The Sound That Mattered

by Rabbi Asher Zeilingold, – Hasidic Archives

Coming from his mother’s apartment, the Rebbe would not need to cross President street, just Kingston and Brooklyn Avenues. However, on Friday nights we noticed that the Rebbe would cross over near Kingston. 

People were curious why he did this, and someone started a rumor that there was a house on President Street where a witch lived and the Rebbe didn’t want to walk past her house. That was of course total nonsense, but somebody’s curiosity was great enough to ask the Rebbe.

At 1383 President Street there was the Kollel Gur Aryeh, headed by Rabbi Yitzchok Hutner. Their custom was that after they went home for the Shabbos meal, they would come back and continue their studies. On Friday nights, when it was quiet outside and the streets were for the most part empty, when you walked past, if the windows were open, you would be able to hear the studying. 

“I like to hear the sounds of Torah,” the Rebbe responded to the curious individual. 

There was a similar story involving 770. Once someone closed the door to the study hall, so as not to disturb the Rebbe. Seeing this, the Rebbe commented that the “sounds of Torah never disturbs me.”

An excerpt from the forthcoming book Clear Vision: Living by the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s Guidance, available at ClearVisionBook.com