wp=W.EXE (EinsteinWriter) =sh9312hb, a partial correction (sa 1/98) of previous input, < =sh9312ha < %sh9312ha (YR, YS) -¤- [ =sh9312hb 18 Jan 98 63.375K Safeguarded by TzM in =sh1297c.exe Polish 20 Dec '03 (sa) for *.txt conversion ] From Tape, R. Shlomo at R. Yankele Shames' Chanukah 1993 Taped by Yakov Rottenberg Transcribed & input, sa [ filedate 12/22/94 ] TAPE COULD BE EDITTED INTO FORM SUITABLE FOR DISTRIBUTION Teaching ends at Start of Side B; followed by conversation. PRIMARY TOPIC: Hanuka Secondary topics: Rebbes: The Kallover, Rebbe Reb Shamlke Hanuka torah from Redomsker and from the last Alexanderer Rebbe 3 Niggunim ------------------------------------------------------------------ CAVEAT LECTOR: This is a rough-draft transcription; gaps and Hebrew need to be added. It is an informal teaching, to and with Meor Modi'in chevre; others might deem it a bit too home-spun and unpolished. ----------------------------------------------------------------- My system of alphabetic transcription of niggunim is noted in =shm9801, and detailed in =shsamut + =sh_samu* . Notes on conversion from wp=W.EXE, via T.EXE, to ASCII: Underlining is stripped out; I use a % prefix to indicate start underlining. To set off interjected remarks, I will leave this in W.EXE format, which converts to ASCII via T.EXE. Before converting, global-replace .l with #l (lower-case letter l in both find & replace-with). --------------------------------------------------------------- START TAPE SIDE A {000} { Y. Rottenberg: Testing: 1, 2, 3 } NIGGUNIM: from =sh9312hb.exp CHANGE OF NOTATION (12/31/97): I have not been consistent in notation used to indicate whether a given note is higher or lower than the preceeding note. In many cases, I don't note it; hope it will be clear from context. I mark either higher, or lower, but not both, of course. I often use + to indicate that the note is higher than the preceeding. I here used underlining to indicate that the note is lower than the preceeding. Since underlining does not translate into ASCII, I will replace underlines with a % sign. (ab)= 1/2 unit a=1/2 unit A=1 unit A2 = 2 units, A3=3 units 3/8 No accidentals A minor (?) NO WORDS (c%b)%A (c%b) %A DE%D (%c%b)%A {This line missing; inferred} (c%b)%A (c%b) %A DE%D %C2a (c%b)%A (c%b) %A DE%D %c%b%A (c%b)%ac (%b%a)%gb %A2 (Repeat) (Repeat l octave lower) {100} ---------- {R. Shlomo makes a remark apparently about the positioning of the mic: You know, Yankele -- you have to put it in a higher space -- it won't reach -- Y. Rautenberg, presumably alluding to the Jungian notion of 'shadow': No, go behind you -- } 6/8 No accidentals A minor (?) NO WORDS cde D3 / cba G abc cde / dcb A cde D3 / cba G D2d bcb / A2 [(ab)] (on repeat only) c (cccc) C3 / cdc bag b (bbbb) B3 / bcd cba c (cccc) C3 / cdc bag D2 d bcb / A2 (Repeat 2nd verse) (Repeat lst verse) (Repeat 2nd verse) ------------------------------- {200} {R. Shlomo: I don't know if you know this one.} 4/4, no accidentals, A minor (?) {SUNG WITHOUT WORDS, EXCEPT 1 Verse 1 time: NEED HEBREW TEXT} {200} _____ goshen bo?? bo l' kodesh k'doshim?? tzadik?? b'yad?? ___________ ohel?? __________ {no words this line} shir ?? v'rosh(?) __________ _________ ha yom??? cd e%c %B B / bc d%b %A A cd e%c %B B / bc d%b %A2 ! c%b %a%e F F / b%a %f%d E E [note the f] c%b %a%e F F / b%a %g%d E c%b %a%e F F / b%a %f%d E E c%b %a%e F F / c%b %a%g# A2 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Ok. let's learn for two minutes -- I know everybody's tired, but - - we might as well. TEACHING OF THE BAAL SHEM TOV: HANUKA IS THE HIGHEST AND MOST INTENSE OF YOMTOV'S (MOMENTS) {300} I'm sure everybody remembers -- even if you don't, I'll tell you - - You know, the Baal Shem Tov says -- I'm sure you remember, but anyway, it's good to remember -- the heilige Baal Shem Tov says, wherever you reach, Rosh HaShana/Yom Kippur, wherever you reach ??without knowing??, wherever you reach Simachas Torah with Hafkoffet, does not compare [with] where you reach when you bentsch licht, Hanuka. See, what it is, and it's mamash an important tora to remember: Hanuka is the only yomtov when the whole thing is just a few minutes. Pesach, you eat matza all week, right, Sukka, the whole week, Shavuot is 24 hours, _____ , Yom Kippur -- Hanuka, the whole yomtov is those few minutes, when you bentsch licht. Why is it that it's just a few minutes? Because it's so strong, they couldn't bear longer. It's so awesome. STORIES OF REBBES: THE SEER OF LUBLIN, REBBE REB SHMALKE, THE VISHNITZOVER, THE KALLOVER You know, there's a gevalt story. I told it to you last year, so forgive me if I tell it to you again. The daughter of the holy KALLOVER married the son of the holy VISHNITZOVER. And so she came to the Vishnitzover. So the heilige Vishnitzover says to her -- you know ?it's a joy if you know this? -- Galicia -- and he was a pupil of the SEER OF LUBLIN. And the heilige Kallover -- I don't know if you know this -- REB LEVI YITZHAK BERDITCHEV mamash diiscovered him -- Reb Levi Berditchev was told -- {YIDDISH _________ die Welt.} He was told that somewhere in the mountains, in the Carpatha Russlands, you know that's like the mountains in Russia, there's a big neshama. So he went there, and he saw a little boy of seven, playing the flute, a shepherd. So he says, who are you. So he says to him -- nebuch has no father, we should always have two(?) parents {400} -- and -- my mother ______ heder, and I'm a shepherd. And he was mamash making up this unbelieveable niggunim, you know. Reb Levi Yitzak right away smelled [scented], this is something from the Beis haMikdash, you know it was like -- So he brought him to the REBBE REB SHMALKE . And basically, the Rebbe Reb Shmalke, if you remember, he was the first Rebbe of the Seer of Lublin. #l2 [ REFERENCE: R. Shmuel Shmelke of Nikolsburg: c. 1726-1776 Listed by Finkel as the first disciple of the Maggid of Mezritch] the Chozeh of Lublin is listed as the 2nd disciple of R. Shmuel Shmelke of Nikolsburg.] #l1 And then Rebbe Reb Shmalke, descendent of David ha Melech. {Question, hard to hear. R. Shlomo replies: Ya. I'm suprised _____ Rebbe Reb Shmalke.} You know, the Rebbe Reb Shmalke, when he was learning, he had, like -- you know, you're always thinking it's a new thing of the holy hippies, you know the Rebbes were mamash like, with everything -- the Rebbe Reb Shmalke had a whole thing of incense on the table while he was learning. He was teaching Gemora. So the Lubliner says, the whole room was smelling like -- gevalt. So he thought it was the incense. But one time he made his way to the other side of the table, in front [ie, upwind] of the incense, where the Rebbe Reb Shamlkie was sitting. And he realized that it's mamash his fragrance, and in order to cover up, he put, like, a little incense on the table. But the heilige Karlover did not go to David haMelek, he was just Rebbe Reb Shmalkie and Reb Levi Yitzhak, back and forth, and it was like a gevalt, right. Just to give you a taste of what the Kallover was like. One Seder night, he didn't go to the Seder, he's standing by the door, waiting waiting waiting. Suddenly a carriage came, with 3 men and four women. And the heilige Kallover ran out, and he kissed the three men, he kissed the 4 women. And they were talking for a few minutes. And he went to the Seder. You don't remember the story? There were some hassdim ____ there -- ?were so _____ there, I thought? -- Karlover hassidim, ?trusted him? [or: ?Bratslover?] also -- all the Rebbes -- [and the hassidim wondered:] what's going on there -- waiting there, horses "they're coming, they're coming" , kisses the women -- so after that he told the story. Mamash: He [had] said [ie, vowed -sa] , Rabbenu shel Olam, Mamash, I'm not going to the Seder {500} unless you promise that Meshiach's coming. So mamash, the holy 3 fathers and the four mothers came down to ask him, mamash, he should stop turning ____________?round and around? , because it's not time yet. And he says, am I not permitted to kiss my mother? _______ This was the level of the Kallover. So he asked [ie, as R. Shlomo said above, the Vishnitzover Rebbe asked] the daughter of the Kallover, he [ the Vizhnizover] says: how do you like it here in Lidichov. So she says, I tell you, I like everything, but -- only one think I'm missing. My father was sitting by the candles six hours -- you know, like all, most, Rebbes were sitting there with their eyes glued to the candles for hours -- and in Lidichov the Rebbe _____ walks in, kindles the lights, looks at the lights for a few minutes and runs out. So he says to her, instead of asking me, why am I not sitting with the candles for six hours, why don't you ask me, how come I'm not consumed when I kindle lights. #l2 {Interruption: Telephone call. Amy Lilien Shames tells R. Shlomo: `Shlomo ' {R. Shlomo: Ya?} Hananya -- his mother just had brain surgery. {R. Shlomo: _________ . _____ saying I'm sorry. _______ } {Further side remarks, by R. Shlomo and others; difficult to hear.} #l1 THE SANZER [FNa1] REBBE AT HANUKA You know, I heard in Bobov that people were watching the holy SANZER . You know, how long can you keep your eyelids from not moving. {Someone remarks: `Blinking'. R. Shlomo says:} Blinking. The Holy Samzer, when he looked at the candles, he looked at the candles for 6 hours, he didn't blink. Mamash. THE PLACE OF HANUKA CANDLES IN TODAY'S MODERN WORLD I hate to say bad things, but this is really funny. I was once in the house of a big Rabbi -- officially a Jewish leader -- so, he is having a 'phone in his hand, and he is kindling the hanuka lights, {600} and then he makes a bracha fast, and he puts his mouth away from the phone, he holds the phone like this, you could hear what the person __________ it was mamash, like a Charlie Chaplin. Making a brocha. ______ And then he walked out and finished his phone call. But anyway -- THE CUSTOM THAT WOMEN LIGHT HANUKA LIGHTS: COURAGE OF THE MAKABI WOMEN Q.: Shlomo, Why is it, that all year the woman lights the Shabbos candles, but on hanuaka, the woman doesn't light candles -- R. Shlomo: Not true. (Questioner continues [question and answer had overlapped, in an unintentional rather than an Israeli manner] : -- the husband -- {Questioner continues: Well usually, a lot of people, the husband lights for both, right? R. Shlomo: No, no, mamash. Someone remarks: Chabad does; the women don't light. R. Shlomo: Chabad's another thing -- I don't want to say anything ---- That's also very holy, that there'ss one light, y'know. But-- You see what it is. Basically Shabbos light is the fixing of Chava, because she ate the Tree of Knowlege -- so the woman %has to -- it's one of her fixings -- Chanukah is a fixing for all Israel, not only for the woman -- so the women should do it also - - first of all because: The whole story began with Yehudit, the daughter of the High Priest. I mean, gevalt, mamash the whole thing [FNa2] happened here [Modi'in], you know? I don't know where, exactly, where the chuppah was, you know, [Fna3] where Yehudit mamash said, that my brother's a coward, but I'm not. She was the daughter of the Cohen godol. The Greeks had the thing that -- it's too heartbreaking to tell -- but the Greeks had the thing that every Jewish bride has to spend the first night of the wedding with Greek soldiers. Nebuch, gevalt, what yidden had to go through in their lives. So in the middle of the chuppah, Yehudit mamash tore off her clothes, and she was mamash completely in armour. Sword and everything. Spear. And she says, my brothers are too much of a cowards to protect me, so I have to protect myself. So when Yehuda Makabi heard this -- the Greeks knew that the High Priest's daughter was getting married, they were coming slowly to collect her. They were not prepared that someone would jump on them. So mamash within 5 minutes they were all in armour, when the Greeks came, they knocked them off completely. That was how it started. The whole story of Chanuka here. You see what it is, what hanuaka is, the depth of Chanukah is {700} that we're mamash not afraid. Not that we're `not afraid' on the level of `within the limits of nature' -- we're not afraid of mamash bringing about a miracle. Which is awesome, right. ` How can 70 cohenim drive out an army of 400,000. You know what's so special: _______ within the history of the world, this was probably one of the most heroic moments in the history; 70 people driving out an army of 400,000. And the world doesn't say anything about it, because it's not for them to know, right. If you remember, in the House of Love and Prayer, we were learning it 1000 times. How did he [Yehuda Makabi] get this army together. In those days it was mamash like today. All the young people were serving in the pagan temples, They were little priests and priestesses. Yehuuda Macabi went down and he asked them, what would you give to restore the Holy Temple to its holy ____ place? You know, all the so-called pagan kids [said] 'We mamash would give our lives' So he mamash gathered an army. You know, it's crazy, i's mamash like today. He didn't get an army from the kids who were frum. It's so crazy, y'know. He get an army from this -- mamash emes-e hanuka story, y'know -- he mamash took them out from Greek culture -- he mamash put out a candle in the darkness -- awesome. See, we [or: he] had no -- Sukkah ______ -- #l2 {As noted in the Book of Makabee, during Sukkot the rebels were hiding in the wilderness, and unable to observe Sukkot; so when the Temple was liberated, in Kislev, they declared an 8-day festival. -- sa} #l1 You know how much non-fear they had -- non-fear they had. Judah Makabi must have taken thousands of soldiers without being afraid. A HANUKA TORAH FROM REDOMSKER AND FROM THE LAST ALEXANDER REBBE (D. WARSAW GHETTO); POSSIBLY ORIGINALLY FROM THE SEER OF LUBLIN Anyway, I want you to know -- the most important part of it - I'm sure some of you remember - but as far as I'm concerned: I heard it that two Rebbes said it. Makes it an old Redomsker Torah, it's also an old Alexanderer Torah. So when you see two Rebbes saying the same thing, it means it comes from a higher place, right, ?was told to two? [or: they're] Rebbes. So the way it looks to me, like, most probably comes from the Seer of Lublin, or maybe from ?Sheikh's? David haMelek, who knows. He says that: You know, everybody's asking, when do [sic, when do] we have 7 days. #l2 {Sic, 7 days; but apparently a mis-speak; see below.} #l1 {800} Because we had oil for the first night. The miracle was that it lasted for seven days, but at first it was not a miracle, at first it was natural. But this is a Torah which Alexanderer said the last year in the Warsaw Ghetto. Mamash awesome. But it's also a Redomsker Torah. So he says, G-d does not perform a miracle unless you're mamash praying for it, unless you're asking for it. He says, can you imagine how many tears the Makabees were crying the first night, begging G-d the light should last for seven days. And you know, everybody's asking, why don't we celebrate the [ victorious Makabi ] War [of liberation] which was a bigger miracle than one little light lasting for seven days. The war -- {Someone apparently interrupts to correct the figure of 7 days to 8 days; and R. Shlomo responds:} Eight days; yeah, I'm sorry; you're -- thank you -- mamash correcting me in the strongest way; I accept the correction. The answer is very simple. Because , ah -- ______ {R. Shlomo uses track of his thought; and he is prompted, by one of the women in the chevre: 'The war'} Yeah. Why don't we celebrate the war. The War was the greatest miracle in the world. The answer is very simple. Just imagine that the Cohenim coming back -- they won the war, right -- and then they see the light is only there for one night. You know what it shows to them -- That the whole thing you did won't last. You know: you give your life for something, want something to happen so much, and then you come home and it doesn't last. Heartbreaking, ______ . So gevalt, they were crying so much, that the light should last forever, ___ 8 days, forever. #l2 {That is, of course, a reference to the teaching that the 8th day of a festival -- beyond the completing of a week -- anchors the festival in eternity. -- sa} #l1 So the Alexanderer said -- Gevalt!, can you imagine how much he cried, the last Hanuka, in the Warsaw ghetto, that Yidden should remember everything -- {a remark that is too faint to catch} REB NACHMAN TORAH, BASED ON GEMORA (??): FIXING [TIKUN] OF THE SEEING, OF THE MIRAGLIM Anyway, you know, let's a learn a little ?with? [or?: bit] Reb Nachman: OK: You have to know there's a Rosh -- in Kesubas(?) somewhere, which is unbelieveable. Although I know it's not always 100% like this, but this is what it is. #l2 {I don't know what R. Shlomo means by the preceeding sentence. I reckon it's one of those formulae of Talmudic exegesis. -- sa} #l1 A person bought something -- it was shining a bit -- looked like copper -- and let's say it's worth $100. Then he sold it to someone, let's say for a little profit, $150. But then the other person took it to an expert, and he says it's not copper, it's gold, pure gold. And if it's pure gold, it's worth --- $100,000, who knows. So the story came before the Rosh. #l2 {I do not know who 'the Rosh' is. Someone fill it in. --sa} #l1 So the question was: maybe he has to give it back, or pay him $100,000, or maybe because he sold it to him because he thought it's copper, so -- then the deal is on. So the Rosh says the deepest thing in the world: Your ownership extends only {900} to as far as you think it's worth. When you thought it's copper, your ownership was the worth of copper, it's $100. That's your ownership. So there's a big controversy [sic, controversky, not makloket] but it's so deep: if something belongs to you, sadly enough it only belongs to you, whatever nebuch you think it's worth. {R. Shlomo, to a question-er apparently waiting to be recognized: Ok, what do you want to say?} {Question: from Y. Rottenberg, I think: How about if you say, right now, that you're asking -- $1000 -- for this copper thing. All of a sudden the person says, I'm not paying $1000. Then you -- then he goes away. Now he's comes back some time later, he says, here, I have your $1000. Months later. You don't have to take the $1000, now you want -- $10,000. {R. Shlomo gives a brief answer: I thimk: `Yeah, you can.'} {Questioner concurs: You can [or?: can't?] because it's never a transacted ?entity?, right. R. Shlomo answers: Because you never sold it, right. Questioner adds: But nothing. R. Shlomo concurs: Ya. {R. Shlomo resumes the exegesis:} See, it's 100%. Most Rishonim say it's not true. Because my ownership does not depend on my knowlege how much it's worth; it's mine. Whatever's mine, is infinite. Because [the concept of] 'worth' [applies] -- only when it comes to somebody else. I have to pay as much as it's worth. But between me and myself -- ?let's say ??this sefer of?? Reb Reb Nachman is worth to me -- six dollars? No, it's infinite. {FNa4} But anyway: you know when the Miraglim came -- and they said bad things about Israel -- and even if you came back to Israel, you know [ie, the descendents of Israel took possession of the land of Israel, despite the post-Zionist report of the spies ] -- but our ownership was only as much as we thought it was worth. And the spies affected us -- ?there is,if? you don't know it -- ____ like everybody ____ -- they say: "Israel is beautiful BUT - - it's got problems, y'know " -- so saddly enough -- sadly enough -- bad thing, right. And if you remember, we were learning it: The way you look at eretz Israel, that's the way you look at every Jew. So [suppose] I [were to] say, "Every Jew is holy {indistinct} BUT -- this one is no good, this one should never have been born, the other one, I can't understand his parents, why they had him, in fact ___ " In eretz Israel, why is Hanukah Sholam Bayis -- -- oh, I just remembered this, obviouslyy -- The Holy Temple was destroyed because we didn't love each other. Hanuaka, when we initiate the Beis HaMikdash, it's not the Second Temple. Hanuka we initiate already the Third Temple. If you remember, Hanuka is always the time when we learn the Beis Yakov. Parsha Beit Yakov. {HEBREW} ______ ?Miketz?. Because the Third Temple is Yakov Avinu. First Temple is Avraham, Second is Yitzak, Third is Yakov -- And -- How are we building the Holy Temple? Remember we are learning, which is so true. You know, ifa person is mamash shalom bais, if a person is mamash with his wife and children SO good, then you have mamash light for the whole world. And if you don't, {1000} it's already like a little bit, you are listening to the ______ has v'shalom. So Reb Nachman says, the real fixing of the Spies is on Hanukah. Because hanukah everything is with the eyes You're not permitted to use the light {HEBREW}, you're only permitted to look at the light. Q: {HARD TO HEAR} A: It's terrible. Because you haven't fixed it -- It's obviously [that' we haven't fixed it, the Spies, right, het v'shalom. G_d should have compassion. The deepest fixing would be if you would mamash look at the light with different eyes, look at yidden with different eyes. The way it begins is really looking at your own husband, your own wife, your own children, with different eyes. You know, sometimes you ask parents, how's your son, your daughter, they say yeah, they're cute, BUT -- What's [this] 'but'? What's 'but'? You know, Hanuka is the only holiday I walk on the street, and I see the light of another yiddele, I say a blessing over it. Because why don't I, when I see a yid putting on tfillin -- (HEY, brother B-Z has arrived. What's going on, Brother? You're sitting down? You're dead tired, yeah? Set down for five minutes. Because everybody's also -- a little bit asleep. ) {CONCLUSION OF STORY, ABOVE, OF THE KARLOVER REBBE) So she says to him -- she says: I'm missing the looking at the candles for six hours. He says to himself, ?ask her why I don't _____ ?mazel? for six hours? He says, `how come I'm still alive after I kindle lights', you know. TORAH OF REB NACHMAN: FIXING ON HANUKA OF THE [OUT-OF- PERSPECTIVE REPORT OF THE] MIRAGLIM Ok, this is a Torah of Reb Nachman. OK: The huma(?) of the beis haMikdash -- all began with the miraglim. How we are fixing it: Because it's clear to me: that every yid who kindles lights -- G-d is so proud of this person. G_d is so proud. I want you to know something: Everything is beautiful, but there is a kind of beauty which light has, which nobody else has. It's a deeper(?) ____ kind of beauty Imagine a person is very very beautiful, but they're dark, their face is [inwardly] dark. So, Maybe they're good for Hollywood, but -- it's dark, right. Sometimes a person may not be so beautiful physically, but they're shining, right. So light IS the most beautiful thing. So he says: On Hanuka, when every yid kindles lights, what is shining in the light is that ?we don't? _______ everything right. How the Rabbenu shel olam is proud of every yid. {1100} {HEBREW} everybody has to kindle light because mamash G-d is so proud of every light. And this is the deepest depths. I remember brother B-Z [ Ben-Zion Solomon, Meor Modi'in ] taught me, he told it once, chevre you know, the old torah: that Hanukah is the only miracle -- the only ?thing? which happens in eretz Israel, in Yerushalim. Why did it happen in Yerushalaim. Because it says "Ayin haShem el la kecha (?)", G-d looks at eretz Israel all the time. Mamash, the eyes, right. So what is all the trouble in Israel? [N.B. This teaching was given 12/93, which was, I think, R. Shlomo's first return to Israel following Rabin's White House handshake (sa, 1/17/98)] -- Because we are not glued to the land, because we do not see the miracles in it. So chas v'shalom, G-d is also not looking at the Land. But if your're looking at it because it is so beautful -- STORY OF KARLINER REBBE IN ERETZ ISRAEL There's a unbelieveable story. The heilige KARLINER, if you remember, Reb Yisrael, Stoliner(?) , the Yenuke kaddische, had five sons. Only one made it, actually, out of Auchwitz, Reb Johanan. #l2 [N.B.: Wolf Zeev Rabinowitsch, Lithuanian Hasidism, Schoken, New York, 1971 (ISBN 0 853 03021 9), translation of Hebrew original, HaHasidit HaLitait, published by Mosad Bialik, Jerusalem) notes in an attached geneological chart that R. Yisrael the "Yenuka" of Stolin, 1870-1921, had 4 sons: R. Yohanan in Lutsk (d. 1955), R. Yaakov in USA d. 1946, R. Elimelekh of Karlin (Killed in the Holocaust, 1942), R. Moshe of Stolin (Killed in the Holocause, 1942).] #l1 But anyhow, Reb ?Stoliner Elimelekh? [or??: ___ haMelek?] , he came to eretz Israel. He arrived by ship in Jaffo, was 1936, took a cab to Yerushalyim. And the whole time, the windows are open, and he stares outside. Someone says, Rebbe, you're so tired, why don't you rest a little bit. He says, `G-d's eyes are glued to the land', -- right, G-d is looking at the land: {HEBREW: Ayin HaSHEM a la kecha _______}, G-d always looked at the land. If G-d looks at the land, how can I not look at it also. It's an unbelieveable fixing of the eyes. What is beauty is all about. It's the deepest depths. Beauty is: `it's so beautiful, I want to have it.' What's the strongest drawing card in the world: That something is so beautiful, I see it, I want to have it. What's happened to the Miraglim: Because they made it less beautiful to us, so we didn't want to have it. So the fixing of it is, that on hanunka, mamash I look at the light, and mamash I see,how proud G-d is of us, how proud G-d is of every yid, and I look at eretz Israel, mamash, I want to have it so badly. You know what is the most special thing about a candle? A candle does not take away the darkness. It's still dark. But I see a little better. When you look at another yid, why does it have to do with a candle. Why is {HEBREW NeR haSHEM ?ish m'asot?____ , ?why is it that? my neshama is like a candle. Because I know very little. Imagine, I know how beautiful you are, and I'm proud of you, {1200} what do I really know -- right? I just know a little bit. The worst thing in the world is when you think you know everything. The Greeks said they know everything. [FN1-sa] And we are mamash like a little candle. Gevalt is this candle so precious. G-d should give us the privilege, all our families should kindle lights, we should be so proud of each other. So proud of our children. So proud of eretz Israel, b'ruch haSHEM. STORY OF REB JOSEF CHAIM SONNERFELD IN JERUSALEM: PERCEIVING THE BEAUTY OF THE LAND AND PEOPLE OF ISRAEL You know, I heard, I think I shared with you. Reb Josef Chaim Sonnerfeld was walking [in] Yerushalayim with someone of the so-called kanoyim(?), and there was like a -- don't know what it was -- suddenly there like -- Hashomer Hatzair [FN2-sa], you know, a little militaristic, a few hundred boys & girls walking down, marching down the street. So -- [I] don't mention the name of the other one -- the big kanoyin, the big fanatic, he says, "Let's get away from it, disgusting; the way they look." [FN3-sa] So he ran off to another street, not to have to see it. And Reb Yosef comes over, from standing there, looking at them. And he was leaning on his stick, looking at those kids. And so then he came back, he was mamash like -- gevalt -- So someone walked up to him ______ ,: ?he's certain he heard? he hears Chaim Sonnenfelt saying, "{HEBREW, quote from Deuteronomy 1:11, "Y'oisef haSHEM aleikhem"}, -- ?it was so beautiful -- G-d should bless you, make more of you, a thousand times. You know the way those tzadkim look at people, like -- they see how beautiful yidden are. How beautiful Yerushelaim is. How beautiful the Beis haMikdash is. You see what is is: The Tree of Knowlege knows only good-or- bad. The Tree of Knowlege doesn't know about beautiful. So: "It's good, therefore -- " You know, when I want someone else to get closer to yiddishkeit, and eretz Israel, [if I] tell them eretz Israel is good -- nobody's coming, [merely] [be]'cause it's good, right. . [But if I tell them] `Ah, it's beautiful' -- right -- what a drawing-card. ON HANUKA WE RECOVER OUR OWN BEAUTY And if you remember, we were learning it. You know when, has v'shalom, that we do something wrong, first we become nebuch a little bit dirty, secondly we become ugly -- stop being beautiful. So on Yom Kippur G-d gives us back the purity of `we-are-becoming- clean-again'; but beautiful is for Hanukah. On Hanuka a yid becomes so beautiful. Q. {presumably from one of the mothers in the chevre}: So what is this beauty that you are talking about? And how is it that you can't -- that it exists, and it doesn't exist? R. Shlomo: It does, but it's like -- I'll tell you something very deep. Imagine -- you know, [suppose some old bachelor would think] "there are a lot of babies are really not fit to clean." [In Idea-l Reality they are] The most beautiful babies in the world, right. So why is a baby so beautiful -- what do you see in a baby -- so much light. From Heaven, right. You know: A lot of brides may not be so beautiful, but when a bride goes to the chuppah -- so mamash beautiful {1300} -- mamash, G_d's light is shining upon her. So: This Light is more beautiful than anything in the world. AN ISHBITZER TORAH: THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN KNOWLEGE AND ILLUMINATION And here I want you to know -- the ISHBITZER, a long torah, but in a nutshell -- Imagine, I know everything in the world, but it's dark inside my head. And sometimes a yid knows just a few things, but they mean so much -- there's light behind it. What's the light behind it. You know, the light is -- You know, like, [suppose] I'll tell you another story about - - from -- [for example] the Seer of Lubllin -- so you'll tell me, I [already] know the story of the Seer of Lublin, like a lot of people coming out with English hassidische stories, they copied it from someone who heard it -- doesn't change them, doesn't lift them up. What means ??eichad?? -- I learned something and it's full of light, lifts me up to a higher level, beyond levels, beyond the story, beyond everything. See: The world [the non-Jewish peoples (Hebrew, `goyim') of the world] also knows Yerushelaim is special, is beautiful, but what they're missing out -- they don't know how mamash Yerushelaim lifts me up, beyond myself. Completely completely beyond myself. So the [Ishbitzer] torah is: All holidays I'm still completely within the limits of my neshama. Nothing beyond. Hanauka, mamash G_d lifts me up, beyond myself. Q, continued: Are you saying that the beauty was there all the time, and it depends on us to see it? You mentioned the kallah [bride], the babies; and the kallah is beautiful that day, the day she went to the chuppah, but that woman was there the day before, and she will be there a week after, so what happened to that beauty? R. Shlomo: It's a gift from G-d for that one day. She can keep it, or not keep it. Q, continued: So why can't we see the same way when we talk about the Miraglim, for instance, and eretz Israel: when [or:?: what] they saw it -- they came, and whatever they said -- they didn't see the beauty of eretz Israel at that time, so what happened? R. Shlomo: I mentioned before: G-d gives you only what you really want. You know: If someone says, I have a pound of apples for you, but some of them are not so good, so I say, ok, give to me -- right? But I'm not -- dying for it. So G-d gave us Yerushelaim, G-d gave us the Holy Land. But unless you're convinced it's the best, the greatest thing in the world -- The way you want it, you are the owner of it. [FN*1] You see, I told you before: [commenting on the above- referenced example from Gemora where] I thought it's copper, but it's gold: #l2 [and so, in one (minority) opinion, if I had already sold it, I am entitled only to additonal payment only up to the FMV of what I saw it as (viz., copper)]. #l1 I am the owner of eretz Israel as much as I think it's beautiful. This is how much it belongs to me. {R. Shlomo remarks to himself, but the mic picks up: Why I am so tired, ?'cause I don't know?.) Ok, just one more thing. The whole Gemora of hanuka is just one page. You know, you can learn the whole Talmud by heart, but if there's no light behind it, it's nothing. Hanukah is one page. But this one page, those few lines! {Almost whispering:} So(?) special. Ok, just want you to know, Hanuka is mamash the time when we can -- mamash pray for our wives, for our husbands, for our children, beyond, beyond the limits. {1400} {Next line very faint; maybe simply that R. Shlomo was given something to drink:} L'chaim, l'chaim. #l2 [ I don't recall R. Shlomo, during his lectures, asking for anything to drink. (No, not quite true; I recall once, in the Modi'in cheder ohel et al., he asked for a glass of water; but he didn't drink it until after kiddish.) --sa] #l1 THE MITZVA, FOR THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL, OF LIVING IN THE LAND OF ISRAEL Q.: All mitvot are beautiful. Being in Israel is a mitzva. But then we have other mitzvas, some of them -- (?)say [ie, suppose it were the case that] you can't(?) do them in Israel, being an olah. Like the mitzva to give kavod to your parents [FN4-sa] How do you know which is the most important mitzva, which is the most beautiful to haSHEM, and which is going to lift your soul up the most. R. Shlomo: I'll never know, and you'll never know, but you have just to trust your inside. Remember that torah which is awesome. The KOTZKER Rebbe's grandson said, {HEBREW(?), quoting Genesis, 12:1, Lech L'cha: `And G_d said to Avram, go to the land which I will show you.' } He says, there's no mitzva in the world which there's so much controversy, if you have to do it before Meshiach's coming. Go to eretz Israel or not. Some Rebbes say yes, some say no. So he says: At the end, there's no decision. So he says: But if G-d wants you to be Israel, HE'll let you know. Says "I will show it to you" (Reference, ibid.). He says: Eretz Israel is so precious to G-d, G-d only wants those people to be in Israel, whom he really wants there. If HE wants you there, HE'll let you know. Let's hope HE wants us to be there, miR'S'T haSHEM. What do we know? The most important thing to remember: Hanuka we initate the Third Beis ha MIkdash. Not the Second Beis haMikdash. And also: Hanuka, you have to have a house. [FN5-sa] You cannot kindle hanuka lights in the street. It has to be a house. In an emergency, so you make it a little bit yoser. #l2 [Ie, there is no provision for absolving someone of the obligation to kindle hanuka lights in his home, but one who is away from his home for the entirety of one or more nights of hanuka may be included in the hanuka blessing of someone else.] #l1 Q.: Why did it take so many days to make new oil. I see that #l2 [Ie: The significance of the miracle of Hanuka is that the oil lasted for 8 days. But what could they have not pressed new olive oil immediately?] #l1 {END RECORDING SIDE A.} {1456} {PROBABLY SOME, BUT DARNED LITTLE, TEXT-LOSS ON TAPE-FLIP} SIDE B {000) Someoene says, apparently continuing the preceeding question: ?Might get away with it? in an hour, if you could. One more thing which is very important to know: basically: If all of Israel is not pure, you can do it even when the oil is not pure. It was permitted to do it. But you know, they came back from the war, they said: Mamash, G-d, we worked so hard, we gave our lives, I don't want to kindle an unholy light. Mamash I want YOU to give it to me, mamash, in the holiest, sweetest way. PIECE PROCESS ` I said to someone this week (12/93), y'know: So: they're bringing peace to Israel, right. ?Yeah?, nebuch but(?) the way we want peace, you know, it doesn't look right. Remember the story with the yid who hadn't eaten all week, and he found a piece of gold in the outhouse, ?says, Rabbenu shel olam?, if YOU want to give me money, don't give it to me there. Give it to me. ?I don't know? It's Crazy. What do we know, right. ----------------------------------------------------------------- {AT THIS POINT THE TEACHING ENDED, BUT THE TAPE RECORDER WAS LEFT ON. FROM HERE TO THE END OF THE TAPE, SUBSTANTIVE REMARKS BY R. SHLOMO ARE INTERSPERSED WITH SECULAR CONVERSATION [which I omit] {100} R. Shlomo: You know, Zusha [R. Zusha Frumin] I haven't heard from you tora in so long. R. Zusha: Too tired. R. Shlomo, acknowleging: Too tired. R. Shlomo to someone: I don't know if you remember, I made up the niggun for your wedding. ... Anyway, mamash, I bless you, everything should be good. THE RABBI TOOK TIME TO EAT, WHICH IMPROVED THE VOLUME.} {200} Y. Rottenberg, with a joke: You know how you say son-in-law in Yiddish? ______ . R. Shlomo: That's pretty good. {300} {More joking. R. Shlomo remarks: { -- You know what the rabbi told me? From Shavuos, to rosh hodesh Elul, I ?write in Yiddish?. Rosh hodesh Elul, Rosh Hashana, I rehearse in front of everyone else. {More casual convesation between R. Shlomo and the chevre} Someone: ____ they're trying to push _____ religious ______ R. Shlomo: No, it's good. The thing is, that it's good. But the way they're doing it is bad, y'know. ALS(?): Yeah, but nobody knows what they're doing at all, right? R. Shlomo: If someone finds a girl and wants to get married, it's beautiful, right. But if they're ?fighting? the night before the wedding. {Various causual remarks. Y. Rottenberg observes: Nothing gets serious here.} R. Shlomo: Chevre, I want to tell you something, because Amera [ Amera Lilien Shames ] reminded me. {400} Basically, at the beginning, right after the 6 Day War, I was talking to all the top generals, because I was singing for the soldiers, and I said to them: Who am I to tell you, but I'm still telling you. You need an army to make war, but you need an army to make peace. Was my first year year in the House of Love & Prayer. I suggest to you, just bring over a thousand hippies, and all the thousand hippies from my chevre should go all over the country playing every Arab school, make friends, every Arab has to know, that there's one Jew who's his friend. #l2 {Comment from the audience: Oy #l3 or possibly 'Aye' #l4 but probably not.} #l1 Has to be like, personal contact. Has to be, like, personal contact. That's the only way we'll keep them peaceful. {FN-5a] Ok, let's have as strong army, but [if] there's no personal contact we can offer them, won't last. #l2 {Some amongst the chevre then, simultaneously, share related comments from their own experience.} Y. Rautenberg suggests: No, it's not true. It's not true. When was the last time you went to --- [presumably, Media, but Y. Rautenberg cuts off his own remark in deference to R. Shlomo ] #l1 {Someone, maybe Zahava Gilmore, remarks: In kol haMedina, the people who live there are there and work togther.} You see what it is, the truth is, that imagine Arik Sharon [FN-5b] would have been [still Minister of Defense??] -- the moment they start throwing stones. You had to establish -- #l2 [boundaries?, limits, as Kissinger had at the outset of the intifada suggested?] #l1 -- it would never [have] come to this. Ten thousand ways to doing it. Like a little bit strong, little bit peaceful. Comment from audience: Rabin did it the worst one. R. Shlomo: Because he cares more for what goyim think that for what yidden think. Arafat said a good tora, as much as ______ . Only good torah I heard from him. #l2 {Zev Berg, #l3 Properietor of the Jewish Heritage &/or Biblical Art Gallery in the old synagogue building on the lakeside promenade of Tiberias -- #l4 and he has a large family and some very nice inexpensive silkscreen prints, which he can put in mailing tubes; so call him at: 972--6--6725-229 -- #l2 said: The Lubavitcher Rebbe, z'l, said there are two names, and only two names, that they should be blotted out; and the preceeding is one. Zev Berg said, as I recall: The Lubavitcher Rebbe, z'l, would talk for pages to avoid saying anything bad about anyone; so when he said this, it must really have been serious. } #l1 He says Shamir lied to the Arabs, and told the Jews the truth. Rabin is lying to the Arabs and lying to the Jews. Q.: When did he say this? A.: One of his torahs, one of his shala sheudes torahs. Jake: This big terrorist, Jibril, in the Jerusalem Post, he says he has proof that Arafat's grandmother is Jewish, she's from Morocco, and he names the name of the family -- Kulu something like this. ... {Zehava Gilmore discusses her wedding tape: I used to listen to it every year, on my anniversary. } {500} R. Shlomo: I think Emunah [Witt] transcribed your wedding also, no? Zehava Gilmore: I gave somebody the tape to transcribe, and they lost it. Y. Rautenberg: I gave it back to you. ZG: No. ... It never got back to me. You gave me a transcription. The transcription is not the tape; and I was so upset. --- And then I found a copy of it in Reuven's parents' house. R. Shlomo: Ya? ZG: I used to listen to it every year on my anniversary, and hear the toras. I want you to know. R. Shlomo, interrogatively: It's good stuff? ZG: Of course. R. Shlomo, to ZG: I think, at your wedding, I said for the first time the torah, Eliahu haNavi is bringing the kallah to the chuppah -- right? ZG: Right. R. Shlomo: It's a gvalt tora. Someone, maybe ZG: I didn't see anything at my wedding. Didn't hear anything ____. I didn't see any of the guests. I didn't know anything what was going on there. In the wedding pictures, I saw a little bit. {Various remarks between the chevre and R. Shlomo} Someone, maybe ZG: Shlomo, I gave over one of your torahs, at a shiur for women, in Gimzo, on parenting, on {HEBREW:} ?Hinuchde Modi'in? R. Shlomo: Ya? Which tora? Questioner continues: So you have to tell me who you said it in the name of. Of "make yourself strong." I have to give you ______. Who said this. R. Shlomo.: The heilige VOLKER. The heilige ?Mizrach?. I remember ____ of children, ___ four or five _____. Make yourself strong {600} -- _______. #l2 {Some remarks are indistinct, because the Rabbi is talking with his mouth full, which is happening because the chevre are asking the Rabbi questions while he is eating. The Rabbi is being asked questions while he is eating because the rabbi usually does not take time to eat if there are people who want to ask him questions. (And Hannah-Leah Bogost said: I once asked R. Shlomo, Shlomo, are you ever alone, and he said, when I'm under my tallis.) --sa} #l1 ZG: I said it over to her in your name, I said I couldn't remember who you [said] said it, and then she gave it over to her different ladies. I'll tell her who [said it]. R. Shlomo: There's also a tora where he says: Whenever you're going to get get angry, he says, if it's an averas, I'm not permitted to get angry. So [should I then]I understand this [teaching to imply that]: If I have to [get angry] , it's a mitzva?! If it's a mitzva -- [then I could appropriately] put on my streimel, my shabbosdike kapote -- right? [FN-6] {more remarks between the chevre and R. Shlomo} {The Satmar hasidim believe that Chabad is bringing back too many ill-prepared, or un-committed Jews back into Yiddishkeit.} Q.: Paraphrase: In America I stayed with some Satmar ?women? ,and I found out why they don't like Chabad: Because of all they Jews they bring into Yiddishkeit. R. Shlomo: They can't stand them. Questioner agrees: They can't stand them. R. Shlomo [joking, apparently, albeit deadpan]. They're right. {brief pause} Questioner, dumbfounded: They're right? {another brief pause} Questioner or another member of the hevre adds" Oh, mental: [or: Holy makerel.] {Questioner laughs}: Thank you very much: changing your mind at the last minute. {R. Shlomo resumes:} I told you a story about this woman. Satmar woman. Her husband was taking care of yiddishkeit in Budapest. I met him in Jerusalem, in Geula. Which is mamash ?I'm looking for you like crazy? [or: ?Brooklyn?] ___ please call me. Then he called me up in New York, left a message, called him up. His wife says -- ________ So his wife says, don't you call here, we have Satmar hasidim who don't like you. I says, listen to me, I'm not calling you because I like you; ____ your husband called me, and he wants to talk to me; if your husband doesn't want to talk to me, he has a right; let him tell me he doesn't want to talk to me. {700} She says to me, you're doing the biggest avera in the world. I say, what's the biggest avera in the world. She says: `men and women being in the same room.' {R. Shlomo remarks, deadpan:} That's the biggest avera in the world. I said to her: (G_d forbid, I bless you to be well, [but]:) Imagine: [if] your husband were sick] are you taking him to an an emergency room, or you're not going in [ie, will you refuse to enter the hospital] because men and women sit there [without a mehitza]. So that you understand in your head, it's an emergency. So I says: I'm running an emergency ward. COUNTERPRODUCTIVITY OF POLITICIZATION OF THE ISRAELI RABBINUTE Q.: Forgive me -- A.: Any time. Q.: No -- A lot of times when I hear you speaking on the radio, a lot of times you knock off the rabbonim, other rabbonim. I don't understand it. A.: I do it because they have to hear it. Q, cont.: But the klal (?) [the public] doesn't have to hear it. The klal needs to know to respect all rabbonim, that they could learn from all rabbonim. Yesh anashim gdolim b_oalam [There are great people in the world. ] R. Shlomo: I ?understand?. Let me tell you. Why is Israel Yiddishkeit so schwach(?) [weak]. Because they think that the rabbis really represent G-d. If they would know that a little rebbele is not representing G-d -- #l2 {R. Shlomo's answer is terse; I think it means: there is so much resistance and opposition to religious Judaism in Israel, because the self-styled 'secular'ists take all the rabbis, however minor or misdirected some may be, as authentic representatives of Jewish religion.} #l1 The Amshinover Reb is representing G_d -- the real tzadikim -- mamash, the real ones -- what do they need rabbis who mingle in politics, and this one took money from this one, this one took money from this one -- so they have to know that THEY [ie, the corrupt members of the rabbinute] are not G-d's representatives. {Y. Rottenberg starts to say something: You know, I -- } R. Shlomo adds, as a reconsideration: Maybe you're right, I don't know. MR. ROTTENBERG CONVERTS A UJA FUNDRAISER Y. Rottenberg: I made my first convert. Shlomo: {R. Shlomo replies:} Oh? Y. Rautenberg continues: Last week this couple comes into the restaurant [Luciano's Glatt Kosher Neapolitan Pizza Emporium, featuring the best pesta east of Ancona; for reservations telephone 972---8--9262-526 -- Editor] collecting money for the UJA [ FROM Moshav Modi'in?? ]. Big fundraisers. So she says, what's going on in this place. I says, I don't know, I'm retired. She says, Wow, did you hear that Jack. So it goes on. He says, there's nothing going on here; the place looks like a ghost town. So, I tell a little story, they mamash didn't give us any funding here. He says, oh, you need a good lawyer, I have one. I says well, you pay? She says, oh, who's in charge here. I said Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach. "Ahh --- he's not such a good rep-u-%ta-tion --- with {HUSHED VOICE} %women. " I said listen, 23 years I'm with Rabbi Carlebach, I'm sleeping on his floor, I'm sleeping here, I'm sleeping -- I said, for all these women, I says, you know, I never seen ONE running after him yet complaining. I said, if this is true then for sure he's my Rebbe. So her husband likes it, he says, I'm with you, brother. {800} Comment, by Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach: Unbelieveable. YR: Can you imagine. And she's like collecting millions of dollars. ... R. Shlomo comments: Oy. R. Shlomo adds [portentously] : The World Needs Fixing. {R. Shlomo apparently returns to the previous discussion, about whether it is appropirate to criticize other rabbis:} OK, well ?Zahava? [or: Nehama-le] after you tell them, I'll be more careful, maybe. Bearing witness ZG: No, you're right. There are -- I work for a woman in Makabim. These horrible things she told about _______ she told me she never met a Rav that -- to respect. I said, what happened to you in your life that you feel so badly -- she said she never ever met a Rav, she never spoke to a Rav -- R. Shlomo: She never spoke to a rabbi? ZG: She never spoke to a rav, she comes from a total hilloni [non-observant, lit. 'hollow'] family and all she knows is the news -- the radio and the television, and they really mashmit -- she finds that this one stole money, and this one -- you know. Bt today she told me, if there was a shiur in yahadut(?) [unity of the Jewish people(?)] ?I could mention? -- even though she's lo _______{HEBREW} R. Shlomo: So you're the one to do it. {Pause} You're not doing it? Why not? ZR: I don't know, Shlomo. {Reflectively:} That's a good idea. R. Shlomo: So why don't you do it. {Someone, maybe SG, comments, supportively: That could be your `in' to _______ really. R. Shlomo: Don't be afraid _____ just do it. SG: Mamash. Ya'kov Rottenberg: You already worked on the bottom -- {Y. Rautenberg rephrases:} on the floor -- so now move up. R. Shlomo: _______ darkness with a stick, you must make a light and it will disappear. I tell you what; I am personally angry at the rabbonim. Someone told me an unbelievable story. That a woman comes to a rabbi who was sitting there. She comes crying, she says, my daughter is leaving tomorrow night for India, I don't think she'll ever come back. Please rabbi, I'm begging you, do something. The rabbi was in the middle of dinner. Glatt kosher. And he keeps on eating, he says 'what can I do'. {HEBREW?? NEXT FEW SENTENCES HARD TO HEAR. Crazy, why should I _____ ? ?Why of course, of course? Keeps on eating ... }} Suddenly his wife comes in. And she says, there's an emergency phone call for you. Emergency. What happened? They found that the baker in Borough Park, with the margarine, she doesn't have a U. All fired up. Gevalt! Right away, we have to come tomorrow morning, and give out signs all over, {900} we should have ______ to this bakery. Was not even, has-v'-shalom, not-kosher; [merely] didn't have a U. So he [ the person who told R. Shlomo this story] says to me. I couldn't believe my ears: talking about a person, a yid, that's getting lost; and [instead] talking about the cake -- it touches him. Comment from chevre: Should have sent you on the case. R. Shlomo: One of my biggest enemies, really sworn enemies, his nephew became -- {A member of the chevre takes exception to the word 'enemy': Shlomo, ______ say such a word. R. Shlomo: I mean, he's ok, you know. Nothing against -- {R. Shlomo resumes:} His nephew became in love with Baba Muktananda. Talked to him, anyway. So this nephew says, the only rabbi I would like to talk to is Shlomo. So against his better wishes, calls me up. He says, you know what I think of you, but this is an emergency, my nephew wants to see you, so, when could I come. It's an emergency, so I [say] come tonight, one o'clock. He comes, and there she wouldn't shake hands with me of course, _____ He comes in, sits on the sofa. This boy is so sweet, y'know, 19 years old, went to yeshiva -- rebbes didn't know how to talk to him and everything, [and they] pushed him out. Talked to him for an hour. Not that I'm so good; but you see, I didn't knock him off; "I says [ie, as if I were to have said] `Ach, Baba Muktandana's -- Idol Worship! [avoda zara] {NEXT SENTENCE INDISTINCT}. So, so sweet. Mamash, sweet like sugar. {Next sentences faint; apparently R. Shlomo invited the young man for shabbos:} _____ how 'bout coming next shabbos, you know. ____ He says, sure. _____ I have to, you know, I love you so much, how can I ______ for shabbos, you know. #l2 {N.B.: All I recall hearing of Baba Muktananda was that he was said to be wont to give a setz with a peacock feather. I guess he taught from a standpoint of bhakti yoga, from the heart, which puts in context R. Shlomo's focus here on love.} #l1 This rebbele there, he walked out to me, mamsh there were tears in his eyes [the uncle] FAILURE OF CONTEMPORARY JEWISH EDUCATION #l2 [The proprieteress of one of Israel's most outstanding glatt kosher rural Italian restaurants, with delightful al fresco dining in the summer season (reservations 972-8-9265625), discusses a USA classmate who meditates in front of a large picture of her guru's feet.] #l1 SG: This old high school friend of mine got caught into this yoga trip. For 20 years. And the last time I was there, I connected to her. R. Shlomo: ?So you should do.?? SG: And so intense. Her whole life is just this -- yogi-kind. And she admitted {1000} it to me herself -- she's ready for something else. {Brief exchange of remarks.} SG {in the hope that R. Shlomo might contact this person, when he is in the Catskills:: I have her number, I really remember her number. Her mother and father died. She devoted her whole house into this yogi thing. You walk in, you smell the incense. You look here, here's the picture. You walk here, on the refrigerator -- and then there's an arrow in the meditation room -- and there is a giant picture of the FEET -- and the whole meditation room --- so my daughter says, why is this ?deal? with the feet -- she says, well, it's supposed to come out of the feet that the -- what -- I don't know what -- .... R. Shlomo: You know what it is; I understand it: whatever she was looking for, she didn't find it in Yiddishkeit. But you see what it is with Yiddishkeit, I always say like this: you have everything in the kitchen, and nothing on the menu. We have everything, but we don't dish it up. We need better cooks. {FN-*4}{FNa5} THE FIXING OF THE ROUTINE OF HALACHIC JUDAISM IS SHABBOS Q.: How do you deal with [religious Jewish] routine becoming tired, become bored. Yachadut is a all routine. All the mitzvot, daven 3 times a day, everything is the same thing again and again; how do we not become tired. R. Shlomo: It's the hardest thing in the world. The whole Ball Shem Tov -- The whole thing with the Baal Shem -- said not to do everything mechanic. Basically, do you need anything more permanent than Shabbos? Shabbos is {HEBREW ?kria v'kain?_} . And Shabbos is, mamash, all _____ is Shabbos. According to that if you suffer from this {HEBREW ?kria v'kain?} ,if it's always a routine, then your fixing [of it??] is with Shabbos. That's what he says. {R. Shlomo: Yankele: You have maybe some vitamin C? Because I always get a cold, when I don't have vitain C for a few days.} #l2 {N.B.: Linus Pauling, after he had won his first Nobel prize, wrote a book advocating the use of Vitamin C to strengthen the immune system.} {1100} Remark by someone; Someone: ____ shiur that I heard, by Rabbanit ?Beagle_____? that I heard. R. Shlomo: [Was it] good? A: Wonderful. What she taught about shabbos, she said, fight the routine, with everything you can, fight it, try to do all the tachluot, to make it special, to make it festive, to make it exciting. We get trapped in this routine, ?because we get? -- R. Shlomo: ?And it's so terrible? #l2 {I recall elsewhere, I'm not sure where, probably input, that, as memory serves, R. Shlomo said, of Jewish religious practice in general: `If I do it today the way I did it yesterday', I'm still on the level of paganism(?).} #l1 {Other remarks} [Discussion of someone who was -- critical of R. Shlomo's approach] R. Shlomo: Let's hope he grew up in the meantime. Even in those days he was upset that I was hanging out [with R. Shlomo and his chevre] but he had the chochma to say, if shabbos there is good for you, then you should go. R. Shlomo: Did you ever talk to him after you got engaged? A: No, after I got engaged -- he wasn't worried about me. Comment from audience: One rav there said to me, If you go there, if you go to Shlomo's chevre, then don't set foot in my house again. I said to him, S._____ {VERY FAINT}. He just had to deal with our children. DON'T WORRY, THE KIDS ARE OK {CF. A SIMILAR REMARK BY SHMUEL KOUSSITSKY, MODI'IN, CA. 1992} Q.: {1168} Do you think our children are going to make it, Shlomo? R. Shlomo.: Have to(?). You see, I think that our children are about 10,000 times better than we think that they are. Q, cont.: Why are they taking away __________. I'm so worried that they're going to be just b'nai ha'Olam, and not b'nei Torah, b'klal. R. Shlomo: Obviously Meshiach's gonna have to to put it in a ______ ?because I gotta cry for them every second, you know? You see, the yeshiva doesn't connect them to the world in a deeper way. In the Yeshiva there is no world. Yeshiva teaches them there is no world. Q., continued: Except -- there not in those kind of yeshivas. The boys that are in those kind of yeshivas, maybe they do better, I don't know. R. Shlomo: To a certain point in their life, and then they ____ ?the world.? I don't know. Everything is a miracle, you know. Hanuka's a miracle, you know. Hanuka comes _______ education, right? {1200} Why is it __________ . --------- SOUND ENGINEER YA'AKOV ROTTENBERG: Good manager, right? Professional, very professional. R. Shlomo: Straight. Y. Rottenberg: Yup. ----------- R. Shlomo: I once [in the HLP?] had a little black brother coming in every night -- cut like sugar -- and he says to me, you know, I'm not ______ I'm sure he's good. He had nails from here almost to the end of the world. So he gives me a ?massage?, mamash he puts his nails into me -- ... But he was a gvalt, you know -- He knew about every nerve in the foot, exactly where it connects to. {Someone remarks: 20,000 nerves [that end in the foot]. } R. Shlomo continues: .... He came again [for another Friday evening Shabbat] But right after bentsching he diappeared; because he was so afraid I'd ask him again. Don't they teach you not to put your nails in? No. Someone says: Not allowed to have nails. {other remarks} R. Shlomo: Nehama-le: You have so much to give, so don't hold back. I was learning last week, in the ? Reb Kallover?, Hanuka: Even in Simchas Torah, G--d is still holding back a little bit. Hanuka-- light is not holding back. Mamash, it burns. Let's hope. We're going. Brothers and sisters, your brother's going. END RECORDING {SIDE B {1324}} ================================================================= NOTES ARE APPENDED AS: =sash9312 [ N.B. 20 Dec '03 (sa): That file of notes is now lost. ] ================================================================