YOU ARE MY SPIRITUAL CHILDREN

Among the thousands of families who live in Crown Heights today, only a few dozen were present in the first years of the Rebbe’s nesius, and only very few merited basking in the presence of the sixth nasi, the Rebbe Rayatz, seeing him daven and being blessed by him in yechidus. One of those few is R’ Yehuda Leib (Leibel) Posner, the son of the famous Chassid R’ Sholom Posner a”h, who was one of the T’mimim in Lubavitch, about whom the Rebbe Rayatz said, “Sholom is mine.”

For Yud-Yud Alef Shvat, the day the Rebbe Rayatz passed away and the day that the Rebbe MH”M accepted the nesius, I spoke with R’ Leibel Posner who saw both great luminaries. I asked him to share his memories with me.

I met with R’ Leibel in his home on Crown Street. He had memories and stories to share along with detailed descriptions of the Rebbe Rayatz’s arrival in America, the Rebbe Rayatz’s passing, and the period after the acceptance of the nesius.

In his descriptions, R’ Leibel took me on a virtual tour of Beis Chayeinu-770, as it looked then. It was a small, quiet place, most unlike the constant commotion of 770 as we know it today. He described his meetings with the Rebbe Rayatz and the Rebbe MH”M; when he wanted to illustrate something more clearly, he would disappear for a few minutes into his library in the next room and come back with pictures and books.

“Everything has been documented already,” he said, trying to cool off my enthusiasm a bit over hearing things firsthand. I have no doubt that among the things I heard there are details that were never documented before. Even those things written in the history books are completely different when heard from someone who was a witness and participant in the events.

In our conversation I noticed something interesting. The dizzying pace of events in the Rebbe’s court in recent years with the many farbrengens, dollars, etc. has made many people “come to life” only when they hear something out of the ordinary or an outright miracle of the Rebbe. By way of contrast, when R’ Leibel told me about the early years, he was full of enthusiasm, emuna, and simcha over a look or a word, not to mention a few words, that he heard from the Rebbe in yechidus or at a farbrengen.

R’ Leibel did not tell me about miracles as I thought I might hear. He told, simply and with awe, about the beginning of Lubavitch in America, about the Rebbe Rayatz and the Rebbe MH”M, as he himself experienced it back then.

I was particularly impressed by R’ Leibel’s expression when he quoted things he heard from the Rebbe in yechidus. In those moments, I could see the bittul and deep seriousness. At first he quoted what the Rebbe said in Yiddish, word for word, then he translated it, and then he described the Rebbe’s look and manner as though he was seeing it right then.

AMERICA IS NOT DIFFERENT!

As soon as the Rebbe Rayatz arrived in America on 9 Adar II 5700, he held a meeting and announced the founding of Yeshivas Tomchei T’mimim Lubavitch in America.

“In those days we lived in Chicago and I was 11 years old, but my older brother Zalman, who was already bar mitzva, was sent to New York to yeshiva. He was one of those who welcomed the Rebbe. I myself went to New York only at the beginning of 5701, and I had yechidus with the Rebbe Rayatz. The Rebbe’s secretary, R’ Eliyahu Yochil Simpson, took me and my brother and went into yechidus with us. R’ Simpson told the Rebbe that we were the sons of R’ Sholom Posner and the Rebbe blessed us.

“During that year, the Rebbe decided to open a yeshiva in 770 for young boys, and I was one of the first talmidim in this yeshiva.

“Back then, our class was in a room that later served as the secretaries’ office, and the zal was used for the older talmidim.

“Today, it is called the small zal, relative to the large zal downstairs, but back then, it was just the zal. There was no other one.” And R’ Leibel showed me pictures of 770 from back then to show what he meant.

“On holidays and at farbrengens, when we needed more room, they would open the passageway between the small zal and the Merkos L’Inyanei Chinuch and the room was a little bigger. The room adjacent to the small zal that is now called the ‘Cheider Sheini’ served as the women’s section. The Rebbe Rayatz’s secretary, R’ Chaim Lieberman, sat in the room that today has the radio broadcasting equipment at the end of the entrance hall to 770 on the left.”

I asked where the Rebbe Rayatz received people for yechidus and where he davened. R’ Leibel described the yechidus room on the second floor, the floor of the Rebbe’s living quarters.

“Usually, the Rebbe davened in his apartment on the second floor, but on a few occasions the Rebbe davened in the zal downstairs. I remember the t’fillos of Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur in 5702 when the Rebbe Rayatz davened in the zal downstairs and I had the privilege of seeing him daven. Since the Rebbe was in a wheelchair, four strong Chassidim brought the Rebbe upstairs after the davening where the Yom Tov meal took place.

“On Yom Kippur, the Rebbe slept on the first floor in the room that became the Rebbe MH”M’s yechidus room.”

While I pictured the hordes of people who visit Beis Chayeinu today, R’ Leibel saw the look of wonder on my face regarding the small place they once used for t’fillos, farbrengens etc. I asked him, “Where did everyone fit?” and he said, “What do you think? How many people do you think there were? When they needed to arrange a minyan for the Rebbe for Mincha on Friday afternoon, they could barely find anyone! It wasn’t like today where there are so many people in every minyan. It was the beginning of Lubavitch in America!”

I slowly began to understand that we were talking about a completely different time, the beginnings of Lubavitch in Crown Heights, in America. This understanding gave me perspective on the tremendous development that took place here. It is an amazing illustration as to how far you can go when you go with the Rebbe’s kochos; even the sky is no limit!

SUDDEN YECHIDUS ON MOTZAEI SHABBOS

“For Pesach,” said R’ Leibel, “I was supposed to go home to Chicago. Since my bar mitzva celebration was on 11 Nissan, I wanted to have yechidus along with my brother before we left for Chicago. In those days, yechidus took place three times a week, on Sunday night, Tuesday night, and Thursday night. Since we had to leave by bus on Sunday afternoon, we were given an appointment for yechidus for Thursday night.

“At ten o’clock at night, R’ Simpson said that since it was late and the Rebbe was tired, we would have yechidus at the next opportunity. We told him that we were leaving on Sunday afternoon and could not have yechidus that night. He said that if so, we would have yechidus on Motzaei Shabbos.

“It was Motzaei Shabbos and R’ Simpson, who lived in Boro Park, had not yet appeared. We called him and asked what we should do. He said to go to R’ Shmuel Levitin. We went to R’ Levitin and told him the situation, and he referred us to R’ Chaim Lieberman, the Rebbe’s secretary.

“We went to his office and knocked on the door and told him the situation. He said, ‘Wait a minute outside the office.’ I have no idea who he spoke to as we waited outside, but when we came back in he said, ‘Go up to the Rebbe’s room now.’ That was most unusual, to have yechidus on Motzaei Shabbos.

“Before we went in, I asked my brother Zalman to knock on the door. He knocked and opened the door a bit. The Rebbe sat at the desk, busy with his holy matters, but when he saw that we had entered he looked up at us. I noticed that when he saw us, he smiled broadly.

“Our fear dissipated a bit. We walked in and stood next to the desk. The Rebbe asked, ‘Is it warm on the bus?’ We looked at the Rebbe. Perhaps we had not heard what he said correctly. It was very hard to understand the Rebbe because his speech was unclear at that point. I suppose we were also a bit taken aback by the Rebbe’s sudden, solicitous question. The Rebbe repeated the question and we answered in the affirmative.

“Then the Rebbe asked whether we davened on the bus. We said yes to that too. ‘T’fillin too?’ asked the Rebbe. When we said yes, the Rebbe said, ‘Good,’ and it seemed that this gave him much nachas.

“Then the Rebbe said, ‘Everything must be measured by the place and the time. According to place and time, I am pleased with you. But when your father was in Lubavitch, it was completely different. Don’t look at the children in the street.’ Then the Rebbe said a line which remains etched in my heart, ‘You are my children. To your parents, you are fleishidiker kinder (children of the flesh) and to me you are ruchniusdiker kinder (spiritual children).’”

“Then we spoke about my upcoming bar mitzva and the Rebbe said, ‘Children, travel in good health.’”

THE REBBE RAYATZ’S FIRST SHLIACH ON MERKOS SHLICHUS

The years passed and R’ Leibel progressed in his learning and earned a certificate as a shochet. The minyanim in 770 were small and the learning took place in the two rooms; the atmosphere was intimate. I asked R’ Leibel to tell me about his last encounter with the Rebbe Rayatz, but he preferred to describe another encounter that took place two years before the Rebbe’s histalkus, perhaps because of the importance of what the Rebbe said in that yechidus or maybe since he wanted to refrain from ending with the “last encounter” with the Rebbe. What the Rebbe said in that yechidus is connected with R’ Leibel’s first shlichus.

Before Purim 5708, the Rebbe Rayatz founded Merkos Shlichus, a program in which bachurim went to cities and towns across America to spread the teachings of Chabad. R’ Leibel was the first shliach in this program which is still ongoing and has a tremendous impact on Jews nationwide.

“I was the Rebbe’s first shliach for Merkos Shlichus. At first I was sent to New Jersey, Philadelphia, and then to Pittsburgh.”

When I asked R’ Leibel what the shlichus entailed, he gave me an astonished look and said, “What was the shlichus?! Mainly to distribute the Sifrei Chassidus that were published then, but also to tell the Jewish world in America that there is Lubavitch! This was the beginning of Lubavitch in America!”

R’ Leibel had another special yechidus with the Rebbe Rayatz before going on shlichus. Since it was the first shlichus of its kind, R’ Leibel considers the yechidus a fundamental one with the instructions given then apropos for all shlichus and for all times.

“By way of preparation for this shlichus, the Rebbe told me the following words: ‘You need to see the good qualities in others, but not cover over the negative qualities. Chassidim say that in the Torah there are different kinds of letters, big and small. You need to see the good qualities with big letters and the negative qualities with small letters.’

“I understood from this that we need to emphasize the good qualities; not to ignore the negative qualities, but the main thing is the good qualities in other people.”

HE BORE THE REBBE’S ARON

When I asked R’ Leibel to tell me what he remembered about the histalkus of the Rebbe Rayatz, he was silent. Then he said it was hard for him to talk about it, and he suggested that I read the books that documented those days. I begged him to share something of his own perspective and he finally agreed.

He recalled Shabbos morning, Yud Shvat 5710, when he entered the zal at about eight o’clock and heard the horrifying news about the passing of the Rebbe Rayatz. He later reported to his father and brother what happened and they began preparing for the funeral. R’ Leibel went as part of the delegation of Anash and the T’mimim, led by R’ Benzion Skolik of the Chevra Kadisha, to dig a grave at the cemetery and then he returned to 770 to attend the funeral.

R’ Leibel showed me a picture of the Rebbe’s funeral in which one can see the thousands of people who filled Eastern Parkway. He pointed at the aron and said that the plan was to take the Rebbe’s aron until the yeshiva building on Bedford Avenue, but due to the crowding that idea was dropped and they only carried the aron to the corner of Eastern Parkway and Brooklyn.

“It was very crowded and it was hard to walk. Everyone wanted to be close to the aron and it was terribly crowded. I persisted in remaining near the Rebbe and managed to reach the aron and carry it along with other Chassidim who were there the entire time.

“When they put the coffin in the Chevra Kadisha’s car, they put four little chairs for the Chassidic elders so they could place their hands under the coffin and this would be considered as though they were carrying it as the Rambam writes, ‘The deceased is carried on the shoulder until the cemetery.’

“Three elder and distinguished Chassidim – R’ Shmuel Levitin, R’ Yisroel Jacobson, and R’ Berel Rivkin – entered the car and one place remained empty. Due to the commotion, additional senior Chassidim could not approach the car. The Rebbe MH”M was near the car the entire time and he suddenly turned to me and said, ‘Leibel, get into the car.’”

R’ Leibel’s eyes light up as he tells of the Rebbe’s personal request that he get into the car with the elder Chassidim at such an awesome time. “I suddenly found myself the fourth one holding the Rebbe’s coffin together with the ziknei Anash and I was in my early twenties.”

R’ Leibel made sure that at other funerals in the royal family the coffin in the car was held from below so that it would be like it was carried to the cemetery. He did this for Rebbetzin Nechama Dina and Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka.

DURING THE TRANSITION PERIOD

“For me, it wasn’t kabbalas ha’nesius on 11 Shvat 5711, for I had accepted the Rebbe’s nesius earlier. I had decided that the Rebbe is the nasi and that was it. I had no questions about it. I simply decided and that is how I conducted myself toward the Rebbe.

“During the year of mourning for the Rebbe Rayatz, in the summer of 5710, R’ Chadakov called me and said he had a shlichus for me from Ramash, to go to California to spread Judaism. At that time, I had other plans. I was in Pittsburgh looking for a job as a shochet, but when the Rebbe says something, you don’t ask questions and it was obvious to me that he was the Rebbe.

“The Rebbe wanted me to be there for Chai Elul. I had yechidus before the shlichus, before Chai Elul. At that yechidus, the Rebbe gave me a booklet to give out in California and I hinted that I wanted to be a shliach mitzva in the hopes that I would get a bill or coin from the Rebbe for tz’daka.

“The Rebbe smiled and said, ‘What shlichus mitzva is greater than giving out a kuntres of the Rebbe?’ Then he smiled again; since he understood what I meant, he took out three coins from his pocket, a dime and two nickels and gave them to me. I immediately asked whether I could exchange them and give other money in their place to tz’daka and keep the coins the Rebbe gave me. The Rebbe smiled and said, ‘Yes, but not less.’”

Another incident which is etched in R’ Leibel’s mind from those days goes as follows:

“I was in touch with a young man who was learning about Judaism and I asked that the Rebbe see him and talk to him. The Rebbe agreed and received us for yechidus at eight at night. Before the yechidus, the Rebbe told us that at 8:30 he had to go upstairs to his mother-in-law Rebbetzin Nechama Dina, and then he would come back to continue the yechidus.

“That is how it went. The yechidus began at eight, in the course of which the Rebbe talked to the young man and was mekarev him to Torah and mitzvos. At 8:30, the Rebbe went upstairs and returned half an hour later.”

R’ Leibel’s wedding was on 30 Shvat 5711, shortly after the completion of the year of mourning for the Rebbe Rayatz.

“This was the first wedding the Rebbe attended after the year of mourning,” said R’ Leibel excitedly.

Since, in the period before the wedding, R’ Leibel was on shlichus in California, he had yechidus with his kalla before he went on shlichus.

“In that yechidus, the Rebbe revealed to us the significance of simchas chassan v’kallah as it is explained in the Zohar. The Rebbe asked: Why is the simcha of the wedding so great when a marriage is meant to preserve the species, reminding us that there is also death in the world? The Zohar says that the neshama of the male and female is one soul in heaven and only down below is it divided into male and female. This is the joy of the chassan and kalla, that the two halves of the soul are reunited!”

WHY I WASN’T PRESENT AT THE KABBALAS HA’NESIUS

The moment that the entire world and all the worlds were waiting for had arrived. The nasi of the seventh generation in the Chabad dynasty, the final generation of exile and the first of Geula, was accepting the leadership during a special farbrengen in which he would say the first maamer in the series of explanatory maamarim based on the maamer of Basi L’Gani, the Rebbe Rayatz’s maamer before his passing.

At this time, R’ Leibel was in California, but like many of Anash he yearned to be at the event of kabbalas ha’nesius. “It was a historic occasion and everyone wanted to be there.”

On the one hand there was the shlichus in California; on the other hand, the yearning to be with the Rebbe on such a special occasion. R’ Leibel decided to ask the Rebbe whether he could be there. The answer was negative and emphasized that he should remain on shlichus and farbreng there on Yud Shvat. R’ Leibel was disappointed and looked for a way to be able to go anyway.

Since it was close to his wedding which was planned for Adar, R’ Leibel found a tactic – to use the wedding in a Chassidishe way – and he wrote to the Rebbe that since he was getting married in Adar, he had to see the tailor to have a garment prepared for the wedding, a process that could take time. He asked for permission to go to Crown Heights already. The answer was: The tailor will work quickly and there is nothing to worry about.” R’ Leibel told this with the smile of a child who was caught trying to pull off a Chassidic ploy.

R’ Leibel looked at me and said, “Nu, when the Rebbe says to do something, what do you? You do what the Rebbe says!” His bittul to the Rebbe was apparent in every word he said when he spoke about him. From the expression on his face I could see the respect and awe that he has for the Rebbe and he is reticent about describing his feelings directly related to the Rebbe.

When I asked him what else he could tell me about the Rebbe, he looked at me sincerely and said, “What can I tell you? Any attempt at describing the Rebbe is lacking. With all the words in the world it is impossible to explain one moment with the Rebbe.”

Nevertheless, he agreed to share another story about his shlichus:

One year after he completed his shlichus in California, R’ Leibel went to Marinette, Wisconsin, a small city north of Chicago, where he was involved among other things with Jewish education. In that city there was a religious woman, a convert, who maintained a correspondence with R’ Leibel even after he left Marinette. Many years later, she wrote to him about an occurrence that touched him deeply.

A certain young woman, who had been a student of his as a child, was living in California and working there as a teacher. She was about 25 at the time when she had to fly home to her family in Marinette on Erev Yom Kippur. Due to flight delays, she arrived at her home the last minute when it was already too late to eat the pre-fast meal. Her mother, who had prepared and warmed the food for her, asked her how she would be able to fast without having eaten anything. The young woman replied that, “Rabbi Posner said that on Yom Kippur we fast, so I am fasting!”

R’ Leibel sent the letter with the story to the Rebbe, and it was only much later that he received a response: “You never know what you are capable of accomplishing.”