“Our house is located at the edge of the settlement. On that frightful Friday night the lights were on until very late. The whole house was bustling with life. We never imagined that during those very moments as our son cried out, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings… in order to put an end to enemy and avenger,’ the terrorist killers were looking through our living room window with greedy eyes.” This is the moving and thrilling story of Rabbi Dovid Schneersohn and his wife, Vicky, the Rebbe’s shluchim in Itamar, who work there with literal self-sacrifice.
Translated by Michoel Leib Dobry
The residents of Itamar and the other Gav HaHar settlements on the Shomron recently commemorated four years since the horrific slaughter of the Fogel family, on the night of the 6th of Adar Sheni 5771, an unspeakable crime that stunned the entire Jewish People.
Among those who were miraculously saved that night were the members of the Schneersohn family, the Rebbe’s shluchim on the yishuv. The terrorists came to their house first, but for some mysterious reason, they decided to “pass over” them. “Facing the window through which they were looking is a large picture of the Rebbe, and we are certain that the Rebbe’s piercing look is what frightened them away,” explained Rabbi Dovid Schneersohn.
In any case, the feeling of shock and horror that engulfed the settlement was quickly translated into action. “But as much as they would afflict them, so did they multiply and so did they gain strength,” was felt in a real sense on the yishuv at the end of the Shiva. Several new housing units were built in Itamar for its various educational institutions, in spite of the government’s construction freeze. The Rebbe’s shluchim, who were neighbors and close friends of the Fogels, took the initiative and started a Chassidic high school for girls.
“The ‘hard beginning’ for our activities on the settlement was nerve-wracking. Not everyone was excited about helping to establish a Chabad institution for girls in the Shomron. There were those who were worried about the competition, while others feared the effect of the school’s Chassidic spirit. However, equipped with the Rebbe’s brachos, we managed to overcome the difficulties. The high school is now in its third consecutive year of operations, providing a Chabad Chassidic education to sixty young women.”
While the girls’ high school is the crown jewel of the Chabad activities in Itamar, in a larger sense, it represents yet another stage in the wide range of outreach programs run on the yishuv by Rabbi Dovid Schneersohn and his wife, Vicky.
The settlement of Itamar is an agricultural yishuv belonging to the Shomron Regional Council, located southeast of Sh’chem, near the Arab villages of Aqraba and Beita. The yishuv received its name after Itamar, son of Aharon HaKohen, who according to tradition is buried in the nearby village of Awarta. Today, Itamar is home to more than two hundred families, and several dozen more live in the adjacent hills and outposts, foremost among them the organic farm of Givot Olam.
The settlement was founded in 5744 by a nucleus of several families from Yerushalayim, graduates of the “Machon Meir” Yeshiva. It is situated close to the historic site of Tel Aroma, an ancient stronghold apparently from the days of the Chashmonaim.
Most of the yishuv’s residents are toughened members of the settler movement, in the style of religious Zionists with ultra-Orthodox leanings.
According to Rabbi Schneersohn, the connection to the Rebbe and Chabad Chassidus is quite positive. Many local residents learn Chassidus and there is generally a very good and friendly atmosphere on the yishuv.
TAKING THE PLUNGE
Rabbi Schneersohn and his wife are not the only Chabad activists on the yishuv. The communities of Itamar and the surrounding outposts have about ten Chabad families, although the Schneersohn family is among the most prominent.
What is it that brought a native of Kfar Chabad to the hills of the Shomron? What are his activities and what difficulties and pitfalls has he encountered along the way? We posed these and other questions to Rabbi Schneersohn, and we received an inspiring report of a shliach who works with tremendous faith and a deep sense of hiskashrus to the Rebbe.
After their wedding on Lag B’Omer 5764, the Schneersohns established residence in Rechovot and R’ Dovid went to learn in the Rishon L’Tziyon kollel. “As our first Pesach as a married couple approached, we thought about where to spend the holiday. My wife is a graduate of the Ramat Aviv Chabad Women’s Institute, where she learned about all the stringencies of the Pesach holiday. At the Yud-Alef Nissan farbrengen I met the shliach in Itamar, Rabbi Yechezkel Noema, and he asked me, ‘Dovid, where are you for Pesach?’ I told him that we hadn’t decided yet due to our decision to be as stringent as possible.
“You’re coming to us,” he told me. “We’re also Ramat Aviv alumni and we’re very stringent in our home for Pesach.” My wife gave her consent and we spent Pesach 5765 as the guests of the Noema family in Itamar. The views in Itamar are breathtaking and on the last day of Pesach, my wife said, ‘If only I could live in such a place.’ The first thing we did after Pesach was to write to the Rebbe, and the answer we received was clear and quite amazing. The Rebbe wrote that we should go on shlichus in a high and exalted place. We decided to move to Itamar.”
Within a month, the Schneersohns had found a rental home in Itamar, and they soon moved to the pastoral yishuv.
During the first months of the shlichus, Rabbi Schneersohn worked at the nearby organic farm of Givot Olam, under the direction of Rabbi Noema. “Many young men worked on the farm who had left the path of Torah, including boys from Anash families. The farm operator built a synagogue facility on the premises and I learned there with the boys each day. The biggest problem was for my wife; the isolation of the settlement was very hard for her. However, each time we wrote to the Rebbe we were privileged to receive amazingly clear answers that we should stay on the yishuv.
“Once, my wife got a pinpoint reply: As soon as she understands that she’s a shlicha, all the material and spiritual difficulties will cease. This letter essentially put an end to any thoughts about leaving.”
In the meantime, Rabbi Schneersohn found work with the Chabad Talmud Torah in Emanuel. Together with this new source of livelihood, he continued his regular programs spreading the wellsprings on the yishuv and in the surrounding area. He gave over classes in Chassidus and organized activities with IDF soldiers. “During the year that I worked in Emanuel, when the school’s educational program was still in its infancy, there was more than one occasion when they couldn’t manage to raise the money for the staff’s salaries. There was one instance when we worked for several months without getting paid, and making a living those months was extremely difficult.
“Around this time, I was learning a maamer from the Rebbe Rayatz with one of the local residents. He was very impressed and he told me that he didn’t know that Chabad had such a warm and loving mode of teaching. Until then, he had thought that Chabad was only intellect. That night, when I went to bed, I had an amazing dream where I saw the Rebbe Rayatz. His face was shining and he had several envelopes of money in his hands. He distributed the envelopes to all those working for his institutions, and he gave one to me as well. When I woke up in the morning, I remembered every detail of the dream. It’s no wonder that after this vision, I went to the Talmud Torah in Emanuel with a much lighter heart.
“At the entrance to Emanuel, I met the principal, Rabbi Dalvin, who just then was pulling his car out of the driveway. He motioned for me to stop, and I noticed that he had several envelopes in his hand. I immediately understood what they were, and I told him about the dream I had the previous night with the Rebbe Rayatz, and he too became quite moved. He then said that he had been trying for a long time to get us the money, and he managed to do so only the night before.”
THAT TERRIBLE
FRIDAY NIGHT
Within a few years, the Schneersohn family became a familiar presence on the yishuv. Anyone who is acquainted with Rabbi Schneersohn knows that among his most prominent characteristics are his warmth and his sensitivity.
When we asked Rabbi Schneersohn about the story of his shlichus, he divides it into two parts. There is the part preceding the murder of the Fogel family and there is the shlichus during the period immediately following this horrific act of bloodshed. “About three weeks before the murder, I woke up in the middle of the night with cold sweat covering my body,” he said. “While I don’t remember the dream, I felt that it was a bad dream and my eyes welled with tears.
“Back in those days, we had only one volume of the Rebbe’s Igros Kodesh, which I had lent to one of our neighbors. As a result, I opened a volume of the Rebbe Rayatz’s letters instead and read the letter. The Rebbe wrote about the need to sweeten the Divine severities through the joy of mitzvah and greater Ahavas Yisroel. I took the matter most seriously.”
R’ Dovid’s eyes filled with tears, as he clearly recalled the deep emotion he felt during those uncertain days. “A few days later, we sent notices to all Anash members on the yishuv that we are inviting them to a Purim Katan unity farbrengen in our home. We ordered ten pizzas and a spread of food fit for a king. Everyone sat in our house in a unique atmosphere of Chassidic unity.”
Rabbi Schneersohn says that despite everything, he still had a terrible feeling that something awful was about to happen. No, he wasn’t saying this based on knowledge acquired after the fact; he was already very unsettled and had a premonition of a horrible event on the horizon.
“Our house is located at the edge of the settlement, and on that frightful Friday night, the Fleischer family from Rechovot and another yishuv member were our guests. Our son, Menachem Mendel, is a very lively and active boy. He was jumping on the sofa with characteristic childish exuberance, as he urged everyone to say the Twelve P’sukim. We never imagined that during those very moments as our son cried out, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings… in order to put an end to enemy and avenger,’ the terrorist killers were looking through our living room window with greedy eyes.
“In the next house lives Rabbi Dovid Chai and his family, followed by the Fogels’ house. Rabbi Chai and his wife spent that Shabbos in a Yerushalayim hotel – the first time they had gone away for Shabbos in the seven years of their marriage. Another family was meant to spend that Shabbos in their house, but they changed their plans at the last minute. According to the terrorists’ testimony during the crime’s re-enactment, after they looked through our window and heard the noisy singing, they decided to look for another house – a quieter one where the family was already sleeping. After passing our house, they moved on to the Chais. Although there was no one home, they did find the father’s army rifle.
“They took Rabbi Chai’s M-16 and then headed for the next house – the Fogels. That night, an Oneg Shabbos had taken place in their house after the evening meal, and their eldest daughter, Tamar, had gone out to escort her friends back home. When she returned home, the terrorists had already escaped back to their village with the stolen weapon. This was after the Angel of Death had made his ghastly visit. Suddenly, at around midnight, we heard terrifying screams. The daughter, Tamar, saw mud at the entrance to the house and immediately understood that something terrible had happened since she left. She called for help, and the first person to arrive was Rabbi Yaakov Cohen. He had also been the first person to come after a terrorist attack that had taken place on the yishuv several years earlier.
“She entered the house, while Rabbi Cohen covered her with a rifle. When she saw the horrific carnage, she ran outside and screamed, as Rabbi Cohen fired several shots in the air to alert the security forces. This was the most terrible Shabbos we had ever experienced. At first, they thought that the terrorists were still inside the house, and the security forces surrounded it from the outside. We received orders to put out the lights and close all windows. At three o’clock in the morning, the army burst into the house and quickly realized that there was no one inside. After a sleepless night, we came to the Fogel home on Shabbos morning to say T’hillim. The entire settlement was consumed with great fear.
“It was very difficult to eat the Shabbos meal; we knew them well. The Fogels were very gentle people - Jews with a unique level of Ahavas Yisroel. Rabbi Udi loved to learn the Rebbe’s sichos and delve deeply into them.”
STRENGTH AND PRIDE FOLLOWING THE DISASTER
During the Shiva, a feeling of deep distress reigned throughout the settlement. Itamar has tragically lost the most number of people in terrorist attacks over recent years. The shlucha, Mrs. Vicky Schneersohn, decided to take action, and she invited all the women on the yishuv to their home for a joint breakfast.
“Dozens of women came to our home, remaining until the late afternoon. They spoke together; it was a rare and unique moment of unity. We had Vol. 13 of Igros Kodesh in our house, and the preface to this volume contains the story of the tragic murder of five students at the Kfar Chabad vocational school. Shortly after this terrorist attack, the Rebbe sent letters of support and encouragement to the residents of Kfar Chabad, urging them to grow and become stronger.
“One day, I was standing before a picture of the Rebbe and cried, ‘Rebbe, what do we have to do to emerge stronger from this tragic attack?’ I took Vol. 13 of Igros Kodesh and opened it to pg. 408, containing a letter from the Rebbe to R’ Moshe Zalman Feiglin from Australia, asking him and his son, Dovid, to open a Chabad school for girls:
And it is surely known to him that we have here now the venerable and active chassid, Rabbi Moshe Zalman, and his son Dovid, shlita, and from my conversation with them, I got the impression that there’s much work at Yeshivas Oholei Yosef Yitzchak in Melbourne, and particularly in the current situation. Surely if they don’t utilize these days and weeks to increase the yeshiva as much as is required, it’s impossible to know whether this possibility will come afterwards. It’s understood from this that for whomever this matter is dear to their hearts and souls, they must work with all their strength. In particular, the matter of establishing a school for girls in the spirit of Chabad must be done immediately (named Beis Rivka or Beis Sara), and here too I was convinced in the aforementioned conversation that this appropriate hour must be utilized not only for the school’s founding, but also for its possible expansion and growth. Therefore, I told them that they should not wait with the founding of the girls’ school until they find a building, and surely not until they build a building. Since the rumor is that there’s an available room in the yeshiva building or the women’s section, etc., they should make a separate entrance and exit for the girls (and also a fence in the courtyard in order that they shouldn’t mix), and soon with their successful return to Melbourne, they’ll begin and thereby publicize the study program…
“My name is Dovid and my father a”h was named Moshe Zalman. But more incredibly, the Rebbe was pushing us not to wait until we had a building, but rather we should take the plunge.
“I didn’t understand what I was supposed to do now: What do I have to do to start a school for girls ‘in the spirit of Chabad?’ We thought about establishing an ulpana, and we made some inquiries with the yishuv’s local council. While everyone expressed their support and encouragement, no one provided us with any actual assistance.
“There were moments when we thought that the school project was slipping away. Then one day, we found our three-month old son, Shneur, lying on his bed, looking pale with his eyes rolling back in their sockets. We called for an ambulance to bring him immediately to the nearest hospital. He underwent every possible medical examination, and thank G-d, the results showed no sign of any problem. Three weeks later, it happened a second time, but when we brought him once more to the hospital, the doctors again found nothing. We wrote to the Rebbe and requested a bracha for his health, and we received an answer dealing with the building of a high school for girls.”
Rabbi Schneersohn and his wife realized that the school’s founding would ensure their son’s health. “We decided to take the plunge. Even before we had a location or staff, we publicized throughout the Shomron and Gav HaHar settlements about the creation of a new Chassidic high school for girls. Within a few days, twenty-one girls had already registered! It was only then that we began the process of looking for a suitable facility and staff members.
“We eventually found a woman with considerable proven experience, and she agreed to join us according to the prevailing conditions at the time. A week before the start of the school year, we found a large and spacious facility on one of the nearby hills. My wife filled every possible function - bus driver, cook, and financial director - and we were on our way. Over our first two years, we operated the high school in Givat Alumot. Needless to say, our son’s health was fully restored.
“At the end of two years, when the registration had increased on a wide scale, the vital need arose to find a much larger building, and we decided to look for a place on the yishuv itself. This was the only way that we could receive official recognition and government funding from the Israel Ministry of Education.”
The search process again became mired in difficulties. Not everyone on the yishuv looked favorably upon the developing Chabad institution, but the Rebbe’s clear answer on how “Chassidim have the upper hand” instilled the Schneersohns with the strength they needed to continue their search unabated.
SLOWLY RAISING THE FUNDS
When we asked Rabbi Schneersohn where the money comes from, he smiled and said that they are constantly working on it and he sees the help of Heaven in his efforts. As an illustration of the miracles and wonders he experienced in this matter, he shared with us the story of how they purchased their home:
“When we arrived on the settlement, we rented a house. However, after a few years, the owner informed us that he is planning on selling the house. He was prepared to give us the first opportunity on purchasing the property, but we would have to move out before he put the house up for sale for other prospective buyers, in the event that we chose to reject the offer. The truth is that while we wanted to buy the house, we didn’t see how this would be possible from a financial standpoint. We wrote a letter to the Rebbe, and the reply was addressed to someone who was worried about buying a home in Kfar Chabad, yet the Rebbe told him that there was nothing to worry about.
“Based on the Rebbe’s answer, we understood that we must make an effort to buy our own home.
“Around this same time, a construction project for thirty housing units in Itamar was getting underway, and we registered for it. We took out an interest-free loan to pay the registration fee of ten thousand shekels. Yet, we had complete faith that eventually everything would work out and we would manage to cover the next payment – a hefty sum, several times the registration fee. The night before the deadline, we had no idea from where we would get the money. Imagine how surprised we were when my mother and my in-laws came to our aid, and the balance was paid.
“What did we do for the rest of the money? To obtain a mortgage, we had to come up with 35% of the full amount. We decided to take out a mortgage and pay the balance with a loan. When the bank manager in Yerushalayim initially refused to accept our proposal, we proceeded to explain that we were buying the house with the Rebbe’s bracha for use as a Chabad House. We spoke to his heart and he promised to think about it. He called us back that night to say that he agreed to our proposal.
“Several weeks passed, and after months without any work, we got entangled in a very difficult economic situation. One day, I traveled to Kfar Chabad to arrange some private loans. On my way there, Rabbi Yechezkel Noema called and asked me if I could make a collection in the Kfar for a mikveh under construction. I promised that I would try. After the call ended, I thought to myself: What should I be doing now? Dealing with my own financial crisis or raising money to build the local mikveh?
“I went to my mother’s house in Kfar Chabad, and I immediately sat down to write a letter to the Rebbe. In his reply, the Rebbe wrote to someone, ‘Why is the mikveh in their city being delayed? Mikvaos have already been built in several places in Eretz Yisroel according to the Rebbe Rashab’s approach without any problem.’ It was the 11th of Cheshvan. I told my mother about the answer, and she told me about the regular women’s farbrengen in the central synagogue with Rebbetzin Sima Ashkenazi, organized by Mrs. Rivka Marantz. My mother spoke with Mrs. Marantz, and the latter agreed to let me come and speak about the mikveh to get some contributions.
“Naturally, I put the loan search aside. I came to the synagogue and spoke about our shlichus in Itamar, the dangers constantly confronting the settlers, their tremendous bravery, and their deep-rooted faith. Around this time, the adopted son of Rabbi Chaim Druckman, a young man with close connections to Chabad, had been kidnapped and murdered. Finally, I began to talk about the mikveh construction. When I finished speaking, Rebbetzin Ashkenazi was the first to make a contribution, and several women followed with their own donations. While I returned to Itamar with a nice sum of money that helped to complete the mikveh construction, I was still very concerned about my own unpaid debts. I was beside myself with worry.
“At the time, I had been regularly studying Chassidus together with the rav of the yishuv’s yeshiva g’dola. When we sat down the following day to learn, I mentioned to him what had been troubling me. Personally, I didn’t think that he could help me, as he had his own financial problems. When we met again a day later, he said to me, ‘Dovid, please write down for me all of your outstanding debts and loans.’ I prepared a detailed list that came to approximately 150,000 shekels. To my great surprise, he then said, ‘My wife and I have decided to lend you the entire amount. Pay back what you owe to the loan funds and you’ll only owe money to us. Once a month, give us whatever you can - but no more than that.’
“I looked at him in stunned disbelief. When I asked him if he had won the lottery, he replied that these were their savings. Instead of letting the money sit in the bank, he and his wife had decided to use it as a form of g’millus chesed to assist a fellow Jew in financial hardship.
“The fact is that there are clear miracles. While in the past we had difficulties providing for our seven children, now we also have to pay ten monthly salaries for staff members, electricity, water, food, and rent for our institution. We make the physical ‘vessels’ and the Alm-ghty helps.
“As part of the existing physical ‘vessels,’ we are making a big raffle in Itamar on a new car. The raffle will take place on Lag B’Omer, and all those who wish to support our activities can buy a ticket.”
How do the residents of the yishuv relate to you and to Chabad in general?
“Thank G-d, the relationship is very good. The first shliach on the yishuv, Rabbi Yechezkel Noema, laid the proper groundwork. He is a lieutenant colonel in the Israel Defense Forces and a graduate of the General Staff Reconnaissance Unit. As someone who grew out of the settler movement, he has earned much admiration and respect.
“For a period of two years, I was a first-grade teacher with the yishuv’s cheider. When I first came to the settlement and tried to get a job, the school’s principal said that while he would be happy to hire me, there are parents who would be put off by the idea of a Chabad chassid teaching their children. However, after the murderous attack on the Fogel family, I replaced the regular first-grade teacher, and the parents were very pleased with my work. I left the position after my responsibilities with the girls’ high school required my attention on a full-time basis.
“I have to tell you something: Everyone who comes to live on this settlement must spend their first Shabbos at the home of the local rav, Rabbi Natan Chai; it’s a kind of reception committee. At the Shabbos meals we attended, the rav, who is head and shoulders above your average rabbi, made certain to serve Lubavitch sh’chita at the table and adhered to whatever kashrus stringencies we wanted. And at one of the Shabbos meals he told us that before the founding of the modern Jewish state, a Jew from overseas came to spend a Shabbos with HaRav Kook. On Motzaei Shabbos, the rav asked the guest for his passport to prevent him from leaving Eretz Yisroel. Among Chabad chassidim, the rav added, there’s no need to take your passport. When you come to a certain place on shlichus - you don’t leave…”
How do you publicize “the announcement of the Redemption” on the yishuv?
“People know our opinion on the subject all too well. We make no effort to conceal it, and the truth is we really can’t. Every Shabbos Mevarchim, we make a children’s minyan for T’hillim, where the kids proclaim ‘Yechi Adoneinu.’ We organize a weekly Torah class at the yeshiva g’dola, given over by the Rebbe’s shliach in Alon Moreh, Rabbi Yehuda Rubin, which elicits a very positive response. Similarly, there is a regular weekly class for women in D’var Malchus.
“Just last week, we brought Rabbi Yisroel Shneibalg to the yishuv’s central synagogue. He spoke before the congregants about the Rebbe and Moshiach, telling amazing stories that occurred through writing to the Rebbe. Everyone was very inspired and it left a powerful impression.”