Rabbi Sholem B. Kowalsky relates first hand accounts of how he escorted Rabbi Joseph Ber Soleveichik, known as J.B., to be Menachem Avel the Rebbe. In his account he reveals some astounding information about Rabbi Soleveichik’s encounter with the Rebbe in Berlin.
The Rebbe and the Rav
Rabbi Sholem B. Kowalsky relates first hand accounts of how he escorted Rabbi Joseph Ber Soleveichik, known as J.B., to be Menachem Avel the Rebbe. In his account he reveals some astounding information about Rabbi Soleveichik’s encounter with the Rebbe in Berlin.
I had the opportunity to facilitate a meeting between the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, and Rabbi Joseph Ber Soloveitchik, “the Rav,” at a sad time.
It was 1964. The Rebbe’s mother, Rebbetzin Chana Schneerson, had passed away on Shabbat, four days before Yom Kippur, and the Rebbe was sitting shiva. The usual seven days of mourning were cut short, as the holy day of Yom Kippur fell on Wednesday, bringing shiva to an end.
Every year during the Ten Days of Repentance,1 the Rav would deliver a rousing lecture on the laws of repentance which thousands of people would attend.
That year, the Rav presented the lecture on Sunday night and it was my privilege to attend. When the Rav entered the hall with his family, I quickly approached him and carefully told him the sad tidings. I offered to drive him to the Rebbe if he chose to pay his respects and comfort him. He was very grateful and said to meet him at the end of the lecture to finalize the arrangements. [continued]
Read the account and watch the interviews, The Rebbe and the Rav:
http://www.chabad.org/529444
http://www.crownheights.info/index.php?itemid=4609
Mark Rosenstein
“JB” was coined as a way of reffering to Rav Soloveitchik, direspectly.
It would be advised to remove that part, as many of his followers and admires are offended by such zilzul.