Monday, July 9, 2012

Lubavitch Archives - a glimpse into a not so distant past

































This may be one of the reasons why Facebook was created. Our good friend Dovid Zaklikowski has created a beautiful Facebook page/group where he features many never-before-seen pictures of happenings in the Lubavitcher הויף and other happenings within .כרם חב"ד These pictures are usually without captions, save for sometimes giving a general caption or idea that tells you the general date or time or place of the event. Visitors are then asked to identify the individuals in the pictures. Take for example this picture here, of the revered Chossid Reb Shmiel Duvid Raichik ע"ה of California; where else would you see such a picture? Nowhere. And where else would you have such a Chossid? only in Lubavitch. Elsewhere he'd be a Rebbe already.

















l-r: Rav Shlomo Wolbe, Rav Yakov Yisroel הי"ד, Rav Mordechai Schulman of Slabodka.

איי, וועט איר דאך פרעגן, what's the Lubavitch angle in this picture? Are we now claiming Rav Wolbe, or perhaps the Slabodka Bnei Beraq Rosh Yeshiva as one of our own? No, silly, it's Rav Zuber that made this picture appear in the archives. He was a Lubavitcher Chossid. The picture is apparently from the time that RYYZ was Rov in Stockholm, or maybe not. Rav Wolbe was from Sweden, but we don't know if RMS was ever in Sweden. So maybe it's from a time that RYYZ traveled to Europe. There are pictures of him with Reb Lazer Yudel Finkel in the archive as well. He later immigrated to the United States and was killed by a drunk sheigetz around New Year's of 1953. See an interview with his daughter Mrs. Chana Sharfstein from Crown Heights in Mishpacha magazine.






















 And here we have a wonderful picture of the Chossid Reb Bentche Shemtov at a family simcha. Those who know could tell you that at a certain point of the simcha/farbrengen Reb Bentche would get up and make himself heard. Here he was probably calling out some other chossid, telling him that he's a no-good bum, for one reason or another. That he wasn't mekusher to the Rebbe and is therefore not worthy of breathing the air on G-d's green earth. To his left was his brother-in-law, the unforgettable Reb Mendel Futerfas. They were married to 2 sisters. RBS was married to RMF's sister Esther GoldaReb Mendel is sitting with kabolas Ol, but you might say that he doesn't look very happy. Simches were a whole lot heimisher back then.

56 comments:

m said...

actually bentche shemtov was married to mendel futerfas's sister, mendel futerfas was married to rubinson.

Hirshel Tzig - הירשל ציג said...

and Serebrianski was also married to a Futerfas?

m said...

yes

melrose said...

R shmuel dovid raichik, wasn't shmeel since otvotzk when the amshinover sent him to tomchei tmimim.

Hirshel Tzig - הירשל ציג said...

he was and STILL is!

melrose said...

Not by anyone besides berel weiss a"h.

ouch! said...

Tzig quote: "And where else would you have such a Chossid? only in Lubavitch. Elsewhere he'd be a Rebbe already."

ניבּא ואינו יודע מה ניבּא! ווען דער לעצטער ליבּאוויטשר רבּי איז געקומען מנח"א זיין דעם סאטמאר רבּין ז"ל על פּטירות בּתו, האט דער סאטמאר רבּי גירעדט אַמערסטנ'ס מיט'ן חסיד וואס איז מיט געקימ'ן מיטן ליבּאוויטשר רבּין, דערנאך האט אימער גיפרעגט דעם סאטמאר רבּין היתכן? האט ער גיענטפערט: דער חסיד גיפעלט מיר בּעסער וויא דער רבּי
ouch!

Hirshel Tzig - הירשל ציג said...

א פריש-געבאקענער ליגענט

ouch! said...

Hirshel Tzig - הירשל ציג said...
א פריש-געבאקענער ליגענט


.זאל זיין וויא די ווילסט

shea said...

." And where else would you have such a Chossid? only in Lubavitch. Elsewhere he'd be a Rebbe already."

Just a silly comment.
There are and were many chasidim of other rebbes who remained chasidim though they were rebbe caliber.

Why do you say silly things, when your point could be just as well taken without adding narunes.

shea said...

Very nice pics,but PLEASE, can someone caption them? Without names it loses so much value

Hirshel Tzig - הירשל ציג said...

shea. the captions are in the post. he middle one even has captions after the pic.

chaim said...

א פריש-געבאקענער ליגענט


Why?

R'Yoel could not have said it?

And since R'Reichik came from a more Poylishe chasidic backround he had much more in common with R'Yoel

shea said...

Hirshel,
I mean on the Lubavitch archives facebook page.I don't see captions

Hirshel Tzig - הירשל ציג said...

1) it wasn't R Raichik, it was R' Shmuel Levitin

2) You really think that a Chossid would allow another Rebbe/Rov to address him while the Rebbe is ignored?! The story is SUPPOSEDLY based on the fact that RYT THOUGHT at the beginning of the visit that Reb Shmuel Levitin was the Rebbe. He was immediately told of his MISTAKE. And that story grew a beard and you're stroking that beard now...

Hirshel Tzig - הירשל ציג said...

some he knows and some he wants the readers to write captions for. To get them to participate.

ouch said...

Hirshel: "RYT THOUGHT at the beginning of the visit that Reb Shmuel Levitin was the Rebbe. He was immediately told of his MISTAKE. And that story grew a beard and you're stroking that beard now..."

Right Hirshel!, but both is true.

Hirshel Tzig - הירשל ציג said...

how can both be true?

ouch said...

Hirshel Tzig - הירשל ציג said: "how can both be true?"

When they came in Reb Shmuel Levitin or whoever was with him, was more of a rebeshe look and SR took him for the rebbe!, than when they left, he was asked on that, why he supposedly ignored the LR? that's when he found out that he mistakenly took the gabi for the rebbe! so SR quipt דער חסיד גיפעלט מיר בּעסער וויא דער רבּי

megaleh said...

ouch, ki hodom yireh l'aynayim v'hashem yireh lalavov

Hirshel Tzig - הירשל ציג said...

ignored? they had a whole long conversation!

megaleh said...

ouch, but if ryt was a true tzaddik, he would never say such a thing to another Jew, he would maybe think it. is Shma minoh.....

or elchanan said...

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/s720x720/301813_10150735259327581_603712580_9784183_856556979_n.jpg

yold said...

ignored? they had a whole long conversation!

transcrits anywhre?

Anonymous said...

Ouch
".זאל זיין וויא די ווילסט"
I guess that you admit you love the lie better if it seves the hate machine....

tomashever said...

Hirshel Tzig
you are correct that both shmussen are known and printed....

מגלה טפח said...

megaleh said...
ouch, ki hodom yireh l'aynayim v'hashem yireh lalavov

גמרא ברכות דף ז

תניא, אמר רבי ישמעאל בן אלישע: פעם אחת נכנסתי להקטיר קטורת לפני ולפנים, וראיתי אכתריאל יה ה' צבאות שהוא יושב על כסא רם ונשא...

רבי צדוק הכהן מלובלין מעלה האם האיש לבוש הבדים, שהוא אכתריאל, הוא שמו של הקב"ה בעצמו, או שם של מלאך
ומוצא סימוכין במקומות.. שהכוונה למלאך וזה המלאך נראה לר' ישמעאל כהן גדול בקדשי קדשים בדמות מלאך. ע"כ

והרבּי מ"מ מילאבּאוויטש לא הי' לו הלבוש הבדים! האיצטלא דרבּנן ובּקל אוכל לטעות בּו

דרכי שלום said...

Anonymous said... Ouch
".זאל זיין וויא די ווילסט"


..אין בּהכחשתו 'בהמעשׂה' שום פּגיעה

אולי מפּני דרכי שלום, הודה לו בּטענות

Anonymous said...

די דריי שוואגערס – ר' זלמן, ר' ב''צ, און ר' מענדל – האבן ערשט געהאט זייערע יארצייטען בסימוכין זל''ז: : אויף ג', ד', און ה' תמוז.

–– זא''י

,נ.ב: בענין ביקור הליובאוויטשער רבי אצל הסאטמער רבי בשנת תשי''ב – הנה לפני הרבה שנים שמעתי מהרה''ת ר' ש''ב אלפעראוויץ שהי' אז בחור והי' שם בפרטי הדברים והוא לא הזכיר הפרט אודות ’'דער חסיד געפעלט מיר כו''' – אבל לא ראינו אינו ראי'...

רש''ב הנ''ל כן הוסיף, שקרוב לסוף הביקור נכנס א' מגדולי המתנגדים (כמדומה שהי' הג' הר''א קאטלער) בעת שהשני אדמו''רים היו מדברים בעניני דנסתר התורה (קבלה, חסי'), ובעת שישב הג' הנ''ל, הפנה אליו הסאטמער רבי וא''ל: ''דאס איז נישט פאר אייך...’'

Anonymous said...

רש''ב הנ''ל כן אישר שבעת שנכנסו בדירת הסאטמער רבי, הפנה הסאטמערער אל הר' שמואל בקריאת ’'ליובאוויטשער רבי'', ומיד הראה ר''ש על הרבי (הרמ''ש) שהוא הרבי – וע''ז הגיב הסאטמערער: ''אה, א (פיינער?) יונגערמאן'' – או משהוא כזה (אינו בדיוק ויש לברר אצל רש''ב הנ''ל
(

–– זא''י

Hirshel Tzig - הירשל ציג said...

ziy

כמדומני אז דו פארמישט די יוצרות

Anonymous said...

:ציג

?(היינו תשי''ב עם ביקור אחר (תשכ''ה

יש לברר ג''כ עם ר' לייבל גראנער שהי' ג''כ שם

ר' ש''ב הנ''ל האט גוט געשמאק מתאר געווען ווי ס'האט אויסגעקוקט בעת דער ליובאוויטשער רבי איז געגאנגען צופוס אויף די וויליאמסבורגער געסער, ואיך הסאטמער רבי, אחר שהכיר שהרמ''ש הינו הליובאוויטשער רבי, מיד כיבדו כדקא יאות
...

–– זא''י

Hirshel Tzig - הירשל ציג said...

ניין
בתשכ"ה כבר לא הי' הרא"ק בין החיים, אז זה צריך להיות בביקור הראשון, אבל זה הי' בתשי"ד, לא בתשי"ב, בעת פטירת בתו היחידה רויזע'לע

Yankee Raichik said...

the 5714 shmus is printed in menachem meishiv nafshi. The SR asked if halloween is a yoim aidom or stam a "kinder shpil". The Rebbe answered that l'chioirah its yoim aidom. This occurred during cheshvan, so it was dovor b'itoi.

Thanks for posting the picture of my father. When he moved to LA, moishe weiss (berel's brother) wanted to set him up in a shul and he would be the gabbai. the plan was to get a rabistive going. My father refused to do it, and said he is a chossid of the Rebbe and wil always be one. I heard this from R' Moishe directly.

After the war, most of the survivor community in LA had zero interest in their old chassidishe hoifs. My father strongly encouraged them to reconnect to their roots, including pushing MW to travel to the SR. So he had a hand in MW becoming of of satmar's biggest supporters.

Yankee Raichik said...

One more thing:
His nickname varied by the person. I heard Reb Shmuel Dovid, Rabbi Raichik, Shmeel Duvid. The Rebbe referred to him as Harav Raichik.

Anonymous said...

There's a picture of R' ShDR during the war (in Vilna) posing with R' AY Garfinkel & 2 other temimim. R' ShD is wearing a grey fedora & a tie. In pictures of him later, he wears only a black hat & no tie. When did this change?

http://www.chabad.info/index.php/images/images/body_bg1.gif?url=article_he&id=66340

-- ZIY

edinberg said...

i never heard anyone who was less that 20 years younger than rabbi raichik refer to him as anything else.

simcha monica said...

yankee, treat us to a guest post about growing up in LA

Anonymous said...

You don't need a Facebook account to browse this beautiful treasure.

Nitpicker said...

Yankee did you never here RMF (on their trips together) call him rabbi raachik... With his pikchusdikeh twinkle in his eye. Rabbi raachik...ihr zeit shem greit zu machen kiddesh... Ah what those two were...

Anonymous said...

4. Mrs. Leah Edelman wrote:
the picture of Rabbi Jacob Yisrael Zuber. who was my father was taken in Sweden in the summer of the early 40's to be exact this happened in Skarppy,our summer home in the arcepelagos. Rabbi Wolbe was definitly not on the Chassidshe side, however, Rabbi Schulman was a great man

Yankee Raichik said...

Nitpicker,
my father's relationship with RMF was a hafla upelah & their only connection was total bittul to the Rebbe. their personalities, character, expressions, were so different, yet the mutual respect and admiration they showed each other was mind-blowing. I remember my father once sitting by RMF in a farbrengen. RMF took some mashke and started doing a zalman moishe on someone with some choice language thrown in, v'hameivin yovin. my father sat there without saying a word and listened like a 15 yo bochur. once i was driving them around & RMF asked my father to chazer a maamor. he declined, so RMF said nu a sicha. my father said u should. this went back and forth until they agreed that the right thing to do during a car ride is say the 12 psukim together.
there's alot more to this, the bottom line is total bittul can connect people that are total opposites.

Doleh Umashke said...

Reb Yankel
Thanks for the 12 pesukim story...You made my day

david said...

Why am I turned off by the "total bittul" ?
What makes adults suddenly stop thinking?

Also what does the story about Futerfas and the 12 pesukim show??

I dunno, this type of Lubavitcher nonsense is a major turn off.
One of the reasons that Lubavitch has a very powerful meshichist nut job group is because of "the total bittul" and nobody questioning.
Cultish

yankee said...

David
If u really want ro understand th concept of bitul read elie weisels court testimony during the sefarim trial.
If you're stam haking, KIT

david said...

Yankee,
Sorry for coming across as being negative.But I do want to understand what it's about.
I heard from people that your father was a gem, beloved by everybody and widely respected

david said...

While I"m at it I have to say I added the blog to my blogroll.Interesting and passionate discussions and real.
Sometimes folks get nasty but that's the way it is in the real world.

david said...

One last request from bal hablog.
I see you have an artistic eye for pictures.Please keep them coming!
And some more links like this picture archive.

Hirshel Tzig - הירשל ציג said...

ok, david. since you asked so nicely.

david said...

Looking forward

mendel said...

"If you're stam haking, KIT"

Yankee,
I"m sure you never heard your father talk like this...
Umesaymim betov

yankee raichik said...

When the tree is on top of the hill, the apple rolls very far

Chochem fin the Ma Nishtano said...

David
"One of the reasons that Lubavitch has a very powerful meshichist nut job group is because of "the total bittul" and nobody questioning.
Cultish"
Does not chabad have a big anti chabad segment that are arguing for years with the other camp....where do you come up with your facts....

david said...

Did I say Chabad does not have a big anti segment?
All I said was that there is a powerful Meshichist movement and gave what I thought the reason may be.
You must admit that the Meshichist movement is a very strange phenomenon and not going away anytime soon

old friend said...

yankee! your tree on the top of the hill analogy was very touching.

SDR said...

Are you sure that's R'M" Shulman. I showed the picture to an einekle and he said NO WAY.