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As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 305-306, no. 40
The zeide told three stories about Reb Aizel; in the first, Reb Aizel kept the list of the Chalukas HaShas in the Lubavitcher shul in Homil, calling each participant by name to ask whether he had finished his mesechta before the Yud-Tes Kislev siyum. One man answered yes twice, but when asked a third time whether he had learned it that year, he admitted he had learned ten pages of it the previous year before Yud-Tes Kislev. Reb Aizel immediately instructed those present to take Gemaros and divide the ten missing pages among themselves.
3 min to tellexcellent to tell
372 wordsRebbe Rayatz
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score 1.36 ·
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As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 488-489, no. 9
In Toronto the Rebbe encouraged R. Eliyahu to devote himself to education, and he took a position in a Talmud Torah. Friends repeatedly pressed him toward lucrative business ventures — some who entered them became millionaires — but the Rebbe answered him: being so qualified in education, is this why you had mesiras nefesh in Russia and endured everything to reach Canada, to become a businessman? He stayed in chinuch al pi taharas hakodesh for life, never arriving late once in thirty-six years, was honored at an Eitz Chaim Talmud Torah dinner attended by five hundred people, founded the first Chabad institution in Toronto with R. Yosef Assulski funding a shul and mikva, and served two decades as a spiritual guide in Gan Yisroel camp.
2 min to tellexcellent to tell
325 wordsR. Eliyahu Akiva Lipskar
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score 1.31 ·
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As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 219-221, no. 36
At a Yud-Tes Kislev farbrengen in 5685 or 5686, the Rebbe related that his father had received a letter from the Rav of Chevron reporting that missionaries were trying to buy the shul held by tradition to be Avraham Avinu's, and that 25,000 rubles were needed for a counteroffer. Father and son traveled to Moscow, where a meeting of Moscow gvirim went badly until R. Shmuel Gurary offered to give the entire sum on condition that the shul be purchased in the Rebbe's name, sending in the morning a note and a check for 5,000 rubles though he was then deeply in debt. When the Rebbe brought the note and check to his father, his father said: Rasag accomplished the opening of Jewish minds, and Rashag accomplished the opening of Jewish hearts.
4 min to tellvery good to tell
493 wordsRebbe Rayatz
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score 1.27 ·
person_role=0.00 topic_theme_strength=0.00 occasion_strength=0.00 keyword_fts=0.00 semantic=0.00 farbrengen_value=0.80 length_suitability=0.95
As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 486-488, no. 8
Some time later the rov's two-year-old daughter was badly burned by scalding water, and though the Rebbe gave a bracha for a complete recovery, her father was disappointed not to be told to make a kiddush as R. Eliyahu had been. Days afterward Rabbi Hadakov conveyed in the Rebbe's name that he should arrange a kiddush in the girl's merit, which he did for that Shabbos. On Motzaei Shabbos her condition collapsed and the doctors gave her hours to live; the Rebbe told them to go to the hospital and make a shturem about the incorrect medicine, and since the rov was reserved by nature, R. Eliyahu went in his place. The doctors discovered that medicine prescribed to be sprinkled on her burns was instead being given to her to drink; once administered correctly, she recovered completely.
2 min to tellexcellent to tell
271 wordsR. Eliyahu Akiva Lipskar
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score 1.26 ·
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As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 160-161, no. 39
R. Yekusiel Golodetz also related that R. Yitzchak Yoel Rofolovitz, the rov of Kremenchug, was arguing late one Friday afternoon with R. Shmuel Gurary over whether one should drink tea first or daven Mincha first. The Rebbe passed by and they told him what they were debating. The Rebbe answered: if you want to drink tea in a relaxed manner, daven Mincha first; but if you want to daven Mincha in a relaxed way, you can drink the tea first.
2 min to tellexcellent to tell
254 wordsRebbe Rashab
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score 1.25 ·
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As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 179-180, no. 68
R. Gershon Chein, the Rav of Alexandria, related in 5686 that when he was in Lubavitch, Mendel the attendant summoned him to the Rebbe, who told him that Koppel would be bringing the esrogim early the next morning and that he should be there to receive them, adding that he most likely would not sleep that night. He stayed awake in the zal all night, went to the mikveh at dawn, met Koppel's wagon and took the esrogim. When he brought the box inside, the Rebbe took it from him, set it on the table, clasped his hands, bent slightly and circled the table again and again like hakafos, with extraordinary deveikus, then carried the box into his room.
3 min to tellvery good to tell
405 wordsRebbe Rashab
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score 1.19 ·
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As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, p. 301, no. 33
Another account the zeide heard from the Tzemach Tzedek's children: their father told them that late into the night he discussed with Reb Aizel subjects that stand at the loftiest heights. Afterwards he went to rest, but then decided to go look at "the zeide's soldier" — the Alter Rebbe's soldier. He found Reb Aizel standing and studying Gemara like a diligent young scholar who had not learned in a long time.
1 min to tellexcellent to tell
160 wordsRebbe Rayatz
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score 1.15 ·
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As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 65-66, no. 6
Reb Aizel related that he once came in to the Mitteler Rebbe during the last years of his nesius and found him lying in bed. The Rebbe complained to him of his great suffering, but said that when he sits down to write Chassidus on the posuk "Your hair is like a flock of goats," he forgets all his pain. With that he jumped out of bed and sat down to write Chassidus.
1 min to tellexcellent to tell
147 wordsMitteler Rebbe
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score 1.14 ·
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As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 82-83, no. 10
One of the yoshvim in Lubavitch was seized in the middle of the night by a longing to do teshuvah and ran to the Tzemach Tzedek, even though the fixed schedule in Lubavitch was to retire at ten and rise at four. He called out the words of the Rosh Hashanah Musaf, "He who opens the gate for those who knock in repentance." The Tzemach Tzedek opened the door.
1 min to tellexcellent to tell
141 wordsTzemach Tzedek
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score 1.14 ·
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As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, p. 267, no. 108
R. Michoel Dvorkin also related that a day or two before Yud-Beis Tammuz, in the shochet's courtyard and garden in Kostrama, the Rebbe said that nearly a month had passed in which he had not written about the education of children — "What do I need fingers for…?!"
1 min to tellexcellent to tell
86 wordsRebbe Rayatz
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score 1.09 ·
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As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, p. 277, no. 123
In Reshimos Hama'asar the Rebbe writes that by Divine Providence the investigators spent far more time in his home than they had planned, and their attempts to hurry were ineffective. Beryl Menier (may G-d avenge his blood) related that in the middle of that night the Ramash came running to take him to Chaim Lieberman, they told him what was happening with the Rebbe, and they arranged everything so that nothing incriminating would be found — and the police indeed came afterward to arrest R. Chaim. Later, once the Rebbe was already in Riga, great efforts were made and R. Chaim too was permitted to leave Russia.
2 min to tellvery good to tell
292 wordsRebbe Rayatz
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score 1.08 ·
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As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 504-512, no. 1
Selections from Reb Zalman Duchman's correspondence with the Rebbe, beginning with the Rebbe's first letter of 12 Cheshvan 5709 (1948) and Reb Zalman's reply of 23 Cheshvan 5709; over the following 22 months Reb Zalman sent the Rebbe 212 pages that became the foundation of this book. The Rebbe pressed him to send more than "some" stories, citing that a rich man who brings a poor man's offering does not fulfill his obligation, and later instructed that the stories be checked for accuracy of quotations from our sages, told him to choose from or print the letters he already had rather than wait for a new approbation, and asked "Is there any reason to wait?" A 5722 (1962) letter urges support for Colel Chabad, since the redemption depends on our deeds and activities connected to the Holy Land are therefore especially timely. When Reb Zalman submitted a list of donors for a bracha, the Rebbe answered that their reward is already stated in the letters of the Rebbeim from the Alter Rebbe onward, and asked whether the letter had been properly used in the 150th year since the Alter Rebbe's passing.
4 min to tellgood to tell
540 wordsCorrespondence with the Rebbe
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score 1.07 ·
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As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 76-77, no. 3
On the way to Lubavitch the narrator's grandfather resolved to do three things: see the Rebbe right away, arrange lodging near the Rebbe's courtyard, and spend Shabbos in the company of the Rebbe's sons. They arrived on Friday and he was told the Rebbe could not be seen, as he had already returned from the mikveh, but he ran to the Rebbe's home anyway, and the Tzemach Tzedek came out and said, "No meetings now" — so the first resolution was fulfilled, since he had already seen the Rebbe. He obtained lodging near the courtyard, and because the Rebbe's son R. Shneur Zalman, the Rebbe of Liadi, had a father-in-law in Homil who had sent greetings through him, he was invited for Shabbos — and remained his guest for Shabbos and Yom-Tov for years afterward.
2 min to tellvery good to tell
243 wordsTzemach Tzedek
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score 1.04 ·
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As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 470-471, no. 6
R. Yisroel first took a job in a butcher store and later opened his own poultry business; in yechidus, when the Rebbe asked him for good news, he reported opening his own butcher shop and asked the Rebbe to be his partner, and the Rebbe gave him a $50 bill. In his characteristic way he told the Rebbe, "If you're giving the money to be a partner, $50 is nothing, and if you're giving it as a segulah, then one dollar is also enough." He rose at four a.m. daily for his delivery route, but used his warmth and humor with his Williamsburg customers to move them to give to charitable causes and to change their view of the Rebbe and Lubavitch; his wife Rochel worked in a factory so that he could give his time to the Rebbe and to helping others, and their children nonetheless felt their parents were devoted to them.
2 min to tellvery good to tell
237 wordsR. Yisroel Duchman
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score 1.02 ·
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As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, p. 454, no. 57
R. Zalman helped organize shiurim in 770 and was charged with reporting their progress to the Rebbe. In Elul 5724 (1964) he reported that the shiurim were continuing but attendance was down because many were away, and the Rebbe wrote that an effort should be made to have at least ten participants, in line with the Alter Rebbe's "wondrous words" in Igeres HaKodesh. In his next report R. Zalman confirmed more had committed to come and asked why the Rebbe said "wondrous words" rather than the usual "holy words"; the Rebbe answered that "wonder" refers to keser, which is above the ten sefiros and is drawn down by ten people gathering, adding that it is easier to influence the nefesh habehamis with "wondrous" than with "holy." When R. Zalman worried he was burdening the Rebbe with weekly reports, the Rebbe replied that it was a subject of great pleasure from those who participate, though the opposite could be said of those who do not yet participate.
2 min to tellvery good to tell
205 wordsR. Zalman Duchman
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score 1.00 ·
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As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, p. 329, no. 18
The zeide's daily practice between Mincha and Maariv was to recite Tanya. Traveling to a city, he would go to a shul, take out his Tanya and sit and study, learning a chapter with anyone who came to him. Several times a week he learned Tanya with the boys of R. DovBer Bobrov's cheder in Homil, and a few times a week he went before the morning davening to learn Tanya with Alter Shur, a wealthy gvir in Homil.
2 min to tellvery good to tell
199 wordsRebbe Rayatz
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score 0.99 ·
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As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 289-290, no. 11
The narrator's zeide recounted what he heard from Reb Mordechai, Reb Aizel's meshares: Reb Aizel rose very early one morning, as was his custom, and recited Birkos Hashachar. Standing in the middle of the room he began Tehillim 119, Ashrei Temimei Derech. When he finished three hours later, the meshares had to sweep away the tears that had collected on the floor.
1 min to tellvery good to tell
161 wordsRebbe Rayatz
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score 0.95 ·
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As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 450-451, no. 52
As recounted by R. Zalman's daughter, on the day after Simchas Torah her father lay down to rest, exhausted after two days on his feet with little sleep. A local rabbi knocked with an urgent request: a Jew was being expelled from the country for lack of papers, and testimony from a respected man like R. Zalman might allow him to remain. Though his wife argued that he needed the rest, R. Zalman overheard, got dressed at once and went along; after many hours of travel and waiting in a Manhattan court they succeeded in sparing the Jew from suffering.
1 min to tellvery good to tell
161 wordsR. Zalman Duchman
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score 0.95 ·
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As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, p. 162, no. 42
R. Zavil Zeidenfeld would always recount this story with overwhelming hispa'alus: R. Yaakov Korinitzer told him in Rostov that days before the Rebbe's last Purim, the Rebbe gave him instructions about checking the wheat to be ground for shemurah matzah. The Rebbe concluded, "The term tzav (command) always refers to the present moment — and to future generations."
1 min to tellvery good to tell
122 wordsRebbe Rashab
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score 0.91 ·
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As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 471-472, no. 7
Every Rosh Hashanah after arriving in the US, the Rebbe walked with crowds of chassidim from 770 to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens to say tashlich at a pond. On Rosh Hashanah 5717 (1956) a torrential downpour did not stop the walk, and the group arrived drenched to find the gate locked. The Rebbe decided to scale the enclosure; R. Yisroel, who was always at the Rebbe's side, offered to help. The Rebbe declined the help but handed R. Yisroel his siddur to hold while he climbed the wall.
1 min to tellvery good to tell
123 wordsR. Yisroel Duchman
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score 0.91 ·
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As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 423-424, no. 8
After several years learning in Tomchei Temimim in Lubavitch, Zalman returned to Homil, but always thirsted to be in Lubavitch and traveled there at least once a year for Rosh Hashanah, and whenever else he could. In the summer of 5674 (1914) the railroad introduced a cheaper class of travel, so he seized the opportunity and hurried to Lubavitch for Shavuos. Fearing that he would be stopped from going, he left secretly and told his brother to inform everyone only after he was gone.
1 min to tellvery good to tell
105 wordsR. Zalman Duchman
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score 0.90 ·
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As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, p. 246, no. 80
At a farbrengen in Leningrad, the Frierdiker Rebbe said, "My posuk is known; I only have to begin, and Hashem will finish for me." The footnote explains the custom of reciting a posuk at the conclusion of Shemoneh Esrei whose first and last letters match one's name, and that the posuk for the name Yosef (Tehillim 138:8) begins with the words "Hashem will finish for me."
0 min to tellvery good to tell
70 wordsRebbe Rayatz
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score 0.86 ·
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As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, p. 334, no. 28
When word spread that the Rebbe Rashab might come to Podobranka for Rosh Hashanah 5677 (1916), the narrator's zeide said that he would run there on foot to see him.
0 min to tellvery good to tell
68 wordsRebbe Rayatz
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score 0.86 ·
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As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, p. 402, no. 31
The narrator recounts that the Rebbe Rayatz told him in yechidus that when one is careful with time, there is time for everything. The Yiddish text places the yechidus in Leningrad.
0 min to tellvery good to tell
41 wordsRebbe Rayatz
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score 0.86 ·
person_role=0.00 topic_theme_strength=0.00 occasion_strength=0.00 keyword_fts=0.00 semantic=0.00 farbrengen_value=0.80 length_suitability=0.12
As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, p. 65, no. 5
Reb Aizel related that during the Alter Rebbe's lifetime there were times in the summer when the Mitteler Rebbe had already finished davening and eaten his morning meal by 9:30 in the morning, and would then study in seclusion until 5:30. Afterwards he would mentor the chassidim.
1 min to tellgood to tell
87 wordsMitteler Rebbe
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score 0.69 ·
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As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, p. 254, no. 92
The chossid R. Dovid Braverman related that the Rebbe Rayatz, in Rostov soon after becoming Rebbe, told him that one's exertion should go into reducing his hours of sleep — sleeping as little as possible — but not into reducing his eating.
1 min to tellgood to tell
76 wordsRebbe Rayatz
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score 0.68 ·
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As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, p. 69, no. 12
Der Zeide (רמ"י) related that the Mitteler Rebbe had left instructions concerning his funeral: no ceremonies, and the faster the better. The pallbearers in Niezhin afterwards told him that the coffin had raced along "like lightning."
0 min to tellgood to tell
69 wordsMitteler Rebbe
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score 0.66 ·
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As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, p. 128, no. 17
The Frierdiker Rebbe said that his grandfather, the Rebbe Maharash, was a "stern master." If the coachman took longer than five minutes to ready the horses, he would be dismissed.
0 min to tellgood to tell
54 wordsRebbe Maharash
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score 0.66 ·
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As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, p. 204, no. 11
The tomim Avraham Baruch Potcheper told the author that the Rebbe said to him: "How can someone lie down to sleep before midnight, and how can someone get up later than six?"
0 min to tellgood to tell
60 wordsRebbe Rayatz
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score 0.66 ·
person_role=0.00 topic_theme_strength=0.00 occasion_strength=0.00 keyword_fts=0.00 semantic=0.00 farbrengen_value=0.60 length_suitability=0.12
As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 295-296, no. 26
In his last years Reb Aizel had four talmidim: the narrator's Uncle Zalman and Shmeryl Moshkes were the two older ones, and the narrator's zeide and Eliezer Shimon Tumarkin — son of R. Yosef Tumarkin of Kremenchug and son-in-law of Reb Aizel's son Yaakov Yosef Epstein — were the younger two. The zeide described at length how, as soon as R. Eliezer Shimon arrived in Homil, he determined that the two of them should join together. R. Eliezer Shimon was by then already expert in all of Likkutei Torah, and they began learning nigleh and Chassidus together.
2 min to telltells with work
197 wordsRebbe Rayatz
story_000385
score 0.59 ·
person_role=0.00 topic_theme_strength=0.00 occasion_strength=0.00 keyword_fts=0.00 semantic=0.00 farbrengen_value=0.40 length_suitability=0.38
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