The Friday before Shabbos Parshas Tzav, Shabbos HaGadol 5775/1915, the streets of Yekaterinoslav were bustling as usual, filled with people hurrying to work. It was only among the Jewish populace that a holiday atmosphere prevailed, in the form of an inner celebration with no formal means of expression as on a traditional Jewish holiday.
An atmosphere of feverish preparations, as always, envelops us all, from the moment the date of Yud-Alef Nissan appears on the horizon. An ever-growing inner sense of seriousness and honesty gets progressively stronger and soon, numerous ideas and plans are presented to Chassidim and mekusharim towards the goal of properly utilizing this holy day.
Forty years ago, there were not many shluchim of the Rebbe. The few Chabad Houses in Eretz Yisroel were manned by Chassidim who commuted from the large religious centers. The concept of “going on shlichus” in Eretz Yisroel, was far less popular.
Sixty years ago, my grandfather (Rabbi Dov Yehuda Schochet) was in 770 during the month of Nissan to celebrate the Aufruf of his son. At the behest of some of the senior Chassidim, he requested of the Rebbe to hold a farbrengen on Shabbos after Davening.
Even after twenty-seven years on shlichus at Hebrew University in Yerushalayim, R’ Yossi and Dvora Ebert do not rest for a moment, recently adding their son and daughter-in-law, R’ Mendy and Chaya Mushka Ebert, to the ever-growing outreach work with tens of thousands of students. * As a student himself, he encountered the Rebbe’s shluchim, which transformed him from a student in search of meaning to a beloved rabbi drawing in students in droves. * Zalman Tzorfati spent a Shabbos with the Eberts on Mount Scopus and came home with profound lessons on shlichus, dedication, and hiskashrus to the Rebbe
In most years, Parshas Tzav is read in close proximity to Pesach, the Season of our Liberation. There must therefore be a thematic connection from this Parsha to Pesach.
Mrs. Rochel Zamir is known not only by many Lubavitchers, who know her as someone who was privileged to have a special relationship with the Rebbe, but also by thousands of children originally from Holon. Mrs. Zamir worked in chinuch for decades. Most of the children she taught were from irreligious homes and she, with her love and devotion, sacrifice and stubborn struggle, gave them a sweet taste of Torah.
We are now in the month of Nissan, the month in which we read the parsha of the N’siim. Every day, for the first 2 weeks of the month, we read about the Korbanos brought by one of the leaders of the tribes of B’nei Yisroel. This also occurs right before 11 Nissan, which this year will be the 117th birthday of our Rebbe, the leader of our generation. It is therefore very appropriate to discuss the topic of Jewish leadership.
I have been to many Shabbatons over the years, where I have lectured to audiences across the world. But the moment I walked into the Crown Plaza Hotel in Stamford, Connecticut, on Erev Shabbos Vayakhel Pekudei, 21 Adar, I knew that the ninth annual Russian Shabbaton would be special. As I entered, a Jew approached me and asked if this was my first time at the Russian Shabbaton. It was. He assured me that he had attended all previous eight Shabbatons, and that I was in for the best Shabbaton of my life.
At the end of that rainy night, he left the psychiatric ward and his legs quickly brought him to Ma’arat Eliyahu, on the outskirts of Haifa, to offer his fervent prayers. He was surprised to find the gate closed and even more amazed to meet an elderly woman who suddenly appeared and referred him to the Lubavitcher Rebbe to ask for his bracha. An incredible story as told by Mr. Chaim Yamin
Dovid, a Lubavitcher Chassid, was sitting in his office in Boro Park, busy with his work. The door suddenly opened and in walked a Hungarian Jew.
March 26, 2018