General Overview: In this week's Torah treading, Vayigash, Judah responds to Joseph's demand that Benjamin remain enslaved in Egypt, pleading to be taken as a substitute. Joseph reveals his identity to his brothers. At Joseph's request, Jacob and his family come down to Egypt. First Aliyah: In the end of last week's Torah reading, Joseph demanded that Benjamin remain behind in Egypt as his slave. This week's reading opens with Judah approaching Joseph and appealed to him to allow Benjamin to return to his father Jacob in Canaan. He spoke of Jacob's reluctance to allow Benjamin Rachel's only remaining child to make the trip to Egypt, and the great love Jacob harboured for his youngest son. Second Aliyah: Judah continued: "When [Jacob] sees that the boy is gone, he will die." He explained to Joseph that he, Judah, had taken personal responsibility that Benjamin would return unharmed to Canaan. And as such, he asked to remain as a slave in stead of Benjamin. At that point, Joseph could not restrain himself any longer. He asked all the Egyptians present to leave the room, and he revealed his identity to his brothers: "I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?!" He then reassured them, and asked them not to be upset about selling him into slavery: "For it was to preserve life that G-d sent me before you. For . . . another five years there will be neither ploughing nor harvest, and G-d sent me before you to ensure your survival in the land..." Third Aliyah: Joseph directed his brothers to quickly return to Canaan and bring Jacob and their families back to Egypt, where Joseph promised to provide them with food until the famine ends. Joseph embraced his brothers and cried. Pharaoh was informed that Joseph's family had arrived, and he, too, instructed them to come to Egypt where he would give them the "best of the land." The brothers went to Canaan laden with gifts from Pharaoh and Joseph and informed Jacob that Joseph was alive, indeed he ruled over all of Egypt. "And the spirit of their father Jacob was revived." Fourth Aliyah: Jacob and his entire family left Canaan and headed to Egypt. En route they stopped in Beersheba, where G-d told Jacob not to fear going to Egypt, for it is there that he will be made into a great nation. Furthermore G-d told him: "I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up." Fifth Aliyah: This section names the seventy members of Jacob's family that went to Egypt. Sixth Aliyah: Jacob arrived in Egypt, to the province of Goshen that Pharaoh had allotted his family. Joseph went there to greet his father. Joseph prepared his family for meeting Pharaoh, and instructed his brothers to tell Pharaoh that they are shepherds, who only wish to tend to their flocks in Goshen until the famine ends. Indeed the brothers followed this script, and Pharaoh acceded to their request. Jacob was then brought before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed him. Seventh Aliyah: While Joseph supplied his family with food, the rest of Egypt was in a desperate plight. First they expended all their money in exchange for food that Joseph sold them. Then their money ran out, and they paid for provisions with their cattle. Finally, when they had no money or chattel left, they sold their land and themselves to Pharaoh into servitude in exchange for provisions. Meanwhile, in the land of Goshen, Jacob's family prospered and multiplied exceedingly.
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Part 14 By Rebbetzin Chana Schneerson Mother of the Lubavitcher Rebbe Published and copyrighted by Kehot Publication Society
The rabbi from Poltava My recovery continued, and I was able to walk around in our room and do some housework. The couple who had been our guests returned home. The weather became even colder, as if in spite. With people not having enough to eat, or even literally starving, the typhus (may G-d save us) kept spreading. One of the deportees to our village was a Jew from Poltava [Ukraine]. Back home, he had taught Ein Yaakov1 in one of the synagogues, and was therefore called a rabbi, (although by then there was no official Rav in Poltava. His circumstances had brought him down so low that he was reduced to begging for money from both Jews and gentiles. Once, as we all queued up in the bread line, he noticed my husband and came over to discuss Torah with him. We were standing right by the windows of the local NKVD office. The man began raising his voice as he tried to display his Torah scholarship, and all the gentiles gathered d, recorded in a book. 2 His immediate response was that the NKVD had no dominion over him; his deportation had come at the hand of G-d. However, he asked me to explain the following: While standing in line, he had been told in Russian that he was part of the 36th group of ten.3 was not even fluent in Russian numbers, he was still considered [by the authorities] to constitute a politically dangerous element! in. Mr. Kolikov found work for their son with a shoemaker in Kzyl-Orda, so that he could earn some his rebbetzin unfortunately. Meanwhile, her husband fell ill, and she immediately took him to the hospital. Somehow she put together a few rubles and returned home.
Supreme courage for Jewish burial The hospital was five kilometers from our home. Once, while visiting the patient, my husband observed that his condition was very serious. He made the acquaintance of the doctors, one of whom was also a deportee, and asked them to give the patient special attention. A few days later, the doctor reported that the patient had passed away. This created a problem of how to give him a Jewish burial, for there was no Jewish cemetery there. My husband was very troubled by this, and went to work making the necessary arrangements. First he went to perform any autopsy as was routine for those who died of typhus. Then, with full knowledge that every step he took was being watched, my husband went to the telegraph office and sent a telegram to the Kzyl-Orda Jewish community requesting that they send a representative, and specifying why. He signed his first name only, without his family name.
Next day, the Rav of Kzyl,4 he used to shine shoes for a living. But towards evening, he would go to the synagogue to serve as the Hakham5 of the city. He was no simple Jew when it came to Torah knowledge. Accompanying the Hakham was the gabbai [director] of the burial society, a Kazakh Jew, dressed in traditional Kazakh clothing including a large red scarf. He had a very coarse face, was heavily built, and although quite ignorant of Torah was deeply religious. They had brought with them all necessary items boards, and even unused linen for shrouds. Such items were not available to ordinary citizens, but the gabbai had told his son, an army officer, to supply him with as much linen as was needed and with the boards. When they arrived, they came to our home, and sat down on the floor, as was their custom, to eat the food they had brought. Then they requested instructions about what to do. First they went to the hospital to see whether the doctor had kept his word and not allowed the body to be buried with nondifficult as The three of them my husband and the two from Kzyl-Orda went out into the fields to find a place suitable for digging a grave. They decided on a small plot not far from the hospital. This could not be done too openly, primarily because the one in charge of this burial my husband was a Rav and the gabbai full instructions, then 6 and went straight home to avoid notice. They were highly gratified and thanked my husband profusely for giving them the opportunity to perform such a great mitzvah. The Rav spoke with some familiarity with Torah texts. The gabbai, on the other hand, knew not a word of Yiddish, and certainly no Hebrew. In his great desire, however, to show my husband how deeply inspired he was, he strongly squeezed his hand and said, only Hebrew word he knew, and he said it with such deep feeling inimitable only to a Kazakh Jew. People living under normal conditions cannot possibly understand the great achievement and difficulty of what my husband had accomplished. It seems to me that this can be termed gevurah shebikedushah Every Jew, generally older people, wou and deserted by his family.
The neighbor who never moved in With the great influx of evacuees, it became much harder for them to find places to stay. The authorities issued a strict quota specifying how much space each person was allowed to occupy. According to this rule, five persons were allowed to dwell in our room. But we were just two. The director of the local housing department was a non-Jewish deportee, an engineer, who had great esteem for my husband. An educated man who had authored several mathematical works, he sometimes discussed this subject with my husband. This relationship was beneficial for us, because great favor. But our landlady had a daughter who came to stay with her, accompanied by her own two children. She immediately started filing applications to the above-mentioned director of the community housing department.
She pointed out that our large room was occupied by a Jewish exile, just two people, while she, a true member of the proletariat7 with two children, who was also a member of the Communist party, had nowhere to stay. She therefore demanded that they immediately be allowed to move It became difficult for the director to refuse, because, as a deportee himself, he had to be very careful about fulfilling his duties properly. Left with little choice, and in a decision intended to benefit us, he issued a permit to move in with us to another woman who had applied for a room. She was a teacher, a well-mannered person, who also had a child. neighbour; It was close to Yom Kippur anything else, there would be a problem with kashrut since the room and the stove would have to be shared. And the baby would often be crying. We contemplated ways to coexist with her peacefully. It was still two weeks before Yom Kippur, but my husband prepared plans for what to do. The teacher had left with us the official order confirming her occupancy of the room together with daughter came to us with her demands, we showed her the official order stating that the room was occupied. After Yom Kippur, the teacher happened to meet my husband and asked him, in Yiddish how did your fast go? where, in order to save her life [under Nazi occupation], she obtained a passport stating she was a Christian. Since then, she lived as a Pole, an tranquillity. Live there in good health. Hold my official order that I left with you, and if ever anyone comes to you a This was an example of the small joys that came into our life from time to time. Always they were a result of the high esteem in which people held my husband, even on seeing him for the first time. Subsequently, the teacher used to visit us for advice on how to locate her missing husband. Some time later, she came to report that she had done everything my husband had counselled her, with the result that she was now in touch with her husband by mail. He was working in a distant autonomous Soviet republic. Using her passport that stated she was a Christian, she obtained employment in our village as a teacher. Only we were aware of the fact that she was Jewish. FOOTNOTES 1. A popular collection of the non-legal sections of the Talmud, composed by Rabbi Yaakov ibn Chaviv (c. 1445-c.1516), who was among those exiled from Spain and Portugal. Classes in Ein Yaakov have been common in many Jewish communities, especially for Jews who find regular Talmud study too difficult. 2. The quote is from the Mishnah (Avot 2:2), where it refers to Gawareness of everything we do. Here, however, the Rebbetzin was referring to the constant observation by the NKVD.
3. The author has already mentioned (above p. 000), that those lining up for bread rations were divided into groups of ten. 4. P. 000. 5. title of a rabbi in Sefardi and other non-Ashkenazi Jewish communities. 6. See Darchei Chesed, chapter 5, paragraph 4. 7. A member of the working classes, much vaunted by Marxist ideology.
By Rebbetzin Chana Schneerson From the memoirs of Rebbetzin Chana Schneerson (1880-1964), mother of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of righteous memory.
By Yossy Goldman
How many Jews came down to Egypt? By the time of the Exodus, there were 600,000 men of military age (and, according to all estimates, a total of a few million people) in the young nation. But the number who originally went down to Egypt in the days of Joseph were only, by the Torah's attestation, "seventy souls." However, if one examines the text, Jacob's sons and their children even including Joseph and his sons who were already in Egypt only amount to a total of sixty-nine. The commentaries offer a number of explanations. Some say that the Torah simply rounds off the number to the nearest ten. Another explanation is that the seventieth person is Jocheved, born as Jacob's family was entering Egypt. Or, Jacob himself is counted as number seventy. But, for me, the most touching one of all comes from the Midrash: What did the Holy One, Blessed be He, do? He Himself entered into the count and thus it totaled seventy, to fulfill his promise made earlier to Jacob (Genesis 46, 3-4), "Have no fear of going down to Egypt, for I shall establish you as a great nation there. I shall descend with you to Egypt and I shall also surely bring you up..." How inspiring! How magnificently encouraging. G-d is with us in Egypt. Amidst the bondage, the pain and persecution, He is with us. And in all our wanderings and dispersions, He is there. As He assures us in Psalm 91, "I am with him in his affliction." In all our anguish, in all our tzorris, He is right there with us! It was this conviction of the invisible but tangible Divine Presence being with us in the Galut and in the ghettoes that sustained our people throughout a torturous history. This was the promise that inspired us with an inexhaustible fountain of faith, courage and strength to survive our enemies and to flourish again long after they were gone. Many continue to ask, "Where was G-d during the Holocaust?" I could never even attempt to debate this question with an embittered survivor who has lost his faith. And who are we to criticize those holy tormented souls? But my father, and many like him, survived with their faith intact. How did they maintain their beliefs in spite of their suffering? One answer they might offer is this: "How did I survive? Do you understand how many miracles it took to get me out of Poland? Or out of the camps? And how about escaping Lithuania, Russia, Japan or Shanghai? How can I deny the hand of G-d that plucked me from danger again and again?" Surely the greatest miracle of our generation is that after Auschwitz Jews still wanted to be Jewish. That our people rebounded and rebuilt their families, their communities and their homeland. For many, the certainty that a higher power was guiding them to survival is what sustained them in their darkest moments and what gave them the confidence to regroup and regenerate. Soon, we will observe the fast of Tevet 10, commemorating the siege of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. So who is having the last laugh? Do you know any grandchildren of Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon? (Saddam Hussein is not one.) All that is left of his mighty empire are a few statues. All our enemies, down to the Third Reich, have come and gone. The Jews are here, alive and well, still doing their thing 2,500 years later. G-d's promise to Jacob that "I will go down with you" has kept us going. And the conclusion of the verse assures us all of a happy conclusion. "And I shall surely also bring you up" from Egypt and from our own exile. May it be speedily in our day. Rabbi Yossy Goldman was born in Brooklyn, New York. In 1976 he was sent by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, of righteous memory, as a ChabadLubavitch emissary to serve the Jewish community of Johannesburg, South Africa. He is Senior Rabbi of the Sydenham Shul since 1986, president of the South African Rabbinical Association, and a frequent contributor to Chabad.org. His book From Where I Stand: Life Messages from the Weekly Torah Reading was recently published by Ktav, and is available at Jewish bookshops or online.
Dvar Torah Questions and Answers on Vayigash "
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QUESTION: According to the Midrash Rabbah (93:6), Yehudah was ready to go to war with Yosef, want to wage war? ANSWER: even one Jew is in danger spiritually, it is incumbent on all Jews to do everything in their power to save him and return him safely to his father Hashem and the Torah. Remaining in Egypt would spell assimilation for Binyamin. Therefore, we will do anything, and even endanger ourselves, to save ( ) "
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QUESTION: At that time, Binyamin already had ten did not see their father returning home? ANSWER: Yehudah was well aware that according to human nature, a parent worries more about his children than children do about their parents. For example, often, a child will be late in coming home and not think of calling his parents who are appy with the way the child is behaving and growing up. adjust to the situation.
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QUESTION: ANSWER: When Yehudah defended Binyamin before Yosef, he asked that he be released out of mercy. Yehudah explained to Yosef that the brothers had an elderly father and they were afraid that when he saw his son did not return, he might die of grief. Upon hearing this, Yosef said to Yehudah and his brothers, Think how much pain and grief you caused him by keeping my sale a secret and you have mercy on your The brothers were unable to answer, because they could not justify the grief they had caused their father. ( ) "
" -d has made me master of all Egyp
QUESTION: him his whereabouts earlier? ANSWER: jealousy they caused their half-brother to be sold as a slave to Egyptians. Yosef, however, did not bear any hatred against his brothers. On the contrary, he felt very bad for them and feared that they might be punished by Hashem if they did not do teshuvah. Therefore, he took upon himself to help his brothers repent. The highest level of teshuvah occurs when the transgressor is faced with an identical situation and is able to resist (Rambam, Teshuvah 2:1). Yosef, therefore, waited till the entire scenario would be repeated. When the brothers came to Egypt, he insisted that they bring down their half-brother Binyamin. At the meal he showed favoritism to Binyamin by giving him a bigger gift, hoping to arouse jealousy in their hearts. Afterwards, he plotted that Binyamin be accused of stealing the magical goblet. Binyamin was found guilty and sentenced to remain in Egypt as a slave. The brothers did not agree that Binyamin should be punished for the alleged crime and fought vehemently for his release. teshuvah whole-heartedly. Consequently, he revealed himself to them and asked them to inform Yaakov of his whereabouts. ( ) "
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QUESTION: The word ( ) as follows seems extra? ANSWER: ordered Yosef to arrange for their immediate transport from Canaan to Egypt and as a gift, he told him to load their animals with grain.
Lizchis Harav Moshe ben Chasya Hadassa
Dvar Torah Questions and Answers on Vayigash in a similar quantity. Since Pharaoh laden female donkeys, all
laden with grain and food. Pharaoh only loaded ten donkeys although Yosef had eleven brothers, because when Shimon was arrested, the brothers took his donkey with food back to Yaakov. Thus, on the second trip down to Egypt together with Binyamin, there were only ten brothers riding ten donkeys. ( ') "
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QUESTION: What more did they tell Yaakov that he then believed them? ANSWER: Baruch im yirtze ' So says your son Yosef: Hashem made me a ruler over Egypt. Yaakov that Yosef instructed them to convey a message that " and he Afterwards, when " Yosef was alive.
" they said to him Hashem ( )
(Rashi, 27:21). He would say, However, when the brothers returned they told " Yosef is alive
"
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all the words of Yosef [exactly the
years of my sojourns have been a hundred and thirty years. Few and bad have been the days of the years of my life, and -9) QUESTION: Why was Pharaoh so impolite as to ask Yaakov his age? ANSWER: In Egypt there was very little rain, and they relied heavily on the Nile river which would overflow and irrigate the fields. During the years of famine, the Nile river did not overflow and, thus, the fields did not produce. When Yaakov arrived, the Nile began to overflow and the famine ended. Pharaoh was, therefore was also was concerned, because Yaakov looked very old, and he feared that the blessing would not last long. Thus, out of anxiety, he asked Yaakov his age. look very old, in reality I am quite ( ) "
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QUESTION: he pasuk ANSWER: command shall all my people be sustained; only [by] the throne shall I outrank When the people ran out of money, they offered Yosef their livestock for food. As the famine worsened, again they approached Yosef and begged him to give them food for their bodies and land. Thus, they and their land would become land now Since Yosef was in full command and had the power to do whatever he wanted, he also bought the people but not for Pharaoh. Yosef decided that he would buy the people for himself, so that they would become his property. Therefore, Yosef I "
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QUESTION: Why was Goshen so desirable to the Jewish people? ANSWER: When Avraham came to Eygypt, Pharoah took Sarah not just as a concubine, but also for a wife (12:19). Therefore, he gave her a ketubah marriage contract stating that in the event she would survive him, all his possessions and everything he owned would be hers for the remainder of her life. In addition, he unconditionally gave her the land of Goshen to be hers forever. Since the land belonged to our matriarch Sarah, it was of sentimental value to the Jewish people and they all chose to live there and acquire it. ( )
Lizchis Harav Moshe ben Chasya Hadassa
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A Shabbos Stimulus
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HONORING SHABBOS (II) SHABBOS MEALS On Shabbos we are obligated to have three meals. This is alluded to by the three times that the word hayom (“today”) appears in Moshe Rabbeinu’s words to the Yidden about the mon of Shabbos. For the third Shabbos meal, the Rebbeim would generally not wash and eat challah, and instead would eat other foods. Since the third Shabbos meal corresponds to the advanced stage of the Geula when there will be no eating, they marked this by not eating a full meal. This is also alluded to in the above possuk, where the third “hayom” is followed by the word “lo,” implying that the mon will not fall on Shabbos. In a maamar the Rebbe Rashab emphasizes that although one does not need to eat bread at the Third Meal on Shabbos, one ought to eat something.
One should not have an unusually big meal on erev Shabbos so that one will be able to enjoy the Shabbos meal properly in the evening.
Recognizing that family members can sometimes drift apart, in 5734 (1974) the Rebbe called for an effort to increase cohesion within families by utilizing the togetherness of Shabbos meals. (In fact, this call is listed among the Rebbe’s activities for that year, at the beginning of HaYom Yom.) The Rebbe noted that even many frum families need to invest effort in this direction, since during the week family members are all preoccupied with their individual responsibilities (as indeed they ought to do). By coming together for the Shabbos meal, and Shabbos, they will be fortifying the unity of a healthy family, which will continue to be felt throughout the following week.
AMBIANCE OF SONG The Tzemach Tzedek said that the reason that the Alter Rebbe did not include the traditional zemiros in his Siddur was that he hoped that his chassidim would discuss Chassidus at the table. The Rebbe Maharash said that he hoped that they would sing
niggunim instead. The Rebbe Rashab reconciled both of these statements.
Reb Yosef Yitzchok, son of the Tzemach Tzedek, married the daughter of Reb Yaakov Yisroel of Tcherkas, son of Reb Mottel Chernobyler and son-inlaw of the Mitteler Rebbe. He settled near his fatherin-law in Hornosteipol, and from time to time would visit his father and brothers in Lubavitch. During the lifetime of the Tzemach Tzedek he became rov in the town of Ovrutch and a Rebbe to the Chernobyler chassidim there.
CONSIDER What are the respective roles of (a) the food and (b) the spiritual atmosphere? Why are they both necessary? Why would chassidim prefer discussing Chassidus or singing niggunim—over zemiros? Which is easier? During one of those visits to Lubavitch, Reb Yosef Yitzchok asked his father at the Shabbos table why it is not our custom to sing or recite the zemiros that are customarily heard among Yidden everywhere. (Why “sing or recite”? Because in many chassidic communities, the words of these zemiros are neither sung to a structured melody, nor recited, but are chanted in a certain traditional singsong.) The Tzemach Tzedek’s response was, “Say!” The room was quiet and Reb Yosef Yitzchok began to say the zemiros as they would do in Chernobyl. The Tzemach Tzedek then said: “The Alter Rebbe did not include those zemiros in the Siddur, because he wanted people to exchange words of Torah during the meal. As to the practice of people who say neither divrei Torah nor zemiros – like Reb Moshe (a certain simple man who lived then in Lubavitch), and instead
eat soup and noodles, noodles and soup..., that was not the Alter Rebbe’s intention.” That man’s sons, who were respected chassidim, were present. Alarmed by the harsh words of the Tzemach Tzedek, they quickly ran home, only and noodles…
For Shabbos Selichos 5637 (1877), many guests arrived in Lubavitch. At the Friday evening meal the Rebbe Maharash related that at certain times the previous Rebbeim used to say zemiros at the Shabbos table. He then added: “My great-grandfather, the Alter Rebbe, held that the zemiros of Shabbos spontaneously (darfn zich zogn). Moreover, when words are real, whereas if they are simply mouthed, they don’t count as words at all.” The Rebbe Maharash then began to sing the zemiros, and all those present joined in. The Rebbe Rashab later recounted to his son, the Frierdiker Rebbe, that at that time those zemiros had such a moving impact on him that he had to restrain himself with all his might not to burst out in tears.
Regarding the assertion of the Alter Rebbe that the zemiros of Shabbos are only worth saying when they issue forth naturally, the Frierdiker Rebbe remarked, “It goes without saying that this path is only for tzaddikim of high stature, whereas we must do everything at its appropriate time, with kabbolas ol.”
The Rebbe Maharash wanted his sons, the Rebbe zemiros that are found in the Siddur, and also the Poilishe zemiros, saying that they were “lush (gishmake) words.” When on datche, the Rebbe Maharash would recite all those zemiros, but otherwise he considered it a waste of his precious time.
Similarly, the Frierdiker Rebbe related: My father, the Rebbe Rashab, felt uneasy about the fact that he did not say the zemiros on Shabbos. His only consolation was that he spoke words of Chassidus.
RABBI CHAIM HILLEL RASKIN
ROV OF ANASH - PETACH TIKVA
R. SHILEM REICH
FISH ON SHABBOS One of the prohibited melachos on Shabbos is borer, separating. Thus, if two things are mixed or mingled, you may not separate one of them from the mixture. However, if it is done in the manner of eating (derech achila), it’s considered eating and not borer. To qualify as derech achila, it must meet these three conditions: (1) You take the item you want from the ones you don’t want; (2) without a special sorting device; (3) close to the time when you wish to eat or use it. Taking away the bad, on the other melacha.1 from the bones just before the meal starts, but one may not removed close to the meal, just as one is allowed to peel fruit, since people don’t commonly reach the food otherwise and this is considered derech achila.2 will discard them both, it is debated amongst poskim whether
the bone. The Alter Rebbe in Shulchan Aruch seems to allow
Originally from Warsaw, Poland, R. Meshulam (Shilem) Reich (c. 55945669) married Rivkah, the daughter of Harav Boruch Sholom, the eldest son of the Tzemach Tzedek. R. Shilem lived in Warsaw for a period, and had a close relationship with the Chidushei Harim of Ger. He published a number of Chabad seforim, and served as a shadar for Colel Chabad.
The Frierdiker Rebbe described Simchas Torah in Lubavitch, during the years that R. Shilem lived there: “The custom was that on Simchas Torah davening at 11. After davening, they would make kiddush, and then my father, the Rebbe Rashab, and his brother, the Raza, would go to the home of R. Shilem. The walk to R. Shilem’s house was with much joy, with singing and dancing, disregarding the mud in the streets.”
labels it all as “waste” and forbids removing it.3 What about during eating? Some rishonim hold that while actually eating, even removing the bones is considered 4 “derech achila" The Alter Rebbe doesn't discuss this scenario. The Mishna Berura rules stringently, but adds that one need not protest those who follow the lenient opinion.5 One is certainly allowed to remove the bones from his mouth while eating as that is “derech achila.”6 How about small thin bones? The Tzemach Tzedek suggests that perhaps removing small bones (such as in herring) should be “derech achila” since one can’t eat the herring without separating them, and more so since they were never noticeable as something distinct (and is akin to dividing one entity).7 Contemporary poskim allow removing it for young children who cannot remove them in their mouths.8 The Ketzos Hashulchan rules leniently even for adults and when needed one can rely on this.9
The Chidushei Harim of Ger would often ask R. Shilem about the Tzemach Tzedek and Chassidus Chabad. Once, R. Shilem quoted an explanation from the Alter Rebbe in Likutei Torah,
Torah and he doesn’t recall it. R. Shilem directed him to the section on Shir Hashirim, of which the Chidushei Harim had been unaware. The Chidushei Harim asked to borrow it and he later said that he learned from it only when he had “pure thoughts.” On another occasion, the Chidushei Harim asked whether the Tzemach Tzedek used twelve challos on Shabbos and wore a kittel to the seder. When R. Shilem replied in the negative to both practices, the Chidushei Harim replied, “The Tzemach Tzedek studied by great Rebbes; we can only imitate our Rebbes.”
R. Shilem and his wife didn’t have children for many years. Once, while in Warsaw, his wife pleaded with the Chidushei Harim and didn’t want to leave until she would get a promise. The Chidushei Harim told her to ask her grandfather, the Tzemach Tzedek, since he can help her without a doubt if he wishes, and he told her to say so in his name. She relayed the message to the Tzemach Tzedek and she was indeed blessed with a child.
THE HIPPIE’S MITZVAH Reb Leibel Schapiro of Miami relates:
about his beard.
A bochur in a non-chassidishe yeshiva, who had been inspired by Chassidus, began becoming more stringent in his mitzva observance. After a while, he also stopped shaving his beard, to the dismay of his peers and teachers.
The Rebbe responded, “The Torah (Vayikra 19:27) states clearly that it is forbidden to destroy one’s beard. According to many authorities, this means that cutting the beard is a lav d’oraisa (biblical transgression).
One day, his rosh yeshiva chastised him for the new path he had taken. “Your beard makes you look like a hippie,” he quipped.
“And indeed,” concluded the Rebbe emphatically, “tell your rosh yeshivah, that if a Jewish hippie lets his beard mitzva every single day!”
Feeling forlorn, this bochur poured out his heart to the Rebbe. He also repeated the remark his rosh yeshivah had made
In merit of this publication's founder
but the Chidushei Harim said that it
(As heard from Reb Leibel Schapiro)
May the zechus of the thousands of readers bring him a total and immediate recovery