Weekly Story: Celebrating Hei Teves

by Rabbi Sholom DovBer Avtzon

I will post a story that I received last week about Hei Teves, as well as one of the thoughts I said during a farbrengen that took place in East Flatbush. Thank you for inviting me to your community.

In 1987 Rabbi Alter Bukiet was on shlichus in Sarasota Florida, and around nine on the morning he received a phone call from his father-in-law, Rabbi Feivish Vogel of London, England.

Rabbi Vogel had been instrumental in finding and convincing many dealers and collectors of rare seforim to return the seforim they innocently purchased that were taken from the Rebbe’s library.

So out of courtesy to a co-worker, one of the lead lawyers in the case called him up and said, “Feivish, the judgment is coming out today, and we believe it is in our favor.”

So therefore my father-in-law said, “Altie, I am telling you to fly to 770 as you don’t want to miss the celebration.”

I booked a flight and arrived at 770 around three in the afternoon. I entered the lobby, which was basically empty as everyone was waiting downstairs in the Shul awaiting the Rebbe to come and daven mincha.

In the lobby, there is a showcase with seforim of Kehos on the wall and standing next to it was an elderly Jew, without a yarmulka who was crying.

Going over to him I said loudly, “Sholom Aleichem, my name is Altie Bukiet.

He stretched out his hand and replied, “My name is Feivel Ditschick.

I then asked him, “Is everything alright?”

At that moment the Rebbe opened the door to the lobby and evidently, he heard my question to that individual and he saw the man crying, so he asked me, “What is with him?”

I translated the Rebbe’s question to that individual and he responded, “I just came from the hospital where the doctor said to me, ‘Medically there is nothing that I can do to help your wife and she will pass on very shortly. However,” the doctor continued, “I am a religious Jew and I am telling you that in Crown Heights Brooklyn there is a great spiritual Rabbi, go to him in 770 Eastern Parkway and request a blessing. So I am here.”

The Rebbe asked him, “What is your wife’s name?”

The man responded in English, Feiga the daughter of Brocha.”

The Rebbe then spoke directly to the man in English and said, “Hashem has many years for me, and I am positive that He also has many years for your wife.”

The Rebbe then took out a nickel from his pocket and gave it to Feivel, indicating that he should place it in the pushka that is attached to the wall in the lobby.

After placing the coin in the pushka, he returned and stood next to me and the Rebbe proceeded to enter the elevator. But then suddenly the Rebbe turned around and said, “Bukiet nu.”

I didn’t understand what the Rebbe was asking and I remained silent. The Rebbe repeated himself a second time and I didn’t know what the Rebbe was asking, so I just stood there dumbfounded and didn’t reply.

The Rebbe then said, “Is it possible that this man hadn’t put on tefillin today?”

After I translated the Rebbe’s question, Feivel responded that indeed he had not.

The Rebbe then said to me, “Take him downstairs and put tefillin on him.”

The Rebbe continued on his way to mincha and we went downstairs and Feivel put on tefillin. Towards the end of mincha, I mentioned to Feivel, that we should stand close to the exit door and see the Rebbe on his way out of Shul.

The Rebbe noticed Feivel and he made an encouraging and upbeat sign with his hand to him, as he was walking out of the Shul.

Rabbi Bukiet concludes the story; that day was Hei Teves, the day the Rebbe won a case that put an end to a very painful ordeal.

Yet, at that moment what was the Rebbe occupying himself with, to see that a Jew puts on tefillin!

Hearing this story, I thought to myself, how similar is this to what we learn in last weeks’ parsha, that while Yosef cried on his father’s shoulder when they finally met after twenty-two years, Yaakov didn’t cry on Yosef’s shoulder.

The obvious question is, Yaakov expressed his tremendous emotions when he knew that Yosef was alive, so why when they met didn’t he? Rashi answers at that moment he was saying Shema.
Here too, the Rebbe wanted to thank Hashem and the best way was encouraging another Jew to put on Tefillin and say Shema.

Now to the thought, I shared at a farbrengen:

In the sichos that the Rebbe said about the entire saga, he explained that the opposition argued that after Yud Shevat 5710, when the Frierdijer Rebbe was nistalek, Agudas Chassidei Chabad [and by extension, Lubavitch] was inactive.
The ruling refuted that notion, and as the honorable judge noted, Lubavitch is active at all times of the day and night and is even stronger than before.

So while Hei Teves became a day of celebrating seforim, in commemoration of the seforim that were returned, in truth, Hei Teves is much more than that. Hei Teves is a day that stated that Lubavitch is active and more vibrant than it ever was.

Yes, we see it by the roll call that there are way more shluchim and shluchos that went on Shlichus after Gimmel Tammuz, than those who went on Shlichus before Gimmel Tammuz. Our institutions are growing and expanding and there are so many ways the Lubavitch is on the move.

However, the question is not, ‘Is Lubavitch stronger than before?” The question is if I as a Lubavitcher is stronger than before? Yes, I have my schedule learning, just as every Orthodox Jew has, but do I have a schedule of at least once a week to learn Chassidus?

In other words, the question is what is happening with the Lubavitch in me? While many of us may not be an official Shliach, that doesn’t mean we can’t do the Rebbe’s shlichus! Each one of us, can reach out to another Jew, at least once a week and teach that person about Judaism and perhaps make a time to study Torah with them.

Doing so exemplifies the concept that Lubavitch is active and vibrant.

Rabbi Avtzon is a veteran mechanech and the author of numerous seforim on the Rebbeim and their chassidim. He can be contacted at avtzonbooks@gmail.com