=sc#20T R. Shlomo Carlebach / Tape #20T / transcribed sa/Modi'in Oct. 03 Holocaust Memorial Concert, 4/90, Gainsville, FLorida ------------------------------------------------------------------ DISCLAIMER: I make no claims upon this material; but acknowlege that others may wish to assert such claims. I ask that anyone re-working it note the appropriate Source Info, especially my docname/date, for Archival purpose. ---------------------------------------------------------------- SOURCE INFO: docname =sc#20T Holocaust Memorial Concert, 4/90, Gainsville, FLorida Distributed as Tape #20T I transcribe from G2 relative to distributed tape in Sands collection, Meor Modi'in. # prefix: Printed beige label on unmarked white caseThose tapes are often in box with the following notation: "Shmi'at Tiferet (hearing of the the Heart) presents a collection of talks, panel discussions, and music that reveal kabbalistic and Hasidic insights expressed in contemporary terms by some of the leading rabbis and teachers of our age.All cassettes are 90 minutes long. For a FREE catalog write to Shmi'at Tiferet, 4336 NW 27 Dr., Gainsville FL 326905 or call (904) 374-4478 " ------------------------------------------------------------------ DESCRIPTION / EVALUATION (sa): An OK tape for distribution, Q.E.D. Level: Elementary Primary topics: Shoah / Spiritual resistance in the Shoah {Remark (sa): "Be as careful with a 'light' mitzva as with a heavy one' (Pirke haAvot). One may find some very valuable 'cash tora's' in what I term 'elementary' teachings. } {Remark (sa): When I started transcribing RSC teachings, maybe 20 years ago, with =onjoy , my intention was to put his words into proper, academically respectable English. R. Joshua Witt, Reuven Goldfarb, Hatzkela Sasson, and others (none of whom, nor anyone else, bear any responsibility for whatever I've done wrong here), have directed my attention to the value of transcribing his exact words. I've tried to do that (I don't introduce any editting into my transcriptions; and clearly distinguished any edits, most ca. 1987, from verbatim transcriptions), especially with this transcription; without [sic]'s.} ------------------------------------------------------------------ INPUT INFO: docname =sc#20t, 29 Oct 03 Input under (Windows 98)/ MS-DOS (don't know DOS version) using EinsteinWriter 8.2 (W.EXE, 25 Dec 96; 91.904K) on a 100 Mb virtual D-drive, within a 300 Mb hard-disc. (W.EXE won't run on a very large hard-disc, eg ca. 1 Gb; but may be run on such a computer on the 1.4 Mb 3.5" "floppy" Drive.) To be converted to ASCII using EinsteinWriter's T.EXE (20,794K; 11/08/87, 16:39; use only the 20,794K version, not the 20,799K). Format: LL=65 chars; successive layouts .l2 through .l7 staggered block-idents at 5 char intervals; i.e., if for .l1 LM=10, then for T.EXE strips out layouts, so in the *.txt convert everything is flush-left. In a few places, to facilitate reconstruction, I try to note layouts with a #l1, #l2, #l3, etc. I keep awake by interjecting remarks (apologies); but set most of those off those off in {squiggly-braces}, so they can be removed with a simple macro: Find {; start highlight; find }; end highlight; delete highlighted text; repeat until no more { found; end. I also drop most to the bottom of the document; and then deep-six them to a notes document; usual docname =sasc* ; here, =sasc#20t Caveat: Tape-position is also enclosed in {sqiggly-braces}, eg {A + 0 minutes} Other interjections, mostly very short textual clarifications, are enclosed in [square-braces] and not removed RSC=sc=R. Shlomo Carlebach ================================================================= doc =sc#20t PASS 3 COMPLETED (Proof-read against tape) {EDITORIAL NOTE: What's unclear on a first pass, sometimes is quite clear on the 2nd pass. The first pass lurch more than a car in a mudfield; I guess that maybe that creates little bumps, loose spots, on the tape; and that it's this looseness that causes unclarity. So on the 2nd pass, which has very little stop- and-start, the tape runs with no slack points, so the sound is clear. Of course if I had a dictaphone, that maybe wouldn't occur. But I've not had a dictaphone for any transcriptions. } ================================================================= SIDE A: 0 minutes: Song: Shomer, shomer, Yisrael. With a nice flute obligato accompaniment. Bad tape quality now; bubbly. My copy probably snafu'd. Tape quality ok now. Sounds like a wood transverse flute. A + 3 minutes: V'shomru Bet Yisrael (Whistling; w-out words; with words. RSC sounds tired. A non-substantive remark to the audience. (Something like 'Let's Go!' or 'Join me') A + 6 minutes: Familiar niggun: Tzimin-tov v'mazal-tov ---------------------------------------------------------- {A + 9 minutes} OK, Gut woch. A gutte suisse Woch, a helige woch. Shalom ?yedid?, my beautiful friends. Let me tell you friends, if you would just sit here and -- and look at me, you'll be bored stiff, you'll walk out of me, and and you'll tell me, ?after[wards] that was a? -- stupid evening. I want you to know, when you go into an aeroplane, the only person who has to take off is the pilot, taking the aeroplane and taking off. By a concert, if you're takeing off, everybody has to take off. So I cannot pick you up unless you are ready. You know, I'm singing such a good melody, why aren't you clapping and singing loud; what are you waiting for. Brother Dovid-l -- Dovid-l, let's make it a little bit louder. It's too loud? So why aren't you responding. Why aren't you clapping like crazy. Let's go. Let's go to D-Minor; maybe that'll help. {n20T-1} ------------------------------------------ A + 10 minutes Resumes previous niggun; but at a faster tempo. The flute follows, or does its best. The audience less so. RSC: X -- Friends -- One second. Forgive me, I have to ?create? [or: 'correct'] something very special. I'm singing here and you are - - dancing in the back -- so you're not iinspiring the people -- and if you want to dance -- it has to be from here. Really. A + 12 minutes Resume niggun. A + 14 minutes: RSC: OK, my beautiful friends: You know friends -- I wish you would dance here, friends. It really hurts me. Y'know, personally. Because -- if you want to dance -- we all want to -- do something for all the people. [ Remark from the audience. ] Yeah? What? [Follow-up remark or question] Here. Sure. Why not. The world is big. (?)OK(?) [Or?: 'No, kids'], don't dance over the wires. Thank you so much for coming tonight, and thank you Yossi for inviting me, and thank you Rabbi Lehman for inviting me, thank you a million times. You know friends, tonight is a very serious night. Tonight is a serous night. Doesn't mean we have to be sad. The holiness of us yidden is: You know, the world is -- all serious. ?And if? they're happy, then they get stupid, right. [EDITORIAL NOTE: 'right' is in an interogative tone; but I try not to use question marks for the intonation of RSC's remarks, because I use question remarks to set off unsure- transcription. [Be]'cause they don't know how to do it. The holiness of us yidden is -- on yomtov, what's on yomtov -- moedim l'simcha, right. On Yom Tov we're full of joy, but gvalt are we serious. Tonight is a serious night. You know why it's so serious. Becasue we're here to remember -- all the holy people before us. All the holy people before us. And you know, there is nobody here -- there is nobody here who is not directly related to all those holy people. And -- You know, the world ['the world' -- ie, the goyim, and those who emulate them ] always talks about the 6 million. Doesn't turn me on. Y'know -- the deepest question in the world is: do you know who they were. Do you have any idea who they were. What kind of giants we had. What kind of holy people. And tonight, if you permit me, we'll sing a little bit, and I also want to tell you stories. A + 17 minutes But first X let me -- have the privilege -- I'm going to B-Minor - - Let me sing you and old [ 'old' emphassized, protracted] hasidische melody. It's not my own song, but it's just so -- beautiful. The Rizhener [or?: Vizhener ] niggun -- and as far as I'm concerned -- I think it's one of most, most beautiful hasidische melodies. [RSC starts strumming ] No; let's go back to [the key of] C; I'm sorry. The Rizhener niggun: (Key of C) Long introduction, which I had not heard before. I don't think a guitar accompaniment belongs here. The flute obligato maybe is ok; the flute also is meditating in a sort of counterpoint. RSC: Open your hearts and sing loud -- { It is a very elegaic niggun. (sa) } {A + 22 minutes } Whistled; coda maybe ------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------------------------------- [ A STORY OF SPIRITUAL RESISTANCE DURING THE SHOAH ] [ R. Shlomo Carlebach: Holocaust Memorial Concert, 4/90, Gainsville, FLorida Distributed as Tape #20T ] RSC: You know I'm still sad tonight. And yet I'm celebrating. Let me tell you the story. I need just a little bit quiet right now. Mamash quiet. Because this is -- this is a story which needs a lot of concentration. I heard it from a Survivor. In one of the cities in Poland, somehow the Germans, somehow -- forgot about the city. It's '41, '42, '43 -- and somehow -- life was going on -- in a normal way -- and nothing happened. And suddenly one day -- the Germans came. A big sign in the Marketplace -- was Tuesday -- that all the Jews will be evacuated -- on Saturday, 12 o'clock -- every Jew has to be in the Marketplace -- any Jew doesn't show up, will be shot. The whole community. How many can run away. So Tuesday night, all the yidden get together in the synagogue: [and say] that's it: what can we do. But the deepest question in the world was not -- what can we do -- [but rather]: What are we going to do from Tuesday 'till Shabbos 12 o'clock. {n#20T-2} And in that city was a tailor. A tailor who was limping. And he was called, in Yiddish, Yochanan, die hinkedinke Schneider; {n#20t-3} Yochanon the Limping Tailor, Everybody somehow knew that he is maybe one of the 36 holy people -- [RSC sic, and most appropriately: 'holy people' not 'holy men'-- ] -- but how do you ever know. You don't know. He never opened his mouth. He always ?served? in the last row -- like the most humble person in the world. Here the whole community gets together -- and everybody says something else, but -- this wasn't it. Yochanon gets up. The holy of holiest. Yochanon. For the first time. And (?)he(?) gets on the Bimah. And he says, Yidden: You are asking what we have to do. I'll tell you what we have to do. We have Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, -- Shabbos morning. Let Wednesday be Pesach, let's one more time celebrate Pesach. Let's one more time celebrate our freedom. Let Thursday be Shavuos. Let's one more time celebrate -- that G_d gave us the Torah -- Friday -- let it be Succos -- let us celebrate one more time Zman Simchat-tzenu [the season of our joy ] -- that there's so much joy in the world. And Shabbos morning -- let's get up early -- let the first two hours be Rosh HaShana -- and the last two hours, let it be Yom Kippur. And then he says: Yidden: You are asking what to do. You know what we have to do: Celebrate! If anybody here would like to trade places -- to be one of them -- Gvalt, am I glad I'm not one of them. Gvalt, am I glad I'm one of us. You know friends, there are days and momemts when we have the right to say gvalt. Am I glad -- I'm one of us. [Note (sa): This is, of course, one of the morning brachot; Reb Nachman directs particular attention to it. ] As much as you and I love the world, -- tonight, I'm so glad I'm a Jew. Oy gvalt, am I glad I'm a Jew. Gvalt, am I glad that Yohanan, die hinkedinke Schneider, is maybe my distant uncle or my distant cousin. And here I want to share with you an awesome story. Awesome. If you remember -- `If you remember' -- all of us remember -- and maybe some of us were even there, and we came back to the world. To tell the world just -- there has to be love in the air -- You know, one of the first things the Nazis did: Every Jew has to cut off his beard, and cut off the peyos. And there were some people who didn't want to. So they would put a towel around their faces -- and take a chance. And if the police would stop them, and say, What are you doing -- [they would respond ] -- 'I have a toothache'. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes not. Open your hearts: The Nazis realized that -- the killing doesn't go fast enough. So they were sending a new governor to -- Warsaw. And -- X the second day [that he was there] -- he and his people walking around in the Warsaw ghetto. He has a whip in his hand, and -- yah, y'know, put more order into the ghetto. I want you to open your hearts, friends. {n#20t-4} And -- they walk in the street. Suddenly he sees a boy , maybe 17, 18, with a towel around his face. He doesn't ask him any questions, he just -- [in a tone of outrage] whips him over the face. The towel falls off. Long peyos. A little beard, long peyos. Gvalt. A giant. ?And it was? -- the little Polish boys were standing there {Comment (sa): Non-Jews in the Warsaw ghetto?} and they were yelling something in Polish. So this Nazi says to his -- assistant boss, or whatever it's called -- says to him, what are those Polish kids saying. And this was told by a Survivor's story. So he says, The Polish boys tell you, Kill the Jew, kill him, kill him. Kill him. The Nazi puts the whip into his -- belt -- and he says: Can you tell them something in my name: Do you think I respect those Polish kids -- they don't have one ounce of human dignity. They have nothing. No heart, no soul. [For some reason, there seems to be a faint echo on this part of the tape. ] We treat them like garbage pails, and they are on our side. This boy -- he's a giant. This boy is a giant. He says, do you know something -- If the Fuhrer wouldn't have ordered us to hate the Jews, I would become a Jew myself. {n#20t-5} They are the only people who have inner strength. What ?else? can I do, he says. What can I do. He walked away. Walked away. You know what I'm celebrating tonight: that for 2000 years persecution -- maybe they murdered us -- but gvalt, are we standing strong. Gvalt, are we standing strong. Gvalt, are we standing strong. Wamt to tell you one more gvalt story also, testimony from a Survivor, but I want to sing one more song. I'd like to sing the song of Reb Levi Yitzhak Berditchever. Hoping he'll open all the gates for us. The gates of love and mercy for all of us. { A + 31 minutes } [RSC strums a few notes; says:] F minor. I'm going to E-minor. Friends, can you give a big hand to the beautiful musicians. They are so special. Really, thank you so much. [Guitar chords] Reb Levi Berditchever niggun From the smattering of applause, I'd estimate the crowd at around 75. ------------------------------------------------------------------ A STORY OF MATTIS GELLMAN: SPIRITUAL RESISTANCE IN THE SHOAH R. Shlomo Carlebach Holocaust Memorial Concert, 4/90, Gainsville, FLorida Distributed as Tape #20T Transcribed by sa, MevOA MODI'IN 10/03 { EDITORIAL NOTE: N.B.: RSC did exceptionally good dramatic story-telling, with a subtle but very extensive range of intonations; this story is very well-told and would be suitable for audio publication. (All that's lost in transcription, of course; like trying to fully comprehend in depth a Shakespeare play from the printed text.)} Tape #20T Side A + 33 minutes ----------------- You see -- some people say: Hey, 'G_d is dead' -- after the 6 million. And I most humbly say, and I know you share my feelings: do you need more proof -- that there is one G_d. The non-G_d people [ie, those aligned behind nihilation ] -- they showed what they can do. How low they can get. Us, the G_d people -- And here's the story. And the story's so precious to me, because I had the privilege -- of knowing this person. And I'm sure some of you heard me tell the story, so help me. Dari, are you listening my sweetest. ?Kinder-le? [or?: kome-la?] The story is friends, that in the year '37 -- in the year '37 -- suddenly you know, in Vienna -- and my father was the Chief Rabbi of a certain district -- Y'know, kids -- we were 6, 7, 8, 9 years old -- And you know what kids in Austria are into -- bicycles and football. And don't take me wrong; I was learning day and night also. Really day and night, but nevertheless, we are children. You gotta do something. Bicycle, and football. Ok, everyone in those days -- all the kids would come to daven mincha. During mincha/maarive, my father would learn for a a half-hour. All the kids ran out, we're playing football. Was a big courtyard. One day a young man, maybe 17 years old, long [emphasized ] peyes, suddenly he comes in, gvalt did he play football better than anybody. Unbelieveable. He took over the whole thing. In the middle of playing football, he picks up the ball. And he says, chevre -- friends -- let me ask you -- a very simple question: Do you think G_d took us to Mt. Sinai that we should be able to play football. Don't you think G_d took us to Mt. Sinai - - [that] we should be a little bit higheer. And he says, I have a good idea. From now on it'll be just a few mintues football, the rest we are learning. And he put so much fire into us. And this whole summer -- we couldn't get enough of him. And gvalt when he played football -- ?tell me ge-mamash? -- he could have conquered the world. Here on a bicycle -- nobody wanted to race with him. And gvalt, when he was learning -- he was fire. The next year -- the Germans took over. I never seen him again. His name was Mottis Gellman. And let me tell you the story. Mattis Gellman, when he was 16 years old, he was the best student of all high school students in Europe. He was given so much honors. He was always the best, wherever he was. His sister was a famous actress. And his parents -- the only reason they were still Jews -- [was] because there was not one Christian neighbor who asked them to convert. Somehow, ?still? [or?: 'and so'] they stayed Jewish -- but they're -- they're actually ashamed [of] being JJewish. He was given this great honor: the Director of the school calls him in, and he says, Really, in the name of all the high school students of Europe, I bestow this honor on -- upon you, that you are the best student in Europe. And after he receives -- whatever it is, an honor or something -- he walks down from the podium -- all those hundreds of kids. [And they say at him: ] [in a whispered undertone:] Dirty Jew, dirty Jew, dirty Jew. Dirty Jew. Dirty Jew. And you know what the saddest thing was -- he thought, maybe it's true. Maybe Jews are really dirty. He was so shaken. All the people I went to school with, suddenly turn on me. And maybe it's true. Maybe it is really -- maybe the Jews are really dirty. I don't know. He decided to go to the Second ?Pitzerek? in Vienna, like Boro Park today [ie, an enclave of ultra-orthodox Jews ]. He's never been there. He says, maybe let me see it for myself -- how Jews look like. The greatest miracle was: At that moment Reb Meir Shapira -- who actually passed away half a year later -- one of the greatest giants [emphasized] -- who had a Yeshiva in Lublin -- one of the most -- charismatic -- rebbes we ever had -- passed hy in the street. And he sees a little boy of 15, 16, crying. He says to him: Why are you crying. He says Rebbe, Rabbi, whatever he said to him: Are Jews dirty. He was crying. Reb Meir says [in a tone of entreaty:] Please come with me. In the hotel, the Reb Meir Shapira -- there were hundreds of people waiting for him, XX [and he says to them ] Please, right now I have something very important to do. (?)Can I(?) talk to this young man. They walk into his room, the heilige Reb Meir Shapiro takes out the prayerbook, he shows, him: Every morning we say: Elo(k)ai, haNeshama she-na-sara hai, taharta hai AeLoChaI NShaMaH She_NaTaTa BiY tHORaH HIA 'My soul is pure' -- He says: Did you ever see this prayer. Every morning we say: Master of the World, the soul you gave me is pure. We're not dirty -- ?So? He says to him, Rebbe, I never prayed in my whole life. He says -- You never prayed [interrogative, in a whispered tone, almost astonishment ] It's heartbreakikng. [Not clear if this is something said by R. Meir Shapira, or an aside by R. Shlomo Carlebach] He says, you better come to Lublin. You'd better come to Lublin. And then -- (?)I have no(?) words -- I'm telling you, Reb Meir Shapira was THE -- center of learning. Sadly enough, he passed away in '37. Lubin was THE -- the Harvard of all Yeshivas, y'know. Unless you are a big genius -- really -- I tell you -- unless you know 500 pages of the Talmud by heart, you couldn't get in. It was just to get in. You know how old the boys were who got in there -- 11, 12, 13, 14. And those boys who knew 500 pages by heart when they were 11; by 17 they knew the whole Talmud backwards and forwards. You know something, after the War, there were only 4 left. Four (?)were left(?) [or: 'alive']. But anyway: You know: Mattis Gellman was not only a genius, he was a real conman. The next day he jumps on a train to Poland, without a passport, without a single a single penny; talked the conductor into letting him stay. He arrives in Lublin. His father called the International Police, they were looking for him, and after about half a year, they find him in Lublin. His father comes to Lublin, and he says, I demand that my son should be sent back. Reb Meir Shapiro says, I'm not keeping him. Asks, Do you want to go back. He says, No, I want to be a Jew. My father wants me to be a goy, I don't want to. Anyway, Reb Meir Shapira made a little compromise, that, in the winter he is in Lublin, and in the summer, [for] four weeks, he's going back to his parents. And it so happens that his parents had a summer resort next to where we're living [I assume that was in Baden, Austria, outside Vienna; then a summer spa ('Baden', (natural hot-spring) 'baths')], so he came. Fire. Fire. Fire's not the word. Do you know that this boy learned in a year, what others don't learn in a hundred years. Then the Germans took over, '38 [the Anschluss; annexation of Austria by Germany]. I never heard from him again. Years go by. I always remembered Mattis Gellman. Don't know why I did, but I did. In the year '75 I'm going to a Jewish bookstore, in Yerushelayim, and there's a book, {Hebrew title:} `Ele she_lo Niknu' -- `Those who didn't Bow Down' -- who didn't bow down. In the book -- a picture of Mattis Gellman. There's the story of Mattis Gellman. Eh, Gvalt. I had the privilege to see him. In a nutshell: Mattis Gellman learned in Lublin, 37, 38, 39, 'till the War broke out. When the Germans took over, Mattis knew the whole Talmud backward and forward by heart. {n#20-6} He was not only considered the best student in Lublin, he was considered the greatest student in\\ [TAPE CUTS OFF IN MID-SENTENCE ] SIDE A + 43 MINUTES {END RECORDING, TAPE #20T, SIDE A {END SIDE A, TAPE #20T, A + 44 Minutes} {STORY OF MATTIS GELLMAN CONTINUES ON SIDE B OF TAPE #20T} {PASS 3 COMPLETED FOR SIDE A } ------------------------------------------------------------------ {START SIDE B OF TAPE #20T} A + 0 MINUTES {RESUME STORY OF MATTIS GELLMAN} {PRESUMABLY SOME TEXT-LOSS ON TAPE-FLIP} {There is some sort of apparent 'echo' on much of this tape; maybe in some places anticipating rather than following the main recording. Maybe some sort of copying glitch; maybe background chatter outside the concert-room; but at least in places it seems to duplicate the words spoken by RSC.} You know some people are underground fighting the Nazis. Mattis says: For me, they don't exist. You don't fight them by fighting back. It means, they don't exist. {n#20t-10} He assembled hundreds of young people, and he says, just -- don't let them tell you what to do. And you know, one of the most important things, XX, in the streets, beat them up, run away. I want you to know, Mattis had an underground, all over Poland, students, were learning day and night. One way or the other, they had always connection to a bakery, get a few crusts, to keep themselves alive. There were signs all over Poland: Mattis Gellman, enemy number 1 of the Fuhrer. They couldn't catch him and all his students. And they said, whoever catches Mattis Gellman -- a hundred thousand -- mark [reward]. Everybody's running to find Mattis. Couldn't find him. I want you to know something else. It was forbidden to get married; Mattis Gellman organized weddings in the forest late at night. Someone told me, Mattis himself -- got married in the forest. They had guards all over the forest. Middle of the darkest forest -- Mattis got -- got married. It was already 1942. They're still looking for Mattis. But this time they decided -- like -- Berlin put some -- little bit fire on -- on the Polish generals, and the policce, why don't you find him already. To make it very short: They knew he has to get -- bread from bakery. They had guards at every bakery. Nebuch, one day someone was caught, walking out ?of it? with a few breads. They followed him. Went into a bunker. They walk in. 400 young people sitting there learning. And here, open your hearts: Mattis -- had no fear -- for nobody. They are brought to the marketplace in Cracow. And they announce all over the city -- We found -- the Enemy Number One of the Fuhrer, and he'll be shot, at the marketplace at 12 o'clock, together with 400 other Jews. The general was so happy -- first of all, he caught him, and he gets hundred thousand -- marks. Mattis says to him, There's an international law, that, before people are shot, they have a right to ask for something. None of the Jews ever asked him -- for a favour before they were shot. ?So he? says, Yeah, why not, what do you want. So Mattis says, I need a few things. I need 400 pieces of bread, because today is our biggest Yomtov. We have the privilege to die because we're Jewish. What a celebration. We are washing our hands, ?we? have a feast, it's Yomtov. I need -- 400 prayer shawls. Because we want to have the tallis on -- when we're shot. The third thing is: I need 3 hours to dance before we're shot. He said, OK. But just imagine. See it. All those Polish people -- surrounding the marketplace -- {Comment (sa): No, I can't imagine it. I've met a number of Polish people, all very fine, good people. } And in the middle of the marketplace -- 400 -- the holy of holiest -- the giants of all giants. 400 young people prepare themselves -- to die for G_d. And you know, how someone who survived, who lives now in B'nei B'rak, they were shooting, shooting, he fell down before he was shot, and he was lying under the dead bodies. And at night, he ran off. But now listen to me: They had a feast. And then Mattis began singing, Nishmas kol Chai. The soul -- of every living [being] -- is praising G_d ---- -- and they were dancing, dancing, danciing -- -- for three hours. The general says, looks at the watch, Three hours up. The 400 people are shot. They're lying there dead. {Comment (sa): But only in body. } And this person -- who was lying under the dead bodies -- watched the general. And here open your hearts, for eternity. {B + 5 minutes} The General walks around, it's a great day for him, right, he shot 400 Jews, makes hundred thousand marks. He says to the other Nazis, I don't think -- I don't think we can ever wipe out the Jews. A nation who has people like Mattis Gellman -- can't be wiped out. They are so strong, he says. He says to them, [in a strong, agitated voice:] do you know how much I respect those 400 people we just shot. You know something, he says, --- I'm sorry I shot them. {n#20t-7} But I have orders. Friends, you and I: I want to celebrate tonight, that we belong to a nation -- who has young people have FIRE. Fire. G_d's fire. Holy fire. Fire which burns forever. Burns forever and ever. And believe me, the world knows: if you want holy fire -- you have to come to Yerushelayim. There is no other way. There is no other place. ------------------------------------------------------------------ [Strums a few notes on guitar] Before we make havdalah, can I ask all of you, all you get up to dance, or at least you stand up and clap, from the deepest depths of our hearts. Going to F. Friends, let's celebrate! Let's tell our children -- gvalt, am I glad to be a Jew. {B + 7 minutes} Niggun: David Malach Yisrael. [ sounds like R. David Zeller on the podium; but who knows. ] All of you come close; we're making havdalah. {n#20-8} [continues niggun ] I'm going to C-minor, and I need Rabbi Lehman to come up here. Where's Rabbi Lehman [presumably the host of the evening. ] Friends, can you all come a little bit close friends. {B + 16 minutes} We're making havadalah; you know what havdalah is. Havdalah is to know the difference. [RSC starts whistling niggun -- not familiar to me; quite poignant] I don't know why but I suddenly remembered two other giants. The story is that, when the Americans freed the Jews in Dachau -- And you know, nebuch, those people -- had not eaten in years -- And a few were alive. Friends, I need silence -- and concentration. And I heard it from the brother of this American soldier. He says [or?: 'said']: Like an American Jew, he was bar mitzva -- which is a joke. He was not a Jew before, he was not a Jew after, not a Jew in the middle. But he's a Jew. Comes to Dachau. And -- the first morning -- they walk with coffee -- and fresh rolls -- to give to the -- people to eat. {B + 20 minutes} And there were two -- you could see they're brothers. They're half dead. They can barely move. They're lying on the ground. And he bends down, and he says, can I give you some coffee. [!!] And they say to him -- he doesn't understand what they're saying. They say to him -- are you Jewish. He said, Yes. He says, You don't understand what I'm telling you [interrogative, incredulous tone]. We want a pair of tfillin. Don't you have some tfillin for us. That's when he became a Jew. Awesome. Two kids, 18 years old. They bring them food, after so many years. And they say, I need a pair of tfillin to daven first. I want you to know: I mentioned ?two of? [or: 'to' ] these stories, which I heard from -- General Julius Klein. He told me onee more story. Obviouslly he was very close to Eisenhower -- you know -- maybe not personally, but -- they were -- so when they came back after the War, they were exchanging stories. Everybody knew that Julius Klein is a Jew. So there was -- another -- a friend of the Jews, a good man but -- a non-Jewish general -- he said to Julius Klein: You know, I'm not Jewish, and -- ?I'd be? [or: G_d be ] with you - - I'm a friend of the Jews, but I had neever dealings with them. There was a -- one of the worst concentration camps -- in Luebeck -- it happens to be where my grandfatherr was a rabbi -- it's right by the ocean. And this was like a real -- death-camp. There were just a few hundred people left. So this general says: he freed them -- Friday morning, six o'clock. And I asked for a delegation of the Jews to come to my office and tell me what they need the most. He says, I couldn't believe that people like this -- are alive, in this world. A delegation of 10 Jews -- come to see me. And they said, You know something -- you know what we need -- because (?)it(?) [or: 'this'] was very close to the ocean -- we need a mikveh. We have seen SO much dirt. So much filth. So much unholiness. Tonight is Shabbos. If you ask us what we need -- we all want to go to the mikveh before Shabbos. You know a mikveh is not only a physical bath -- [it's] a neshama bath. We want to wash off the dirt -- from our souls. We've seen too much evil in the last years. The general says: I couldn't believe it. I could not believe it -- That's the first thing on their mind [interrogative, incredulous] -- to wash their souls clean again. (?)Giants.(?) [RSC strums a few notes ] You know friends: We don't have to be ashamed. There's a passage that says, {Hebrew:} ?V'lo y-voishu ami l'olam? We don't EVER have to be ashamed. We don't ever have to be ashamed. But you know what we have to do: we have to fix the world. We have to fix the world. So G_d gave us Shabbos. Shabbos is one day when we are not in this world. So -- then we have the strength -- during the 6 days of the week - - when we ARE part of the world -- to ccome to the world and tell them: Brothers and sisters -- the way you live -- don't you know ?where? [or?: 'who'?] we are -- we're living in G_d's world -- there's so much holiness in the world. !But you know friends, it takes a lot of strength -- it takes a lot of strength, to come to the world and still know the difference between holy and unholy.! {A + 23 minutes} [Chanting:] So right after shabbos I begin and I say -- [RSC starts to sing havdalah: V'hinei El yeshuasi -- u v'eftach v'lo aeftad HiNeH AeL YShU'aTI AvtaCH V_LoA AeFTaD #l2 [Havdalah -- Transliteration -- illustrating my transliteration system (such that from the transliteration one can unambivalently reconstruct the Hebrew (though not the nekudot)) -- #l3 I interpolate the transliteration of the NCSY Bencher That's Ashkenazi vocalization; I try to follow Israeli Sfard. So there's a a/o t/s Sfard/Ashkeazi discrepancy. #l2 * I use the symbols A and ' for Aleph and Ayin respectively * I use an dropped line _ for punctuation; and O use an apostrophe only for Ayin; never for punctuation. * I try to punctuate on an etymologic basis, to display prefixes and suffixes; NCSY punctuates on a phonetic basis. * My transliteration system is, obviously , case-sensitive. In general, upper-case letters are 'significant' and correspond unambivalently to Hebrew letters; whereas lower- case letters are used merely for vocalization (not including Vav (transliterated V, O, or U ) nor Yud (transliterated I, or Y )). * I used three lower-case consonants as significant: v is used for vet (and B for Bet); t is used for tet; s is used for samech. * Tz is used for Tzemach; (where T is used for Tav, and Z for Zayin). Ch is used for Chet, to facilitate pronounciation, although C would do * I would rather use X for Ayin (and that would correspond to the Greek Chi , as in Xmas / Christmas); but that would be too awkwardly unconventional * The sofeet form is unambivalently inferred when a space follows a Khaf or a Nun . In short, a simple computer program could be written to unambigously convert my transliterations back to the original Hebrew (albeit, only without nekudot). The program simply ignores non-significant letters and _ 's. (The converse does not hold; one can't unambivalently go from Hebrew to my transliteration.) I detail all this in my docname =trengheb (Cf. also =trenggr; I think I posted both Post-ed to the reb-shlomo LIST in ca. 10/99.) On this tape, RSC sings the Havdalah in short sections, with interspersed remarks, and some repetition ] * HiNeH AeL YShU'aTI # hinay ayl y'shu-osi * AvtaCH V_LoA AeFChaD # evtach v'lo efchod * KI 'aZI V_ZiMRaT YaH # ki ozi v'zimros yah * '' VaIHI LI L_YShU'aH # '' vai-hi li lishu-oh * V_ShAvTeM MaYiM B_SaSON # Ush'avtem ma-yim b'soson * Mi_Ma'aYNeI Ha_YShU'aH # mima-ai-nay hai-shu-oh * L_'' Ha_YShU'aH # L_'' hai-shu-oh * 'aL 'aMKha BiRKhaT-eKha seLaH # al amcho birchosecho ----- * '' TzvaAOT 'iMaNU # '' tz'vo-os imonu * MiSGav LaNU AeLoHei (selah) # nusgav lonu ekohay ------ * '' TzvaAOT # '' tz'vo-os * AShReI ADaM BOteCh KaKh # ash-ray odom botayach hoch * '' HOShI'aH # '' hoshi-oh * Ha_MeLeKh Ya'aNeNU B_YOM QaReANU [or: v_YOM ] # hamelech ya-ananu v'yom kor-aynu * L_YHUDIM HaYeTaH AORaH V_SiMChaH # Lai_hudim haysoh oroh v'simchoh * V_SaSON V_YQAR # v'soson vikor * KeN TiHYeH LaNU # kayn tihyeh lonu * KOs YShU'OT AeSA # kos y'shu-os eso * V_b_SheM '' AeQRA # uvshaym '' ekro Master of the World, Shabbos gave me so much strength -- and just personally, I want to thank -- brother Yossi and Devorale for inviting -- it was a gevalt shabbos. And I'm sure all the people here (?)who were(?) with us for shabbos -- received so much strength from each other. !You know what we need the most, friends: Don't be afraid of the world. We are stronger, one of us -- stronger than the whole world. Because one ounce of goodness is stronger than ten billion tons of evil.! But then people ask you -- you are fighting [interrogative] -- you're fighting-for [not fighting-against]. But every fight needs weapons. {Comment (sa): On purely spiritual struggle, Cf. HIK, Mastery through accomplishment (Omega Press, New Lebanon, NY} What's the name of your weapon, what's your secret weapon. And this is what I say: [singing, Hebrew: Havdalah, I assume] You know what my weapon is. A song. G_d's song. A song from the Holy Temple. {B + 25 minutes } And gevalt is the world waiting for that kind of music. Music which reaches the deepest depths of our Being. And then I ask them -- ?Oh, so? what do you do -- what do you do when you meet another human being -- what do you do with them -- are you preaching -- I say: No, wait, I'll tell you. [Resumes singing havdalah]: u-shaftem mayim b'sasson -- u-mi-mayimei yahshua I tell you, I'm one of G_d's First Aid [Workers] -- Oy vey, people are dying from thirst. Maybe they don't admit it, but gvalt are they thirsty for something holy. And I have a drop -- from that well. From the well of joy, from the well of life. And all the world needs -- is one drop. But you know what kind of water I have, it's never-ending. I have enough drops for the whole world. {n#20-9} And I bless you, friends -- walk around with that one drop. Join me one more time: [singing] U'shafta mayim b'sasson m'ayinei yehoshua. [continues singing havdalah ] But then, beautiful friends, let's say it first together: L'yehudim sasson v'simcha u-v'sasson mi-kol You know friends, people ask me: I don't understand you -- you Jews are persecuted for 2000 years. Your hearts should be heavy, and full of hatred. And here I have a little X-ray on me, I X-ray'd your heart -- I don't feel any hatred coming out of you. What's your secret. What's youi secret. So this is what I'm (?)saying(?) [or:? 'singing']: You know what a Jew is all about: [singing: V-yehudin ] I'm telling them: You know what -- what's the darkest thing in the world is -- [ in a very low voice:] -- hatred. I have a little flashlight from G_d. A little flashlight. I inherited it from my forefathers. From our holy father Abraham. From our holy mother Sarah. And whenever, G_d forbid, I feel darkness coming into my heart, ?put on? [or?: 'pull out'] my little holy flashlight. And ?when? [or: 'then'] people ask me, Aren't you at least angry -- your heart should be full of anger. I say, You know something: [chanting:] Our holy teacher Reb Nachman says: there's only one way, there's only one way, to getting rid of anger; to be filled with joy. So whenever anger wants to take over my heart, I say , Master of the World, give me simcha, give me sasson. Give me joy, Master of the World. You know what I'm praying for, every second of my life: Let my heart never be empty; let my heart be always filled with joy. But then I ask you one more question. People ask you and me: I don't understand you: You know there ?is? [or: 'in'] the world, people kill each other day and night, How come by you as a Jew, every human being is so special. Where did you learn that. [chanting:] So I tell them: I want you to know: It's the gift from G_d. And it's called, ?vi-kor? -- to know how precious every human being is. ?It's? the greatest gift G_d can give you. You know, a lot of people are married, but they don't know how precious it is. So many people have children -- and nebuch, they don't know how precious it is. [Whispering:] Life is so precious. Every day is so precious. So join me: We all (?)need it(?): [Chanting havdalah:] Va-yehudi .... simcha v'sasson ... Let it be so. Join me. Let it be so. Let it be so. Let it be so for you and for me. For the whole world, let it be so. Now friends I need your attention. I have to say the blessing over the wine. Where's the besomim. Where's the spices. Make a blessing over the spices. And you know something: I'm just quoting the Medresh, which is so beautiful. And it just -- comes in handy all the time, this Medresh. The Medresh says: If you walk into a perfummerie, even if you didn't buy anything. But when you walk out -- you just smell a little bit more beautiful. You know, friends: I mean, today, the world is aware, physically -- G_d forbid, smell -- You know, you can love a person very much, [but] if you -- can't stand their smell -- you know, you can't help it, right -- And I'm talking on a very simple level. But some people also -- spiritually -- they don't smell good -- certain ideas -- don't smell good -- You know what I'm begging you, G_d, Master of the World -- can you put some shabbisdike fragrance over me -- And you know something -- each time you meet a person -- you leave a little bit of this shabbisdike fragrance on them -- You know, friends: Babies -- have this holy fragrance. Heavenly fragrance. Shabbos. Heavenly fragrance. {Comment (sa): Cf. a note by Suria Lees, on the passing of 'Iman', z'l} And then -- I make a blessing over the light. And I shared it with you at one time, and I have to tell you again. It's a tora from the heilige Ishbitzer. Yossi, I don't know if you remember it. I'm not -- [off-mic:] somebody holds it ?up? -- RSC: Fire. I'm holding the outside. [Whispers:] Do like this. The outside, my fingers, ?and my nails?. !And this is so deep, friends. This is the deepest blessing we can give each other. The inside of my hand is what I keep. The outside of my hand is where I push away. Gvalt are we pushers. Master of the World -- gvalt, are we pushers. And [or: 'when'] we close our eyes, and remember all the people we met, who wanted so much to be close to us, and love us so much -- and we pushed them away. And you know something: Not only we push -- we scratch. I want you to know: I once had the privilege [in an awed tone:] to see the old Lubavitcher Rebbe by Havdalah. ?And? because the Zohar says -- sadly enough -- most people have blood under their nails -- from scratching -- they scratch other people. I'll never forget it, the old Rebbe, the way he was -- looking at his nails. Holding it by the Havdalah candle. [Whispers:] For a long time. You know, sometimes you scratch somebody a little bit -- one bad word -- one push away -- and maybe we injure them for a lifetime. You don't know. You don't know. I say, Master of the World -- can you -- purify -- the outside of my hands. Can you purify my nails. I just want to bless, specially, parents -- I want you to bless me back. You know, children are so close to us, it's so easy to scratch. It's so easy. I want to bless you -- and -- bless me back in a deepest way. We should have holy nails. Shabbasdike nails. OK now: RSC makes the brachot of Havdalah. {B + 36 minutes } "X to do this week. Everyone has to go [(?)to Jerusalem(?)] . And if not in their feet, with their hearts. Singing: Yerushelayim. Very nice flute obligato. {A + 40 minutes?} {A + 44 minutes?} You know my beautiful friends: We have to make a little intermission -- and some of you have to go home -- then -- go with great joy -- and -- wake up with great joy -- and just remember -- I want you to know one thing: Today, we have no right to do anything else, but to follow the six million. They're building a highway. They're building highways from all over the world. For people to get together. 'Cause I can only tell you one thing. I know you share my feelings. The six million -- are standing before G_d -- and they're telling G_d -- it can't be like this anymore. It caan't be like this any more. If people don't get together -- it'll happen tomorrow again. Sjo they are paving ways. And I bless you, you and I, and our children, we should walk in the highway, built by the great -- {Hebrew: ?ha-tika boni achela bonoi? }: the great builders of the highway, which lead to the redemption of the world. Friends, thank you so much. And just remember -- please -- the six million are our torches. Everybody of them is a great torch. You and I -- we're little flashlights. And whenever our battery is a little bit shwach -- I'll tell you something. You know, you plug it in somewhere. I only know one place for to plug it in -- this is from the holy Shabbos -- gevalt is this -- gives us new batteries. New strength. And sometimes -- you need a new battery in the worst way. I bless you to have a good friend, where you can always plug in. And renew your flashight. And thank you so much; we make a little intermission for 10 minutes; and those who are still here, we're just beginnig. Thank you so much; a gutter Woch. { END RECORDING ) (END TAPE) {END PASS 3} transcribed by sa (=Steve Amdur) Mevo Modi'in, 73122 ISrael; sa73122a@yahoo.com 29 October 03; 3 Cheshvan May I express my appreciation to the community of Mevo Modi'in (Meor Modi'in) for offering me an environment in which I could produce this transcription. sa ================================================================ NOTES WILL BE DEEP-SIX'd TO =sasc#20t ================================================================= =================================================================