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Dear Friend My mother’s mother, Batya Neiovitz was born in Sighet, Transylvania. During the Holocaust, she was sent to Auschwitz, together with her entire extended family (the most famous of which was our third cousin, Elie Wiesel). Her parents, after whom I am named, had already been murdered: it was just Savta Batya and her sister Reshku who were together at the infamous selection line of Dr. Mengele. Tragically, my grandmother was sent to the left, to the gas chambers, whilst my great aunt Reshku was sent to the right, to the work camp.
Israel actually has two solemn days of remembrance: one that reminds of us of the consequences of having our own country and the other of the consequences of not. We are a people that refuses to forget our past. As Isaac Bashevis Singer once said: “we Jews can be accused of many faults, but amnesia is not one of them”.
Notwithstanding the pain of the Holocaust, it’s time for us to embrace the JOYS of Judaism, instead of only the OYS! As we watch our enemies on the Gaza border try to lure us into a public relations trap, we celebrate not only the strength and resolve of our military but also the unshakable faith in our Heavenly Father who “neither slumbers nor sleeps”. When we embrace the awesome mission given to our People to be a “light unto the Nations” through our invigorated Torah study and enthusiastic fulfillment of the Mitzvahs, we are passing on a message of hope and empowerment over to the next generation of Jews. As Jews, never again will we be victims: we are the masters of our own destiny! And on the theme of positive Jewish engagement I thought you would enjoy these thoughts by Rebbetzin Chana and her reflections on our growing family: ~~~ Several months ago I was getting my nails done when the tech, noticing my bump, innocently asks “is this your first?” ‘No’I say and smile back. “So, it’s not your first?” she asks again. This time I relent, knowing what’s coming and say “it’s my eighth!” “No,” she says, “i was asking if it’s your first child, not your first month. “I know exactly what you were asking” I answer as she simply stares at me in disbelief. And then, what always comes next for some reason, “but you look so young” she marvels. “That’s because I am young” I insist, not quite sure of how old I should look for having birthed seven children! When I was expecting my sixth my husband joined me as I went to get some routine blood testing. The phlebotomist quickly got over her shock that it was my sixth pregnancy, but oh the horror as she asked “all with him?” pointing at the bearded man in the doorway. As if, had it been with six different men it would have just made it all the more sound reasoning for having so many children. A pregnant belly is always fodder for anyone and everyone’s input. Funny thing is, the comments are mostly predictable and almost always along the same lines. Among my pet peeves are remarks to my husband that this is somehow all because of him. Really? In 2018? I actually find that a bit (read: very) offensive as if I have no say in the matter, as if, somehow, this was a decision all his own. Which brings me to the fact that there was no decision, and the notion that we must be enlightened about this thing called birth control, because, clearly, we know nothing about it. Here’s the thing; we have these children, because we actually want them! Because we have been raised with the understanding that there is no better legacy we can leave behind than a generation of Jewish souls who will cast a light over this world that will be so bright that the entire world will be permeated with love and kindness. Because we believe that there is no greater wealth we can amass than the nachas we get from our children and the ones that come after.The “crown of the elderly is the children of their children’. We have a different frame of reference, another set of priorities. To us, bringing another member into our family is the greatest blessing we could ever ask for. Our children were counting the days until the new arrival would make its debut. And now that she has, the kisses are endless. I need to plead with them to let her sleep! The biggest gift our parents gave us is each other and we are so fortunate to give this precious gift to our children. They will have each other always and forever. You just can never have too much love. Upon boarding the plane with a three year old, two year old and a newborn I heard a passenger say to another “These are the people that have lots of children”. It was many years ago, but I have never forgotten this comment. Not because I was hurt by it, but quite the contrary: it filled me then, and continues to fill me now, with so much pride. Yes, we are the people that have lots of children. I’m proud of that. My hope is that our children feel the same. Wishing you a Shabbos filled with Jewish strength & pride, Rabbi Dovid & Chana Vigler
~~~ NEXT WEEK AT CHABAD
Sunday Monday Tuesday
Wednesday Thursday Friday Shabbos ~~~ It Happened Once:
An Expedited Blessing
Unfortunately, I never got to know him because, when I was only three years old, he was arrested for his activities on behalf of Judaism and was exiled by the Soviets to Kazakhstan, where he passed away five years later. After World War 2 - during which my father, a soldier in the Russian army, was killed — my mother and I escaped to Germany, where we stayed for a time at a displaced persons’ camp near Bergen-Belsen. At age ten I was sent to live with a relative in England and attended the Gateshead and Manchester yeshivahs there. After I finished my schooling, I became a jeweler, eventually settling in London. Although I was leading the life of a religious Jew, I felt something was missing in my life. When I was 18 years old, I began to study Torah with a Chabad rabbi named Yankel Gurkov who introduced me to chasidic teachings and told me about the Rebbe. I felt drawn to the Rebbe since his father was the rabbi of my hometown, so I wrote to him, asking for a blessing for three things: proper intelligence, a good livelihood, and the right woman to marry. Very soon afterwards I got a reply, in which the Rebbe said he would mention me in his prayers and wished me to share good news soon. Sure enough, two weeks later I met my wife. Just two weeks later! Not long afterwards, in 1962, I came to New York along with a group of Jews from England as part of a trip organized by Mr. Zalmon Jaffe. At that time, I had my first audience with the Rebbe and instantly I felt that this is the connection that I was looking for. During that audience, I discussed the issue of my livelihood with him. I recall that he asked me “Are you doing piecework or timework?” He encouraged me to take time to improve my skills as a jeweler and pointed out that the only way that I could do that would be if I was doing piecework and was not pressured timewise. Because of his advice, I set up a little workshop in my home and have been working to improve ever since. Another time that I had the privilege of having an audience with him, he said to me in Yiddish, “Zolst nemen fun danet oif gashmiyus un oif ruchniyus mit zich — You should take with you from here the physical and spiritual [sustenance].” So I said to the Rebbe, “Ich hub gevolt nemen der Rebbe mit zich — I want to take the Rebbe with me.” And the Rebbe replied: “Az du nemst fun de ruchniyus fun danet, nemst du mir mit zich un az du nemst mir mit zich zolst mir ois nutzen oif gute zachen — If you are taking from the spiritual from here, you are taking me with you, and if you take me with you, you should use me for good things.” Sometime later, while on a visit to New York, I took a job in Manhattan, for a company that asked me to do jewelry designs. I worked hard on this, but after a while, I felt that I was beginning to work too hard for money. So, at my next meeting with the Rebbe, I decided to give it all to him. When I did, the Rebbe smiled, and then he peeled off a one- hundred-dollar bill from what I gave him and said, “Since this money is mine to do with it whatever I like, I want you to take it and spend it as follows ... It’s customary for you to bring back a present for your wife, so buy it with this. And with the change, buy Jewish books for your children.” But the two most dramatic stories I have to tell about the Rebbe have to do with my wife. There came a time in 1962, when she developed terrible pains in her abdomen. She went to the hospital and they told her that she has gallstones, which were quite apparent on the x-rays. Her doctor advised surgery and even said, “If anybody tells you otherwise, he’s a quack.” So she believed him and the date for the operation was set. Of course, she was very nervous about it, and she wrote to the Rebbe asking for a blessing, but no answer came. As it happened, the kosher hospitality place — where our children were to stay while she was undergoing the surgery and recovering from it — was full at that time, so she had to postpone the operation. And that is exactly when we received a letter from the Rebbe, which said:
“Inasmuch as there is in any case a waiting period before the suggested operation, it would be advisable to make use of this time to try out a diet to see if it may make an operation unnecessary. After trying out a diet, it would be well to consult the specialists again and perhaps they may change their mind about the need of an operation for I know of many cases where a prescribed diet has been effective this way.” Of course, my wife tried this diet which consisted of fruit and fruit juices, and her problem went away. So, she never re-scheduled the surgery. Sometime later, she had a problem with her feet, and while she was being examined, she mentioned that she had had a previous issue with gallstones. So the doctor took an x-ray but found nothing there. “Who told you that you had gallstones?” he exclaimed. The simple advice from the Rebbe cured her completely. But then, in 1965, my wife became sick again. A doctor made a house call and immediately called for an ambulance to transport her to the hospital where she stayed through Shabbat, during which time she experienced improvement and was released immediately after. I myself stayed with friends that Shabbat and, when I came home, I found a letter from the Rebbe waiting for me. I had not called the Rebbe to ask for a blessing for my wife’s recovery, which is why this letter took me by surprise, especially since it said: “By the time this letter reaches you, I hope that anyone in need of G-d’s blessing for improved health will have enjoyed such improvement. In such a case, it is necessary to do all that is required in the natural order of things, under the guidance and care of a doctor, which provides the channel to receive G-d’s blessing, as it is written, [in the Book of Deuteronomy 15:10], ‘And G-d will bless you in all that you do.’” And that same time I learned that my wife was better and coming home. But what I couldn’t get over was that the Rebbe’s letter was mailed out from New York even before she had become sick. In fact, it was dated twenty-five days earlier. How could the Rebbe have known?
~~~ It's Good to Laugh
I was walking down the street when I was accosted by a particularly dirty and shabby-looking homeless woman who asked me for a couple of dollars for dinner.
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I was born in 1936 in Ukraine, in the city of Dnepropetrovsk (formerly known as Yekaterinoslav), where the rabbi was Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson, the Rebbe’s father.