Ten years ago, for the first time in his life, R’ Shloimke Maidanchek a”h was willing to grant an interview to a journalist. During the interview he described his growing up, his coming to Eretz Yisroel, his wide-ranging askanus, and the rare contacts he had with leading figures in Israeli politics, security, and the economy. He also told about his warm friendships with all these people across the spectrum of religiosity and political views. In this interview he did not discuss his work as chairman of the Vaad of Kfar Chabad for twenty-five years. That itself could fill a thick book.
There were people who compared R’ Shlomo Maidanchek, here-on-in to be known as R’ Shloimke, to someone in the Mosad. He was everywhere, making contacts, and making projects happen, but all with the utmost secrecy. Not a scintilla of information passed his lips. If he would be asked about something he was “caught” at, he would shrug uncomprehendingly and say, “Me?” He would not understand what was wanted of him.
Few people knew of the extent of his activities and the ties he had with hundreds of policy makers in Eretz Yisroel. Even fewer knew, for example, that when R’ Shloimke would go to the office of so-and-so, a senior figure, and he would tell the secretary his name, that the boss would drop everything and usher him respectfully into his office.
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R’ Shloimke was born in Minkowitz in the Ukraine. His parents were Poilishe Chassidim and his family adhered stubbornly to religious life even after the communist revolution. However, the children had to attend public school. The gentile chevra had an effect and he was drawn after his friends and even became a member of the communist youth movement.
He graduated high school at 17, and then World War II began. He could not attend university and so he went to the city of Krasnodar, where he registered for a school for train engineers. “There was nothing else,” he said. There is where he began to feel the significance of being a Jew. “I suddenly experienced anti-Semitism, which I had not been previously aware of. Terrible news began to filter through about the extermination of the Jews, including my parents and family. That is when I began to yearn for Judaism.”
As the war approached, he escaped to Tashkent. There, he finished his studies and became an assistant to the driver of a locomotive. There, he also met Jews. “There were Lubavitcher Chassidim there who were mekarev me with warmth and love, and through them I discovered a new world. I returned to a life of Torah and mitzvos and gave up my job since I did not want to desecrate Shabbos.”
He spent the war in Tashkent, learning and strengthening his Jewish connection. At the end of the war he left Russia with a large group of Chassidim. After spending some time in Europe, he arrived with them in Eretz Yisroel and was one of the founders of Kfar Chabad. He was in the first group of olim.
In Eretz Yisroel at this time there was a serious shortage of train drivers so it was easy for him to get a job. From then on, he logged hundreds of kilometers across the country, mainly on the Haifa-Tel Aviv-Dimona line.
Once, he was hailed as a hero when a burst of steam poured into the driver’s cubicle. “The assistant was thrown from the cab and was injured, but I managed to apply the brakes and I jumped out. I ran after the train until it stopped and then I entered the burning cubicle and shut the fuel line. If I hadn’t stopped the train, it would have gone flying at top speed straight into Tel Aviv.”
His employers were greatly impressed by his dedication and wanted to appoint him to the position of shift manager, but he asked the Rebbe and the answer was only on condition that it would advance the spread of Judaism.
“I decided to remain a driver and wasn’t sorry. I love traveling and I had free time for the real stuff, spreading Judaism.”
I think this is a lesser known aspect of R’ Shloimke, since he was more well known for his communal work. He started this askanus when he was appointed as chairman of the vaad of Kfar Chabad, a role in which he served for twenty-five years. He enabled Kfar Chabad to make impressive achievements (which deserves a separate article).
In the performance of this work, he spent a lot of time in government offices which, at the time, were under Mapai (Mifleget Poalei Eretz Yisroel, lit. “Workers’ Party of the Land of Israel,” a left-wing political party), and made connections with all the Who’s Who.
Despite the legends surrounding him, not many know the extent of his relationships with government figures, officials, those in the IDF, and the financial sector. Many are unaware of the depth of his relationships with all kinds of people, including politicians on the extreme Left who loved him and were ready to do anything for him. When asked about this, R’ Shloimke would give you a look, smile, and raise his hand dismissively, and he wouldn’t say a word.
That was one of the secrets to his success. People knew that their secret was safe with him. He was a desirable guest in the office of a Leftist Knesset member and was a ben-bayis (member of the household) of a certain government minister, and so on.
What was the depth of the connection between a train driver and politicians? Former prime minister Sharon told his friends that when he and his wife Lilly went to R’ Shloimke’s house in Kfar Chabad, he knew to go in through the door, but he wondered how he would ever get out … Just look at who attended the simchas he made for his children: Former presidents Navon, Katzir and Herzog; Shimon Peres, Ariel Sharon, Elyakim Rubinstein, Rechavam Zeevi (may Hashem avenge his blood), Fuad Ben Eliezer, Amnon Lipkin-Shachak, IDF generals, and many more.
R’ Shloimke did not use his connections for personal or even political use, but to arouse the hidden Jewish spark. Golda Meir once told him stories about her grandfather who was a Cantonist and throughout the years did not eat cooked food (since it would not be kosher). Nevertheless, he slept on a stone till the end of his days, lest he had sinned in some way during his time in the army.
A Knesset member, known for his extreme left wing views, would regularly call R’ Shloimke to buy matzos and the four minim for him, check the mezuzos in his house, or get t’fillin for his grandsons. “People knew that they could discuss straight Judaism with me, without any political implications, and they opened up their hearts.” That is all R’ Shloimke was willing to say.
He used these abilities for the good of Chabad mosdos. R’ Shloimke helped many directors of Chabad mosdos and he did so loyally and without fanfare. Many directors of Chabad mosdos knew who to consult with and thanks to him, they were able to employ the right connections on behalf of the mosad.
One such director of a large mosad told me that sometimes just one phone call by R’ Shloimke was enough to resolve complicated situations. If a trip had to be made or a number of meetings held, R’ Shloimke would do it. And thanks to the Rebbe’s bracha, he was enormously successful.
When I asked him about this, he did not want to talk about it much. He just smiled and said, “When I say that I know someone, I mean that he knows me, because thousands of people know that person. When I call him, I don’t have to say who is calling. That is how I know the director of the Discount Bank and Bank HaPoalim and Bank HaBenLeumi and that general and that minister, etc. I am in touch with them for many years.”
R’ Shloimke’s connections with senior members of parties, high ranking members of the military, owners of companies, etc. is known to all. What is less known is that these relationships with hundreds of people were kept up all the years whether in phone conversations or personal meetings. Every few months there would be a meeting which would actually be “An Evening with Chabad” for different groups of these friends.
The members of the kollel who learn in the Aguch building told me that they regularly saw friends visiting R’ Shloimke in his office in the Aguch building, sometimes accompanied by their wives, putting on t’fillin and absorbing some Yiddishkait. Not all of them were known in the media, but many of them held powerful positions.
R’ Shloimke used these contacts to convey the Rebbe’s view on timely issues, after 3 Tammuz too, just as he did when he received instructions from the Rebbe’s secretariat to approach so-and-so and talk, convince, beg, and influence. And it was all top secret. R’ Shloimke knew how to act discreetly.
Due to the terrible security situation in Eretz Yisroel in later years, R’ Shloimke sent a compilation of the Rebbe’s sichos on the topic of Shleimus Ha’Aretz to all of his friends. Many of them did not belong on the Right, but the reactions that he got indicated a special regard for what the Rebbe had to say. One of them, a man of authority, was an exception. He sent an angry letter. By way of response, he was sent another compilation of sichos to further clarify the Rebbe’s position. The man finally backed down.
“R’ Shloimke worked to bring out the good in each person,” said one of the people who came to console his family after his passing. Many of the people with whom he came in contact became religiously observant or at least fond of Judaism, even people who previously had been very far from Judaism and its outlook.
In the Aguch letters file there are names known to every Israeli citizen. Their relationship with R’ Shloimke, as appears in their letters, was something you don’t find today in Chabad askanus or in religious askanus in general. It was a very personal relationship, one with genuine respect for the Rebbe and Chabad, with actual help on their part for the Rebbe’s inyanim without any of the usual trading of political favors.
R’ Shloimke did not reveal anything. Not names, not dates, and not events. You were only able to get information about that which was known. A former Israeli ambassador to the United States, Mr. Zalman Shuval, passed by the Rebbe with R’ Shloimke and said to the Rebbe, “You have a good ambassador.”
Perhaps you will finally reveal the secret – how do you develop these special relationships?
“You need an instinct for it and dedication.”
Meaning?
“An instinct in getting to know people and seeing what they are about and how to talk to them.
“Chabad never had any of their own Knesset members or ministers. We never had a party in the Knesset. When we came to Kfar Chabad and needed connections, we had none. At that time, it was all according to parties. That was seemingly detrimental to us, but in the end, the Rebbe’s approach to refrain from politics, proved itself. It was thanks to this that we were able to get from everyone, I mean from all the parties. Whoever and whichever party I turned to always helped.”
You said that dedication is also needed. What did you mean by that?
“I mean consistency. Listen – if you know a minister or Knesset member or a general, these are people who are very hard to fool. They will sense if you are a true friend or you just are using them.
“Another point to know about, when it comes to askanus, is that there is no difference between big and small. The lowest clerk can do you the biggest favor, even an ordinary secretary who sits in the reception room. She is used to seeing people coming to meet with her boss and they usually don’t bother to greet her. I never passed by a secretary, male or female, or an aide, without acknowledging them. That kind of acknowledgment makes an impact; this one asks for a bracha for a shidduch, another asks for a bracha from the Rebbe for a sick child, and so on. On another occasion, they will do big things for you.”
You formed relationships with countless people. Is there someone from your years of work that you really miss (aside from Shazar with whom you had a special relationship (see box))?
R’ Shloimke laughed. “I was once at a gathering of Senators in the US and they asked me about Shazar and whether it was true that the president of Israel is a friend of Chabad. I told them they were asking the right person and my answer is no. He was not a mekurav of Chabad.
“They were surprised. How could that be? Everybody said there was a strong connection between him and Chabad!
“I said: He is not a friend of Chabad; he is a Chabadnik!
“In any case, my relationships were with people in the Mapai party or later with those in Maarach and Labor. Likud wasn’t in power until 1977, and in those days you could not get any help from them. I had a personal relationship with all the prime ministers from the Mapai party (except for Ben-Gurion, since in his time I was not yet involved in askanus), all the chiefs of staff and all the generals. There was no general who did not know me.”
How did you accomplish this?
“It is work that takes many years. If I accomplished it in five years, your question would be in place, but it happened over many years. Each one brought a friend.”
Were they all connected to the Rebbe to one degree or another?
“What’s the question?! Before Rosh HaShana, before I went to the Rebbe, I would collect panim from them and they all happily wrote their names and that of their family members.”
Can you tell us of miracles that they experienced?
As usual, when it comes to details, R’ Shloimke did not talk. “I am not accustomed to miracles, but they had a lot of respect for the Rebbe and Chabad. If any of them had been to the Rebbe, it was a topic of conversation. One would say he had visited Kfar Chabad; another would talk about the hakafos shniyos he attended at the Kfar. When they spoke among themselves and Chabad came up, they would take pride in saying, ‘I also have a connection with Chabad.’”
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R’ Shloimke had a special relationship with the Rebbe throughout the years, as an askan, as a train engineer, as someone active in mivtzaim, and as a private person. He received numerous letters, answers and notes on a wide array of topics.
One of the rare, public acknowledgments occurred at the end of a farbrengen on the eve of Rosh HaShana 5744, when the Rebbe announced that R’ Shloimke wasn’t just a Tankist but the driver of an entire train!
“It was after the farbrengen when the Rebbe gave out dollars to the public through the Tankistin. I did not go over since I wasn’t a Tankist. Then the Rebbe said with a smile, ‘There is someone here who is not just a Tankist, but the driver of an entire train, and mivtzaim, t’fillin, Yiddishkait are done there. He drives the train to its place but his modesty is not in place. He is hiding somewhere here.’
“I heard this and everyone heard this, but I remained where I was. Then R’ Groner motioned to me to come over. I went over and the Rebbe gave me dollars to give out to the people who were present. The Rebbe added, ‘Don’t forget to take for yourself too.’”
What did the Rebbe mean when he referred to t’fillin and Yiddishkait on the train?
“Throughout my years as a train engineer, I did mivtzaim in my free time. When I drove to Dimona, for example, after working for sixteen hours, another driver replaced me on the way back. I went into the train compartment with two pairs of t’fillin that I had taken with me and I offered to help people put on t’fillin. The conductors (a train has a crew and the engineer is the head of the crew) would tell the passengers with pride that I wasn’t just a ‘nudnik’ or ‘religious nut’ but a train engineer.”
R’ Shloimke laughed as he remembered funny incidents that happened to him.
“As I circulated on a train one time, a student asked me, ‘Is it true that you are a train engineer?’ I said yes. He then asked me, ‘So who is driving now?’ I said, ‘Don’t you realize that I am doing G-d’s work, while He is doing my work and driving the train?’
“The student was frightened and he rolled up his sleeve and said, ‘Hurry up, put t’fillin on me and go back to your driving.’”
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The man who represented Chabad in Eretz Yisroel for decades was R’ Shloimke. To the senior officials he was known as Maidanchek.
It wasn’t easy. He did his work as director of the Vaad of Kfar Chabad at the same time as his work as an engineer. By day he would run around on behalf of the mosdos that he represented in the political arena, and at night, as others slept, he would be driving a freight train.
“I love my work,” he once said. “I work very hard in my public work and the nights on the train are my relaxation. It’s nighttime, quiet, the train travels among the sand dunes of the south and my head is clear and I can think. I could retire, but I know I would miss the serenity that driving a train gives me.”
Although it sounds simple, it was anything but. “It was very hard. I remember that when we built the new neighborhoods, R’ Meir Freiman was my secretary at the time, but he was taken for three months in the Reserves and I was left with a tremendous amount of work. I decided to take an unpaid vacation for two or three months from driving a train (this entailed a lot of protektzia because I had to find people to take my place). I informed the Rebbe and received an immediate response: Go back to your work as a train engineer.
“By the way, it’s interesting that in all the Rebbe’s answers to me about the train, he stressed ‘train driver.’ Usually, a driver is promoted eventually to shift manager and works his way up from there. I was a driver in the fifties. All those who learned under my students had already attained senior positions while I remained a baal agala. Since the Rebbe stressed this regularly, I understood that the Rebbe did not want me to advance but to remain in this position.
“When I got the Rebbe’s answer, of course I went right back to work. I did all the work between train trips, since the Rebbe did not let me leave the train for even one day. The Rebbe gave me no breaks.
“I remember that some time after the shluchim came to Eretz Yisroel in 5736, I received instructions to bring the shluchim to PM Rabin. I went here and there with them and it was all with a lot of fanfare while still doing my engineering.
“One day, a meeting was arranged with the mayor of Tzfas, Mr. Nechamias. It was very hard for me to find free time to go to Tzfas. I decided to forgo going to Tzfas; somehow this became known and I got a phone call from R’ Chadakov who said: You are the Rebbe’s ambassador there, how is it that you are not going to Tzfas? How will it look?
“I immediately rearranged my schedule with several drivers so they could substitute for me, and I went to Tzfas.”
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R’ Shloimke’s public work stopped in the middle of the eighties. He did not resubmit his candidacy for the elections for the Vaad of Kfar Chabad. He retired.
“My wife a”h had complained to the Rebbe already in the early years that I was not home at all. Either I was on the train or busy with askanus. The Rebbe did not let me stop, and unlike other situations in which he urged the husband not to neglect helping out at home, he wrote her that my work was important and in its merit, we would have nachas from the children.
“Leaving askanus was a tremendous change in my life. For me it was m’igra rama l’bira amikta (lit. from a high roof to a deep pit).”
Political figures on the Left, even the extreme Left, have prided themselves on their relationship with you. Couldn’t this be interpreted as legitimizing what they do when it comes to undermining Shleimus HaAretz?
“The way of Chabad is determined exclusively by the Rebbe. Think about the times that the Rebbe kept talking about Mihu Yehudi or Shleimus HaAretz and spoke with great pain about the devastating consequences of their approach. We, Chabad askanim, immediately thought about whether to maintain relationships with those politicians who were leading this dangerous course. That would be the obvious reaction of any Chassid who heard the Rebbe’s sharp words. And yet, the Rebbe instructed us explicitly to maintain these relationships. I can say for myself that the Rebbe did not lessen his demands on me and sent me on many missions that I won’t discuss now, in order to strengthen ties with those Jews.
“This is why I think that the approach of cutting ties because of one reason or another is not the way of Chabad.”
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After his official retirement, R’ Shloimke did not rest. During the few years until he was appointed chairman of Aguch in Eretz Yisroel in 5750, he worked to put up a Chabad neighborhood in Yerushalayim and continued to maintain his ties with all the Who’s Who in Eretz Yisroel, which took up all his time.
In 5750, R’ Shloimke went back to official communal work after the Rebbe told Rabbanei Chabad to appoint new people to Aguch in Eretz Yisroel to run Chabad matters there. R’ Shloimke was not involved until Rabbanei Chabad asked him to be the chairman of Aguch. He agreed when he received the Rebbe’s encouragement. In this role, he worked on many issues from Chassidishe chinuch to representing Chabad to the government.
He was a tremendous help to directors of mosdos and Chabad houses who consulted with him on matters such as receiving financial backing, getting land, obtaining building permits, etc. He did all of this graciously.
He also helped individuals and tried to respond to all who turned to him for things like recommendations, finding jobs, speaking to influential friends of Lubavitch, speaking to people in various government offices, and many other matters. Thank you letters fill a number of binders in the file cabinets of Aguch.
HIS WORK IN AGUCH
In the fourteen years that R’ Shloimke led Aguch, he set up departments for the purpose of helping develop the mosdos and the Chabad movement in Eretz Yisroel. He started the “Mosdos Department,” which gave approval to open Chabad mosdos, and the “Department for Founding Chabad Neighborhoods.” This was in line with explicit instructions that he received from the Rebbe over the years. Every time neighborhoods and mosdos were founded in Eretz Yisroel, the land was registered under the name of Aguch and the referrals to different government offices were done through Aguch. This was the case with Shikun Chabad Lud, Nachalat Har Chabad, and other places like the Chabad neighborhood in Ramat Shlomo in Yerushalayim which was built by Aguch under the Rebbe’s direction.
There was also the Chinuch Committee, which worked to strengthen Chabad chinuch in Eretz Yisroel by arranging Yemei Iyun and gatherings on the subject. There was the “Absorption Department” that helped new immigrants, spiritually and materially, and an organization of mashpiim.
He placed Matteh Moshiach, an independent organization like any other Chabad organization, under the official rubric of Aguch. This was after a long period of time in which many people and shluchim from all over the country turned to rabbanim and mosdos and said there was an urgent need for an entity to unite all Inyanei Moshiach. Nothing happened until 5751 when R’ Dovid Nachshon asked the Rebbe something similar and the Rebbe said that this pertained to Aguch and the rabbanim.
In an interview with him, R’ Shloimke said, “I am proud of Matteh Moshiach, which does so much to spread the Besuras HaGeula and deepen awareness of the Geula through numerous shiurim. The Rebbe said that Inyanei Moshiach and Geula pertain to Aguch and the rabbanim. When the horaa came to us back then, we gave it over to Tzach to implement. But after four years of sleeping, they gave it back to Aguch and I made it my business to see it through. We made a mistake once and we weren’t going to repeat it.
“We started Matteh Moshiach with R’ Shmuel Hendel directing it. His activities are some of the nicest of Chabad in Eretz Yisroel and the world. They present Inyanei Moshiach properly.”
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On the morning of the first day of Pesach 5764/2004, R’ Shloimke’s health took a sudden turn for the worse. He opened his eyes in the afternoon. His son Yisroel, who was with him for Yom Tov, told him where each of his children and grandchildren were for Pesach. R’ Shloimke listened and he looked pleased. Then his son and grandson Avrohom danced to “Yechi” and “102 Years of the Rebbe MH”M,” as R’ Shloimke himself would do every Shabbos and Yom Tov when he visited his children and grandchildren in Kfar Chabad. He then closed his eyes and passed away. He was 80. Thousands attended his funeral which took place Motzaei the first day of Pesach.