Manifesto

I have no fear of the world around me. I have no need to reassure myself that what I chose is correct. I have no fear of every thought placed out there. I have no fear of the sneer of others, of the snide looks. I have no fear of being labeled according to someone's prejudices. I have no fear of rumor, of innuendo. I have no fear of lies created out of this air. I have no fear that with time, truth will be told. I have no fear of hyper-intellectualism. I have no fear of debaters that think to crush the soul with argument.

I do have a need for truth, for clarity, for a position to be proven, not simply taken. So if you wish to come here and talk, please do, but you will need to make your case. Anyone can comment, all need to explain. If you can't, claim it as your personal belief, clarify what you have or haven't done in your quest for truth and reality.

"Ashamti"

In a recent booklet given as a memento to the guests of the Krinsky-Dechter wedding, many intriguing and inspiring anecdotes and written responses of the Rebbe are included. Memento of Krinsky-Dechter wedding

The revelation in simple, workday terms of part of the Rebbe's schedule and relationship with the secretariat is interesting of itself. One response and work story that impacted me is a side note.

The Rebbe would regularly issue instructions for those who worked for him at home and in the field at the last moment. Every week found a new project, whether in the spreading of Yiddishkeit far afield or in the publishing house being ordered to finish a book in inhuman time.

In this case, the Rebbe had asked Rabbi Krinsky the week before Lag Ba'Omer 5750 if a coin could be produced with the emblems of this event to give out to the children. Rabbi Krinsky details the trouble he went to find out that striking coins is a process of months, until he found two companies, one Italian and one US, willing to strike the coins in time. The Rebbe chose the American, and added "Ashamti" - I am to blame for having given you last minute instructions, and if it doesn't work out I carry that blame.

Rabbi Krinsky, mortified at receiving this historic note which I believe is unprecedented, proceeded to make sure that the coin was ready for the Lag Ba'Omer parade. The Rebbe's response was that he should be given peace of mind as he gave the Rebbe peace of mind.

There is no blame in a single campaign that the Rebbe initiated, in a single instruction given. Not only is this belief based, that we believe the Rebbe was guided openly by Ratzon Hashem, but is evident in retrospect. Whether it be decisions made about public protests for Soviet Jewry, which city should have a shliach and which not, where a school should be opened and where not, public emphasis of Mitzvos for every Jew, all have been proven by time.

The blame the Rebbe laid on himself is for asking too late. No blame lies in the rush therein needed by the employees, the blame is in case the project did not work out due to the last minute rush. Every executive secretary wishes they could hear their boss say this about the idea they could not implement when given to them last minute.

But of course, the Rebbe didn't care.

Caring and human interaction

There are two polar opposites in caring for other people that lead to human interaction. There are of course many other shades of caring, but these two exemplify each other in the extreme. One is entering into interaction for an express purpose, expecting a certain mold for those with whom you will interact. The other is interacting to discover something new, to see what is good and valuable in every person, and interacting with that person based on who they are; not expecting more yet not expecting less.

These opposites, as all other forms of caring, would be a matter of opinion and preference if not for the Mishneh in Pirkei Avos: "Who is wise? One who learns from any person." There is obviously no baseline Mitzvah here, but there is the Lifinim MiShuras Hadin, going beyond the legal requirements, suggested by Pirkei Avos for being a better person: Be wise, by seeing something valuable to be gained in every person. Every person has something to contribute, and it is up to us to be wise and discover what that is.

By setting a standard for who we will include in a conversation, and what the conversation must entail for us to participate and decide if the person truly cares, we lose the wisdom of discovering something new in this person.

Certain elements have declared that the Rebbe did not care. Certainly, they say, he cared for ideas and objects, but he did not care for people, he did not see them as people.

I am not sure how this is possible in light of the fact that the Rebbe spent three nights every week from 8 p.m. until 6 a.m. for private meetings for everyone, allowing them conversation at their level. When this ended due to medical concerns, 6 years later the Rebbe began standing for hours every Sunday to allow anyone an opportunity to spend a moment with him, to say what they wish. This when every moment of the Rebbe was measured, to the extent that when he would come back into his office after Shacharis, as he took off the Tefillin Shel Rosh he would open the first Sefer, and as he took off the Shel Yad the next Sefer would be opened.

I might think of the story of the Senator whom the Rebbe suggested look into the new immigrants in Chinatown and make sure they understand the benefits and representation available to them. I might think of the Senator with whom the Rebbe discussed their desire to help the poor black out of poverty. I might think of the newly arrived irreligious Russian cab driver, who after spending hours pouring out his heart on his frustration with the lack of help he was receiving to settle in, found the Rebbe's eyes flowing with tears when he looked up.

It is the height of doublespeak to say that the Rebbe (and possibly the others so typified) did not care. If what the Rebbe did is not considered relating to people, if the Rebbe's care for every Jew in whatever state wasn't caring, then none of us care.

Did he or didn't he?

Sometimes you just can't catch a break from either side.

The Rebbe's attendance at university actually hampered his message that college campuses were dangerous places for a Jewish kid to be. Many times in private audience parents raised the issue, "but you attended college!" The Rebbe's reply invariably was that this made him the best judge of the harm the college environment causes. We know that this was not due to opposition to learning a skill, as he established vocational schools for learning a trade. The anti-religious and Bible-critical stance of major universities remains a negative influence on Jewish students attending college.

On the other hand, certain elements went out of their way to point out that whatever Lubavitchers had to say about the Rebbe attending college was a deliberate lie. If they said he was in Sorbonne, it was a lie. If they said he wore a yarmulke and a hat, it was a lie. They claim that Chabad promoted this claim to raise the secular world's admiration for the Rebbe. The earliest I actually remember this claim being raised publicly was in the book "Despite All Odds" of the late eighties, not published by Chabad.

The truth is: Who cares?

Let me make it clear that historical veracity is important, and we should know the precise details of the Rebbe's life when possible.

But truthfully, how does this impact the Rebbe's standing in the world? For over forty years the Rebbe was subject to the most intense public scrutiny. First by his students, who would stand honorary guard over his home during the scant hours a week that he spent there, certainly in his office located 20-30 feet away from the study hall of the Yeshivah, and later by the broader public. The Rebbe's conduct was the same at all times.

I could not care less if the Rebbe had spent the years before his Nesius in a secluded shack in Russia, or if he had spent them as a teacher in Yeshivah, or if he had spent them traveling the world fundraising, or if he had served as a public Chabad leader.

What I care about is the 40 years that the Rebbe chose to share with us, with me, at the cost of his health, his sleep, his family life and personal time. He cut short where he could in anything that did not affect his ability to offer himself to the Chasidim. If the Maamorim could not be written by the Rebbe, at least they were said. If Yechidus had to be stopped after 28 years, at least he could stand for hours for a brief moment with every Jew.

I did not see in a single moment I experienced with the Rebbe, in a single Maamar or Sichah I heard or learned of the Rebbe, in a single story of encouragement and demand of the Rebbe any influence of the Sorbonne. What I did see is the influence of the Rebbe on the Sorbonnes of the world, on Judaism in France, on the college students who found their spirituality in the Yeshivos.

A short break for entertainment

Sefer Torah stolen from MyYeshiva

I wonder, did anyone notice a certain element of MN wandering around the Yeshivah previously?

Perhaps he felt that as a spiritual descendant of the founders of the Yeshivah, he is entitled to inherit their property, and surreptitiously took an advance on his yerusha?

See how easy it is to play with reality, truth and perceptions?

He never had Paris

Stories abound of the Rebbe Maharash's public persona before he accepted the leadership of a much diminished group of Chasidim in Lubavitch, the other Chasidim having followed some of his brothers. He reputedly was never seen studying in public, would walk around with a newspaper in his back pocket, and did not dress as a Torah scholar or as a Rebbe's child would to demand the respect that such dress entailed.

One story tells of a Chosid (if my memory serves me, Reb Aizik Homlyer) told by the Tzemach Tzedek to direct his question in Etz Chaim (in Kabbalah) to the Rebbe Maharash, who went to the house late at night and noticed through the window the Rebbe Maharash deep in study with a table full of seforim. When he knocked on the door and was allowed to enter, the table was clear and a paper was in their place. When he mentioned his purpose and the Rebbe Maharash acted innocent and wondered why the Tzemach Tzedek would send a question in learning to him, Reb Aizik informed him that he had been "caught" learning.

The Rebbe's public persona until he became Rebbe was similar in a limited way. He could not disobey the previous Rebbe; he had to farbreng with the students of the Yeshivah when he visited, publish and edit the books of Kehos, and farbreng once a month with all the Chasidim. Yet what he could avoid, he did: wearing a grey hat, a short jacket, sometimes even walking around with newspapers, or avoiding having his name listed as the editor of HaTomim, the Chabad Yeshiva journal in Poland.

At the same time, the Rebbe's nature and habits were clear to anyone who came into contact with him. He spent all his free time secluded in the Bais Medrash (in Berlin) or at home (in France) in study. He was overly careful in every Mitzvah that he performed, going to great lengths to keep to his self imposed standards. He gave Torah classes in Paris at various locations. There are many individuals who attest to all of this.

However, certain elements have used these facts to "tell" their own story. With conjecture and anonymous sources, they wink and claim that the Rebbe led a not so kosher life in Paris, and perhaps before as well. The Rebbetzin's actions are up for grabs for them as well, although they provide no concrete "stories", only adjectives such as "modern". They claim that the Rebbe in fact ran away to France out of a burning desire to study secular subjects.

JEM has yet another segment on the upcoming video, and in this interview the son of the man who handled the money transfers from the previous Rebbe to the Rebbe states categorically that the Rebbe did not want to be in University, that the previous Rebbe insisted on it. One conjecture is that this was done so the Rebbe could accompany his younger brother in law, who did want to study. I can only hope that time will give us the reason for the previous Rebbe's insistence as well.

If anyone has any doubt as to what the Rebbe did with his time while living in France, why don't you take a look online at http://www.lahak.org/ and read the section of Reshimos. These are the journals of the Rebbe from his life before reaching the US. There is no French philosopher's pontification, there is no modern life to be seen there. Only authentic Jewish Torah thought.

The truth is hesitant, it takes time to emerge. Lies are instantaneous, they can be provided at the tip of a hat. Beware the magician.

This leads us to the next post: What difference does all this make?

The trainwreck of falsehood

This blog is inspired by one thing, and one thing only: the truth emerging. The truth is being ignored by those who posted the falsehood in blogs, in news interviews, or anywhere else - I'm sure it has spread beyond what I saw. It only takes a moment to publicize a lie, while the work needed to establish the truth endures long beyond the memory of those influenced by the lie.

I'm talking about the fact that the Lubavitcher Rebbe studied at the Sorbonne in Paris. Let's leave aside for the moment whether it makes any difference if the Rebbe was a student there or not. He was, and that is now documented fact.

One of the many canards of the online elements has been that Lubavitch and/or Lubavitchers created the myth of the Rebbe as student at the Sorbonne to bolster his standing in the eyes of the world. They granted that the Rebbe studied at a Technical Institute in Paris and did well, but no more. The greatest defense I could think of was that the Rebbe sat in on classes as an observer, but wasn't enrolled. How do you document that?

Well, an organization dedicated to preserving the Rebbe's history and legacy called JEM has just provided the documentation. The Rebbe was enrolled as a student in the Sorbonne for two years, 1938-1939. He is listed as a student in the school register. You can see this for yourself in their latest video, The Early Years part III.

May the truth rule. May the online elements perish.