Ever since R’ Chaim Rivkin and his family came to serve on the Rebbe’s shlichus in Rishon L’Tzion, the activities in the ‘Abramovitch’ neighborhood and the city’s center have received a tremendous boost. Rabbi Rivkin points to his red beard and says that its color is the reason for the increased activity and vitality he invests in his shlichus work. “Rishon L’Tzion, behold, behold them.”
Translated by Michoel Leib Dobry
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Rabbi Yitzchak Gruzman and Rabbi Chaim Rivkin at a group celebration with bar-mitzvah boys | Torah classes and farbrengensWhen I arrived on shlichus in Rishon L’Tzion three years ago, I made a tacit agreement with the city’s head shliach, Rabbi Yitzchak Gruzman: I do those activities that require the avoda of a red beard, and I’ll leave him the avoda that has to be done by someone with a white beard…” This statement was made by Rabbi Chaim Rivkin, one of the Rebbe MH”M’s shluchim in Rishon L’Tzion.
“It’s difficult to pin me down in one place,” R’ Chaim Rivkin explained with a smile. Quite so, he is a most vigorous and diverse rabbi. Wherever and whenever he thinks about a certain activity that would give nachas to the Rebbe, you’ll find him there. Rabbi Rivkin is one of those shluchim who makes no assumptions. You won’t find him resting on his laurels. As we’ve said, he’s a red beard. It’s no wonder that his first activity in Rishon L’Tzion was the erection of a nine-meter high Chanukah menorah in the city’s center. This was an improbable initiative; however, he stubbornly transformed it into a reality. Every visitor passing through the center of town during the festival was exposed to the menorah’s transcendent light.
“I didn’t create any innovations here,” he said. “Rishon L’Tzion has an honored and longstanding community with a line of numerous shluchim who have achieved many great things, led by Rabbi Yitzchak Gruzman.”
It’s not easy to get him to sit down for an interview. Rabbi Rivkin is constantly on the go, busy rushing from one activity to another. Whenever we called, it was some other pressing engagement: a farbrengen, helping a boy prepare for his bar-mitzvah, a meeting at City Hall, or giving over a Torah class. After several postponements, we finally managed to sit down for a conversation about his praiseworthy activities.
MORE PEOPLE WILL COME
When we asked about his going out on shlichus, Rabbi Rivkin said that all the credit goes to his wife, Tzippora. “When I was released from the army, I went to study electrical and electronic engineering. I already had a position in a field where we expected to make a very respectable living.
“However, in the course of my studies, a sense of longing started to bubble within me to go out on shlichus. Spreading Yiddishkait in the conduct of my work was all very nice, but it wasn’t the real thing. I wanted to be a shliach with every fiber of my body and soul. I saw how important this matter is to the Rebbe and I looked for a suitable place for my shlichus.
“By Divine Providence, I heard that Rabbi Ido Rahav, shliach in the northern Tel Aviv neighborhoods of Ne’ot Afeka and Tzahala, was looking for an assistant in his activities. I jumped at the opportunity. I worked alongside him for several years and learned a great deal from him on how to function properly in my shlichus. Eventually, I decided to look for a place where I could work on my own, however, my family found this difficult. At the time, I was living in Kfar Chabad and going out to another location would demand leaving our extended family and the community life to which we had become accustomed. My wife was justifiably concerned.
“Finally, we agreed to write to the Rebbe and act according to his instructions. By Divine Providence, we traveled to Crown Heights for a family wedding and I found an appropriate time to go into 770 and compose a letter. The answer we received appears in Igros Kodesh, Vol. 5, pg. 141. I read it in total disbelief. Since then, I have learned this reply on countless occasions, and each time I feel strengthened with an even greater intensity on my shlichus.
…According to the notification I received from the venerable and pious chassid, Rabbi Binyomin Gorodetzky, he has already received a permit to travel to Morocco, and I am sorry that the matter has been delayed so much, at a time when great things can be done there every day, and it is known that ‘days have been formed and one of them is His (lo),’ lo with a vav (His) and not with an alef (not), for the matter is that there must be an avoda every day, and each day that passes without being utilized properly is an irretrievable loss, as every time in the days that follow, he must fill its capacity, and there’s no available room for the capacity of the previous days. This relates to the amount itself, and in his relation to his fellow, i.e., the Jewish men and women of Morocco who can receive a good spiritual influence during these days, they are not to blame at all and they don’t have to suffer whatsoever from all the politics in the private affairs of the person or persons who could influence them in what they need. I didn’t come to give drashos, rather regarding practical guidance, and as known in the saying from the Zohar: Action is exalted.
d) Regarding what is written about the lonesomeness in Morocco, there is also a large settlement of Jews there – may they increase in number – and G-d Himself is also there in all His glory. It is my hope that during the near future, more Anash families, sh’yichyu, will come there, and it will soon be possible that he will find work there for his wife, tichye, as well, not for the whole day, of course. However, when he will be on the location, I hope that he will find a way that she too will help in the avoda, and as he wrote to me that when he was in Marseilles, she also helped him in his work.
“The Rebbe writes two central themes in this letter. First, we shouldn’t wait before going out on shlichus, as this represents an irretrievable loss. Secondly, the Rebbe asks that we remove any thought of being alone as there will be many Jews in our place of shlichus, and with the passage of time, since more and more Chassidim will also come, there is nothing to be concerned about. As mentioned, this was my wife’s main worry, and the Rebbe related to the matter by negating all need for concern.
“When we returned home, we searched for a place to go on shlichus, and by Divine Providence, we arrived in Rishon L’Tzion, where we were welcomed by Rabbi Gruzman with open arms.”
“THE LUBAVITCHER
REBBE IS MY BOSS TOO”
Rabbi Rivkin’s first stop on his shlichus in the city of Rishon L’Tzion was the ‘Kibbutz Galuyot’ Synagogue. At that time, only a few people davened in the shul and it was in need of serious renovations. With G-d’s help, two wealthy Jews, Ezra and Ronen, took an interest in the project and accepted the financial responsibility for the synagogue’s restoration, investing a sizable amount of money. They were eventually appointed as the shul’s gabbaim.
“I helped them in whatever they needed, and we made an agreement that I would handle the spiritual side and they would be in charge of all the material arrangements. It’s been that way to this day. Over the next three years, the synagogue underwent a very positive transformation with a major exterior renovation and an influx of Chassidic activities on the premises. When I first came to the shul, there were only twenty people davening there. Today, there are more than a hundred.
“Considerable spiritual light has emerged from this synagogue, not just in the nearby ‘Abramovitch’ neighborhood, but also in the city’s center and additional communities,” said Rabbi Rivkin, as he shared with us about his local activities that have become annual traditions.
“People in Rishon L’Tzion already know Chabad well, so the main objective of my activities is creating programs with a lot of ‘tumult.’ Alongside the Torah classes, the farbrengens, and other regular programs, we also engage in major projects. For example, during the Sukkos holiday, we set up stationary sukkos in the center of town to give people the opportunity to make a bracha on the Dalet Minim. On Purim, these booths host Megilla readings every hour on the hour. During the High Holiday season we erect a tent to hold prayer services for those who won’t attend the regular synagogues.
“During the year, we arrange a bar/bas-mitzvah program for disabled children, where the boys get a pair of t’fillin and the girls receive a candlestick. On the first night of Pesach, we hold a giant communal seder for hundreds of participants at one of the city’s most prestigious event halls, made in cooperation with the shliach, Rabbi Uri Keshet. Prior to the Shavuos holiday, we flooded the city’s center with announcements on Torah readings of the Ten Commandments. During the summer, we operate a ‘summer yeshiva’ for boys from non-religious homes. They come to daven and learn in the shul, and in the afternoon, we take them out for activities in various places throughout the city – and much more.”
These programs are only a small sample of the chain of activities run by R’ Rivkin’s Chabad House.
When Rabbi Rivkin arrived in the city, he was instilled with tremendous motivation to do some grandiose activities. “The first really significant program we did was to build a tall Chanukah menorah that everyone in town would notice. Rishon L’Tzion is one of the biggest and most central cities in Eretz Yisroel and I considered it inconceivable that it wouldn’t have a large menorah befitting its stature. This is the reason that my first visit in town was to the municipal government offices to obtain a permit.”
As a brand new shliach, Rabbi Rivkin knew no one at City Hall. He decided to act in a manner of ‘L’chat’chilla Aribber’. “As I entered the municipal office building, I saw a secretary sitting in one of the offices with a picture of the Rebbe hanging on the wall behind her. When I came into her office, I told her, ‘You have to help me in a job I was sent to do by my boss.’ The secretary asked: ‘Who’s your boss?’ I replied: ‘The Lubavitcher Rebbe.’ Very excited, she said: ‘He’s my boss too,’ as she proceeded to tell me that she had recently begun to study Tanya and get closer to Chabad.
“She brought me in to see the head of her department, Mr. Eyal Moshiyov, deputy mayor and director in charge of business permits. A good chemistry between us developed within just a few minutes. I told him that a Chanukah menorah only two meters high in the center of a city like Rishon L’Tzion is ridiculous, and I discussed my plans to erect a menorah at least nine meters high. While he promised to help me, I still had no idea of the bureaucratic process I would encounter along the way. I went to meet with R’ Chagai Chasin in Kfar Chabad, and I asked him to make a menorah for me.
“The meeting took place in the middle of Cheshvan. I was planning to fly to New York for the International Shluchim Conference, and I already wanted to have the permit to erect the menorah in my hand as a gift to give to the Rebbe. Then, R’ Chagai Chasin surprised me. His uncle, Eliyahu Chasin, had passed away the previous year during the Chanukah holiday, and he offered to donate the menorah in his memory.
“He had only one condition: I had to acquire all the necessary permits for erecting a Chanukah menorah of this size. It was here that I understood that it would require special permits, and I quickly returned to City Hall with the plans. I was sent to the offices of the municipal engineer, who made it clear that this was not what he had originally thought. He told me that this would be a building structure in every respect, and it would need a building permit. ‘What does that mean?’ I asked. ‘By when do you need this?’ he inquired. ‘Chanukah this year,’ I replied. The engineer smiled. ‘That’s in another month,’ he said. ‘If you work hard, you’ll be lucky to get the permits by Chanukah of next year…’ Noticing my shock and surprise, he proceeded to explain: ‘We’re talking about permits requiring dozens of clerks, signatures, and lots of bureaucracy.’ However, I would not relent. ‘Look, my friend,’ I told him, ‘we’re not working here according to our natural strengths, but with the strength of the Lubavitcher Rebbe.’ The engineer had previously served with the city of Ashkelon, where he had become close with Chabad. He looked at me and said, ‘You Chabadnikim are crazy. I don’t believe that you’ll succeed, but I won’t interfere with you. Start the process, and I’ll help in whatever way I can.’
“For the next two weeks, I would start my morning at City Hall and finish the workday there, after running the whole day from office to office.
“The miracles came one after another. I gave people no rest as we applied all our efforts in this matter. People even came from their homes to sign the necessary documents. I submitted building plans to one of the municipal engineers, but he returned it without approval on the grounds that it was not in color. ‘This will cause me a delay of one whole day,’ I pleaded to him. To my amazement, he went over the plans and colored those sections in need of color with a marker…”
AMAZING DIVINE PROVIDENCE
“At a later stage there was a need to obtain permission from the municipal permits department. A busy clerk sat in the office, with whom the applicant had to make an appointment several months in advance. Without a moment’s hesitation, I went straight to her office and told her about our project. By Divine Providence, I added that the menorah was being built in memory of Eliyahu Chasin a”h. When she heard this, she immediately softened up. To my great surprise, it turned out that her daughter was about to marry into the Chasin family… Incredible hashgacha pratis. She signed the application on the spot.
“However, the saga doesn’t end here. At a certain point, they explained to me that the menorah was classified as an outdoor artistic display, and therefore, municipal law required that I receive a permit from the environment committee. The problem was the committee meets only once every three months, and we had already missed the meeting for that quarter…
“The city clerks had pity on me, truly sorry that all my efforts would go for naught. However, as someone educated according to the concepts of Divine Providence and miracles, I would not give up. I went to the offices of the committee chairman, who was also the city architect. I showed him the carefully laid plans and asked him to approve them. At first, he looked at me as if I was crazy, but I was determined. I told him that as an architect, he surely understood the need for such a large city to have an attractive and artistic menorah. To the surprise of everyone, he authorized the plans without convening the committee…”
Meanwhile, R’ Chagai Chasin worked on the menorah, totally unaware of the unfolding drama. However, there was one moment when it looked as if the project might be halted. “After I had secured all the necessary signatures, I went to get the final approval of the owner of the property where the menorah would be erected – the Municipality of Rishon L’Tzion. Then, when they checked more thoroughly, the clerks informed me that they had made a mistake. The property owner was not the city, rather the contractor Tzvi Tzarfati, who had built the nearby apartment towers. While this was an open area, it was still under his ownership. I tried to get him on the phone to make an appointment, but to no avail. When he heard that I wanted to speak with him, he kept evading me and wouldn’t return my calls.
“I went back to the project engineer and told him about the problem. He surprised me by saying that he and Tzarfati were good friends and he would arrange everything. He called him in my presence, and it turned out that the man had thought I wanted to ask him for a contribution. A meeting was arranged between us, and the engineer told me to speak gently with him – ‘Don’t ask him to put on t’fillin or do any other mitzvos,’ he warned. When we met, I began by saying that the Rebbe had sent him a gift. ‘What gift?’ he raged, and I showed him the plans.
“‘Your property is the most beautiful in Rishon L’Tzion,’ I told him. ‘And therefore, we specifically chose this location to place our menorah.’ After a further discussion, he gave his consent, after he got me to sign a document stating that he was not responsible for the menorah and its maintenance. After I signed, I asked him to put on t’fillin. While he refused at first, he eventually agreed. We even took a commemorative picture together while he told me about his connection to prominent rabbanim. I sent the picture to the project engineer, accompanied by a spiritual message: For every Jew, the soul comes before his external appearance.”
The night before his flight to the International Shluchim Conference, when all the other signatures had already been collected in a most miraculous fashion, there was only one final signature required to approve the project – the mayor’s. The problem was that there was a very small ‘window of opportunity’ for obtaining this final signature. It was only a few days before the start of the municipal election campaign, a period when new projects could not be approved. “I went into the mayor’s office and was informed that he was recuperating at home with a broken leg. To the astonishment of the office staff, I removed the mezuzah from the entrance to his room. As I checked it, I saw that the letter ‘resh’ in the word ‘asher’ was broken. I showed this to the secretary and she was stunned. She replied quite matter-of-factly that this apparently was the reason why her boss had broken his leg.
“She immediately called the mayor and told him about the rabbi who had come to check the mezuzah and had discovered the reason for his injury. From the mayor’s office, I made my way to his home. I also checked the mezuzos there, and when I found that they too were unfit, I had them replaced with new kosher ones. He asked me to leave the plans with him and he would sign them. I suggested that he write to the Rebbe and request a bracha for the upcoming election. He agreed, however he asked me to meet him at a campaign event for his election staff and publicists, as this would be much easier for him. I arrived at the event that evening and he came into a side room and asked for the Rebbe’s bracha.
“The answer he received was amazing. In his reply, the Rebbe gave advice on how to avoid political squabbles and work with unity. The mayor read the answer he had received from the Rebbe again and again, and asked, “Is this a guidebook on politics?’ Naturally, I said that it wasn’t, and we discovered that this was the only letter in this specific volume dealing with parties and politics. He was so excited that he entered the ballroom and told everyone about the answer he had just received from the Rebbe. Over the next half hour, a line of people formed who also wanted to write to the Rebbe and receive his blessing.
“In the meantime, the plans were signed, and together with all the permits, I flew to the International Shluchim Conference to bring them as a gift to the Rebbe.
“On the first day of Chanukah, the contractor Tzvi Tzarfati contributed a cement truck, and the menorah was erected in its permanent location in the city’s center – clearly visible to all passers-by.
“Problems always seem to sprout up at the last minute. We ordered a crane for lighting the menorah, however, we failed to consider the possibility that the crane would arrive without anyone to run the machinery. In the end, I did it myself via operating instructions over the phone… When I came down, I met with the municipal officer in charge of public safety who informed me that I needed a license to operate the crane. He then added: ‘You Chabadnikim are different from anyone else. All the people that I know try to avoid responsibility; you Chabadnikim take responsibility.’ It goes without saying that several months later, I had already obtained a permit for operating a large crane. Every year since, on each of the eight nights of Chanukah, this menorah has hosted the central lighting ceremonies with the participation of leading public representatives.”
THERE IS NO GREATER JOY THAN THE WINE FESTIVAL
As you know by now, it’s no easy task to limit Rabbi Rivkin’s activities to just his neighborhood, although he has achieved great things there.
“When I arrived in Rishon L’Tzion, I discovered that the municipal government holds a wine festival with numerous booths each day of Chol HaMoed Sukkos and thousands of young people and other visitors come to take part. When I heard about it, it was already a bit late, as the festival was about to begin. In any case, I went to the organizers and asked if I could set up a Chabad platform for Simchas Beis HaShoeiva at the festival. They rejected my request, explaining that the artistic program and booths had been arranged months in advance.
“I decided that I would not give in. Thousands of people would be participating in this festival and the possibilities for spreading the wellsprings of Chassidus were tremendous. I spoke with R’ Yisroel Ta’izi, who had a system of microphones and loudspeakers, and we quickly set it up. As the festival began, we played lively Chassidic music, and hundreds of youngsters came to dance and rejoice. At one point, the person running the nearby platform came up to us and asked that we stop because we were interfering with the music being played by their band.
“Do you know how to play Chassidic music?” I asked him. He asked the other band members, and when they said that they did, we stopped our music and everyone moved to their platform to continue dancing. Later, when they decided to resume their ‘popular’ repertoire, we revved up our Chassidic music again and everyone came back to dance with us. Once again, the band platform manager came over – only this time to tell us that he knew that we had no permit to operate our makeshift platform. He was right. However, just at that moment, the mayor and several of his aides, with whom we had a very good relationship, came to visit the festival and joined the dancing. When the manager saw this, he left and didn’t come back…
“The festival organizers realized that there was a big demand for a Chabad platform, and the next year we got one in a central location at the festival. There are moments when I feel that I’m on Kingston Avenue before hundreds of people dancing.”
Are there activities with women and children?
“Yes, and plenty of them. This would be an appropriate place to give much thanks to my wife. There are days and weeks when I’m not home for hours upon hours. As a result, the entire burden and responsibility for our children’s education and maintaining the home front falls upon her shoulders. This is an example of the great self-sacrifice of the shluchos. She invests great effort in preparing her uniquely tasty, nutritious, and creative Shabbos meals. When we invite guests and they see an attractive and plentiful Shabbos table surrounded by our properly dressed children, it has a positive influence.
“To the heart of your question, my wife organizes each month a special evening for women with guests at the ‘Kibbutz Galuyot’ Synagogue. Similarly, there’s a Tanya class for women every Monday given by my wife and Mrs. Meirav Lavi, who together with her husband are major partners in Chabad House programs.
“With regard to children, there’s a school near our home, where I’m called prior to each holiday to speak about its essential nature. The teaching staff has already given me the title of ‘school rabbi.’ The students know me well, and this is the part of the reason why for the Lag B’Omer activities I am chosen to be chief coordinator. About two thousand local children come to participate, many of whom are from ‘my’ school, where I also conduct T’fillin Campaign activities.”
The Rebbe says that the world is ready for the Redemption, and it should be publicized to all the people of the generation. How do you achieve this through your shlichus?
“On all our public announcements, I include the proclamation of ‘Yechi Adoneinu’ – and I haven’t seen anyone bothered by it. What’s most important is not only to ‘talk Moshiach’ but to ‘live Moshiach.’ When you speak about it without living it, it isn’t worth anything. We try to ‘live Moshiach and the Redemption’ and not allow the limits of nature to disturb us. When people see that things materialize against all odds, they understand that talking about Moshiach isn’t just talk; it’s the strength of Moshiach making it all happen. Many people write to the Rebbe in Igros Kodesh and receive answers with amazing brachos. It’s this – and only this – that causes people to look forward to the Redemption even more.”
In conclusion, do you have a tip for young shluchim reading this article?
“My tip to young shluchim is to check before each of their activities how the Rebbe perceives them. Does it give the Rebbe nachas or not? If it does, we must carry it out with all our strength, even if it sometimes seems impossible. We have to press forward with no external considerations. This is what I learned when I was an IDF soldier: One of the main fundamentals on the battlefield that they teach you is ‘Do – don’t think.’ If you think too much, either it won’t get done or the enemy will strike first. When we’re talking about the battle for the Redemption, we must take effective action and do so as quickly as possible.”