“When you connect to the Rebbe, to whom are you connecting? Not to the Rebbe’s lomdus, not to the Rebbe’s geonus, not to the Rebbe’s tzidkus, and not to the Rebbe’s ruach ha’kodesh, but to a Nasi Yisroel.” * A fascinating conversation with Rabbi Leibel Groner, the Rebbe’s personal secretary and director of Kupas Rabbeinu, covering a range of topics including how to maintain our hiskashrus in the here and now, and the need for a personal reckoning in preparation for Gimmel Tammuz.
R’ Sholom Mendel Simpson | R’ Leibel Groner [Photos by Yisroel Navon]In the days leading up to Gimmel Tammuz, with 770 bustling and booming with the sound of hundreds of T’mimim learning diligently, I went upstairs to Rabbi Leibel Groner’s small office near Gan Eden HaTachton. You can still hear the cacophony of the learning in 770 through the walls, but the office itself is quiet. In a nearby cubicle stands an emotional chassan, a few days before his wedding, davening from the Siddur which the Rebbe gives to chassanim before the wedding. Outside the door wait other chassanim, who use the time to recite T’hillim.
R’ Groner, who began assisting the Rebbe when he was yet a bachur, became the Rebbe’s secretary from the beginning of the Rebbe’s nesius. In recent years, he travels to Lubavitch communities around the world and encourages and inspires Anash to strengthen their commitment to the Rebbe’s takanos, especially spreading the Besuras Ha’Geula, and the belief that “hinei, zeh Moshiach ba.” He shares amazing stories that he witnessed himself or heard from the people they happened to. He includes a lesson with every story about strengthening hiskashrus to the Rebbe.
Even while carrying out this interview with him, he took every opportunity to teach the younger generation to connect to the Rebbe by carrying out his instructions. To one chassan he told the Rebbe’s horaa about shmira before the wedding, to another chassan he mentioned the Rebbe’s horaos about wearing a gartel in the days before the wedding.
SPECIFICALLY NOW WE MUST CONNECT TO THE REBBE
It is over two decades since Gimmel Tammuz 5754, and although we don’t see the Rebbe, with every passing day our longing for our king grows. Along with that, the need to strengthen our hiskashrus grows too.
R’ Groner: True. Throughout the years it was necessary to strengthen one’s hiskashrus to the Rebbe; all the more so in recent years as the Rebbe himself said in 5711, that when we are in a darkened and redoubled darkness of the final galus, it is even more vital to have a special hiskashrus to the Rebbe, “tzaddik yesod olam,” which is a special conferring of strength to always be connected, without being fazed by the changes of time and circumstance, Shabbos or weekday, day or night, the darkness of galus, etc.
BEFORE SPEAKING ABOUT HOW TO CONNECT, WE NEED TO KNOW TO WHOM WE ARE CONNECTING
There was once a Chassid who went to the Rogatchover Gaon and asked him what he thought of the Rebbe Rashab. The Rogatchover answered that in order to make an assessment, you need to know two things, the assessor and the one being assessed. A “Rebbe” is beyond us. We have no way of knowing and understanding what a Rebbe is. So, how can I assess him? But I can tell you something I do know – the Rebbe does not lie down at night (note, he did not say “sleep” but “lie down”) until he scans the entire world. When he sees a Jew who needs a bracha, he will not lie down until he intercedes with Hashem on behalf of that Jew…
We need to think about this. When we connect to the Rebbe, to whom are we connecting? Not to the Rebbe’s lomdus, not to the Rebbe’s geonus, not to the Rebbe’s tzidkus, and not to the Rebbe’s ruach ha’kodesh – as the Rebbe writes in his famous letter of 3 Tammuz 5710: “Many seek to explain the great qualities of the Chabad leaders in general and Nasi Doreinu, the Rebbe, my father-in-law, in particular, in various ways; a person of mesirus nefesh, a gaon, a baal middos, a tzaddik, someone with ruach ha’kodesh, accustomed to miracles etc. … and in all this, the main thing is missing.”
In this amazing letter, the Rebbe provides us with a little understanding of what the main idea of a Rebbe is, to whom we are connecting, that “in addition to this, which is actually the main thing, and is especially important because it is the most relevant, and especially to us, the flock of Chassidim and his mekusharim. And this is, that he is the Nasi and a Nasi Chabad. Because a Nasi in general is called the Rosh Alfei Yisroel, he is the head and brain relative to them, and from him derives their nourishment and life force. By cleaving to him, they are bound up and unified with their root-source up Above.”
The Rebbe goes on to write: “Each one of us needs to know, i.e., to deepen his consciousness and implant his thought in this, that he is the Nasi and head, and from him and through him come all the material and spiritual bounty, and by connecting to him (and he already said in his letters how to connect) one is connected in the source and the source of the source up to higher and higher etc.”
THE MASHPIIM NEED TO EMPHASIZE THE FOUNDATION OF HISKASHRUS
The youth as well as young men, and even ziknei ha’chassidim sit at farbrengens and seek every opportunity and means to strengthen their hiskashrus to the Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach. The question is, what else can be done to strengthen our hiskashrus?
R’ Groner: By the elder Chassidim there was a saying that the bond between Chassid and Rebbe is like the bond between a husband and wife which can be accomplished in three ways: kesef – giving money for Maamad; shtar – learning his teachings and carrying out his instructions, as well as writing a pidyon nefesh for the Rebbe; and bee’ah – going to the Rebbe.
I don’t know why, but in recent years there is a weakening of the first way. Many Chassidim, especially the young ones, are unaware of the form of hiskashrus through giving Maamad money to the Rebbe. Likewise, many do not know about the Rebbe’s takana about Keren HaShana and unfortunately there are Chassidim today who never took this path of hiskashrus by giving of their money to the Rebbe.
You might be surprised to hear this, but by the girls there is more awareness of this. From Rosh HaShana until after Simchas Torah many girls come to this office and give money for Keren HaShana. Apparently, their mashpios talk to them about it. From Yeshivas Hadar HaTorah too, Erev Rosh Chodesh they come with Maamad money. It’s the T’mimim, those who are supposed to be in the forefront of all aspects of hiskashrus, who aren’t aware of the need to contribute to Maamad and Kupas Rabbeinu.
I was visited by a young man and I asked him about Keren HaShana. He didn’t know what it was. I was taken aback. The Rebbe talks about it every year in the sichos of Simchas Torah but this young man, who is considered Chassidish, never heard of it!
This needs fixing. The mashpiim in the yeshivos need to know that the young generation does not know of the possibility of connecting to the Rebbe another way, through giving Maamad money, which the Rebbe Rayatz called the yesod of hiskashrus. In a letter of 5688/1928 he wrote, “In truth, this inner matter is the foundation of hiskashrus of Anash, and therefore, each of the mekusharim needs to know his obligation in paying the monthly Maamad.”
THE REBBE URGES THE CHASSIDIM TO GIVE MAAMAD MONEY
You merited to be present also during the nesius of the Rebbe Rayatz. What can you tell us about the giving of Maamad at that time?
R’ Groner: When I was a bachur, all the T’mimim knew that one of the ways of hiskashrus is through giving money for Maamad. There was a bachur in yeshiva in charge of Maamad and every Erev Rosh Chodesh he would make a list with the names of the T’mimim and the amounts they gave, and give it to the Rebbe Rayatz. There were young men who gave money every Friday and those who gave once a year.
After the Rebbe accepted the nesius, he hardly mentioned giving Maamad in his sichos and letters, but in the Rebbe Rayatz’s time, the Rebbe himself agitated about it a great deal. From when he arrived in the United States, the Rebbe was appointed in charge of Maamad.
They say that when the Rebbe farbrenged with Anash in Paris in 1947, he urged them about Maamad. As the Rebbe wrote to R’ Nissan Nemanov:
“I said here at a farbrengen with Anash and the T’mimim that hiskashrus needs to be with all possible powers. Chabad Chassidim, as their name indicates, should connect with Chabad, i.e., by learning the maamarim of the Rebbe – since the intention of the one saying the maamarim is drawing chochma-bina-daas into the middos and changing the middos thereby. This requires hiskashrus by going in his ways and according to his directives in character development, thought, speech and action.
“But all this pertains – touches upon – an individual power or powers, at least in the revealed soul powers, and if so, since there still remains a doubt as to ‘which way they are leading him,’ this places doubt as to where he is connected in his innermost being and essence.
“The advice for this is only through nifneh (transposed letter code for Maamad), and based on what is explained in Tanya, ch. 34, 37, Igeres HaKodesh ch. 4 and elsewhere.
“All of the above is even in years when everything was running properly. All the more so nowadays, when hiskashrus through Chabad, Chagas, Nahim, suffers due to the exigencies of the times, spatial distance, and interruption of the connection even in writing for many years, that hiskashrus through nifneh needs to be with great measure and greater force.”
In other letters from that period, you can see how the Rebbe demands that Chassidim send Maamad money to the Rebbe Rayatz. For example, in a letter to a Chassid, the Rebbe writes, “Surely you do and work in your travels also in the matter of nifneh, that aside from this being your shlichus, it is known and visibly apparent that everything that also has a physical hold, is lasting. It is known that this is also one of the reasons that prophets would sometimes preface their prophecy with some physical act as is explained in several places in the Latter Prophets.”
I remember an amazing story that I heard from R’ Yaakov Katz, an American who became close to the Rebbe Rayatz during the latter’s first visit to the United States, that in approximately the year 5701, when he had yechidus, the Rebbe Rayatz asked him to give a very large sum of money for the Rebbe’s inyanim. It was an enormous amount. He did not have it and he did not know what to do.
He consulted with the Rebbe’s son-in-law, who had come to the U.S. a short while before, and after the Rebbe explained the importance of the matter, he borrowed the money from friends and gave it all to the Rebbe. From then on, his business took off and was miraculously successful. He said that when there is emuna and bitachon in what the Rebbe said, it is possible to be endlessly successful. I once heard this story from the Rebbe at a farbrengen but the Rebbe did not mention the name of the Chassid it happened to.
CHASSIDIM WHO GAVE BEYOND THEIR MEANS, EXPERIENCED OPEN MIRACLES
You said the Rebbe told him what amount to give. Do you remember similar stories?
R’ Groner: When they sold the p’sukim of “Ata Horeisa,” there were Chassidim who decided to give what the Rebbe told them to give, and the Rebbe agreed to this. But there were times that the Rebbe did not want to say an amount. For example, I was once standing next to the Rebbe on Simchas Torah before they began selling the p’sukim, when one of the Chassidim went over to the Rebbe and asked how much to give for a pasuk.
The Rebbe said: Decide on your own. My conceptions are completely different conceptions. I don’t know whether you will be able to handle it … better not to ask. There were Chassidim who on Simchas Torah announced that they would give what the Rebbe said, but after Yom Tov, when they came to ask how much the Rebbe wanted them to give, the Rebbe said they should decide on their own.
Sometimes there were directives issued with “an arousal from above.” For example, on Yud-Tes Kislev 5718, when the Rebbe unexpectedly held an appeal to build a new section in Kfar Chabad, he asked the Chassidim to donate large amounts and to give the money that night or the next day.
Afterward, the Rebbe said: “In general, my system is that I don’t mix in to say my opinion about how much each one should give. I take what is given and one of the two; either I am satisfied or not, and I keep my dissatisfaction to myself. But since this is something completely out of the ordinary, I will also not do the usual, and if I see that someone is giving too little, I will remove the veil of shame and order him – with the power of the matters for which the money is needed, to increase as I see fit … I am confident that Hashem will keep His word. He said, “aser bishvil she’tisasher” (tithe so that you should become wealthy), and He said, “b’chanuni na b’zos …” (test me please in this), “v’harikosi lachem bracha ad bli dai” (and I will pour upon you blessing with no end). Especially when speaking about the tz’daka for Eretz Yisroel, which takes precedence over tz’daka for the diaspora, as the Alter Rebbe explains in Igeres Ha’kodesh, so as it pertains to this tz’daka there is also the halachic ruling of our Rebbeim. And if it seems to someone that he was told to give an amount that is beyond him, the meaning in it is for him to get at least four times as much from Hashem, so if he adds another $1000, Hashem will give him another $4000!”
Those present at the farbrengen wrote down what they would give on a paper and the Rebbe reviewed the papers. When he came to Dovid Deitsch’s paper, the Rebbe said: Dovid Deitsch, twice as much.
The Rebbe did not say what the original amount was, but afterward, R’ Dovid told me that the original amount was $15,000, a huge sum in those days, the cost of a home. It was beyond his financial means, but the Rebbe asked him to double it!
R’ Dovid did not think twice about it. In the morning, he rushed to the bank and asked for a loan of $30,000. The bank manager did not agree to approve such a large loan without a collateral, and R’ Dovid did not hesitate to sign to mortgaging his house. But his house was worth only $16,000 so he also had to mortgage his business, and only then did he get a bank check for $30,000. He happily went off to the office and asked me to give the check to the Rebbe before sunset so as to fulfill the Rebbe’s request that donations arrive the day after the farbrengen.
A short while later, R’ Dovid got a phone call from a friend in Boston who told him about a fabric factory that had gone up in flames and the owner said that whoever wanted to, could take rolls of fabric for free. R’ Dovid went there with his truck and loaded ten rolls. The owner showed up and asked him how many rolls he was taking. R’ Dovid thought perhaps he had taken too much, but the owner urged him to fill his truck with more. When he arrived at his own textile factory and unloaded the rolls, he discovered to his astonishment that only the outer layers had been burned and the rest was usable and could be sold. He also discovered that these were particularly expensive materials. He was able to sell the material and he made a profit of $90,000.
He quickly repaid his loan to the bank, and with the rest of the money, $60,000, he wrote a check and asked for yechidus with the Rebbe. He gave the Rebbe the check and said it was for the Rebbe, since the entire business deal was done with the Rebbe’s bracha. The Rebbe accepted the check and asked: This is mine?
When he was told yes, the Rebbe said: Take the check and put it into your account and may Hashem grant you success.
Since then, R’ Dovid became a very successful businessman and quite wealthy.
A similar story happened with R’ Gimpel Orimland, who became close to the Rebbe after experiencing a huge miracle with the Rebbe restoring his son to life.
One year, he was at the Rebbe for Shabbos B’Reishis when the gabbaim of 770 sell the “mitzvos,” and he offered a bid of a thousand dollars. The Rebbe turned to him and said, “From you I don’t want to accept…”
Afterward, the Rebbe added, “You need to give five thousand dollars.” When he expressed his agreement, the Rebbe asked him if he was giving it with joy and a glad heart. When he answered in the affirmative, the Rebbe blessed him that the next year he should be able to give “keifel kiflayim” (double and double again)!
The truth is that he had no way of coming up with five thousand dollars, but when he came home and told his wife what he had committed to, she took out her jewelry and told him, “Go pawn these and hurry up and bring the money to the Rebbe.”
When the following Elul came around, he didn’t even have the money to buy a plane ticket. He could not understand how he was supposed to give keifel kiflayim of what he gave the previous year. However, a few days before Sukkos he signed on a huge deal, and the deposit that he received was $20,000, exactly “double and double again” of what he donated the previous year. [What actually happened is that he came for Simchas Torah to the Rebbe, and he bought the second verse for whatever price the Rebbe would say. To his surprise, when he went into yechidus to find out the amount that he should give, the Rebbe instructed him only to give $126. The Rebbe explained that he was exact in his wording the previous year, when he did not say that he should give keifel kiflayim, only that he should be able to give. For whatever reason, the Rebbe decided that he should give only $126, and as far as the rest he should give to whatever tz’daka he wants].
However, these stories are outside the norm. Generally, the Rebbe did not get involved with determining donation amounts, and he did not even ask to be informed how much came in and how much each person gave. In some of the appeals that the Rebbe held at farbrengens, the Rebbe emphasized that people could write the amount on one note, and their name and mother’s name on a separate note, so that when he reads the name at the tziyun, he would not see the amount given.
HOW TO ENTER
THE REBBE’S “ARK” – THROUGH MAAMAD
If the Rebbe did not point out to Chassidim the need for giving Maamad, who did?
R’ Groner: A few of the people in charge of Maamad in New York were R’ Moshe Pinchas Katz and R’ Mordechai Mentlick and they spoke about it at farbrengens. Aside from them, there were shadarim, the shluchei d’rabbanan, who traveled from place to place to collect Maamad money from Chassidim. Examples of shadarim are R’ Shmuel Dovid Raitchik in the U.S., R’ Zev Menachem Greenglass in Canada, and R’ Bentzion Shemtov in England. R’ Shlomo Chaim Kesselman was also in charge of Maamad for a while.
Back in the time of the Rebbe Rayatz, these Chassidim merited to receive letters from the Rebbe [then known as the Ramash] on the topic, which spoke about the importance of the matter and contained some amazing ideas, and they conveyed these deep messages over the years. In one letter to R’ Greenglass the Rebbe writes that he should be careful in his work for Merkos L’Inyanei Chinuch and his work for Machne Israel, that it should not be at the expense of his work for Maamad.
In a letter to R’ Bentzion Shemtov, the Rebbe guides him not to limit Maamad to Chabad Chassidim, because the Rebbe belongs to all Jews. On the other hand, he wasn’t to speak about it with everyone. He was to avoid those who would later boast of providing for the Rebbe.
The Rebbe wrote to R’ Nissen Nemanov about correcting the situation in France, where the Rebbe said that it appeared that Maamad was not enough of a priority. In that letter as well the Rebbe mentioned including others outside of Chabad.
Twice a year a special melava malka was held in my parents’ home to collect Maamad money, in the course of which the elder Chassidim would talk about the importance of Maamad. They spoke about the difference between supporting Tomchei T’mimim and Maamad, that the Rebbe Rayatz once said: Maamad is the head, and Tomchei T’mimim is the heart. The order is, first the head and then the heart.
Although fifty or so years have passed since then, I remember what my wife’s uncle, R’ Moshe Leib Rodstein, said. He was first the Rebbe Rayatz’s secretary and then the Rebbe’s secretary. He said that in the t’fillos of Rosh HaShana we say the verse, “and G-d remembered Noach and all the wild and domestic animals in the ark.” He explained, when Hashem remembers Noach, He naturally remembers everything else that was together with him in the ark. So too, when Hashem remembers the Rebbe, and this happens at every moment, He also remembers everyone in the ark with the Rebbe. That means, when you are in the ark, that’s good. The big question is, how do you get into Noach’s ark? One way of entering the ark is by giving Maamad money.
I was a young man at the time but I still remember how he repeated this emotionally: How do you get into the Rebbe’s ark? Through Maamad!
MAAMAD, KEREN HA’SHANA, MAGBIS,
AND MONEY FOR
PIDYONEI NEFESH
On R’ Groner’s desk is a small booklet that was published by Kupas Rabbeinu in Eretz Yisroel. It shows how you can be partners with the Rebbe’s activities every month, whether through Maamad, Keren HaShana, appeals made on special days in the calendar, and money for pidyonei nefesh.
What is the difference between these four options?
R’ Groner: The practice of including a sum of money with a pidyon nefesh is called d’mei pidyon nefesh. This is the oldest custom going back to the days of Moshe Rabbeinu. When asked for his bracha or for a bracha from Aharon, they would include a sum of money as a kofer nefesh (soul ransom). The source for this custom is Ramban on the Torah who writes, “For one who came before the father of the prophets and his brother the holy one of Hashem, and he became known to them by name, this would be for him a merit and life, for he has been included in the nation and inscribed among the B’nei Yisroel before Moshe and Aharon, for they will look upon them favorably and ask for mercy on their behalf, Hashem, G-d of your fathers should increase you a thousand-fold and not diminish your numbers, and the sh’kalim atone for your souls.”
This custom was established and became more strengthened upon the launch of the Chassidic movement. When Chassidim submitted a pidyon nefesh to their Rebbe, they included money, d’mei pidyon nefesh. It is important to note that in connection with this I heard several times from the Rebbe, that when it is not possible to give the money to the Rebbe, it can be given to one of the Rebbe’s mosdos and it is considered as though the money reached the Rebbe.
The minhag of Maamad was established by the Alter Rebbe in the time of Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk. When the latter traveled to Eretz Yisroel with a large group of Jews in 5537, they ran into financial difficulties. The Alter Rebbe, who had begun leading the Chassidim in Russia, came to their aid, and this is how Maamad started. The general meaning is – giving money to the Rebbe to maintain his household.
Along with two other great disciples of the Maggid, Maamad was established by their enacting that a pushka be placed in every home to which every family should contribute regularly. At first, the enactment was to set aside money for Maamad before every holiday, but then the enactment was established for every week.
Chassidim continued to give Maamad for the Rebbe. “Every person should send his Maamad money … and I am confident in the power of hiskashrus,” wrote the Mitteler Rebbe to the Chassidim.
The Tzemach Tzedek urged Chassidim to continue following the takana of the Mitteler Rebbe, “and the main thing is to set up closed pushkas and to gather in increments every week, at least once a month, and the shortfall from the amount that was fixed should be met by each one monthly, so that it won’t be difficult for them at the end of the year.”
The Rebbe Maharash, although he conducted himself with extravagant wealth, also said that “Maamad is more precious than all preciousness.” Another time, he said that although he earned thousands a year in the stock market, “the pleasure in bread from heaven is Maamad money.”
In one of his letters, the Rebbe explains Maamad in a simple yet amazing way, so that it can be explained to people who are not Chabad Chassidim. “When people are unable to take part in the Rebbe [Rayatz’s] holy work, which is really every Jew’s obligation, by giving Maamad, 1) this burden is removed (the burden of financial expenses) so that it does not interfere with the work, and most importantly, 2) you take some part in his holy work. Because of this the giving needs to be done in an entirely different manner and different amounts.”
Over the years, the Rebbe gave part of the Maamad money to his mosdos and in accordance with that allocation, we continue to give the money that comes in for Maamad to the Rebbe’s work and mosdos.
When Chassidim continue to give Maamad, even after Gimmel Tammuz, even though they do not see the Rebbe, it expresses our hiskashrus to the Rebbe, that there are no changes! As the Rebbe notes in a letter mentioned before, this enables us to take part in his holy work.
The practice of magbis (collection) began in the era of the Rebbe Rashab when on Purim they would have an appeal for a special fund, Kupas Rabbeinu. This was for certain special matters. Over the years, the Rebbe added additional appeals on special days in the calendar, such as an appeal for the Reshet Oholei Yosef Yitzchok at the 12 Tammuz farbrengen; an appeal for Keren Torah on Yud Shvat, and more appeals were added until in recent years, the Rebbe made an appeal on every special date, 26 over the course of a year.
And finally, there is the practice of donating to Keren HaShana. This is the only one established by the Rebbe, which is why it is particularly beloved, for Chassidim have a special fondness for what our Rebbe established and revealed.
The first time the Rebbe spoke about Keren HaShana was Shabbos B’Reishis 5714. The Rebbe explained that in order to draw the hamshachos of the month of Tishrei to the rest of the year, tz’daka had to be given every day. Since we don’t always remember to give tz’daka every day, the Rebbe founded Keren HaShana to which you donate in amounts that correspond to the number of days in the year, and the Rebbe would take tz’daka out of this fund every day to accrue to the merit of all the donors.
As the Rebbe put it, “Since this year is a leap year, and it has 383 days, I suggest that everybody give this amount, 383 as half a cent, a cent, a nickel, a dime, $1, $100, $1800 (obviously, in every country the amount should be according to the country’s currency). This will be a channel for good hamshachos materially and spiritually, throughout the year. Those who want to rely on me, can give this tz’daka at my discretion, to the general fund that I maintain, from which money goes to tz’daka every day and so, ultimately, every donation will reach its proper destination.” The Rebbe emphasized that when giving to this fund, it is possible to make up for the past days.
The Kupas Keren HaShana was started in 5714 and as the Rebbe said to do, R’ Chadakov wrote a check twice a day, before Shacharis and before Mincha, on behalf of all the donors, for tz’daka purposes. On Fridays, the amount on the check was doubled, so it was for Shabbos too.
Today too, based on instructions we received from the Rebbe, we write two checks daily, and together with R’ Sholom Mendel Simpson, one of the Rebbe’s secretaries and the one appointed by the Rebbe to run Merkos L’Inyanei Chinuch, and responsible, with me, for Kupas Rabbeinu, we sign the checks. Of course, we always bear in mind that this fund is under the Rebbe’s nesius, and we try to do what he would want.
SUPPORTING THE SHLUCHIM’S ACTIVITIES AND THOUSANDS OF LUBAVITCHER FAMILIES
As we spoke, a bell rang in R’ Groner’s office. Half a minute later, a down-and-out individual appeared in the office, who wanted help from R’ Groner. After R’ Groner gave him money from the fund, he sighed and said that in recent years, many of Anash come looking for help from the fund. R’ Sholom Mendel Simpson together with R’ Groner check out the families and according to instructions they received over the years from the Rebbe, they give tz’daka money to them.
“The public has no idea how many Lubavitcher families are literally hungry. The fund provides support to hundreds of shluchim too, including many that if not for the fund’s support would have nothing to eat. For Pesach, for example, we provided tz’daka funds to hundreds of families. I’m not talking about $100, but several hundreds, and in more serious cases, even more than $1000 to families of shluchim.
“In conversations we have with other chesed activists who know the families, they say that if not for the check from Kupas Rabbeinu, those shluchim would not have the means to make Yom Tov.”
How did the economic downturn in the United States affect the fund?
R’ Groner sighed again. “In recent years, donations have gone down and requests have gone up … At the peak of the economic crisis, there were some particularly difficult weeks. Two people who used to give $40,000 a year told us they could not give this amount. There was a Chassid who donated $5000 every year and two years ago he stopped. He came to me before Pesach and sadly said that he himself needed help from the fund.
“But there are rays of light even within the difficult circumstances. There are people who aren’t Lubavitch, but who understand the importance of donating to the Rebbe’s fund. One of them looks like a hippie but every year he comes to the office between Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur and makes a donation of $3850 if it’s a year with 385 days, and so on. He did not learn in Tomchei T’mimim but as he puts it, ‘A fund that the Rebbe established takes priority for me. Every day, I set aside a sum of money so that at the beginning of the following year I can give the money to the Rebbe’s fund.’”
A PRIVILEGE AND EMPOWERMENT, AND A BIG RESPONSIBILITY
What message do you have for Anash?
R’ Groner: We spoke about the need to connect to the Rebbe in all possible ways, whether through Maamad money, Keren HaShana, by learning his Torah, and doing his horaos. Of course, traveling to the Rebbe and writing panim and duchos. But in order for the hiskashrus to be with a p’nimius, we need to always think about our connection with the Rebbe.
One of the things that can awaken feelings of hiskashrus is thinking about how the Rebbe sees and knows what is happening with us. The Rebbe knows what we are doing, what we are saying, and even what we are thinking.
I will tell you a story that happened many years ago. Shortly before Shavuos, I got a phone call from someone who said he was a Litvishe young man. He asked to be part of the special yechidus for guests that was held after Yom Tov, in order to consult with the Rebbe regarding his daughter. I asked him where he would be staying for Yom Tov and he said with a friend in Manhattan.
I explained to him that this yechidus was meant exclusively for guests who stayed in Crown Heights for Yom Tov. Since he wouldn’t be here, he would have to put his name down for the regular schedule of yechidus. The man pleaded to let him into this yechidus saying that his daughter had a serious problem and he borrowed money and flew in special from Eretz Yisroel just for this yechidus.
I finally agreed to put him into the line on condition that he did not stay in the Rebbe’s room for more than five minutes. At first he said he could not possibly squeeze everything he wanted to say into five minutes, but when he realized that it was his choice, either five minutes or not to go in at all, he accepted the condition.
Before he went in for yechidus, he wanted to show me the small note on which he wrote his questions in order to show that he did not plan on staying longer than he was supposed to in the Rebbe’s room. I told him he did not have to show me his questions and the main thing was for him to try to get out quickly for the sake of the Chassidim who were waiting on line.
He ended up spending 15 minutes in the Rebbe’s room. When he came out, he apologized for the delay and said in amazement that if he hadn’t seen the Rebbe’s ruach ha’kodesh with his own eyes, he could not have believed it. Men and bachurim surrounded him and he excitedly told the following:
“After you told me that my time is limited to five minutes, I sat with my friend in Manhattan and winnowed down my list of questions for the Rebbe. From 15 questions I only copied down the five most important questions and I left the complete list in Manhattan.
“When I entered the yechidus, I handed the paper with five questions to the Rebbe who began reading it and responding. I expected the Rebbe to answer my questions, but the Rebbe started talking about other things. At first I did not understand what was going on. I was reminded of my friends from the Litvishe yeshiva who always made fun of the Rebbe and thought, maybe they’re right … But then I realized that the Rebbe was answering the first question written on the paper I had left in Manhattan!
“After answering that question, he went on to the second question which was also not written on the paper I had handed him. For the first seven minutes of the yechidus, the Rebbe answered ten questions that I had left in Manhattan. Only then did the Rebbe begin answering the questions on the paper I handed him.”
The Rebbe doesn’t need us to tell him what we are doing. He thinks of us and knows all. This ought to strengthen each one of us in terms of how much we need to connect ourselves to the Rebbe. It is a big privilege to have the Rebbe constantly with us and protecting us. This should strengthen us because surely the Rebbe gives us the ability to be as we should.
On the other hand, we need to know that along with the privilege and strength, we have a big responsibility. Each of us needs to ask ourselves whether our behavior in thought, speech and action, is in consonance with the Rebbe’s wishes, for the Rebbe sees and knows everything.
As we are approaching Gimmel Tammuz, each of us needs to make a spiritual accounting about where we stand in our hiskashrus to the Rebbe. It’s the time to strengthen ourselves in all of the Rebbe’s enactments, including taking part in the Rebbe’s work through Maamad and Keren HaShana.
As the Alter Rebbe says in Tanya, when a person gives tz’daka, he elevates all his soul powers, since he worked with all his powers to earn that money, and he could have bought his life needs with that money. The same is true when a Chassid gives of his money to Maamad, Keren HaShana and the like, he thereby connects all his soul powers with the Rebbe.
May the results of this discussion be to connect more to the Rebbe and do what the Rebbe wants of us. That we know how to use all the powers the Rebbe gives us in order to strengthen ourselves, and to ignite the neshama of every Jew so that not one Jew remains without a connection to Torah and mitzvos and Hashem, and do activities that reach everywhere and every Jew.
All of this will hasten the revelation of Moshiach and we will merit to see the Rebbe and he will redeem us.