R’ Moshe Slonim a”h was a Chassid with great initiative, a pioneer who constantly thought a few steps ahead. He founded many mosdos in Eretz Yisroel and after leaving Eretz Yisroel he moved to Crown Heights and continued to pave the way to the Geula. Not surprisingly, when Beis Moshiach magazine was started, R’ Moshe was there to convey the burning emuna in his heart and revive Anash in the period following Gimmel Tammuz. * A man whose life was entirely emuna
A letter from the Rebbe to R’ Moshe SlonimThe Chassid R’ Moshe Slonim was born in Yerushalayim. His father was R’ Ezriel Zelig, director of Kollel Chabad. His father, who was a distinguished Chabad askan, was also a p’nimi and an oved. R’ Moshe would tell how he remembered Friday nights in the Chabad shul in Yerushalayim as the congregants left the shul for their Shabbos meal and only his father remained standing behind a lectern, davening with d’veikus.
While still a boy, R’ Moshe was sent to learn in Yeshivas Achei T’mimim in Tel Aviv, as there was no Chabad yeshiva in Yerushalayim. Later, he learned in the Chabad yeshiva in Lud.
A YEAR WITH THE REBBE
For years he yearned to travel to Beis Chayeinu, but the difficulties of those days made it nearly impossible for a bachur to go. It was only at the end of 5719 that he went to the Rebbe for the first time, returning in a few months as per the agreement with the Israeli army.
When Shazar met privately with the Rebbe in Kislev 5720, the Rebbe asked him to try and extend Moshe’s stay, with the Rebbe taking responsibility for his returning after the yomim tovim. With Shazar’s intervention, his stay was extended for over a year. He was one of the first bachurim from Eretz Yisroel who was allowed to spend an entire year in 770. When he wanted to extend his stay further, the Rebbe did not allow it.
When he returned home in the winter of 5721, it was a different Moshe. This young bachur was on fire with hiskashrus.
As soon as he married he was ready for shlichus. During his early married years, the couple moved among the schools of the Reshet that were located in out of the way places. They ultimately settled in Kfar Chabad and he continued working for the Reshet.
RUNNING THE RESHET
At the end of the 60’s, when he was principal of the school in Kfar Saba, R’ Moshe was drafted to consolidate the schools of the Reshet into one unit. He often held conferences for the principals, arranged Yemei Iyun for the teachers during vacation, and began creating a unified curriculum.
At first he divided his day between administration, which he was paid for, and working to run the Reshet for which he was not paid. He soon realized that the work in running the Reshet was so great that he left his job as principal and devoted himself to the Reshet.
R’ Moshe was a pioneer in many areas. At his initiative, they appointed the first supervisor of the Reshet. Also at his initiative, the campaigns and gatherings for Yud Shvat were launched. He also initiated the Reshet publication. And this was on top of his regular responsibilities and his many hours of daily learning.
Family expenses grew but his income was paltry. He hardly received a salary but when his father died and bequeathed him his apartment in Shikun Chabad in Yerushalayim, he sold the apartment and gave the money to the Reshet to cover debts.
At a certain point, the hanhala of the Reshet decided to send him to the United States to raise money. R’ Moshe insisted on paying for the tickets himself. He explained to his astonished wife: I am traveling to the Rebbe, so it is fitting that I pay.
During his many trips, he always had a small tape recorder with him with which he would record everything he wanted to remember, what he needed to do, who he had to meet, etc. Now and then, he would make a taped note for himself in the middle of a trip and record: to look into maamer x in which there is this or that difficulty.
MIDRASHA L’YAHADUS IN KFAR CHABAD
He would give classes in the Midrasha L’Yahadus in Kfar Chabad where beginners were learning about Judaism. He would get to know them and invite them for Shabbos. And what a Shabbos table it was! He sometimes had dozens of people and many of them had questions about Judaism. R’ Moshe would respond to each one patiently, spicing his explanations with examples from daily life.
R’ Yitzchok Fine, a mekurav of his, said that he cannot forget the Shabbos when there weren’t enough places to sleep. After running around and making arrangements, all the guests found places to sleep, both the men and the women, and then R’ Moshe disappeared. Later it was discovered that he had no place to sleep, so he went to sleep on a table in the Reshet office.
Ah, and we nearly forget … it was R’ Moshe who started the Midrasha. It was he who initiated the first seminar in Kfar Chabad. Although he could speak well, he refused to take the honor. Instead, he took on the financial burden and went around like a menial laborer and made sure everything was running properly. As for honor for the speakers, he farginned them with all his heart.
Right after every broadcast of the Rebbe, he would immediately go carry out the Rebbe’s latest instructions. Then he would go to the Tzach offices to discuss how to convey the message to the entire country. When the Rebbe spoke about writing a Torah scroll for Jewish children, the entire Slonim family immediately went out to a nearby city to register children.
R’ Moshe initiated the Chassidic expo which brought visitors to Kfar Chabad, and a convoy of trucks carrying the individual exhibits from the expo which went to those who could not make the visit. Leading the convoy which left on 11 Nissan 5742 was a truck with a picture of the Rebbe on it, with a crown on his head.
A MAN BEFORE HIS TIME
Sometimes, he wasn’t only the first but he was ahead of his time. For 11 Nissan 5743, he printed a booklet of chiddushei Torah in the laws of Melech HaMoshiach. In the introduction it stated explicitly that the booklet was published as a z’chus for the Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach. After sending it to the Rebbe, the Rebbe responded briefly, “Received and thank you.”
R’ Moshe began publicizing the booklet but as in similar instances previously and, unfortunately afterward too, the signs of weakness came from among Anash. Chassidim complained to the Rebbe that the booklet would cause harm and a chillul Hashem which would be irreparable. As a result, the Rebbe said to stop giving out the booklet.
Despite all his involvements, when someone would meet him and ask him a question about Judaism, he would suddenly have all the time and patience in the world to be mekarev the person.
THE REBBE’S ANSWER WHICH SAYS IT ALL
In 5746, R’ Moshe had to leave Eretz Yisroel because of enormous debts he sustained in his work for the Reshet. He moved to the US. The move wasn’t easy for him and he brokenheartedly wrote to the Rebbe about his sad frame of mind. The Rebbe’s response was: If not for him alone literally, it would have happened to the Reshet r”l – what happened to hundreds of Chabad shuls in Tel Aviv and Yerushalayim, to Kollel Chabad, to Aguch in Eretz HaKodesh etc. And the people of Chabad sh’yichyu and their Rabbanim sh’yichyu, have yet to come to the determination that perhaps it would be natural that they give a groan over this.
R’ MOSHE RETURNS TO YESHIVA
Upon arriving in the US, a new chapter began in his life. He was suddenly without his regular, familiar askanus. He sat every day in the zal in 770 and learned Chassidus and davened for hours. The bachurim soon connected with him, for they felt that the guest from Eretz Yisroel was someone from whom they could learn true hiskashrus.
On Yud-Tes Kislev 5747, the Rebbe asked that Chabad Houses be founded. As soon as the Rebbe left, Chassidim sat down to farbreng. “When are you starting a Chabad House?” R’ Moshe asked R’ Shraga Zalmanov. A week later, R’ Shraga and R’ Yehuda Friedman walked a long distance from Queens to 770, from the new Chabad House they started. R’ Moshe encouraged R’ Yehuda to open a Chabad House in Canarsie.
He was so connected to these Chabad Houses that he held the vorts of his children in the Chabad Houses in Queens and Canarsie.
Here too he was the first. With his heightened senses he knew that “near the sea it’s dry,” and that the shluchim were mainly going to distant places while neighborhoods near Crown Heights had no Chabad presence.
Before R’ Zalman Liberow went on shlichus to Flatbush, with R’ Moshe’s encouragement, R’ Moshe arranged a day dedicated to Flatbush. Buses full of bachurim spent a day, from morning till night, making house calls in Flatbush. This paved the way for a local Chabad House.
In the winter of 5747, he was appointed principal of the boys’ school in Morristown. He later became the mashpia in the Lubavitcher yeshiva on Ocean Parkway. The new job perfectly suited the trailblazing Chassid and he immediately came up with ideas of how to intensify the Chassidishe chayus in the yeshiva. There were special booklets and contests etc.
He fought for every bachur even if the hanhala refused to keep them. The talmidim viewed him as both a father and mother figure. You could speak to him about anything. He established a farbrengen every Thursday night and tried to attend it himself even if he was exhausted. He knew with whom to speak gently and from whom to be demanding. They all loved him.
His farbrengens were a hot item even in Oholei Torah. When he would farbreng with the bachurim, he would instill hiskashrus, Rebbe, and Moshiach in them. After the farbrengens, bachurim would sit and review them.
ON SHLICHUS TO RUSSIA
In 5750, R’ Moshe had offered to be a shliach in Flatbush but then came a surprising instruction from the Rebbe, that he go to Russia. R’ Moshe dropped all his plans and began studying Russian.
When he went to Russia, he discovered a country that still hadn’t recovered from the shock of Gorbachov’s announcement. It was an almost impossible task to convince Russian Jews that communism was over and wouldn’t come back. If until now he was a pioneer, at this point he had to reinvigorate a dormant Judaism that was hundreds of years old.
In order to bring chayus to this place, the first thing to do was maintain a connection with Beis Chayeinu. As soon as he arrived, he began printing a booklet in Russian called Beis Chayeinu. It had a summary of the Rebbe’s farbrengen from the previous Shabbos.
HISTORIC KINUS SHLUCHIM IN MOSCOW
On Yud Shvat 5750, history was made in Moscow. Sixty-two years after the Lubavitcher Rebbe left “that country,” the Rebbe’s voice could be heard on a live broadcast that was transmitted to Moscow. Of course, this was arranged by R’ Moshe.
In the middle of the broadcast, R’ Moshe suddenly jumped up from his place as though bitten by a snake. Everyone looked at him in surprise and he explained, “Before the broadcast, I told the Rebbe about the broadcast to Moscow and asked for a bracha. Did you hear what the Rebbe just said?” Their uncomprehending faces looked back at him. R’ Moshe repeated the sentence the Rebbe said which they missed, “Surprisingly, the name of the maamer is for the capital of the nation of the world – ‘V’yodaata Moskva.’” “The Rebbe wants to let us know that he is pleased that we are listening to him; otherwise, why did he suddenly mention the location where the maamer was said?”
The day after the broadcast, R’ Moshe was preoccupied with a new idea – the first Kinus HaShluchim in the Soviet Union. Where? Not in a shul or school. The Kinus had to take place in a government hall, with a permit.
Those around him said, “R’ Moshe, you are in Moscow, not in New York!” But R’ Moshe paid no attention to the skeptics. With a friend who knew the language, he got a permit to hold the Kinus in Dom Pionerin (the elite club for communist youth in Moscow).
On 26 Adar 5750, you could feel the beating of the wings of history. The Kinus for shluchim of the Rebbe to the Soviet Union – a phrase that seemed impossible, had become a reality. The excited shluchim received a folder with the program and sat down to hear the speeches.
The big surprise that R’ Moshe worked on came at the end. At the banquet appeared two Russian government representatives. If it wasn’t enough that government representatives attended a Kinus of a movement that they had so persecuted, the speech delivered by Mr. Tchernychev, director of the Jewish department of the Religions Ministry, was about the Jewish revolution beginning in Russia. Read it for yourself.
“The Lubavitch movement is an animated and spirited movement which guides your path and culture and we are proud of you. We are aware of the approach that was in place for the last seventy years in this country in which expression of your religion was not possible. But I promise you that from now on, all possibilities are open to you. I am happy to inform you that permission was just received to build in your town of Lubavitch as you please and with no restriction. On the occasion of the Rebbe’s birthday, we wish him health and success in the name of the Soviet government.”
During the following summer, R’ Moshe “plowed” the length and breadth of Russia, passing through dozens of small towns in which he tried to establish Jewish camps for children or seminars for youth.
One of the stories which epitomizes the persona of R’ Moshe happened in the summer of 5751. R’ Moshe, who organized camps throughout Russia, closed deals for camps all across the country, but he needed counselors. The counselors were supposed to come from New York.
He was promised money for the tickets for the bachurim but the money did not come. He asked the bachurim to buy the tickets and he would pay them back. But there were no visas!
The visas were still not arranged on the day of the trip. R’ Moshe took the bachurim to the airport. They were amazed by his bitachon and did whatever he told them and checked their entire baggage, which included dozens of suitcases on the plane. It was only after they were all on the plane that one of the security people discovered that this group of passengers had no visas and wanted to send them off the plane. When they realized the size of the baggage load and the big delay this would cause, they relented and allowed the plane to depart.
It was only after the plane took off that R’ Moshe sent a fax to one of the people in charge at the airport in Moscow. His contact there intervened and made sure to immediately release the bachurim from the airport. On Thursday, the day the camps opened, all the counselors were there.
HOW TO PUBLICIZE THE IDENTITY OF THE GOEL
The highlight of R’ Moshe’s activities was definitely the fourth period of his life, the period of time in which he worked to publicize the name of Moshiach to the world.
From the first days of the revelations of 5751-5752, and until his final day, R’ Moshe’s mind focused on one question: How to publicize the identity of the Goel to every Jew.
In the limited space we have here, we won’t go into all his activities to publicize Moshiach, as we are talking about an energetic and committed Chassid. We will focus on the area where there wasn’t much competition – encouraging Anash to get out and publicize it.
Already in 5752, before Yechi was encouraged by the Rebbe from the balcony, R’ Moshe wrote a letter to his fellow Chassidim in which he complained about the Satan trying with all his might to cause internal friction, managing to divide Chabad between the “normal” ones, those whose feet were on the ground, whose main concern was money for their mosdos, and the “abnormal” ones, those to whom every word of the Rebbe was meant literally.
R’ Moshe demanded “abnormality,” and was a role model of the abnormality he was asking for. Submission to every word of the Rebbe, going till the end, no matter the difficulties, was his motto.
In a pain-filled letter that R’ Moshe wrote to R’ Avrohom Korf before 11 Nissan s5753, in which he demanded that the senior Chassidim convene on 28 Nissan to discuss what needed to be done to hasten the Rebbe’s hisgalus, he reminded him that Moshe Rabbeinu also sent emissaries, “k’ru’ei mo’eid, anshei sheim,” but when the emissaries were sent on a mission that was seemingly in contradiction to their positions, they came to the opposite conclusion, that this was not what Moshe wanted.
“There was one smart person (because in moments like these there aren’t many clever people, just one) who shouted, ‘All we have is what Ben Amram told us and if he would tell us to go up to heaven with ladders, we would go up!’ And the entire ‘Dor Deia’ followed the Spies and did not listen to this one mekushar.”
BREATHING LIFE INTO ANASH WITH HIS ARTICLES IN BEIS MOSHIACH
In the last year of his life R’ Moshe wrote articles nearly every week for Beis Moshiach, another one of the projects which he was involved with.
In his articles he strengthened those who were weak and encouraged his fellow Chassidim, urging them on, “Don’t be fazed by those who mock, who mock stubbornness, don’t be fazed by intellect built on Chassidishe logic which interferes with stubbornness.” Of course, the stubbornness in question is the stubbornness to bring Moshiach as the Rebbe demanded in the sicha of 28 Nissan 5751.
It wasn’t easy to get R’ Moshe excited, but Tishrei 5756, the last Tishrei before his passing, touched him in a profound way. He wrote his emotionally charged impressions for Beis Moshiach:
Another point in the maamer defines the role of the “soldiers of the house of Dovid” on the very eve of the Geula. To fight with those who “oppose and denigrate the footsteps of Your anointed one,” and not only the footsteps of Your anointed one, but those opposed to Moshiach himself … How do the “soldiers of the house of Dovid” fight those who “denigrate the footsteps of Your anointed one?”
It pays to take a look at the lives, activities and actions of the “soldiers of the house of Dovid” in most recent times in order to learn from them how to really wage this war. This year, during Tishrei, I was given this opportunity when over three hundred bachurim came here, faithful soldiers of Melech HaMoshiach. These faithful soldiers drew us all in with emuna and the feeling that Moshiach is among us and will be revealed any minute in all his glory.
If these faithful soldiers made Moshe Rabbeinu feel humble when he saw how they operate, as explained in the maamer, it is clear how we need to regard them. It suffices if we describe what Tishrei in Beis Chayeinu was like, when the “soldiers of the house of Dovid” demonstrated their full power in fulfilling the will of our king, our anointed one.
The Rebbe placed the entire battle against those who “mock the footsteps of Your anointed one” on the T’mimim, “chayolei beis Dovid.” It’s amazing to see them at work; they are just unbelievable.
We have nothing but what “ben Amram,” i.e., the Rebbe, said. From the way they operate, it is obvious that the Rebbe guides them. They work without arguing and their achievements are solely positive with a lot of light and a lot of love. What can be learned is how to wage a battle after battle with those who “mock the footsteps of Your anointed one,” and still do so in ways of pleasantness and peace with no negative manifestations that are usually associated with battles. In the way they conduct the battle, they have both “do not be ashamed before those who mock” and “love truth and peace.”
A glimpse into what happened here during Tishrei reveals a drop of the organizational drive of the “chayolei beis Dovid.” They excelled in every way. To put in Chassidic terms, they completed the entire construct built of the ten s’firos of chochma, bina, daas, chesed, g’vura, tiferes, netzach, hod, yesod, malchus.
Chabad – learning Nigleh and Chassidus in depth and learning about the Besuras HaGeula;
Chagas – farbrengens, Chassidishe conduct, hiskashrus, being with the Rebbe;
Nehim – mivtzaim, hafatzas Besuras HaGeula, hosting and Eshel, organization.
There has never been a sight like this. Over three hundred bachurim-guests sitting every day, learning Nigleh and Chassidus day and night. There has never been a sight like this [in Tishrei] of such studying and diligence. The talmidim heard shiurim in the Rebbe’s teachings. They covered a lot of material. The interesting thing is that all this was organized by the bachurim themselves, all the shiurim and all the supervision.
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What would R’ Moshe say if he saw what goes on today, when thousands of bachurim, the Rebbe’s children, fill 770?
Enveloped in a flame of love for the Rebbe, R’ Moshe’s soul departed on 23 Tishrei 5756.
WHICH GROUP DO YOU WANT TO BELONG TO?
In the final weeks of his life, R’ Moshe left us a series of articles having to do, of course, with hiskashrus to the Rebbe. The second article was printed the week he passed away and it ended with the following lines which so characterized him and his faith in the Rebbe:
“We are all faced with a tough test. In order to know what we need to do at this time, when there is confusion, the first thing to do is to follow the saying, ‘hold on to the doorknob,’ and then surely we will discern the truth. What is the doorknob today? The Rebbe’s sichos, which were said in great quantity, through which we will surely find the right way.
“We can learn from the generation of the desert that stumbled with the sin of the Golden Calf, how strong belief in Moshe ought to be. Before Moshe ascended the mountain, he promised to return after forty days. Forty days passed and Moshe did not appear. Not only didn’t he come, but the Jewish people were shown a vision as though angels were holding his dead body. Logic said that Moshe was unable to return and not only that, but he passed away.
“At this point, the Jewish people was divided into three groups: 1) A group in which intellect and logic overcame belief in Moshe’s promise, which is why they looked for an alternative and made the Golden Calf. 2) A group that did not make the Calf, but who thought that even if Moshe returned, he had not returned on the fortieth day because it was already day number forty-one. 3) A group comprised of the tribe of Levi who believed in Moshe with simple faith. To them it was obvious that Moshe would come and it would be the fortieth day. The fact that rationality told them that they were on the forty-first day did not bother them. Problems that intellect poses did not mean anything to them. They believed in Moshe with simple faith and nothing would budge them from that faith.
“Which group do you want to belong to?”