From the life of R’ Yehoshua Shneur Zalman Serebryanski a”h
Prepared for publication by Avrohom Rainitz
With complete trust in the fulfillment of the Rebbe’s brachos, R’ Zalman began working on the new school which was set to open in a few weeks, and he went to fundraise in Sydney. From there, he sent a letter to the Rebbe that said of course they would do as the Rebbe said and open a new school, but if it was decided in the end to open the school in Mrs. Hertz’s home, school could begin immediately after Rosh HaShana. If they had to build classrooms in the yeshiva building, the opening of school would be delayed by a number of months.
DIVINE PROVIDENCE IN SYDNEY
While in Sydney, R’ Zalman saw how divine providence arranged things so that the Rebbe’s wishes for the opening of a girls’ school would be realized. This is what happened:
As mentioned in earlier chapters, the well-to-do R’ Moshe Feiglin, his son Dovid and his daughter-in-law, were supposed to return to Australia after a long visit to the US in the course of which they visited 770 and attended a farbrengen and had yechidus with the Rebbe. In letters that the Rebbe sent to R’ Zalman and to other askanim, he told them to meet with the Feiglin family in order to turn their enthusiasm generated by their visit to the Rebbe into something practical, i.e. serious financial support of the Chabad schools.
The Feiglins’ original plan was to land in Sydney on Thursday 9 Elul, and take a connecting flight to Melbourne so as to arrive home for Shabbos. If they would arrive on Friday, they would probably meet their Mizrachi friends first, those who opposed the development of Chabad mosdos. Only after Shabbos would Chabad Chassidim be able to arrange a brief meeting with them and who knew how effective that would be after their friends cooled them off?
Since the Rebbe wanted Anash to be the first to welcome them, as the letter from the secretariat stated explicitly, divine providence intervened and delayed the Feiglins’ flight so that they landed in Sydney on Friday afternoon, about a half hour before Shabbos. They had no choice but to spend Shabbos in Sydney where R’ Zalman met them because he was there at the time.
During Shabbos, R’ Zalman and R’ Asher Abramson went to the hotel where the Feiglins were staying and farbrenged with them for a long time. R’ Moshe and R’ Dovid told them at length about their visit to the Rebbe, about their impressions of the Rebbe’s farbrengen, and mainly about the yechidus they had and the Rebbe’s instructions both during the yechidus and during the farbrengen, that they should try and help open a girls’ school.
The following Friday, Erev Shabbos 18 Elul, R’ Zalman returned to Melbourne and invited R’ Moshe and R’ Dovid Feiglin to join a Chai Elul farbrengen on Motzaei Shabbos with Anash that would also be a reception for them. During the farbrengen, R’ Dovid told Anash about his visit to 770. In those days, most Chabad Chassidim in Australia had never met the Rebbe and they were all eager to hear every word R’ Dovid said.
R’ Dovid also shared highlights of his visit to Eretz Yisroel on his way to America and told Anash about his visit to
Kfar Chabad and Chabad mosdos in Eretz Yisroel. He concluded his moving talk by repeating what the Rebbe said at the Chaf Av farbrengen in connection with founding a school for girls, and announced that the Feiglin family was prepared to mobilize for this important goal and to carry out the Rebbe’s wishes.
TORN BETWEEN TWO WORLDS
A few days later, R’ Dovid went to the yeshiva to meet with R’ Zalman and to hear what progress had been made in the opening of the school for girls. R’ Zalman updated him with the last offer made to Mrs. Hertz that the preschool and elementary school be run from her home while being under the exclusive jurisdiction of Lubavitch, and that he was waiting for an answer from her and for the Rebbe’s approval. If he received a positive answer from the Rebbe and Mrs. Hertz agreed, they would be able to open the girls’ school right after Rosh HaShana, as the Rebbe wished.
R’ Dovid, who in his heart and soul was a Lubavitcher Chassid, but whose friends were Mizrachi, was torn between two worlds. On the one hand, the yechidus with the Rebbe had aroused his Chabad connection and he was determined to do all he could to carry out the Rebbe’s wishes and to help build the girls’ school. On the other hand, his Mizrachi friends tried to cool his ardor and even criticized him for helping Lubavitchers when they needed help in building their new yeshiva.
In order to satisfy his friends, he told R’ Zalman that even though he would help Chabad build the girls’ school, he remained a friend of Mizrachi and would continue to support their efforts.
R’ Zalman who was trained in Chabad to draw people close in peaceful ways, told R’ Dovid that he had no intentions of distancing him from his friends, and in general, Chabad Chassidim did not belong to parties and every Jew was dear to them. R’ Zalman even brought proof to what he said from the work of the yeshiva, which focused its activities solely on Jewish matters and was not involved in politics.
“Unfortunately,” said R’ Zalman, “if someone is stirring up fights and quarrels it’s people from Mizrachi whose names I don’t want to specify, who publicly speak against the yeshiva and claim the yeshiva is fighting Mizrachi which is why they have to open a new yeshiva, B’nei Akiva. I have no problem with them opening a yeshiva, but why do they have to speak against our yeshiva?”
A debate ensued between the two of them, with R’ Dovid defending his friends and maintaining that the truth was that Lubavitch opposed Mizrachi since it was a Zionist party. His friends were right for opening a new yeshiva. R’ Zalman stressed that although Chabad Chassidim did not agree with the philosophy of Mizrachi, they were extremely careful not to besmirch anyone but looked for the good in everyone.
R’ Dovid was not convinced by this but repeated his commitment to doing what the Rebbe wanted. He took out of his pocket a letter that his father received from the Rebbe recently, after their return to Melbourne, and asked R’ Zalman to explain what it said.
The letter acknowledged receipt of his telegram upon arriving home in Melbourne and said that he was certainly received joyously by Anash upon his return, “and simcha bursts boundaries, that is to say, matters that limit a person in his activities. And that is why effort is made to begin all matters and things out of joy in order to increase the success.” The Rebbe also wrote, “I am confident that in addition to the general regards to Anash, you will also deliver to them with the appropriate specificity about the matter of the school for girls, Beth Rivka in Melbourne Australia, which divine providence has merited you and your family members to be amongst the founders together with your son shlita. And certainly you will exert your influence on your son as well that despite his many distractions including in communal affairs, he should be involved in this school with the utmost energy as per the greatness of the matter…”
R’ Zalman read the Rebbe’s letter to R’ Dovid and explained it. Then he parted warmly from R’ Dovid with both agreeing to meet again soon when there would be a response from Mrs. Hertz.
Right after the meeting, R’ Zalman wrote a letter to the Rebbe about their meeting and summed up his impressions of R’ Dovid, that although he was in an environment that opposed Chabad, he had a certain sincerity and felt obligated to carry out what he promised the Rebbe to be involved in founding and developing a girls’ school. R’ Zalman wrote that he needed to meet with R’ Dovid more often in order to draw him slowly away from his environment and into a Chabad environment.