“To see the seder of a Jew” – that is how the Rebbe himself referred to the rare privilege that bachurim in 770 merited in the first twenty years of the nesius. * Four rabbanim and mashpiim, who saw the Rebbe’s seder as bachurim, describe those unforgettable moments. * From a special video presentation that was made in honor of the Shabbos Achdus for talmidei HaYeshivos by Atah – 770.
The Rebbe (top right) in the Rebbe’s Rayatz’s apartment
PARTICIPANTS:
Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Offen, Mashpia
Rabbi Gershon Burkis, Anash Lud
Rabbi Yeshaya Hertzl , Rav
Rabbi Shneur Zalman Labkowski, Rosh yeshiva
R’ Hertzl: We bachurim made a seder at 676 Eastern Parkway, opposite where Oholei Torah is today. The bachurim’s seder was attended by talmidim of the yeshiva, not just the Israelis. Each person prepared his own ke’ara, wine and kosos.
R’ Offen: The bachurim would prepare the ke’ara and wait for the Rebbe to come. When the Rebbe would come, he would walk around and look at all the tables and would go into Mussia’s kitchen and look everything over. The Rebbe once noted that candles were missing, for a lit candle should be present at Kiddush in honor of Yom Tov. Then the Rebbe would stand and give a bracha.
R’ Hertzl: When the Rebbe came in, he first went inside to see what was going on there. I remember that he pointed something out to Mussia about the food, about the placement of the mezuza, and about the place where they had put the boxes of matzos. Then the Rebbe came out and said a sicha and began to sing “Hop Cossack” and we bachurim danced in place. It was in indescribable feeling. As soon as the Rebbe left, we did an “express seder,” because we wanted to go and see the Rebbe’s seder.
R’ Offen: We knew that the Rebbe would soon be making a seder and we wanted to see everything, so we did our seder in twenty minutes as we quickly read through the Hagada and skipped the food. After korech and the egg we immediately ate the Afikoman.
R’ Burkis: We ate the five k’zeisim as we were obligated to and then ran off to the Rebbe’s seder. As R’ Offen said, it took about twenty minutes to do our Seder and run to 770. We wanted to grab a place.
R’ Offen: Many times we came early and waited for the Rebbe to come.
R’ Burkis: The Rebbe sat on the left and in the center was the Rebbe Rayatz’s chair. Rashag sat on the other side and guests sat around the table. The best spot was behind Rashag since he would ask the Rebbe questions and the Rebbe would answer him, so whoever stood behind him could hear the Rebbe’s answers.
R’ Offen: Next to the Rebbe Rayatz’s chair in the center was a ke’ara prepared for him, which was on a rectangular silver platter; there were also a cup, spoon and fork. Aside from Rashag there were regularly invited guests including the artist R’ Hendel Lieberman (the brother of R’ Mendel Futerfas), R’ Yitzchok Chorgin, R’ Zalman Teibel, and R’ Yaakov Katz of Chicago who would read the Hagada. Yankel Katz’s son, who was a bachur at the time, would ask the Four Questions.
R’ Labkowski: The Rebbe was intensely joyful. One did not see such simcha even on Simchas Torah. Although on Simchas Torah the Rebbe would dance, this inner joy, tzufridinkait, wasn’t there. It was astounding. The Rebbe would do everything on his own; nobody helped him. The Rebbe himself brought the matzos and wine from his room.
R’ Burkis: The Rebbe covered the ke’ara with a white napkin, but we could see there was something hard under the napkin – the ke’ara was made of some hard material. The Rebbe would fold the napkin into four and in the three folds that were formed he would insert three matzos.
The Rebbe would start preparing the ke’ara. On the table were bowls, each of which contained one of the simanim. There were bowls of small onions, of lettuce, eggs, and pieces of neck that were used as the z’roa, maror, and charoses.
R’ Offen: The Rebbe would read the minhag or Halacha from the Hagada and then do it. That was how the seder began, with the Rebbe reading, “he should arrange on his table, etc.” and then doing it, putting the three matzos on the table, one on top of the other, Yisroel with the Levi on it and then the Kohen, and so on with everything throughout the night.
R’ Burkis: The Rebbe would put napkins on the ke’ara and on each napkin he would place one of the simanim.
R’ Offen: The Rebbe would take the z’roa, peel off almost all the meat so only very little remained and would put it on the right of the ke’ara. Then he would take the egg and put it on the left.
R’ Labkowski: The Rebbe would break a little of the egg’s shell so it wouldn’t roll away when it was placed on the ke’ara.
R’ Offen: The Rebbe would take a soup spoon full of chazeres, ground horseradish, and put it in his palm. If it was too watery, the Rebbe would squeeze it on the floor. The Rebbe would take four teaspoons full and make the shape of an egg and cover it with lettuce above and below. He would also take a small piece of chazeres that was not ground up. That is how the Rebbe prepared the first maror.
R’ Labkowski: It is interesting that the Rebbe took the greenest leaves from the lettuce and not the inner leaves, and mainly from the upper part. The main part of the maror was the chazeres but the Rebbe wrapped it in a lettuce leaf.
R’ Burkis: The charoses was very dry. When the Rebbe put it in its place on the ke’ara, you could see it was like dry cardboard.
R’ Offen: The Rebbe would take the onion and place it beneath the egg. After he finished, he would say the simanim, i.e. Kadeish, U’r’chatz, etc. and pour himself wine.
R’ Labkowski: The Rebbe always poured his own wine. The special wine he used was made by the Rebbe’s shochet, R’ Yisroel Shimon Kalmanson. It was very strong wine. There were bachurim who made it a point to buy wine from him and after the seder they were out cold.
R’ Offen: The Rebbe would pour until his cup overflowed. He made Kiddush standing and quietly. You did not hear his Kiddush. You could just see that the Rebbe held the cup as it says in the minhagim.
On the Rebbe’s left was a chair whose back was turned to face the left, on which they placed two pillows which the Rebbe leaned on. Rashag was also given a pillow, but since he was a loyal Chassid of the Rebbe, he did not lean.
R’ Labkowski: The Rebbe would lean with his hand on the chair and didn’t actually recline to the left. For U’r’chatz he would stand up and go to the sink opposite the table and wash his hands.
R’ Offen: The Rebbe would shake the saltshaker three times into the cup of water in front of him, and remove the inner part of the onion with a knife and put it in the saltwater. Then he would take the middle matza and break it inside the napkin. He broke the afikoman into five pieces and put it into its own napkin, which he placed between the pillows on the other chair.
The Rebbe arrived at the seder with the Hagada he authored in pamphlet form and with the Siddur of the Arizal. R’ Yaakov Katz would begin reading the Hagada out loud, slowly, and the Rebbe would read the page quickly and silently and then look at the reasons and minhagim that he wrote, and then in the Siddur of the Arizal. When R’ Yankel began the next page, the Rebbe began with him too, and again finished the page quickly and read in the two Hagados.
That is what happened until they reached a part where you need to cover or uncover the matza. Then the Rebbe waited for everyone. When the Rebbe uncovered the matza, he would uncover all three matzos. Also by “V’Hi Sh’Amda,” the Rebbe waited for everyone, raised his cup, and said it along with the reader.
R’ Labkowski: The Rebbe poured the drops into a broken dish that was placed on the floor.
R’ Offen: The Rebbe poured very little. After pouring all sixteen times, hardly anything was missing from his cup. The Rebbe would refill the cup after all the pouring.
R’ Hertzl: When the Rebbe finished the Hagada, he would read the instructions about Rachtza and Motzi Matza since you cannot speak after washing your hands for matza. Then the Rebbe read the instructions for the maror and took maror.
R’ Offen: The Rebbe went to the kitchen to wash his hands, said the bracha over all the matza, said the bracha on the mitzva of matza and broke off a k’zayis from each of the two matzos.
R’ Labkowski: The Rebbe ate the matza with both hands. He would recline as he grasped the broken matzos with both hands and chewed them quickly. Amazingly, not one piece fell from his hands. The matzos were hard to digest, especially when the Rebbe was missing most of his teeth at that time, and so the time for eating was relatively lengthy. We did not look at how much time it took.
After finishing eating the matzos, the Rebbe would wipe his teeth with a napkin so no matza crumbs remained between his teeth.
The Rebbe would take some charoses in a spoon and put it on the plate beneath the wine cup. He would dip the chazeres into the charoses but not the lettuce. He would take the chazeres, cover it with some lettuce again, and eat it. As he ate the korech, he would dip the chazeres into the dry charoses and not into the charoses in his plate. The Rebbe ate the korech and afikoman with both hands.
The Rebbe would add even more chazeres to what was on the plate. It was an awesome sight to see the Rebbe eating that. There was the sense that the Rebbe was taking on the bitterness of all the Jewish people. He would cough and eat, cough and eat.
R’ Offen: Eating the maror took time. Sometimes the Rebbe’s eyes teared.
R’ Labkowski: For Shulchan Orech, the Rebbe would take the egg, roll it on the table and peel it without leaving any shell.
R’ Hertzl: The Rebbe did not open the egg to check for blood but ate it as is. He did not begin eating until the assistant, in our days that was Shlomo Reinitz, sat down and began eating too.
R’ Offen: After the Rebbe took the egg from the ke’ara, only the z’roa and charoses remained on it. They remained there until the end of the meal.
R’ Burkis: When they served fish to the Rebbe, he would pour a lot of salt on it. There was actually a layer of salt on the fish. The Rebbe would eat it as though it was ordinary fish. You could not see any indication on his face that he was eating something inordinately salty.
R’ Offen: It’s completely beyond human capacity, impossible, for someone to eat something like that. The Rebbe ate fish that way all year, not only on Pesach.
R’ Labkowski: It is interesting that the Rebbe did not add salt to any other foods.
R’ Offen: During the meal, the Rebbe would dip the matza into salt now and then, even though with the bracha of HaMotzi at the seder we do not dip the matza into salt. The Rebbe would put the salt under the napkin of the matzos so that the crumbs wouldn’t scatter.
R’ Burkis: They brought the soup in a tureen belonging to the Alter Rebbe. It was a wide and deep bowl, made of silver. The Rebbe would take first and then the rest of the people took after he did.
R’ Offen: The Rebbe would take three spoons of soup which is what everybody else did too.
R’ Labkowski: One year, they made kneidlach out of potato starch for the soup. One of the helpers thought it was made out of matza meal and told the Rebbe. They immediately corrected him and he hurried to tell the Rebbe of his mistake, but the Rebbe did not eat the soup after that.
He never ate the potatoes in the soup, just the liquid. That year, the Rebbe did not eat anything.
R’ Offen: After the soup they served meat.
R’ Labkowski: The Rebbe would eat matza and drink wine at the meal. I thought that this is what is meant when it says [in the Hagada, that at the meal] one “eats and drinks his full need” (i.e. so as to eat the afikoman when already satiated but not stuffed – Ed.). The “drinking” was definitely “his full need.” The Rebbe would add wine and drink.
R’ Burkis: During the meal, Rashag would ask the Rebbe questions and the Rebbe would answer him. The Rebbe answered quietly and only those nearby could hear him. After the seder there was a review of what was said with Rashag and the bachurim who heard repeating it. Excerpts were published in HaMelech B’Mesibo.
R’ Offen: They usually did not sing, but one time Rashag asked something, and following that they sang “Al Achas Kama V’Kama.”
R’ Labkowski: During the meal, on both nights, the Rebbe would ask what time it was a few times. Close to midnight, which in those days before they changed the clock early, was around 12:00, he would stop the meal and move on to the afikoman. At about ten to twelve the Rebbe moved on to the afikoman.
I saw how the Rebbe was particular about leaving over a piece of the afikoman and would put it aside under the plate of matzos.
R’ Offen: After the afikoman, the Rebbe gave his cup and the plate dirty with charoses to be washed and dried. After Birkas HaMazon, they drank the third cup. Then the helpers would go to open the door. When it was a weekday, they took candles. From “Sh’foch Chamas’cha” until the end of “Yishtabach,” the Rebbe said the words a bit louder so that those standing nearby could hear him. This was the only opportunity during the seder to hear the Rebbe’s voice.
R’ Labkowski: The Rebbe said “Sh’foch Chamas’cha” while sitting. From then on, it was completely different. The Rebbe would say the Hagada out loud and with d’veikus. It looked as though the Rebbe was in a completely different world. Pesach night was special. You never saw the Rebbe in such a state at any other time.
R’ Burkis: The Rebbe said the Birkas HaMazon out loud; we heard every word. The Rebbe said Hallel sweetly, out loud and clear.
R’ Hertzl: The Rebbe said “Nishmas” in a unique way. You could hear the great pleasure the Rebbe had in every word.
R’ Labkowski: The Rebbe said Hallel in a special way, just for seder night. In 5727, the Rebbe repeated the words, “To the one Who does great wonders on His own, His kindness is everlasting” three times. A month and a half later is when the miraculous Six Day War took place.
R’ Offen: Pouring back the wine from Eliyahu’s cup was an avoda. The Rebbe would pour from the cup of Eliyahu to his own cup, and from there to the bottle and then back to his own cup and from there to Eliyahu’s cup and more back and forth an unknown number of times. Those present sang “Keili Ata” while this was going on.
R’ Hertzl: At the end of the seder the Rebbe would go downstairs with everyone else following. Downstairs they continued to sing and dance to “Keili Ata” for a long time. Obviously, a seder like that left an imprint of k’dusha and hiskashrus to the Rebbe forever!