“AND THE NATIONS SHALL GO BY YOUR LIGHT”

“… the deputy mayor is someone who is regularly interested in what is going on with the Jewish people, Chassidim especially.  He visited Yerushalayim, and attended one of the big Chassidic courts and saw their magnificent beis midrash.  After that visit, he had great expectations of Chabad world headquarters.  At first, he was disappointed, but on second thought he said to R’ Slavaticki, “It’s true that the beis midrash of that Chassidic group is bigger and more beautiful, but I want to help Chabad because I see that you are less involved in self-glorification and more committed to the entire world.””

There is the story about one of the Rebbeim who told one of his Chassidim to learn a certain maamer 400 times.  The Chassid did as the Rebbe told him.  When he finished this assignment, he left the room where he had been learning and no matter what he looked at, all he saw was the maamer.

In a recent Tishrei there was a bachur, one of a thousand or so, who went to 770 after concluding a stint of several months at a Chabad house in India.  This bachur said that today too, there are shluchim who operate with a similar approach to the Chassid described above, as occurred with him on his recent shlichus.

Upon arriving in Dharamsala, he said, the local shliach, R’ Dror Moshe, told him the above story.  It is known among Chassidim that in order to be even more mekushar to the Rebbe, especially in order to be successful in the Rebbe’s shlichus, and even more so in difficult times, you need to pick a maamer and learn it over and over until you become completely saturated with the maamer.  This is what provides completely different kochos to work on shlichus.

This shliach in India sat with the bachur and they learned the Rebbe’s maamer “Ata Horeisa Lo’Daas Ki Hashem Hu HaElokim, Ein Od Milvado.”  In the days that followed they reviewed the maamer no less than seven times until they really felt that the maamer had penetrated their bones and they had the kochos they needed for the shlichus.

Then, one morning, this bachur went outside and saw a local Indian ride up on a bike, holding a large brick and with a threatening look he began shouting in English, “Get out of here, you Jews, this is our country, there is nothing here for you.  We’ll throw you out!” He kept shouting and threatening as he occasionally raised the large brick.  It looked like any minute he would throw it at the bachur or at one of the visitors to the Chabad house.

The bachur was scared.  This was the first time he had experienced anything like this and he didn’t know what to do.  Then, as though welling up from the depths of his neshama, the answer appeared.  He looked directly at the threatening Indian and shouted loudly and in the Simchas Torah tune, “Ata Horeisa Lo’Daas! Ki Hashem Hu HaElokim! Ein Od Milvado!”

The Indian was very frightened.  He put down the brick and fled as fast as he could.  He also remembered what the bachur looked like and whenever he saw him in the neighborhood or on the street, he quickly crossed to the other side of the street.

Thanks to the shliach in Tzfas, R’ Yitzchok Lifsh, who heard the story from the bachur and told it to me so I could share it with you.

GOYIM “MEKUSHARIM” GOING TO THE REBBE

In a sicha on VaYeitzei, the Rebbe explains that an inseparable part of the Geula of the Jewish people is the birur (refinement) of Eisav, to rectify the nations of the world too, so that all the inhabitants of the world recognize and know the kingdom of Hashem (as we recite in davening).

The following are stories about shluchim of the Rebbe who knowingly, or unwittingly, encounter the B’nei Eisav and impact them as part of preparing the world for Geula.

R’ Sholom Blau (now a shliach in Beit Shaan) was on shlichus in Chabad yeshivos in Italy for a year.  He tells of an interesting and dangerous phenomenon which ultimately produced good results.  There is a group of Christians in Italy whose priests and nuns make a special point of greeting every Jew they see, perhaps for the purpose of attracting them to Christianity.

R’ Blau noticed that a group of these nuns, whenever they passed by the yeshiva or the t’fillin stand, would stop for a second, say a friendly hello, and then walk on.

One day, three nuns stopped at the yeshiva in Venice and asked what went on in the building during the day.  Sholom Blau and his friend were standing there and they took the opportunity to explain the Seven Noachide Laws.  Since the nuns did not know English, only Italian, a passerby was found, a local gentile, who knew both languages and served as the interpreter.

As they spoke, the bachurim emphasized that there is a big tzaddik in America who said they should publicize the Seven Noachide Laws and this tzaddik is called the Lubavitcher Rebbe.  The bachurim wanted to explain to the interpreter, for him to convey to the nuns some more details about the Rebbe but the interpreter stopped them with a smile and said, “You don’t have to tell me who the Lubavitcher Rebbe is.  I know him well; I’ve been to see him a few times.”

Now it was the bachurim’s turn to stop the interpreter.  They eagerly pumped him for information about his connection to the Rebbe.  The non-Jew explained that he had heard and read a lot about the Rebbe.  The persona of the Rebbe and the messages he conveyed, really excited him.  He went to New York several times, met with the Rebbe, spoke to him, and learned many things from him.  Naturally, the continuation of the conversation with the nuns was in a much more enthusiastic atmosphere.  They all saw that the Rebbe is in New York but his net is spread throughout the world and he affects non-Jews as well.

THE DEPUTY MAYOR AT THE KINUS HA’SHLUCHIM

The Kinus HaShluchim is also a good opportunity to be mekarev b’nei Noach to their seven mitzvos and to enable them to help the shluchim.  Here is one example.

Among the popular speakers who farbrenged one year on Rosh Chodesh Kislev was R’ Shabtai Slavaticki, shliach in Antwerp.  R’ Slavaticki sat surrounded by hundreds of Chassidim who hung on to his every word and ignored the clock which said it was six in the morning. 

R’ Slavaticki, who had a drink or two, suddenly got up and told the disappointed crowd that in another four hours he had a meeting with the deputy mayor of Antwerp in the Children’s Museum in Crown Heights.  He said that the deputy mayor, who was not Jewish, came from Belgium especially to see the 4000 colleagues-shluchim of the shliach in Belgium.

The deputy mayor attended the banquet, watched what the Rebbe said about shluchim and shlichus, and was tremendously impressed by the stories of the shluchim around the world.  Now they were going to have a meeting to arrive at some decisions regarding the success of the shluchim in Belgium.

By the way, the deputy mayor is someone who is regularly interested in what is going on with the Jewish people, Chassidim especially.  He visited Yerushalayim, and attended one of the big Chassidic courts and saw their magnificent beis midrash.  After that visit, he had great expectations of Chabad world headquarters.  At first, he was disappointed, but on second thought he said to R’ Slavaticki, “It’s true that the beis midrash of that Chassidic group is bigger and more beautiful, but I want to help Chabad because I see that you are less involved in self-glorification and more committed to the entire world.”

Being a light (also) to the nations.

FACING OFF WITH A HOSTILE GENTILE

R’ Yisroel Gliss, shliach in Dimona, tells the following story:

A gentile couple made aliya and settled in Dimona.  Interestingly, their fifteen year old son decided to convert.  He went to a yeshiva high school and began visiting the shul in Dimona on off-Shabbasos from yeshiva.  One day, he met R’ Gliss and began to learn Chassidus.  When he finished the yeshiva high school he switched to the Chabad yeshiva in Tzfas.

His non-Jewish parents were very angry with him and were especially angry at R’ Gliss who they blamed for their son’s religiosity.  The boy’s mother called R’ Gliss and threatened that if her son did not leave yeshiva, blood would be spilled (“I will drink your blood,” she said).

R’ Gliss got up his courage (and he needed a lot of courage) and went to the parents to talk to them about their son.  The conversation wasn’t easy but in the end, even the parents understood that it was in their son’s best interests to let him find his own path.  The bachur continued learning, got married, and now he and his children are mekusharim to the Rebbe and belong to a Chassidic community somewhere in the US.

TAKING ON THE MISSIONARIES

R’ Menachem Mendel Wilschansky, shliach and rosh yeshiva of the Chabad yeshiva in Haifa, once met a Jew who did not want to put on t’fillin.  R’ Wilschansky told him sincerely, “My brother, give a hand to the bringing of Moshiach, put on t’fillin!”

As soon as the man heard about Moshiach, he was turned off even more and he said, “My older brother told me that the Messiah has already come.”  It turned out that these Jewish brothers belonged to a Christian missionary group whose messiah came 2000 years ago.

R’ Wilschansky saw that there were two souls that needed saving from missionaries and he asked to speak to the older brother.  This led to a series of meetings with the brothers and with the entire group.  Yad L’Achim was also involved.  There were debates, the Jewish brothers read some Jewish books, and in the end they proved to the Christians and the priests that there was no justification to direct Jews toward Christianity (I’m telling you the story in brief; it was actually much more difficult than these few lines convey).  The Jews returned to mitzva observance and the non-Jews understood that they were better off fulfilling the Seven Noachide Laws.

AN ARAB BOY INVITING JEWS TO A SHIUR

Every Friday, says R’ Wilschansky, bachurim go on mivtza t’fillin all over the city.  In addition to putting on t’fillin, they give out brochures and flyers inviting people to visit the yeshiva and attend shiurim.  Every day, many guests visit the yeshiva, learn b’chavrusa with the bachurim, attend a shiur, daven, and sometimes an entire family is transformed.

One day, an Arab boy went over to the bachurim at the t’fillin stand and said he wanted to help.  The bachurim gave him a few hundred flyers advertising the shiurim and told him to distribute them to Jews only.  The boy took the job seriously and gave out the flyers to passersby, to store owners, etc.

The boy came back every Friday and continued giving out flyers.  Many people said they came to the yeshiva because an Arab boy gave them a flyer!

Some Arabs who work for the city and were sent to remove a large picture of the Rebbe hanging outside the yeshiva building were told by one of the rabbis at the yeshiva that this picture is of a big rabbi and tzaddik.  The Arabs told their boss that they would not take down the picture.

The matter came up for discussion at a full session of the city council and fascinatingly, it was the Arab treasurer who led the discussion and passed a resolution that said that since the Rebbe is a special tzaddik (as well as making the point that it was not advertising for business purposes), they should give their approval to the picture.  And that’s what happened.

In a paraphrase of the prophet, “And kings will be your nursemaids and the Arabs your defenders.”