in a different forum, and once a day we would gather and report to the Rebbe.
“Boruch Hashem, there was great success, and a significant portion of the messages that we wished to convey were cited in the media and got a great deal of coverage.
“The conference was attended by four thousand people, in different forums, but on the last day there was an open forum with the participation of all the attendees, and anyone who wanted to speak had to present a request. I put forth a request, and was granted permission to address the entire conference. However, a short time before my turn came, the moderator informed me that I would be the last speaker. The speaker who was supposed to follow me was Rabbi Dovid Hollander. Since he was a very articulate speaker, and he had also been my rebbi in yeshiva, I thought that it would not be proper for me to speak and have him lose his turn, so I asked the emcee to allow Rabbi Hollander to speak in my place. He agreed, and I told Rabbi Hollander the gist of what I had wanted to convey, and he ended up presenting it in a very forceful and cogent manner.
“Following the open forum, we all got together and contacted the office of the secretariat. Rabbi Hollander began to report about the day’s events, but suddenly the Rebbe asked to speak to me, and instructed me to give over the report.”
L’CHAIM FOR THE PUBLIC SCHOOL CHILDREN
“Upon our return from the conference, we landed straight into the Rebbe’s farbrengen in honor of Yud-Tes Kislev. While the crowd was singing ‘Ana Avda,’ the Rebbe looked in my direction and indicated that I should say l’chaim. I did not consider for a moment that the Rebbe meant me, so I looked to my right and to my left in order to see who the Rebbe was instructing to say l’chaim. However, the Rebbe kept looking in my direction and signaled to me to say l’chaim, until I understood and picked up a cup for a l’chaim.
“Since on that very morning, during the conference on education, I had worked hard to convince other participants of the need to abolish the law that prohibits prayer in the public schools, I decided to ask the Rebbe for a bracha for this initiative. When I picked up the cup of mashke, I said: L’chaim! For all the children who are not allowed to daven to HaKadosh Baruch Hu.
“The Rebbe listened to what I said, and responded with a question: Is that what you screamed in Washington?
“After I responded in the affirmative, the Rebbe asked again: For real? And I answered: Yes! To which the Rebbe responded with satisfaction: That is a proper thing.
“I said to the Rebbe that the ones who guided me in Washington were the brothers and Chassidim, R’ Avrohom and R’ Yaakov Yehuda Hecht. The Rebbe said that they should say l’chaim too.
“R’ Avrohom Hecht said l’chaim immediately, while his brother R. Yaakov Yehuda, who sat some distance from the Rebbe, did not hear the Rebbe’s request… The Rebbe asked: Where is JJ Hecht? The Rebbe’s use of his American nickname caused everybody to smile. When Rabbi Hecht heard the Rebbe calling his name, he quickly rose up and said to the Rebbe: Hineini! The Rebbe turned to the two brothers and said: See the crops that you have cultivated!”
THE PICTURES AND REPORTS ON THE REBBE’S DESK
“Two years later, there was a similar conference, but this time I was the only Lubavitcher that was invited to attend. I remember thinking to myself then that it was in the merit of the fact that at the previous conference I had forgone my speech for Rabbi Hollander.
“And so, in this conference I was given the opportunity to address the full crowd, thousands of people from around the world. I used the opportunity to speak about the need to base education upon the belief in G-d. One of the main topics of the conference was about educating children to respect their elders. I said that in America there are only two days when children honor their parents, Father’s day and Mother’s Day, but when they will understand that we are required to give honor because of a divine commandment, they will respect their parents 365 days a year.
“The talk was received with great enthusiasm and was reported on extensively in the media and in the public releases from the conference. Afterward, when I sent in all of the reports and pictures to the Rebbe, the Rebbe left the envelope on his desk for a very long time. When I asked the secretary, R’ Klein, if I could get the pictures back, he told me that they were sitting on the Rebbe’s desk. Only after six months had passed did the Rebbe send out the pictures and I got them from the secretary.”
MISSION TO ERETZ YISROEL FOR MIHU YEHUDI
As rav of a typical, American k’hilla, R’ Bernstein saw firsthand the full extent of the damage caused by the Law of Return (Mihu Yehudi) and how it accelerated assimilation. Young Jews said to themselves: If in Eretz Yisroel this girl would be considered Jewish, why shouldn’t we marry her?
At that time, R’ Bernstein was appointed to the position of vice president of the Rabbinical Alliance of America. He traveled with a delegation of rabbis to Eretz Yisroel, to explain to the heads of state about the great danger posed by the Law of Return and the urgent need to amend it.
Upon instruction from the Rebbe, he met with Israeli President Shazar together with Rabbi Zalman Posner and presented a comprehensive lecture on the destructive impact of the Law of Return.
WHEN MOSHIACH COMES THEY WILL INFORM YOU OVER THERE
As mentioned, R’ Bernstein only went to Duluth for a brief time. Then he agreed to stay for a year, but later decided to leave because if less than a year passed since he left his municipal job, he could still get it back on the same terms as when he left.
“When I asked the Rebbe in yechidus what I should do, he said to me: Hashem is happy with your work there, so don’t come back for now.
“I told the Rebbe that I did not dream that a year would pass and we would still be there, as following the great inspiration after the Six Day War, I was sure that Moshiach would come and take us from there. The Rebbe said: When Moshiach comes, they will inform you over there.
“In light of this answer, we continued working there until, five years later, the members of the community decided they had to enable women to pray in the main sanctuary of the shul and not on the second floor as previously, and without a mechitza. I stood firmly and insisted there had to be a mechitza. When they pushed back and insisted on mixed seating, I had no choice but to threaten to resign as rav of the community. I wrote to the Rebbe that if he told me to remain in the city, I would stay. In the end, they did not change their minds and the Rebbe told me to come back.”
(More than a decade later, the community held a special gathering for people who had lived in the community in the years prior, and they invited Rabbi Bernstein to attend. He accepted the invitation and took the opportunity to print a Tanya there. A short while later they printed the 1000th edition of Tanya and, as per the Rebbe’s instructions, at the end of the Tanya they printed photocopies of various editions that were printed around the world. On page 770 there is a copy of the front page of the Tanya printed in Duluth by Rabbi Bernstein.)
In a “general-personal” letter that he received from the Rebbe a short while after returning to New York, the Rebbe added before his signature: With blessings for a good histadrus (lit. organization, i.e. living and work arrangements) soon.
A short while later, R’ Bernstein received an offer to serve as rav of the “Beis Midrash HaGadol” in Washington Heights. He accepted the offer, as the Rebbe told him to be involved in rabbanus. Along with leading the community, he took a senior position in the KAJ kashrus organization under Rabbi Yosef Breuer.
When he wrote to the Rebbe about the job offer, the Rebbe responded: Accept it, since there is no better offer – gam zu l’tova.
When he had yechidus, the Rebbe gave him certain instructions regarding his work. The Rebbe told him that this community brought all sort of customs from Frankfurt and that he should not adopt their customs.
After 21 years, the KAJ kashrus organization closed its meat department and R’ Bernstein remained without that job. This was after Gimmel Tammuz and he was despondent. Someone on the street suddenly stopped him and told him that he bought a book and found some original letters from the Rebbe and Rebbe Rayatz in it. He offered to sell the letters for $250 a letter.
R’ Bernstein bought the letters and when he examined them, he saw that in some of them, the Rebbe said to increase established times for learning. He felt this was an instruction meant for him, from the Rebbe, as a means to merit a blessing. He added a weekly Chassidus shiur and within a short time he received a job offer from the government of New York to be a kashrus supervisor.
The state of New York does not give hechsherim, of course, but as part of their anti-fraud efforts there are kashrus supervisors who can levy fines on restaurants and other food establishments which present themselves as kosher without actually having proper certification.
So thanks to increasing his Torah learning, R’ Bernstein got a good paying job in the field of kashrus.
R’ Bernstein has recently retired from his government job. He uses his free time to give shiurim and do extensive work on the Rebbe’s mivtzaim. He uses his position as vice president of the RAA, a position he has filled for nearly fifty years, to fight for various Jewish causes.
Before leaving his house, R’ Bernstein let us sneak a peek at his extensive files which document his activities, even in recent years, in promoting the Rebbe’s proposal of “A Moment of Silence” in public schools in the U.S. “It is the work of many years,” he said, “but we will leave that for another time.”
THE REBBE’S REACTION TO A SUKKA AT TRUMP VILLAGE
My mother lived for many years in Coney Island. Eventually, Jews left the area and my mother moved to one of the buildings built by President Trump’s father. There are seven of these buildings, each of which contained 500 families. The entire complex was named Trump Village.
Sukkos time, I called the management office in charge and asked permission to build a sukka in the yard. They told me that they have no problem with that, but were afraid someone would get hurt by the sukka and sue them, so they made their consent conditional on my getting a million dollars’ worth of insurance. I arranged that, and built a big, beautiful sukka, not just for my mother but for dozens of Jews who lived there.
After Tishrei, when I had yechidus and told the Rebbe about this, I thought the Rebbe would give me a “yashar ko’ach” for what I did. Instead, the Rebbe asked: In that area there are other large buildings with dozens of Jews – why didn’t you take care of them too?