Tishrei Icon Describes First ‘Encounter with the Rebbe’

For several decades Mr. Zalmon Jaffe from Manchester, England, was an icon during Tishrei in 770. He wrote 26 volumes of “Encounters with the Rebbe,” where he describes his visits during the high holidays. Recently his son, Rabbi Avrohom Jaffe, Chabad Shliach in Manchester, published all the volumes online.

In an excerpt, presented below, Mr. Jaffe describes his first encounter with the Rebbe:

My very first encounter with the Rebbe took place in 1952. It was not a direct face-to-face meeting. It was by means of a letter which I had received as President of the Kahal Chassidim Synagogue, Manchester.

We wanted to send the Rabbi of our Shul my uncle, Rabbi Shmuel Rein, to visit the Rebbe as our emissary. He had himself, written to the Rebbe for permission to travel. It was a long sea journey (there were no air services at that time) and he was not in good health.

The letter which we received from the Rebbe was in Yiddish. The following is my translation of this epistle:

7th Elul 5712/1952

To the Members and Honorary Officers of the Kahal Chassidim Synagogue.

I have just received your letter, and am pleased to learn how much you value the work of your Rabbi Shmuel Rein. I am also happy to note that you desire a closer liaison and contact with us here (at ‘770’) – that being the main reason why you want to send Rabbi Rein as your Shaliach – emissary to Brooklyn.

I hope that, just the same as with every living- thing, so will your good feelings also continue to grow and to permeate through your members, into their homes and their activities.

This is the principle theme of our Torah and of our religion that they are not relevant to a part of the day only, and the rest of the time this Yiddishkeit is not even noticeable. But ours is a living Torah, from a living G-d which encompasses a Jew from the very first second until the last second of the 120 good years of his life – not only a Jew in Shul, at prayer and study, but also at home, in the street, and in the office – as we recite twice a day in the Shema “and you shall speak of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk on the road, when you lie down and when you rise up.” should visit me here, and further to his letter to me regarding his health. I consider that the strain of the journey, especially with the problems of eating and drinking, and other essential matters – although even amidst Simcha and happiness – would be too much for him. I am sure he has shown you the letter which I sent to him and in which I have explained these above-mentioned matters.

I wish to thank you for the good thoughts in wishing to send your Rabbi, especially from a congregation which prides itself on the name of Kahal Chassidim.

We learn that the Alter (old) Rebbe wrote in the Tanya, Chapter 16 that “Good thoughts have to be united with deeds.” That is, there has to be action too. Therefore, I hope that there will also be deeds that mean, that the good results which you could have anticipated from the visit will be turned to good actions even though your emissary did not make the journey.

I end with good wishes for a Happy New Year to all the members of your Shul and to their families – to everyone – materially and spiritually.”

This was the first letter which I had ever received, albeit indirectly, from the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Until that moment the Rebbe was, to me, some vague personality living thousands of miles away in the USA, literally – we were worlds apart.

My first recollections of a Rebbe were as a youngster – when he was an even vaguer figure, who resided thousands of miles away in the town of Lubavitch in Lithuania.

My maternal grandfather, Shneur Zalmon Edelman was a devout Lubavitcher Chossid. My mother used to tell us that he left his wife and three daughters at home in Rakishik, Lithuania and spent every Yom Tov with the Rebbe, Sholom Ber, who reigned from 1883 until 1920.

Around 1906, during the time of the Russian pogroms, my mother together with many thousands of Jews fled to this country. She settled in Manchester, where she subsequently met my father, Zev Jaffe, who had come from Riga in Latvia. They were married in 1910. My father was not a Lubavitcher Chossid, but my mother persuaded him to join the Kahal Chassidim Synagogue.

Until I was nearly thirty five years of age, the only contact, involvement or knowledge I had of Lubavitch was that we davened in a ‘Lubavitch Shul.’ We celebrated a Yom Tov called Yud Tes Kislev, which was the anniversary of the date on which the Alter Rebbe, the founder of Lubavitch was released and freed from a Russian jail after having been sentenced to death for alleged treason. We also celebrated Simchas Torah in rather a hectic and merry manner, which was most unusual in Manchester at that time.

The old Chassidim, who included my uncle Shmuel Rein, Alexander N. Nemtzov, Rabbi Rivkin and Rabbi Dubov, had all studied at the Lubavitcher Yeshiva. They kept very much to themselves as they were old friends. I had no idea what Lubavitch stood for or what it meant. My uncle did give over a Maamer during Shallosh Seudos on Shabbos in winter. It was in Yiddish and none of us boys understood very much of it. We did know that Rabbi Rein corresponded with the Rebbe, but we were not personally involved.

I Learn About Lubavitch

Then Rabbi Ben-Tzion ShemTov arrived on the scene. Matters changed very swiftly and dramatically.

He was the ideal and perfect soldier of the Rebbe. He served the A’mighty and the Rebbe and the Jewish people with friendliness, gladness, joy and self-sacrifice. He explained to us the Lubavitch teachings and doctrines. Furthermore, to enable us to comprehend more easily, he told us the following story about the Alter Rebbe, which explained in simple language the dogma of Lubavitch, so that even a child could understand.

The Alter Rebbe shared his house with his eldest married son – Rabbi Dov Ber (who later succeeded him). Rabbi Dov Ber was known for his unusual power of concentration, when he was engaged in study or prayer he was totally oblivious to everything around him.

On one occasion, when Rabbi Dov Ber was thus engrossed, his baby, sleeping in a nearby cot, fell out of his cradle and began to cry. Rabbi Dov Ber did not hear the baby’s cries.

The infants grandfather, the Alter Rebbe, who was in his study on the upper floor – also engrossed in his studies, did hear the baby’s cries. He interrupted his studies, went downstairs, lifted the infant soothed it and replaced it in its cradle. To all this, the infants father remained quite oblivious.

Subsequently, the Alter Rebbe admonished his son – “No matter how engrossed one may be in the most lofty occupation, one must never remain insensitive to the cry of a child.” The lesson which we have to learn is that we have to hearken to the cry of a child.

The “child” may be an infant in age, a minor or teenager, a Jewish boy or girl attending public school, fallen from the ‘cradle’ of the Jewish religion, heritage and way of life.

Or it may be an adult in years, yet an ‘infant’ with regard to knowledge and experience of the Jewish religion and heritage, as are so many Jewish students on the campuses of colleges and universities or in other walks of life.
The souls of these Jewish ‘children’ cry out in anguish, for they live in a spiritual void. They cry out for a guiding hand that would restore to them the security, warmth and comfort of their faith, and give meaning to their empty lives, whether they are conscious of it, or feel it only subconsciously.

We must hear their cries, no matter how preoccupied we may be with any lofty cause – for to help them back to their Jewish cradles takes priority over all else.

My First Correspondence with the Rebbe

Suddenly, from ‘right out of the blue’ and quite unexpectedly, during Shevat 5713 (January 1953) I received my first personal letter from the Rebbe from ‘770.’ It was written in Yiddish, which I translated as follows:

I was pleased to receive regards from you through Rabbi Shem Tov. I was especially pleased, to hear that your business is going well. I hope that the A’mighty will help so that your business shall go from “good to better.”

According to my opinion, however, you should take it upon yourself to give immediately from your earnings a little more than Maaser (a tenth) to charity organisations and not to wait until you may see a success to your business ventures but to fulfil the sayings of our sages (Z.L.) “Give a tenth in order that you should become wealthy.” This means that first one gives Maaser – and one should not be so exacting – but to give a little more. One then can rely on the honesty of the A’mighty, that He, Blessed be He, will fulfil His promise of bestowing riches. The Holy Torah calls wealth that which will be used for healthy happy Yiddish matters. May HaShem, Blessed be He, give you good fortune.

Rabbi Shem Tov just happened to be in Manchester at that moment. I proudly showed him the letter from the Rebbe. He insisted that I should reply, straight away, to the Rebbe and that I should write in English. I did so.

A completely new vista – a new era – had now been opened up before me. I now had a confidant and an advisor – a ‘Father’ upon whom I could rely implicitly, and it is certainly a great relief to be freed from the burden and responsibility of having to make vital decisions on one’s own. It is a great comfort to be able to receive an unbiased opinion and objective advise, especially from a saintly person who will intercede on one’s behalf, by fervent prayer, direct to Our Heavenly Father.

In due course I received a reply to my letter. It was in English too. In fact, most of our correspondence from that time onwards was written in the English language.

The Rebbe wrote:

Sholom U’ Brocho,

I was pleased to receive your letter. You need not excuse yourself for writing in English and should not hesitate to continue to do so. The important thing is that your letter should contain good news.

I was gratified to note in your letter that you feel the need and urge to devote more time to learn Torah and that to increase the amount of Tzedoka cannot make good the deficiency in the time of study. That this is true, we can see from physical life. Each organ of the body must receive its nourishments and although strength in one indirectly benefits also the rest, each and every one must receive its own blood and nourishment. Spiritually, the soul has its own 248 ‘organs’ and 365 ‘blood vessels’ namely, the positive and negative precepts, respectively, which make up the spiritual stature of the Jew. And although a greater effort in one Mitzvah benefits the whole organism each Mitzvah has its own function which cannot be substituted by another.

I trust this feeling of the need for more time for study which springs from an inner desire for Torah, will be translated into practical deed, and without loss of time, and that you will go from strength to strength as our sages rule: “Maalin b’Kodesh.”

Your determination to give Tzedoka above Maaser is certainly praiseworthy, and in addition to all else, it is a Segulah for good business and avoidance of losses, so that not only would your anxiety about your surplus stocks prove unfounded, but even bring a profit, in accordance with the words of our sages “Aser bishvil shetisasher” (give a tenth in order to become wealthy.) I am looking forward to receiving good news about your coming addition to the family, it would be advisable to have all the Mezuzahs checked in the meantime.

May G-d help you and your wife to raise your children to the life of Torah, Chuppah and Maasim Toivim and that you continue to increase your share of Torah and Mitzvos.
With blessing

M. Schneerson

For the following six years, until I had the merit and pleasure pf actually meeting the Rebbe at ‘770’ in January 1959, I corresponded regularly with the Rebbe (I still do, thank G-d). In all, up to the present moment – 1979/5739 – I have received over one hundred and seventy letters from the Rebbe.

They cover a wide range of subjects communal and general, as well as personal. All have been signed by the Rebbe himself, who obviously very carefully reads the letters before signing, because on many of these there are alterations and additions made by the Rebbe in his own handwriting.

Once, I did receive a very important reply to an urgent query of mine which did not have the Rebbe’s signature. It just stated “because of Chol Hamoed this letter is unsigned.”

I hope to find the opportunity of quoting from some of these letters further on.

To read more installments of the My Encounter with the Rebbe series visit zalmonjaffeencounters.com