R’ Yosef Taieb, as a child, barely knew anything about Judaism. Today, he is the rav of two large communities, a shliach, a rosh yeshiva and an Av Beis Din. * What is the reason for the Jewish French Revolution since the times of the Alter Rebbe? What changed in France in recent years that did not exist during the early, golden years?
By Shneur Zalman Levin
The story of Rabbi Yosef Taieb is a good example of the huge Jewish revolution that the Rebbe is leading in the world. R’ Taieb, an Av Beis Din, rav of two communities, a rosh yeshiva and a shliach, was a Parisian boy who yearned for Torah. When he got a taste of it, he was hooked and he now disseminates it to thousands of others.
He is the rav in Vincennes. About 200 people daven every Shabbos in his shul. This is aside from the yeshiva which he founded and runs. He is also rav and shliach in the nearby city of S Mande where about 100 people daven on Shabbos.
WHEN THE REBBE LOOKS, IT’S DIFFERENT
I’m addressing you, R’ Taieb, because you represent the Rebbe’s huge revolution in France. As a young French boy you became acquainted with Judaism and now you yourself are a shliach and rav of two communities.
In the sicha the Rebbe said on Parshas VaYeishev 5752, he spoke primarily of the revolution in France and I’m not talking about the historical French Revolution. I’m talking about the spiritual revolution accomplished by our Rebbeim. As far as I know, the Rebbe never delivered a sicha of this sort about Eretz Yisroel, Russia – the cradle of Chassidus, and not even about the United States. Why France?
The Rebbe himself explains in the sicha why he singles out France. He says that the Alter Rebbe did not approve of the atmosphere of independence and freedom that Napoleon offered because it would foster a spiritual deterioration. He preferred the persecution of the czar with a higher level of spiritual devotion.
Despite those preexisting conditions, the Rebbe Rayatz, a later successor of the Alter Rebbe, founded a yeshiva in France “along the lines of that in Lubavitch.” That meant that the great fear that the Rebbeim had of France was gone, and not only was there no longer any fear, but they had transformed France itself into a place of Torah and Chassidus to the extent that the Rebbe announced that France is ready for the Geula after having gone through all the necessary birurim.
In order to understand the significance of the revolution that the Rebbe led and revealed to us, I will preface it by saying that the Torah calls the sages of Israel “the eyes of the congregation.” Tzaddikim have more powerful vision than the “eyes of the congregation.” But when speaking of a Rebbe, the Rosh B’nei Yisroel, that’s something else entirely. When the Rebbe presents something as he sees it, it’s not merely a description of the situation, as important as that might be; it’s a revelation of the essence of the matter.
What is the difference between a description of a situation and revealing the essence?
When you go to a desert and build a city there, the place remains a desert. The only difference is that now there is a city in the desert. It’s like a dark room in which you place a lamp. Whoever enters the room will see a lit up area, but did the room’s essence change to that of light? No! The room, in essence, is dark. It’s just that now there is a lamp so the room is illuminated. But let us imagine a situation in which the very existence of the room becomes luminous. Then, the light in the room is not a “revelation” in a dark room, but the essence of the room.
The only one who can declare whether the light which is shining now is merely a revelation or whether the essence of the thing has changed, is the Rebbe. Since he is an expression of essence, he can affect change on the essential level and he can also reveal to us that the change is an essential one.
For example, during the Gulf War the Rebbe said that Eretz Yisroel is the safest place, since “the eyes of Hashem your God are upon it from the beginning of the year until the end of the year.” But the Torah itself says that, so what was the Rebbe innovating? And if it’s the safest place, how could the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash take place there and what about all the tragedies over the previous thousands of years?
The answer is that until our generation the G-dly light that illuminated Eretz Yisroel was like light in a dark room. During the days of Dovid HaMelech and Shlomo HaMelech the light shone and it was safe in Eretz Yisroel, but this light could also be concealed and then the Battei Mikdash were destroyed. When the Rebbe began talking about Eretz Yisroel being the safest place, he was telling us that now the essence of Eretz Yisroel illuminates with the light of “the eyes of Hashem your G-d,” and therefore, from now on, it won’t change, because essence does not change.
Now, getting back to our subject – for many years France was a place of Torah. Rashi lived in France, R’ Yechiel of Paris was here, the Baalei HaTosafos learned and taught Torah here, and Torah went forth from France to Jews all over the world. However, France was still like a room which is basically dark but has light illuminating it temporarily. The situation could change and did indeed change and France became a dangerous place for Judaism and Jews to the extent that the Alter Rebbe rejected it.
However, in recent years a spiritual revolution has taken place, from the root, in which France was made ready for Geula, not because of the Jewish communities or because of the Jewish atmosphere which you can find there, but because France, in essence, changed. It has become ready for the Geula.
THE REBBE CHANGED THE ESSENCE
R’ Taieb married on 4 Tammuz 5750 and learned for one year in kollel. That year he had many shlichus offers, among them in France, Eretz Yisroel, and other countries. He wrote all the offers and noted in which places he was afraid that his arrival could stir up disputes. The Rebbe deleted the words in which he expressed his fears of disputes and responded, “Do according to the advice of knowledgeable friends.” He consulted his friends and made the decision to go on shlichus to France.
“When I wrote about this decision to the Rebbe, he responded with: 1) consent and blessing, 2) it is correct.
“I left for shlichus in Sarcelles, under the shliach R’ Yaakov Bitton. I worked there for three years and then decided to go on shlichus to cities where there still weren’t permanent shluchim. I felt I was ready to prepare another point in France to welcome Moshiach. That was at the beginning of 5754. I traveled to the Rebbe and submitted my note. In response to my question whether I should leave, the Rebbe nodded his head in agreement. When I asked whether to look for a place of shlichus in Eretz Yisroel since that is where my wife is from and I had some offers, the Rebbe shook his head no.
“I received an offer to go on shlichus to Vincennes. I asked the Rebbe’s European representative, R’ Binyamin Gorodetzky, for his approval and he gave it and I’ve been here ever since. There are close to 10,000 Jews here.
“Friends who heard that I was going on shlichus to Vincennes were surprised. The rav of the Jewish community under the auspices of the Jewish Federation, R’ Yitzchok Kapetas, is from a Litvishe background and many people thought we wouldn’t get along. Actually, we are good friends.
“I started my shlichus by giving shiurim. I made myself guidelines so as not to create conflicts with the rav. Among other things, I would not work with people who attended his shiurim. I would only draw close those who had no formal connection to him.”
The beginning was very hard. At first, he would go every morning from Sarcelles to Vincennes and would learn with one person in some improvised place, until the afternoon. Sometimes, they sat and learned in the cold without any source of heat. They didn’t even have a table and they lay a door on improvised legs and that was their table. Later on, when he began making connections with other people, he decided to rent a place for his activities. His work expanded as did the demand, and a kosher restaurant and a new mikva were opened.
As we spoke about shlichus which is done through the prism of Torah, I presented R’ Taieb with the following question:
WHY DOES THE YESHIVA REPRESENT THE REVOLUTION?
In the Rebbe’s sicha of 5752, he cited as a symbol of the revolution the fact that a Yeshivas Tomchei T’mimim was founded in France, and not the spread of Judaism on such an impressive scale. Why is that?
Indeed, the Rebbe, in speaking of the revolution in France, did not talk about the numerous baalei teshuva or the many activities and programs, or about hafatza and the spirit of Judaism that began to penetrate the streets. That’s not it, because that could also happen when the place is dark and an external light is lit.
What did the Rebbe look at? At Yeshivas Tomchei T’mimim as it was in Lubavitch. The Rebbe zeroes in on the founding of the yeshiva by the Rebbe Rayatz because that expresses the essential change.
A lot has been said about the great innovation that was Yeshivas Tomchei T’mimim and it is said that the Rebbe Rashab spent ten years visiting the gravesites of the Rebbeim before he opened his yeshiva. What’s so hard about opening a yeshiva? For until then, the study of Chassidus was like a light in a dark place; the Rebbe wanted to found a yeshiva whose essence would be a G-dly light.
Therefore, the fact that the Rebbe Rayatz founded the yeshiva in France revealed that the change in France was not in the category of revelation but in the very essence. France, since the time of the Alter Rebbe, had changed from the root.
The Gemara talks about a situation in which a person known to be wicked betroths a woman when he says to her, “You are sanctified to me on condition that I am utterly righteous.” The din is that she is considered a possibly married woman even though everyone knows the man to be wicked. Why? “Lest he had a thought of repentance.”
How much Torah did he learn since we saw him last and until he sanctified his wife? None. What mitzvos did he manage to do in the interim? None. So why is she sanctified in marriage? Because maybe he had a thought of teshuva and if so, an essential change occurred, even though that change has yet to become manifest in ways that can be seen by all.
This is what the Rebbe said about the revolution in France, referring to it as an essential change.
From the Alter Rebbe until the Rebbe Rayatz, who founded the yeshiva, 150 years passed, during which a great change took place. Most of the Rebbeim operated in France. When do you think the essential change occurred?
I can’t tell you because the Rebbe himself in the sicha did not speak about that specifically, but it seems that the change took place gradually over the years. We know that even the Rebbe Maharash went especially to France in order to extract a lofty neshama out of the klipos, as the Rebbe told in his first maamer, Basi L’Gani. There is no question that this event shows a partial breaking of the klipa that is France.
As you said, the Rebbe refers to the change that occurred with the founding of Yeshivas Tomchei T’mimim in France. There were many people and organizations that started yeshivos in France over the years and nevertheless, that still did not “kosherize” the klipa of France. Why is that?
When the Rebbe speaks about something, he reveals the essence of the thing. That’s a Rebbe. He sees everything in its source.
You can be a distinguished askan or an important rosh yeshiva and you may have started a yeshiva in France, but you did not accomplish a change in France on an essential level. When a Rebbe (in this case, the Rebbe Rayatz) opens a yeshiva in France, that is an act which transforms the essence of France. It is not a superficial treatment but something which affects the source of klipa. Why? Because when a Rebbe does something, he channels something new into the world, essential and substantive. Ordinary people cannot do that. When a person wants to open a yeshiva in France, that’s good and important, but you are a private person and your actions are limited to a certain place, time, and field. It is not something which affects the essence of France.
THE REBBE REVEALS IT TO US
What does it mean to “reveal the nekuda?”
I’ll give you an example. The Rebbe Maharash once said the aphorism, l’chat’chilla aribber. Only the Rebbe could take this phrase and reveal that this expresses the very essence of the Rebbe Maharash. Today it is so taken for granted that when you ask someone to sing a niggun of the Rebbe Maharash, he will immediately start singing the niggun “L’chat’chilla Aribber.” A root-essence revelation like that is something only a Rebbe can disclose.
So too with the maamer Basi L’Gani. The Rebbe made it into the foundation of our lives, we of the seventh generation. The Rebbe Rayatz said many maamarim and the maamer Basi L’Gani could have been regarded as another maamer in a series of hundreds of maamarim. But the Rebbe revealed to us that being the seventh generation is the essence of our generation.
GEMATRIA ALLUDES TO ESSENCE
In the sicha, the Rebbe mentions the fact that Tzorfas (France) are the same letters as paratzta (to break forth). What is the significance of that?
Many people like to play with gematriyos and get excited about them. It’s brought in s’farim that not everyone can connect different topics through gematriyos. What the Alter Rebbe brings at the beginning of the Shaar Ha’Yichud V’Ha’Emuna about letters and their replacements, combinations and gematriyos, is not something that was given over to every person, just like not everyone can make a g’zeira shava.
Therefore, when the Rebbe sits at the farbrengen on Shabbos Parshas VaYeishev 5752 and says that Tzorfas is the gematria of 770, paratzta, Chabad’s slogan, it’s not cute word play but expresses the very essence of the matter.
Chassidus explains the words of the Zohar, “Rabbi Shimon opened and said,” that it’s not just that he spoke but that Rashbi opened new channels of Torah and drew new revelations down from heaven. That is something only a Nasi HaDor can do.
It is important to remember that when the Rebbe speaks about something, it’s not just a nice idea; it is the essence of the thing as it is revealed in the world at this time. The Rebbe begins to speak about the essence of a thing as it is in its source and “draws it down” to the level of revealed reality. Consequently, until the Rebbe spoke about France being 770 and paratzta, this idea did not exist, even if someone else would have noticed the gematria and pointed it out. It is meaningful only from the moment the Rebbe speaks about it, for he reveals the new idea and brings it into the world, something which a private individual cannot do.
CONNECTING THE JEWS OF FRANCE TO THE REBBE
R’ Taieb’s parental home was traditional and he attended a Jewish school which enabled the students to stay in class after school for more intensive Torah study with volunteer rabbis. That is how Yosef, who was thirteen, met R’ Refael Cohen, a Lubavitcher Chassid, who taught him basic ideas of Judaism.
When R’ Cohen saw how serious Yosef was, he invited him to Shabbos meals, after which he would teach him Sichos.
“The marvelous way that the Rebbe illuminates many topics in the Written and Oral Torah won me over despite my young age and limited knowledge at the time,” says R’ Taieb.
Within a short time, Yosef felt that he belonged in a yeshiva but his parents wanted him to first finish his matriculation exams. They agreed to ask the Rebbe who responded to a list of other questions in his letter but not about yeshiva. That is what happened with other letters he wrote to the Rebbe too.
“When I visited the Rebbe, the idea of needing to give oneself over completely to him became much sharper for me, an idea which I always heard from shluchim and Anash in France. Even when I travelled to 770 and wrote to the Rebbe a number of times about my desire to attend yeshiva I did not receive a response. I was very surprised by this. Did the Rebbe not want me to attend yeshiva?
“After Pesach I had an appointment to see the Rebbe. I was very overwrought. The night before I couldn’t sleep at all. I fasted and finished saying all of T’hillim with great emotion.
“Those minutes that I stood near the Rebbe’s room are engraved within me. My eyes were downcast and I felt terrified. The door opened and there I was, before the Rebbe. The Rebbe asked me where I won the raffle for my trip and who I represented. I said I came from Paris. The Rebbe took a paper on his desk and wrote Paris on it. Then he asked me whether I had received participation-money from the secretaries, $30 that were intended half for tz’daka and half towards a farbrengen. I said I had received it. Then the Rebbe read the note I submitted in which I had written my desire to attend yeshiva. The Rebbe said, ‘Regarding yeshiva, ask a mashpia whether there is a chavrusa for you and success in spreading the wellsprings.’
“I had some questions which I had submitted to the office before the yechidus and the Rebbe answered them all.”
R’ Taieb left the Rebbe’s room with tears in his eyes. That year, his family moved to Eretz Yisroel and he attended Yeshivas Tomchei T’mimim in Lud for two years. Two years later, his parents moved back to France and he divided his learning between the yeshiva in Kfar Chabad and the yeshiva in Brunoy.
Today, as mentioned earlier, he is a dayan and a rav of a big community (and a neighboring community) and runs a successful yeshiva in Vincennes.
“When I arrived, there were just two men with beards, me and the Litvishe rav. Today there are dozens of religious Jews who are Chassidim. The mikva that we built (the only one here) brought purity into the homes of about 300 families.”
You lead large communities as both the mara d’asra and the shliach. When we speak about the Jewish revolution in France, no doubt you see it in your daily shlichus.
Absolutely. In France there is something amazing that you don’t find anywhere else. There is Judaism in England and Antwerp. There are beautiful communities of G-d fearing Jews, Chassidim and shuls, mikvaos etc. and yet, when you come to France it’s completely different. In those other countries, Judaism is still in the category of “shtetl” life, an enclave. When Judaism is in the ghetto, it shows that the place is not yet fit for the revelation of G-dliness, which is why we need to cloister ourselves.
When you come to France, you see that Judaism here is not in the shtetl but part of the very fabric of French Jewry. You see Jews who make a living and look like French citizens, but they walk in the street with their tzitzis out. They draw Torah into the French experience of life. Judaism has become part of their “Frenchness.” It’s not two separate things.
Of course, this is seen in the increasing number of kosher stores, in the kollels and yeshivos that are being founded, one after another, and in the kosher restaurants. But these are only external things which express the depth of the change in the essence of France, as the Rebbe spoke about the change even in the French national anthem which was elevated to holiness. The change is not cosmetic but reaches the deepest most essential levels. It’s an incredible phenomenon.
You feel that the Jews in France are already deep within this process. Even Jews who are not yet religious are open and receptive as though they are just waiting for you to approach them and talk to them about Judaism. There are no longer any barriers. You meet a Jew on the street and you don’t know where they are from but they soon say to you that they are connected to the Rebbe, are familiar with what he says, are particular about mitzvos, and they are connected.
You are not talking about quantity are you?
The quantity issue will never end because as long as Moshiach is not revealed, there will always be Jews in France that still need to be drawn close to Judaism and G-d. I’m talking about quality – you see Jews who are connected to the Rebbe, who have a soul connection to G-dliness, even if they are not completely observant. The situation in France is “G-dliness as the simple reality.” Judaism has penetrated and it is the defining essence of French Jewry, not an add-on. Over here, Judaism is not in the ghetto; it is not holed up in a shtetl.
When you talk about Jews connected to the Rebbe, you surely have a part in it by bringing groups to the Rebbe every year. That definitely helps your connection and their hiskashrus to the Rebbe.
I bring groups of people to the Rebbe four times a year: groups of men, women, young men and young women, and that is aside from the big group that goes for Tishrei and other special days in the Chabad calendar.
How do you convince them to join you?
Who says I have to convince anyone? I don’t need to convince them! It’s part of the essential reality here. When you reach these Jews you feel that they are ready and it’s like they were waiting for you to draw them in. The change that happens in them is a deep, fundamental change. Of course there is more work to be done with them but the work only entails revealing what is already there.
What happens when the groups come here?
When they get to the Rebbe, to 770, they finally realize what they already knew deep inside.
There is a sicha of the Rebbe Rayatz which says that when Moshiach comes, those Jews who learned Chassidus during galus will see all the revelations that they learned about, and they will say, “Aha, that’s what we were learning about!” The expression “aha” is used to express that which you knew before on a theoretical level and now see it with your eyes.
When a Jew from here goes to visit 770, he sees 770, he sees the place of the Rebbe, he sees and senses the holiness and G-dliness and he says, “Aha, now I see what I felt all along and couldn’t put into words.”
Everything you see here in the community, the big mosdos, is not my work. It a change and revolution that is superhuman. It’s all to the Rebbe’s credit. He does everything. As the Rebbe once put it, “We plowed and you harvest.” The fact that Hashem had mercy on me and gave me the opportunity to do some of the work and to do so among French Jews still does not explain the revolution that took place here.
Coming from Chanuka, we said, “You gave the strong into the hands of the weak and many into the hands of the few.” Would someone say that the victory was because of the mighty Maccabim? Obviously not. It was Hashem’s miracle. The same is true for shlichus in France. There is no correlation between what we, the shluchim, do, and the huge results. It is obvious that it is not our success but the Rebbe’s.
If a shliach feels that there is linkage between him and what he accomplishes, he is not giving room for the Rebbe to operate within his shlichus. The only connection between the shliach and the results is the Rebbe himself.
BEING JEWISH PUBLICLY IN FRANCE, EVEN NOW
A year ago, there was an attack in the kosher supermarket near the district of S Mande which made the Jews in the city even more jittery than before. Even before that attack, there was tension in the city and the police told community leaders that police forces would be protecting the synagogues.
After the latest attacks in France, the question is, how did you celebrate Chanuka?
I told my congregants before the holiday that everything would take place as usual, just as the Rebbe wants it. If the government or police would not allow us to do a certain public event, there wouldn’t be much we could do about that, but as long as it was legal, we had to do everything we could to spread the light.
We need to look at all the recent events in France as part of the progression toward Geula. The world is in an uproar. “Humble ones, the time for your redemption has arrived.”