Personal Correspondence Between the Rebbe and Reb Zalmon Jaffe Published Online

From the day he first met the Rebbe in 1959, Reb Zalmon Jaffe, OBM, dedicated his life to use every opportunity to make the Rebbe happy and to serve as the Rebbe’s Public-Relations man in England.

He always encouraged people to write to the Rebbe, not necessarily when they had problems, but to keep contact always. He only wanted to write good news, to make the Rebbe happy. He did not want to be a Tzoros-Chossid and only write when he had a problem.

He reveled in relating stories about the Rebbe and of the achievements of his Shluchim. This is one of the reasons why he wrote his famous My Encounter with the Rebbe, to whet people’s appetite to visit 770 themselves.

Reb Zalmon always had a knack for writing, and when it was suggested to him that someone should keep a diary of their experiences at ‘770’ he jumped at the opportunity. He went on to publish twenty six volumes of My Encounter With The Rebbe!

The Rebbe would provide comments where necessary, and always encouraged him to increase the number of pages every year. That he managed to do this was one of the Rebbe’s greatest miracles!

The Rebbetzin was his most famous fan. Reb Zalmon would always be certain to present a copy of his diary to the Rebbetzin as soon as he arrived in New York. When they met again, it was obvious from her questions and comments that she had read every page.

Reb Zalmon had an avid readership, and his books were known to be addictive. After starting to read one of the books, it was difficult to put it down before reaching the end. The books comprised a synthesis of humor and seriousness, Torah and anecdotes. The common thread that ran through the Encounters was the connection that his family had with the Rebbe. This gave the books a charming and cherished personal touch.

Unbeknownst to most readers, in addition to his books, Reb Zalmon maintained an extensive correspondence with the Rebbe. For forty years he had the privilege of the Rebbe’s inspired advice on practically every matter.

Rabbi Avremi Kievman, who married Reb Zalmon’s granddaughter, put the letters in order and published. “I knew that this is what my father would have wanted, to make the Rebbe’s advice available to everybody,” said Reb Avrohom Jaffe. “I gratefully agreed to publish these letters, knowing full well that this would give my father much nachas and joy, and that the project would also be of help to others.”

The letters are published and available to all at ZalmonJaffeEncounters.com