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The Tiferes Turning Point

Volume 2, Issue 1

Kislev, 5763 (December, 2002)

Fixed Bearings, a word from the Director

Catching the Wind, a student profile

Navigating the Currents, lessons for change

High Tide at Tiferes, observations

Fixed Bearings

-a word from the Director, Rabbi Avrohom Lipskier

Kislev is the month of Redemption. It is a chassidishe month filled with celebration and farbrengens. In this month in addition to celebrating Chanukah, we celebrate the redemption from prison of the Alter Rebbe on Yud-Tes Kislev (1798), the redemption from prison of the Mittler Rebbe on Yud Kislev (1826), the Rebbe’s and the Rebbetzin’s wedding anniversary on Yud-Dalet Kislev (1928), the redemption of the Rebbe’s Seforim (their return to 770) on Beis Kislev (1987), and what’s closest to us - the redemption of the Rebbe when he went home from 770 on Rosh Chodesh Kislev for the first time after suffering a heart attack on Shmini Atzeres (1977). 

Yud and Yud-Tes Kislev are two dates that have long been celebrated on the Chassidic calendar. The previous Lubavitcher Rebbe writes, “Yud Kislev is the birth of a Chasid and Yud-Tes Kislev is his Bris”. Yud Kislev has the power to reveal the inner essence of one’s soul and implant a strong desire to remove the “dirt and dust” that covers it.  

A Chassidishe farbrengen also has this same power. However, it sometimes happens that while one is participating in a farbrengen the words spoken do not penetrate him nor affect him. In that case it might be appropriate for the speaker to criticize, beat and even crush the person so that the words spoken will have the proper effect. 

The story is told of a person who once owned a wild ox that could not be tamed nor strapped to the yoke. A clever individual approached the owner of the ox and offered to help him for a fee. When asked how he could help him, the man replied that he would whisper a secret into the ear of the ox. Curious to see how the man’s plan would work the owner agreed to his fee. Now the ox, being wild, would not let the man come near him. So the man grabbed a club, ran after the ox and hit him hard right over the head. The ox, of course, stopped his running around. The man then walked over to the ox and whispered in its ear and the ox stopped being wild. When the man approached the owner for his fee the latter refused claiming that it was not the secret that tamed the ox but the whack on the head. “Not so,” protested the man, “the whack was just to get the ox to listen.”  

At times it is necessary to be “whacked on the head” in order to hear properly. Of course, the “whack” must be given with the greatest love and care and only to uncover one’s hidden inwardness.

The Rebbe explains that this is the same reason that Avrohom Avinu pressured the Arabs to thank Hashem after they ate. The pressure prepared them to be able to relate to the concepts of G-dliness that Avrohom explained to them. Without his pressure they were not able to acknowledge these concepts from him. 

There is another story that the Rebbe relates regarding the Rebbe Rashab, the fifth Lubavitcher Rebbe. Once there was a Chassid who came to the Rebbe Rashab for a blessing, needing great mercy for his terrible situation. The Rebbe told him that he could not help him. The Chassid left the Rebbe’s room totally devastated and began to cry bitterly. The Rebbe’s brother was there and asked the Chassid what had happened. After telling him the Rebbe’s brother approached the Rebbe regarding the broken Chassid and asked why he had treated him that way and why he couldn’t help him. Upon hearing that the Chassid was broken the Rebbe asked for the Chassid to be brought back in and gave him a blessing with which he was helped.  

The Rebbe explained that the Chassid was initially in no state to receive such a lofty blessing. When the Rebbe Rashab said that he could not help him, it crushed him and he did t’shuva. Through this process he became a different person and merited the great blessing of the Rebbe. 

The Rebbe tells us that we are ready for the Great and Final Redemption. We must become renewed and reveal our inwardness, the spark of Moshiach in us. The Rebbe gives us strength for this. Even if we must clean off some “dirt or dust”, we should know that underneath lies the precious diamond of Moshiach. We should go to farbrengens, for they will help us become renewed and ready to greet Moshiach who will give us our real Bris, when our hearts will be circumcised. By all of us revealing the spark of Moshiach within us we will merit the revelation of the Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach and he will redeem us. May it happen immediately.

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Catching the Wind

A student profile, Yaakov Richman

I have been a student at Tifferes Menachem for the past 6 months. It has been time well spent in the study of Chassidus, Gemora, Tanya, Shulchan Aruch etc., with the eloquence and the depth of understanding of the Rabbis. At each juncture in time, as we learned in Yeshiva about the special days on the Jewish calendar, I have become greatly inspired and uplifted. Especially, when we learned during the climactic weeks of Elul about the impending time of Tishrei, I was instilled with a great eagerness to participate in the holidays of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkoth with the proper spirit, reverence and joy. 

Needless to say, I prepared myself to have a transforming experience in the Rebbe’s shul at 770 Eastern Parkway where I would be celebrating the holidays. I imagined the experience would be of such magnitude that I would score a complete and stunning victory over my Evil Inclination (Yetzer Hara). I would succeed in leaving no vestige of my prior transgressions and I would be inscribed in the Book of Life for a good year. 

A high expectation no doubt, complete t’shuva and redemption, but one that I was convinced I would achieve.  I just knew that I would emerge from the crucible of Crown Heights a new man. 

What I found out however was that my preparations in the comfort of the Yeshiva left me somewhat disadvantaged when I finally entered 770 for the Holidays. Imagine davening with thousands of your spiritual brothers elbow to elbow in a densely packed crowd. The squeeze of the crowd and its apparent indifference to me challenged the weeks of spiritual groundwork I laid down just for this occasion. It was quite a challenge to keep my focus and composure. It took great resourcefulness on my part to counter the onslaught of bodies and elbows. I knew I had to rise to the occasion or be spiritually (if not physically) swept under the benches. For that reason, I turned to the most basic and rock-solid principle instilled within me at the Yeshiva, namely the great principle of Rabbi Akiva to love your fellow like yourself. After all it was the Supernal Will that had brought us all together in this place. The elbow in my side was there for just as good a reason as was my elbow in the other guy. All of us together were here to get signed and sealed in the Book of Life, all indignities of the crushing crowd aside. I would be pushed, so to speak, by the crowd to become a spiritual warrior and in the end I would be transformed. 

As a strong believer in Divine Providence I noticed some amazing things happen to me in the Rebbe’s shul at 770. They were little things, but nonetheless, profound. In the final analysis they added up to a pervasive feeling of a higher, guiding force in my life.   

For example, I am still new to the world of davening and require the use of a bi-lingual Hebrew-English Siddur. This may not seem significant; however, anyone who’s been to 770 over the Holidays knows, it is nearly impossible to find a Hebrew-English Siddur. Yet, incredibly, I was able to find one when I needed one, as if Hashem was looking out for me. To be clear, we are speaking of a completely packed 770 with thousands of people davening with the available siddurim. To navigate the crowd alone is next to impossible, but to find a siddur, especially a Hebrew-English one, is practically straight from Hashem’s hand.  

On one occasion, the first day of Sukkoth, I was without a siddur and completely baffled as to what to do. As I searched and searched I was falling further and further behind the minyan. Suddenly, as if out of nowhere someone appeared and presented me with a Hebrew-English siddur. I couldn’t believe it. Was that Eliyahu Hanavi in disguise? This unlikely scenario repeated itself throughout the holiday in like fashion leaving me to believe that it was not just good fortune, but Hashem Himself attending individually to each one of His creations. 

All in all, my stay in Crown Heights heightened my appreciation for Jewish life, especially for the Holidays of Tishrei; the beautiful, loving family with whom I stayed; the delicious, festive holiday meals; the blast of the shofar; the touching melodies sung in prayer;  the sukkah I helped build and in which I ate each of the eight days; the perfect esrog and lulav for which I hunted; the myriad of guests I met over the Holidays; the inspiring stories of great Chassidim and the words of Torah I heard spoken; the new friends I made; and the singing and dancing in the streets that I joined in every night until the dawn’s early light.  

Indeed, the month of Tishrei was transformational for me. I saw for myself that if we work hard to prepare ourselves and are fortunate to be helped from Above then we can merit to be transformed. How much I have transformed of the past I can’t honestly say, but what matters most to me now is that I have become a spiritual warrior who is ready to take on the future. 

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Navigating the Currents

- lessons for change, by Rabbi Y.Y. Greenberg

The month of Kislev may be described as a month replete with redemption, for in addition to the redemption of the Second Temple from the hands of the Greeks, which we celebrate in this month at the time of Chanukah, we also celebrate the redemptions from Czarist oppression of the first and second leaders of Lubavitch, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi and his son, Rabbi Dov Ber.  

Rabbi Shneur Zalman, also known as the Alter Rebbe, was held in Czarist prison for 53 days under false charges of treason against the government. After much suffering and tribulation he succeeded in defending himself and his teachings and was finally released on the 19^th day of Kislev in the year 5559 (1798). It was a very great redemption and is celebrated to this day with much joy and celebration. In fact, the liberation of the Alter Rebbe is a momentous occasion worthy of celebration not just for all Jews, but also for non-Jews inasmuch as the dissemination of his teachings , the teachings of Chabad Chassidus, are what pave the way for the coming of Moshiach and the complete and final Redemption. 

Now despite the Alter Rebbe’s official pardon, 28 years later his son and successor, Rabbi Dov Ber, also known as the Mittler Rebbe, was again falsely accused of similar charges against the Czarist regime. He was placed under house arrest and underwent much suffering before he was able to vindicate himself. He was finally released on the 10^th day of Kislev of that year, 5527 (1826). 

It is noteworthy that the Alter Rebbe’s Yom HaGeulah (day of redemption) is celebrated with overwhelming joy and celebration. This day was referred to by the Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe as the “Festival of Festivals.” The Tzemach Tzedek, the third Lubavitcher Rebbe, likened this day to the great day of Simchas Torah. Furthermore, this day has become widely publicized and celebrated even in non-Chassidic circles.  

In contrast, the Mittler Rebbe’s day is celebrated in relatively low profile and with less visible joy and celebration. It is also not so well known to the world abroad.  

On the surface we can understand the difference between these days of celebration in light of their respective hardships. The imprisonment of the Alter Rebbe entailed his being physically placed in Czarist prison far away from his family and followers. He suffered greatly and it was a very bitter and intense hardship. The confinement of the Mittler Rebbe, on the other hand, was a house arrest. He was granted permission to have a minyan with as many as 20 people 3 times a day and was allowed to deliver Chassidic discourses throughout his arrest. Accordingly, since the conditions of the arrest of the Mittler Rebbe were with less severity so too the day of his redemption is celebrated with less intensity. 

This also helps us to understand why Divine Providence had ordained that we celebrate on the calendar this “2^nd Redemption” of the Mittler Rebbe each year before that of his father’s on the 19^th. It is in order that it serve us as a facilitator and help us make the radical change from our daily routines to the great spiritual intensity of Yud-Tes Kislev. It is, by way of illustration, like the gradual change to light one must undergo when standing in the dark. Any sudden burst of light will only blind the person. So too Yud Kislev helps us get conditioned and be receptive to the lights of Yud-Tes Kislev. It serves as the bridge between the “everyday” mindset to the “ultra-geulah” mindset. 

In earlier years by contrast prior to the events that led to the Mittler Rebbe’s arrest we were capable of reaching great heights without difficulty and thus did not require the bridge of Yud Kislev. 

From the above one might conclude that Yud Kislev is spiritually inferior to Yud-Tes Kislev. Nevertheless, upon deeper analysis we can see how Yud Kislev does indeed reflect an even greater spiritual quality to a certain degree than Yud-Tes Kislev. 

This is seen by the startling fact that the 2^nd arrest and subsequent redemption happened altogether. Despite the fact that the Alter Rebbe had been totally vindicated and years later he was even recognized by the Russian Government with the unique title of honor, “the revered citizen and hero for all generations” how surprising it is that the Mittler Rebbe should have been arrested at all! Nonetheless, all this demonstrates that the prevailing spiritual darkness had not been completely vanquished by the great revelation of Yud-Tes Kislev.  It wasn’t until the redemption of Yud Kislev that the most tenacious darkness was broken.  

There is a lesson in this for baalei t’shuva. They often complain that after they succeed in making the most radical change to a Torah true way of life, despite the many obstacles of their previous secular lifestyle, they experience a partial setback and are struck with baal t’shuva blues. They feel as though the effect of their initial “redemption” from their personal secular golus has faded away. Comes Yud Kislev and sends a message to us that the Mittler Rebbe has paved the way for us to rebound from the most discouraging state and vanquish the most unrelenting darkness. 

Many of us as well have shared this feeling after the events of 27 Adar, 5752 (1992) and 3 Tammuz, 5754 (1994). These difficult times followed the great revelations of the previous years. The Rebbe then made unprecedented statements at the times of the collapse of the Iron Curtain and the Gulf War, such as “There is need to publicize to all members of the generation that we have merited that G-d should freely choose an individual to be a prophet of the generation”, and “The time of your Redemption has arrived” and, “The appointment of Moshiach has already taken place and all that remains is the acceptance of his kingship by the people” and, “The fulfillment of the prophecy that they will beat their swords into plowshares has already begun” and many other historic revelations. The redemption of the Mittler Rebbe on Yud Kislev strengthens, inspires and fortifies us with the spirit to eradicate even this final remaining layer of golus as well. May it be now mamosh.

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High Tide at Tiferes

by Mr. Yitzchok Veller

Although, I have been learning in Yeshiva Tiferes Menachem for only a short time, my life has dramatically changed. Perhaps it is because I came with a clear, realistic purpose and with a sense of urgency. You see, the reason I came to Yeshiva was to learn how to be a Jew, to daven and learn Torah like a Jew ought to. Tiferes Menachem is an excellent, well-rounded program that has proven to be the best place for me to bring this change about. The Rabbis are dedicated and caring and take the time to help each student individually. 

The truth is that many of the other students here are just like me. What I mean is that before we came to the Yeshiva we were looking for something we couldn’t put our finger on. We looked in different places hoping that we would find that “something” that would make sense of it all and direct us along a meaningful path. Those places never did produce worthwhile results and the experiences often just left us appearing strange to our friends and family. Then, as Providence would have it, we rediscovered our Jewishness, each of us in his own personal way. 

Now we are sharing our Yeshiva experience together. We are of all different ages and come from all different walks of life. Nevertheless, despite our dissimilarities we run the course together. We eat and sleep together. We daven and learn Torah together. We farbreng together. From early in the morning until late at night we spend our time together learning to be Jews in real-time, not just in the heart. It’s not always easy, but it is very rewarding. I have discovered my greatest insights into who I am because of my most challenging relationships, not despite them. This coupled with the great pearls of wisdom that we learn from the Teachings of Chassidus, have allowed me to make some great personal strides in a short time. Thank you, my friends at Tiferes Menachem. We are now brothers locked together by Divine Providence for all time.

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