COME PREPARED!

An interview with the mashpia, R’ Yosef Yitzchok Segal, of Yeshivas Tomchei T’mimim in Migdal HaEmek, who spoke about the importance of preparing before going to the Rebbe, about the differences between bachurim today and bachurim of yesteryear, and about the right way to absorb all the hashpaos of Tishrei

The trip to the Rebbe was, ever since the establishment of the Chassidus movement, something fundamental. Throughout the generations, the main time Chassidim went to the Rebbe was for Tishrei, the “Days of Slichos and Rachamim,” and the days of joy, in order to start the year by the Rebbe. As the Rebbe Rashab put it, the most suitable place for a Chassid to spend Rosh HaShana is with the Rebbe, “How can a Jew not be in Lubavitch for Rosh HaShana? What other place is there to be?”

The concept of “Tishrei with the Rebbe” is remembered by Chassidim of the seventh generation as a time in which thousands of Chassidim from all over the world fill 770 from wall to wall, standing crowded but with wide-open hearts facing the holy, observing the holy service during the Days of Awe as well as the Days of Rejoicing. It is a month in which the Rebbe uplifts thousands of guests as well as the regulars, and brings them to new heights of spiritual hashpaos that elevate the nefesh and neshama.

During these days of Elul, along with the return of thousands of talmidim to yeshivos Tomchei T’mimim, the bachurim are starting their preparations for the trip to the Rebbe. They prepare physically and more importantly, spiritually, in order to be fitting vessels to receive those hashpaos.

At this time, when the king goes out to the field, we spoke to the mashpia R’ Y. Y. Segal about the preparations a bachur, as well as a balabus, needs to make for a trip to the Rebbe, about the behavior required at 770, and he shared with us the glory days of the past as well as the feelings engendered by the Tishreis of recent years. In addition, he spoke glowingly of the thousands of guests who abide by the Rebbe’s horaos for these days.

Twenty-one years have passed since Tishrei 5755, the first Tishrei after Gimmel Tammuz, the first Tishrei since the acceptance of the nesius in which we did not see the Rebbe. Were you at the Rebbe that year?

Yes. In Tishrei 5755 I was there, and for me personally that trip included a family simcha since my son Nechemia (now a shliach in Warsaw) became bar mitzva at the beginning of Cheshvan. My son wanted to celebrate his bar mitzva by the Rebbe and he prepared for months beforehand for the aliya to the Torah by the Rebbe.

As for your question, it was obvious that even that Tishrei we had to be by the Rebbe, as we were the previous years. As R’ Mendel Futerfas told those who asked him: “Until now you needed to go and now you must go.”

When the Rebbe said the first maamer, Basi L’Gani, in which he announced that this world is G-d’s garden – going to the Rebbe was “going to the garden,” to the Rebbe’s garden.

I remember the organization of the learning sessions, and the general conduct of that month. That was the beginning of the tremendous infrastructure that we have today.

FIRST TISHREI WITH THE REBBE

What year did you go to the Rebbe for Tishrei for the first time, and what special moments do you remember from that first Tishrei?

The first time was when I was on K’vutza, the year that began in Nissan 5730/1970 and went until Iyar 5731, with my first Tishrei in 5731. Many guests from Eretz Yisroel and around the world came.

What I remember in particular from that month is what happened the night of Simchas Torah, I think it was during the fourth hakafa. The Rebbe suddenly spoke about the verse (D’varim 32:9), “Yatzev gevulos amim lemispar b’nei Yisroel” (“He set the borders of peoples according to the number of the Children of Israel”), that the borders of the nations are connected to the Jewish people. Therefore, at this hakafa, balabatim (those in charge, “heads of state”) of various nations would be honored. Since everything needs to be according to Torah, these would be people who have smicha or roshei yeshivos. The Rebbe said to announce that so-and-so is the balabus of country X.

At this time, there had been a vote in the UN against Israel and the Rebbe was fighting a spiritual battle to annul the UN’s decisions.

After people were chosen to represent the various nations, the Rebbe said to announce again, “‘He set the borders of peoples according to the number of the Children of Israel’ who are the balabatim of these countries according to Torah.” After that introduction, everyone felt how the Rebbe was literally conquering the world and making the Torah and Judaism the “bosses” of the world. The excitement and enthusiasm of the large crowd went up several notches especially after the Rebbe gave the signal and began singing, “Utzu Eitza V’sufar.”

I was there, and that year, my father, R’ Chaim Sholom a”h, went to the Rebbe for the first time and he was selected as balabus over Eretz Yisroel.

How did your father react to that?

My father was a kabbalas ol type and when he was told he is the balabus, he simply accepted that.

GOING TO THE REBBE WITHOUT SPIRITUALLY PREPARING IS VILD

What preparations did your mashpiim demand from you before you went to the Rebbe?

The main mashpia in yeshiva was R’ Shlomo Chaim Kesselman. He put a strong emphasis on the importance of preparing before making the trip. He would repeat the vort, whether Lubavitch or maybe Polish, “Im b’gapo yavo, b’gapo yeitzei” – if you go to the Rebbe just with your body (meaning, you get on a plane and just show up) then you will return with just your body. Going to the Rebbe without properly preparing is not the proper approach.

I remember him saying that going to the Rebbe without suitable spiritual preparations is a kind of “pereh adam” (wildness). How are you not embarrassed to show your face to the Rebbe? In general, he would talk about the Rebbe being Elokus in a physical body and if you don’t prepare for the trip, what will you see there? A nice Rebbe with a handsome face?

R’ Shlomo Chaim wasn’t thrilled by a bachur going just like that. If he, the mashpia, did not feel he had exerted all his strength to go to the Rebbe in the proper way, he did not think there was any reason to go.

In later years, R’ Mendel Futerfas had a different approach. He constantly urged bachurim to go to the Rebbe, any time. They once asked him what is the best time to go, and he said, it depends. If it’s before Chanuka, then Chanuka is the best time. If it’s before Yud Shevat, then that’s the best time, and so on. You have to grab any opportunity to go to the Rebbe.

Those are very different approaches. Is it about a change in the generations?

Each of them emphasized something else. R’ Mendel wasn’t disagreeing with R’ Shlomo Chaim about the necessity to make appropriate preparations before going to the Rebbe.

At that time, going to the Rebbe wasn’t easy. I remember R’ Meir Friedman who would go to the Rebbe every year. They said that his mother, Gittele, would put together all the money she earned from her store all year and give it to him so he could go to the Rebbe. He went every Tishrei, which was not at all common at the time. The cost of a trip was comparable to three average paychecks and that was aside from the enormous difficulties in getting permission from the army to leave. Not to mention that the flights were very long with several stopovers. It was not surprising that many of R’ Meir’s friends also wanted to go to the Rebbe for Tishrei and tried and yearned to do so, but could not find the means to go.

At that time, you were able to approach the Rebbe between sichos and ask for a bracha or to talk to the Rebbe. Some went over with mashke so the Rebbe would pour it for them. R’ Meir went over to the Rebbe at a farbrengen and asked for a bracha for all those who tried to come and were unsuccessful, that they too could come to the Rebbe. The Rebbe responded with: L’chaim v’livracha. Those who already came but still did not arrive, should arrive.

From this response of the Rebbe we learn how it is possible to make the effort to go to the Rebbe but to still not be there …

On the other hand, we saw that the Rebbe wanted Chassidim to come. When I was on K’vutza, by Shabbos, 18 Elul, the first guests from Eretz Yisroel had already arrived, and from that point we saw how the Rebbe conducted everything with great joy. The Rebbe stood in place and encouraged the singing and dancing with tremendous joy. The Rebbe often praised those who left home and came to be with the Rebbe, his father-in-law, for Yom Tov.

At the same time, the Rebbe demanded that the guests use the time for learning and fortifying themselves, and saw to it that there be special shiurim for the balabatim guests who came. Throughout the years, there were people in charge of this. Some of the years it was R’ Zushe Wilyamowsky. He arranged learning sessions before davening in the Rebbe’s minyan and after the davening.

I remember R’ Zushe walking around 770 and saying, “go to cheider,” i.e. into the room where the learning took place, and he would mark down who came, who went in, when he went in, and then would give these notes to the Rebbe. I remember people going over to him to ascertain whether they were on the list. “I also came on time. Did you mark me down?”

Chassidim who knew that they would have yechidus during the month or at the end of the month, each one coming with his pekele that he wanted the Rebbe’s help with, knew it would not feel comfortable if they were absent from the list of those who attended shiurim. Everyone wanted to be on the list.

I am talking about balabatim; this should be all the more true for bachurim that they utilize the time they spend with the Rebbe to sit and learn.

ESHEL’S LEARNING PROGRAM

During Tishrei nowadays, you see thousands of bachurim learning under the auspices of the Eshel-Hachnosas Orchim program.

It is no comparison to what once was. At the beginning of his nesius, the Rebbe spoke a number of times with great sadness about bachurim “taking off” during these special days of Rosh HaShana, the Aseres Yemei T’shuva, as well as the days of Slichos, instead of being in yeshiva and properly utilizing these days. The Rebbe spoke sadly about the fact that for some reason, at such a precious time when they should be in yeshiva, bachurim take a break and go home. The Rebbe described at length how when a bachur goes home and his mother knows that in yeshiva he does not eat well enough, she prepares a lot of good food and she makes sure he sleeps well, etc. This is at a time when there is “the closeness of the Light-source to the spark,” and he is outside the yeshiva atmosphere and immersed in matters of this world.

This message of the Rebbe is addressed not only to those in Chabad yeshivos but also to bachurim studying in other yeshivos. When I learned in yeshiva in Kfar Chabad, the s’darim in yeshiva went until the day after Yom Kippur and only then did bachurim return home.

Today, things are much more organized. There are yeshivos that keep the bachurim until after the Aseres Yemei T’shuva while the rest of the bachurim are in the special atmosphere of the Rebbe. Boruch Hashem, the time is used well.

The Rebbe once said, how is it possible that they send bachurim [to 770 for Tishrei] and they don’t send someone from the yeshiva to supervise their learning. Thanks to that instruction, I was able to go to the Rebbe every year for Tishrei to be with the bachurim and we would have s’darim in the Ezras Nashim on Kingston and in other places.

The situation is much better today. 770 in Tishrei is full of bachurim and every bachur who wants to go is supervised as far as his preparations. Even while he is at the Rebbe, he sits and learns under supervision and there are reports submitted to the hanhalos of the yeshivos.

THE PREPARATIONS NEEDED TODAY

What preparations are needed today before going to the Rebbe?

I think that the first order of priority is awareness. Awareness that he wants to be different, that he needs to be different, and he needs to be open enough to receive, for if there is no desire, you cannot be a mekabel (recipient).

The Baal Shem Tov says that a person is where his thoughts are. If a bachur is in 770, but his head is elsewhere, then he hasn’t arrived, as the Rebbe said to R’ Meir Friedman. If a bachur is by the Rebbe but he has no desire to receive or change, or if he goes to the Rebbe without any goal or direction, then he will not receive.

Even when a bachur sits in 770, he still has the choice of how to behave. I remember that we had a bachur on K’vutza who had yechidus and the Rebbe spoke to him about his spiritual state, and said that if this was where he is holding then he had to take his belongings and return to Eretz Yisroel even before Tishrei.

The Rebbe once wrote a letter to children for Lag B’Omer and said that every important thing needs to be prepared for, and the Rebbe went on at length about the importance of preparations. So yes, there is a qualitative advantage in just being with the Rebbe, but it’s an indirect influence and that’s not enough.

I remember that when I was by the Rebbe in 770 in the K’vutza year, I saw many Jews coming Shabbos afternoon, davening with the Rebbe, with their nice trimmed beards, residents of Crown Heights but not necessarily Lubavitchers. They were in 770 often and saw the Rebbe regularly, enjoyed the Rebbe’s sichos and received hashpaos, but they remained in their same spiritual place. Is that how we are when we go to the Rebbe? What are we doing in order to receive the hashpaos from the Rebbe with a p’nimius, beyond all the smiles? The very atmosphere of 770 affects the soul but that’s not enough.

Before I went on K’vutza, they explained to me the importance of being with the Rebbe while on K’vutza. One of the bachurim, Chassidish by nature, told me that until he was on K’vutza, he identified as a Lubavitcher but the Rebbe and Chassidus were extras to him. It was only after K’vutza that he began to feel that “this is it,” that the Rebbe is the entirety of his being, that he belonged to the Rebbe.

This is an essential point, to go to the Rebbe and deeply absorb all the hashpaos. But in order to be keilim (vessels, ready recipients) to feel this, you need to go with the desire to receive and the desire to change; the desire to become another person. This definitely depends on the quality of your preparation.

A bachur who doesn’t feel ready to go – should he stay home or go anyway?

Just being with the Rebbe, in the special atmosphere, is already meaningful, especially these days when, as I mentioned earlier, there are organized s’darim of learning and the hanhala oversees the bachurim and receives reports about every bachur. Bachurim know they are being watched, so they definitely should go.

Furthermore, being with the Rebbe and the Tishrei atmosphere are major things that have a real effect. What’s the alternative for a bachur who doesn’t go? If he stays home, what will he get there? Even a bachur who is a balanced type and wherever he is will do fine, should also go to the Rebbe.

In general, even if a bachur goes to the Rebbe without any specific ambitions, just the fact that he keeps the s’darim and davens with the Rebbe will have a great effect on him. Why? Because just being in the Beis HaMikdash and in the Rebbe’s presence; the t’fillos in the Rebbe’s minyan, have a tremendous spiritual impact. He is there and sees and experiences things he does not feel all year. That’s an enormous benefit right there.

But again, as I said, a bachur who makes the right preparations has a high likelihood of real and lasting change. It is completely different when a person goes with thoughts of t’shuva and goes to the Rebbe for Rosh HaShana or the Aseres Yemei T’shuva and he is “into it.” So many times we saw how the Rebbe generated tremendous upheavals in people’s souls. Talmidim who returned from the Rebbe after a while or after their year on K’vutza, returned as different people, happier and more luminous. The Rebbe, on his part, gives of himself to each person where he is at. The Rebbe relates to each person as though only he is present and the Rebbe wants to provide everything. On our part, we need to be willing to receive, the willingness to belong to the Rebbe, to be his Chassid. This is the time for it.

Especially when we are talking about Tishrei, the letters of reishis, the beginning of the year. A time in which the hashpaa is not only for these days but for the entire year.

THE GREATNESS OF BACHURIM NOWADAYS

How can you explain the fact that bachurim who were born into a reality in which we do not see the Rebbe, have a greater enthusiasm? Bachurim compete amongst themselves about who will walk further on Tahalucha; bachurim who do not hear sichos every day of Sukkos and who dance till dawn; bachurim who live the atmosphere of Tishrei with the Rebbe more than ever, even though they don’t see or hear anything!

The simple explanation is “as his children are alive, so is he alive.” The Rebbe emphasizes this point. In a number of sichos, the Rebbe says about the Rebbe Rayatz that we see in the most natural sense that “his children are alive” because “he is alive.” He is moser nefesh and he is with them.

We all live with the Rebbe today, no less than before. People solve their problems with the Rebbe, consult with the Rebbe, and don’t make a move without asking the Rebbe, and the Rebbe responds.

The Rebbe always speaks about “ascending in holiness” and we see this with the Rebbe himself every year. Every Tishrei, things become greater and greater. Today, the entire world is astonished by how Chabad has conquered the world. People see the “ascending in holiness” in the most obvious and open way. The Rebbe continues to increase in light.

That’s called truly living with the Rebbe, to ask the Rebbe, to consult the Rebbe, to learn the Rebbe’s teachings, and when it is that way, you see that he is alive and his children are alive in all respects. All of the Jewish people live in the Rebbe’s merit, and there is no greater testimony that “he is alive.”

When you see the bachurim today, you cannot help but be impressed by their genuineness, by their sincerity, their diligence in learning, their chayus and simcha that they have with the Rebbe. It shows that the Rebbe is alive. This is the reality and this is what must be emphasized.

USING THE TIME IN 770

While in 770, we feel overcome by longing along with the emuna and anticipation. Some put an emphasis on the yearning and some on bitachon. There are those who wax nostalgic over the past and those who look forward. How should the time in 770 be utilized?

We should yearn for what was, along with the bitachon that soon the Rebbe will appear before our eyes and teach us “new Torah.” This is the deepest wish of us all.

The longing felt by these and those, the yearning and the bitachon, it depends on the soul characteristics of each person. The Rebbe provides for both types. The main thing is to live with the Rebbe, with the spiritual things the Rebbe provides.

In this generation I see bachurim who go to the Rebbe, so many bachurim that speak about the Rebbe and live with the Rebbe, and everything that goes along with it.

When we had the Beis HaMikdash, it was obligatory to be oleh regel three times a year. It wasn’t always easy to go to Yerushalayim (traveling from Tzfas to Yerushalayim back then was much harder than traveling from Tzfas to America today), but a Jew knew that he had to go three times a year to see Hashem. What did he see in the Beis HaMikdash? It depended on the person. Some people saw, as the story goes, the blood and meat, and were surprised to see a slaughterhouse. There were people who saw the ten miracles that were always present in the Beis HaMikdash, a revelation of G-dliness, the “standing crowded and bowing with plenty of room.” And some listened to lectures given by the leaders of the Sanhedrin.

The same applies today when we experience and see great miracles. We speak a lot about miracles that we see. I remember that during the Gulf War, the Rebbe said Eretz Yisroel is the safest place with Hashem’s eyes upon it from the beginning of the year till the end.

If Hashem watches over the Jewish people in Eretz Yisroel, why didn’t He stop the missiles from coming altogether? If Hashem prevented the missiles from coming, they would say that Saddam Hussein doesn’t know how to send missiles. This would do away with the open miracles and divine providence. By having the missiles sent, we saw miracles and wonders. Now too is a time of revelation of G-dliness and daily miracles.

The choice of what to see and how to see is up to each one of us. You can go to our Beis HaMikdash, to 770, and see the revelation of G-dliness, the holiness that is omnipresent, and all the other spiritual things that the Rebbe said about 770. And you can be in 770 and not have any spiritual experience and remain the same as when you arrived.

It depends on each person. If you prepare properly, if you really learn and make the effort, then undoubtedly the hashpaos will penetrate and have a profound effect, as we see with many bachurim who return from the Rebbe completely different than the way they went; with a different chayus, a completely new chayus. And as we said, the Rebbe continues to increase from year to year.

We also see in a tangible sense, the learning as well as the farbrengens every night, that the gashmius is also more abundant than it used to be. Whoever wants to, can go to the Rebbe and disengage from the world completely and be within the four cubits of ruchnius without anything disturbing him.

More and more, we want to live with the Rebbe, to learn the Rebbe’s teachings, to be with the Rebbe. When a bachur knows that he is going to learn there, to delve into the Rebbe’s teachings in his presence, that will be the greatest living example of “his children are alive.” This is the only way to bring the Rebbe into our very beings, to be mekushar and to live with him.