YOU ARE AGENTS OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE TO AUSTRALIA

R’ Zalman’s history with the Hungarian community was not positive. In the past, they had sent their children to his yeshiva, but when their rav came and opened a yeshiva, they immediately removed their children from the Chabad yeshiva. Then, when their rav left, they sent their children to Chabad. This instability had a negative effect on the yeshiva, so R’ Zalman hesitated to respond positively to their request…

From the life of R’ Yehoshua Shneur Zalman Serebryanski a”h

Prepared for publication by Avrohom Rainitz

In the earlier installments there were the two letters that the Rebbe sent to R’ Zalman from 28 Iyar and 2 Sivan. However, since the mail in those days took a long time to arrive, the letters arrived very late. On 10 Sivan R’ Zalman had still not received the letter from 28 Iyar and the last letter he had received was from the end of Adar Sheini.

Since, according to the plan, they were going to open the new building in less than a month, at the beginning of Tammuz, and they still had not received the Rebbe’s instructions, R’ Zalman sent an additional letter to the Rebbe on 10 Sivan. He began the letter by apologizing and asking for a response and guidance:

“Throughout these weeks, I sent letters to the Rebbe for which I did not receive a response, aside from the letter of the end of Adar Sheini, and since there are some details that need clarification and additional matters that have come up, I will try to enumerate them as best as I can and perhaps Hashem will help, and I will receive the Rebbe’s guidance in all these matters.”

***

In the rest of the letter, R’ Zalman briefly wrote about the state of Judaism in Australia in general, and about chinuch in particular. He concluded that since the number of religious Jews was very small, and they did not fully understand the importance of a Jewish chinuch, the only way of attracting them towards a Jewish chinuch was if the school would be on a high academic level, in a beautiful building, with a topnotch principal, and teachers who were fluent in English.

Since the Chabad mosad did not have all these features, the old time residents did not even consider sending their children there and most of the students were from the Hungarian refugee community. The latter learned in Chabad by default, since their rabbi had left Australia. They said openly that after they brought a new rav, they would open their own school and take their children out of the Chabad school.

R’ Zalman was criticized from all sides. The ultra-Orthodox families said the melamdim were not lamdanim enough, and the local families said the melamdim were not proficient in the English language.

As a Chassid trained to “cherish criticism for it will place you on the true heights,” R’ Zalman accepted the criticism with love. Despite everything, he continued working on opening the school in order to fulfill the Rebbe’s horaos and in the hopes of a miraculous success. He was encouraged by how they had miraculously acquired the building.

After this overview, R’ Zalman asked the Rebbe for answers to the following questions:

AFTERNOON TALMUD TORAH, OR A FULL DAY PROGRAM?

While living in Australia, R’ Zalman got to know the nature of the Jewish locals. He knew that it was very important to them that their children successfully complete elementary school, high school, and university. The hanachos ha’olam (“givens of the world”) were deeply entrenched and their perspective was that one could not be a mentch without earning a degree. They had no desire to send their children to a yeshiva. On the contrary, it stood in direct contradiction to their plans.

R’ Zalman had two choices under these circumstances. He could either focus on limudei kodesh after the regular school day, as an afternoon Talmud Torah, or he could open an elementary school with limudei kodesh in the morning and limudei chol in the afternoon, which would enable those students who wanted to, to continue on to university.

R’ Zalman hoped that after years of learning in a Chabad school, the children and their parents would be persuaded to have the children continue on in yeshiva (which is what happened with some of them).

Naturally, opening a full day school would require a lot of preparatory groundwork. He would have to find a qualified principal and accredited teachers. But even if he were only to open a Talmud Torah for the afternoon hours, he still would have to get qualified melamdim for limudei kodesh, of which there were very few. In one of his earlier letters to the Rebbe, R’ Zalman asked whether he could recruit his son R’ Aharon and his friend R’ Shmuel Gurewitz. Both of them were learning in yeshiva and R’ Zalman didn’t want to take them away from learning, but he had no other options. Since the Rebbe did not respond yet, R’ Zalman asked for a response once again.

ARGUMENT WITH THE BACHURIM FROM TELZ

Two bachurim, whose parents had sent them from Australia to learn in Telz yeshiva in Cleveland, returned home. These bachurim tried to convince another, younger bachur who learned in the yeshiva to leave for the United States and Telz. “This isn’t a serious yeshiva,” they said. “There is no rosh yeshiva and no library as there is in Telz.”

The bachur’s parents consulted with R’ Zalman, and he firmly said that for the bachur’s spiritual welfare it would be better if he remained in the Chabad yeshiva in Melbourne. “If your son wants to learn, he can learn in Melbourne too, and if he doesn’t want to learn, then if he is far from his parents and family he could lose his Yiddishkait.” The bachur’s parents, knowing their son’s nature, agreed with R’ Zalman and left him in the Chabad yeshiva.

R’ Zalman had originally thought that these bachurim, who had learned in an advanced yeshiva for a number of years, would appreciate the fact that a yeshiva had opened in the spiritual wasteland of Australia and would help and teach in the Chabad yeshiva. He was very disappointed by their attitude, for not only did they not help, but they even tried to do harm.

Nevertheless, he decided to meet with them; perhaps he could convince them. At their meeting, they repeated their criticism of the yeshiva and R’ Zalman maintained that the level of the learning of the bachurim in the Chabad yeshiva was no less than in Telz. Therefore, if they wanted to help, he would be happy to welcome them. Otherwise, he did not want to argue with them, and Hashem would help the Chabad yeshiva thrive without them too.

They maintained that they truly wanted to help the yeshiva, and R’ Zalman sat with them at a meeting together with the members of the yeshiva’s vaad: R’ Isser Kluvgant and R’ Shmuel Betzalel Altheus. During this meeting, they repeated their position that a rosh yeshiva who was a big lamdan had to be found, and that the yeshiva library needed to be filled with Rishonim and Acharonim. They also said that in order for the yeshiva to be a success, they had to arrange a dormitory and only then would it be a serious yeshiva.

R’ Zalman said that the few bachurim who learned in the yeshiva could sleep and eat at home, and it was decided that the money that had been spent to provide room and board for the yeshiva in Burwood would be used for the Talmud Torah or for a full day elementary school.

The two bachurim began yelling that since they were Australian and had also learned in yeshiva, their opinion had to be considered. They thought that efforts should be invested only in the yeshiva and not in little children, and an elementary school should definitely not be opened.

From the way they said this, it was felt that they knew that the moment Lubavitchers opened a full day school it would be very successful and would attract a large student body. Apparently, they wanted to prevent this from happening, which is why they tried to convince R’ Zalman to abandon his plans for a full day school and concentrate only on a yeshiva.

R’ Zalman, like the other members of the vaad, explained to them that considering their experience of the past years, and their knowledge of the Jews in Melbourne, the only way to succeed was by establishing a full day school. This school would feed into a yeshiva.

In his letter to the Rebbe, R’ Zalman reported about the meeting with the two bachurim and in his great humility he wrote that maybe, despite everything, the bachurim’s opinion was correct. He requested a response from the Rebbe so he would know what to do. He also asked for a bracha so that these bachurim would not become opponents of the Chabad mosdos.

COULD THEY HAVE A NON-CHABAD MINYAN IN THE YESHIVA?

Other timely questions that R’ Zalman wrote in his long letter were:

1-The B’nei Akiva youth group had a minyan in the Mizrachi shul and R’ Zalman wanted to know what he should say if they asked him whether they could have the minyan in the yeshiva’s new building.

2-Since there were few Lubavitcher Chassidim in Melbourne, and most of the participants in the minyan did not daven Nusach Chabad, could they daven for the amud in their nusach? If they wanted a separate minyan with their own nusach, should he let them?

3-The Hungarian k’hilla had a small Talmud Torah and they asked the yeshiva’s vaad if they could rent part of the new building for their Talmud Torah or combine their Talmud Torah with the Chabad Talmud Torah.

R’ Zalman’s history with the Hungarian community was not positive. In the past, they had sent their children to his yeshiva, but when their rav came and opened a yeshiva, they immediately removed their children from the Chabad yeshiva. Then, when their rav left, they sent their children to Chabad. This instability had a negative effect on the yeshiva, so R’ Zalman hesitated to respond positively to their request.

At this point, the Hungarians did not have a rav, but R’ Zalman knew that they had arranged with a certain rav from Eretz Yisroel to come to Australia. Mr. Newman, who was a supporter of the yeshiva, told R’ Zalman that he planned on going to Eretz Yisroel and he offered to meet with the new rav and see whether it would be possible for the two k’hillos to work together. R’ Zalman asked the Rebbe to tell him what to do.

R’ Zalman ended his long letter with a request:

“I hereby pour forth my supplication and the supplications of Anash who are downtrodden, (as we see in the most tangible way that if we had here even one suitable person to run a mosad…), who worked hard and toiled on behalf of the yeshiva, we see that it is necessary here as I mentioned earlier, to have a rosh yeshiva, a lamdan and a principal, who is an expert on educating children of this country. Then it would be possible to raise up the honor of Judaism throughout the country, with Hashem’s help, and it would be a great Kiddush Hashem. We are greatly pained by this that we see it is possible to be very successful and what is lacking is the person. Therefore, what is needed is one of these two – either someone or some people who are suitable, or that Hashem grant us supernatural success.”

THE REBBE’S RESPONSE

The Rebbe responded to his letter on 29 Sivan acknowledging his letter of 10 Sivan. The Rebbe said he was sure that by that time R’ Zalman had received his letter which responded to some of his questions. Then the Rebbe said (free translation):

Most of the letters are about how hard it is and how it is nearly impossible to set up a yeshiva in your area as you wrote in your previous letter. This is despite your seeing open miracles, how in all matters where it did not depend on the bechira of Jews, you saw outstanding success. If there were difficulties, it was only in those areas where Jews in general were involved, and in particular Anash, who have free choice, since they are likened to up above (and only there is there true choice), that there are obstacles.

If only you do not miss the opportunity, for there is reason to fear that others will start a Talmud Torah and yeshiva if you don’t expend the necessary effort, at least as much as is possible, to establish and expand Yeshivas Oholei Yosef Yitzchok (I am convinced that ultimately it will also be a source of material parnasa, and it is a woeful state of affairs that without adding this point I am doubtful if the necessary effort would be expended on this matter).

As to your question about whether to make a Talmud Torah (after-school program) or suffice with a (full-time) day school, you should make a Talmud Torah too, especially when it is doubtful whether there will be enough students for the day school, if you are not first mekarev the boys in a Talmud Torah and chadarim.

It is also obvious that you should appoint as melamdim those who are most suited for this, and if Aharon Serebryanski and Shmuel Gurewitch are the most capable, then do it. It is surely for their benefit too, as per the ruling of the Alter Rebbe regarding the power of tz’daka to raise a person above his natural abilities.

As for collaborating with people from another yeshiva or with people from another group that until now came and went: Even though we are supposed to welcome everyone graciously, and we need to use everyone’s abilities within Kerem Chabad as much as possible, even those who are not Chabad, when it comes to making a full partnership which would mean that those who join will have a say and sometimes a decisive say, you need to be exceedingly wary of this; especially in a new country and where a Kiddush Lubavitch depends on it. Obviously, all this has nothing to do with accepting students from those groups. This is only about those who will have an opinion.

Obviously, within the building of the yeshiva there should not be carried out any activities that are associated with any political party. Although, on the other hand, you don’t need to check those who come to you to daven or learn to see whether they belong to the party, but the building and everything associated with it must remain above party affiliations, as is obvious.

The same is true regarding nusach. Obviously, in a yeshiva building named for the Rebbe, my father-in-law, the nusach ha’t’filla ought to be his nusach. This is meant in no way to offend the honor of anyone, because everyone understands that since the building and yeshiva are in his name, it needs to be suited to him. However, you don’t need to check each person to see what nusach he davens. If someone goes before the amud occasionally and davens in a different nusach, there is no need for war over this.

I repeat, you should accept students to the yeshiva even if you suspect they will only remain temporarily, because in addition to the fact that if you have the proper influence on them they will remain permanently, most of them at least, even a temporary influence of pure Yiras Shamayim is worthwhile.

As for the ending of your letter, that Anash are distressed when they see that success is possible and the problem is the lack of suitable people. Since Divine Providence brought them to Australia, and not other people, and showed them open miracles regarding the building and receiving a permit, the dedication of a number of balabatim and the Pupa rav leaving, etc., it is clear that Anash of Australia have the ability to do what is necessary. May it be Hashem’s will that you go from the potential to the actual and that it be soon and easy.

With blessings for success. He who awaits good news and sends greetings to all those who sent regards,

M Schneersohn