two VERY short anecdotes about Rav Moshe ben RYG Soloveitchik and the Lubavitcher Rebbe, זצוקללה"ה - take them or leave them

 HaRav Reb Moshe Soloveitchik was the Rosh Yeshiva in Lucerne and later lived in Zurich, Switzerland. For some 33 years, from when Rav Kopelman came to Lucerne until his passing in 5755/1995 he held no official position but gave several shiurim daily. He was a son of Reb Yisroel Gershon Soloveitchik, hy"d, eldest son of Reb Chaim. That made him the Brisker Rov's nephew, not that he needed that. You can see more of his bio in the Wiki page that I link to above. If you read any of the Brisker biography books you see him in the pictures from the Rov's visits to Switzerland. So I was speaking to a Rosh Mesivta with very strong Swiss connections today and the discussion turned to Lubavitch, it always does... We discussed Rabbonim and Roshei Yeshiva that visited the Rebbe; people you'd be very surprised to hear came to see him, often times knowing that they'd be scorned by the "establishment." Then he tells me that very often it was the mazkirim that kept more Rebbes, Rabbonim, Roshei Yeshiva, etc. from seeing the Rebbe by giving them the famous Chabad run-around that you very often hear of, that they could only see the Rebbe in 3 weeks/months from now, for whatever reason. Often times they were in New York for a short visit and could not wait that long. They also didn't know that nothing is etched in stone, even in a mazkir's appointment book, and that all it took was a little cajoling to get in sooner. So they turned around and went home without seeing what there was to see in New York. Reb Moshe Soloveitchik was one such "casualty," and he said as much to people he knew would appreciate the story, mainly a Lubavitcher Chossid from a Litvishe background. Ad Kan anecdote # 1.

Photo courtesy of הרב מבריסק - תודה להשולח היקר והנכבד

Number 2 is a bit shorter than # 1. A Schweitzer Yid once returned from a "trip to America." America, means New York for anybody living outside the US. Upon hearing about his trip Reb Moshe asks him if he saw the Lubavitcher Rebbe.... The Yid says no. Reb Moshe is astounded! "You went to America and didn't see the Lubavitcher Rebbe?!" What else is there to see in America?! (Ok, I added that last part.) Ad Kan anecdote #2. What's ironic about this whole story is that Lubavitcher Chassidim always get blamed and labeled as being such PR crazies, always publicizing their Rebbe for the whole world. Yet we see here, and I'm sure there are many such corroborating stories, that at the same time that may have hindered that "campaign." That, and the fact that they didn't care enough about the rest of the Chareidishe world to find about who they are and whether or not a personality like RMS should be accommodated before 3 weeks hence. This is not place the blame solely at the feet of the mazkirus, but is a slightly different angle and should be taken into account somewhat. The Rebbe loved meeting people from the "outside world," and definitely would've made time for Reb Moshe had he known that he wished to see him. But this is life, and the mazkirim, knowing the Rebbe's very hectic schedule and lack of concern for his own physical well-being were afraid that seeing one more person would make hurt his health even more, so they did what they thought was right. Just remember this, the Rebbe saw people at night only, all night, several times a week, and the next day was a regular day of learning and answering letters, so another long meeting like Reb Moshe would've had would only extended his day and shortened the precious resting time that he had.

.....מ'מוז אזוי זאגען

Rav Moshe Feinstein's yechidus with the Lubavitcher Rebbe, זצוקללה"ה נבג"מ זי"ע, and other interesting stories

as told by his grandson, Rabbi Mordecai Tendler, Spring Valley, NY (see page 44)

Most people who knew my grandfather, Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt"l, never saw him learn from regular seforim. He was always writing. All his learning took place in the past, before anyone who knew him in New York came on the scene. So, it was an enigma: When did he learn? On Shabbos, he did his Daf Yomi for the entire continued on week. He learned the parsha with Onkelos and Rashi, and Midrash Rabba for that parsha. Every morning, he learned two perokim from Tanach, just the words. He had, in fact, an encyclopedic knowledge of Tanach. He did no other learning, certainly not Kabbalah, the mystical, esoteric teachings. I once asked him if he had ever learned Kabbalah, and he gave me a cryptic response: "Those who talk about Kabbalah don't know it, and those that know it, don't talk about it." He never answered the question directly, but an incident that took place in 1975 can give us a clue.

He had been asked by Avram Levine, who was then serving as secretary for my grandfather's organization, Agudas Rabbanim, to be mesader kedushin at his wedding. Avram Levine, who subsequently moved to Israel, where he writes for the Jewish Press, is a Lubavitcher chassid, and the wedding was to take place at Lubavitch headquarters in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Arrangements were made so that, after the chupah, my grandfather, for the first time, would meet with the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, zt"l, who, as per Chabad custom, would not be personally present at the wedding. After the chupah, my grandfather and the Rebbe spent one hour alone together. Afterwards, my grandfather told me that the first few minutes were spent on pleasantries, each asking about each other's health and families. Then they discussed questions relating to Klal Yisrael, including recent political decisions and other matters of concern. Finally, the Rebbe told my grandfather he had a question relevant to Torah. He told my grandfather that, for 50 years, he had been perplexed by a major enigma in the Zohar, the foundational work of Kabbalah. His question dealt with the Kabbalistic concept of the Yanuka, a wonder child who possesses supernatural wisdom. My grandfather did not pause for a second before giving the Rebbe an extraordinarily brilliant explanation to the question that had been posed. The Rebbe was reportedly ecstatic with the response. Their meeting ended, and my grandfather left. Later, after he told me what had happened during their meeting, I asked my grandfather if he had learned this explanation at an earlier time, but my grandfather refused to discuss the matter further. When I discussed this incident with my uncles, my grandfather's sons, we concluded that it would have been impossible for my grandfather to have responded to the Rebbe's question so quickly and with such confidence unless it was already clear in his mind from earlier study. This means he must have studied Kabbalah extensively in his earlier years.

My grandfather, of course, spent just as much time answering questions from Jews who did not have the stature of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. On one occasion, he heard from a young man who lived in the Midwest who had, nebach, just lost his father. To complicate matters, the funeral was one week before the young man was scheduled to be married. The Shabbos of his aufruf fell in middle of shiva. Because his family was close with Rav Moshe, they placed a long-distance call to New York to discuss some specific shailos regarding the groom's circumstance. The young man was very appreciative of Rav Moshe's assistance and his warm words of chizuk. A few minutes after they had hung up, the phone rang in the young man's home. A long-distance operator asked the surprised young man if he would accept a long-distance call from Moses Feinstein. Rav Moshe explained his reason for calling. "After we hung up," he said, "I realized that this Shabbos is also your kallah's Shabbos Kallah. The custom is that the choson sends the kallah special flowers for this special Shabbos. If your kallah would not get the flowers, and all her friends who come for the Shabbos Kallah would see that she does not have them, she would feel bad. I wanted to tell you that you must make sure to send the flowers, despite your situation." Rav Moshe then went on to say that the halachos of aveilus (laws of mourning) are d'rabbanan (rabbinic), but making someone feel bad is an issur d'Oriesah (forbidden in the Torah).

א רבי'שע שמועס

קטע מתוך "יחידות" של כ"ק האדמו"ר מסקולען זצוק"ל, יום א' כ' שבט תשל"ד

האדמו"ר מסקולען: יש כל-כך הרבה צרות, של הפרט ושל הכלל, והמצב בארצנו הקדושה, צריכים ישועות ונחמות.

הרבי: והצרה הכי גדולה ששכינתא בגלותא. קרוב לאלפיים שנה השכינה בגלות ועם ישראל בגלות! עד מתי?!


האדמו"ר מסקולען: הרבי הוא צדיק הדור וצדיק גוזר והקב"ה מקיים

הרבי: מה שאני חושב ועושה, הקב"ה יודע. אולי תפסקו אתם שמשיח צריך לבוא!

האדמו"ר מסקולען: שיבוא המשיח ויהיה סוף לכל הצרות, של הכלל ושל הפרט.

הרבי: הצרות צריכות להיפסק מיד, גם אם נגזר עלינו להיות עוד רגע בגלות. אנו אומרים בתפילה "שבענו מטובך ושמחנו בישועתך". מהו כפל הלשון? אלא כשיהודים לא טוב להם, כשיש צרות, הם מבקשים שמשיח יבוא. אבל לא זו הסיבה האמיתית שאנחנו צריכים משיח. אנחנו צריכים משיח כי "שכינתא בגלותא". ולכן מבקשים שיהיה קודם "שבעינו מטובך", שלכל יהודי יהיה טוב האמיתי מידו המלאה הפתוחה הגדושה והרחבה, ואז הוא לא יבקש משיח בגלל הצרות שלו אלא בגלל השכינתא בגלותא, וזהו שלאחר שיהיה "שבענו מטובך", אזי כשמשיח יבוא יהיה "שמחנו בישועתך", השמחה תהיה לא בגלל שנפטרנו מהצרות שלנו (כי כבר נפטרנו קודם) אלא בישועתך, בגלל הישועה של הקב"ה כביכול, שנושע ממצב של שכינתא בגלותא. אבל בין כך ובין כך שמשיח יבוא. אנחנו מוותרים כבר מה רגע קודם ומה רגע אחרי כן. שלצרות לא יהיה תרוץ לחכות עד שמשיח יבוא, ושלמשיח לא יהיה תרוץ כביכול לחכות עד שייפטרו מהצרות. זה יכול להיות בשעתא חדא ובסמיכות ממש והעיקר שיהיה רגע אחד קודם!

האדמו"ר מסקולען: יהודים גם כשהלכו לכבשן האש באושוויץ שרו "אני מאמין בביאת המשיח". והם הרי בוודאי לא חשבו על עצמם, על הצרות שלהם, הם הרי כבר היו בדרך לעולם שכולו טוב, במעלת קדושים וגיבורים וטהורים שאין שום בריה יכולה לעמוד במחיצתם, וכששרו בלהט האמונה "אני מאמין", היו בדרגה האמיתית של הציפייה והאמונה במשיח, כפי שהרבי אמר, לא בגלל הצרות שלהם אלא כדי שיבוא כבר הסוף לגלות.

הרבי: כן, ואתם שזכיתם להציל כל-כך הרבה ילדי ישראל מהימים ההם, אוד מוצל מאש, יש לכם כח במרומים לפעול שיבוא כבר המשיח!

האדמו"ר מסקולען: מי אנו ומה אנו לעומת הרבי?

הרבי: זו ענווה שלא במקומה, על-כל-פנים אני יעשה מה שתלוי בי ואתם תעשו מה שתלוי בכם.

האדמו"ר מסקולען: העיקר שיבוא משיח במהרה בימינו ממש וכפי שהרבי אמר: רגע אחד קודם

הרבי: אמן ואמן