Day 4 of the Chabad on Campus Kinus in Israel  (5784/2024) was Shabbos Day and Sat Night. We’ll start with recapping Shabbos Day and then the Motzai Shabbat recap below it…

SHABBAT MORNING

On Shabbos morning there were two Chassidus classes, teaching two different Maamorim (Chassidic discourses said by the Rebbe) one in Hebrew, the other class in English. I did start with the English class by Rabbi Zalman Kaplan of Tzfat, but then decided to also try the class in Hebrew led by Rabbi Yair Rosenthal of Chabad on Campus at Sapir College, in Sderot, Israel. Both stuck to the text as a mainstay, each interpolated translations and commentary, explanations etc.

I sat next to Rabbi Mendy Kotlarsky by davening, he’s saying Kaddish for his late father who was a great facilitator, arranger and advocate for the world of Shlichus and its expansion. Rabbi Mendy is working to continue his father’s work, and before and after davening we took a little time to discuss some practical matters in this regard in upstate NY.

Speaking of davening Shabbos morning in a Tallis, I heard this (non-campus-related) story/description from the campus Shliach to Strausberg France about his grandfather, the legendary dedicated Chassid, “the Rebbe’s Israel Inspector”, R’ Zushe the Partisan. Both Zushe and his wife did not have Chabad roots or upbringing, but became very involved and immersed in Chabad after WWII. Once she went and bought her husband a new Tallis. But not knowing Chabad custom, she bought an elegant Tallit with a silver Atara, the shiny platelets that serve as an armor of sorts about the Tallis headpiece. That’s not Chabad custom (the reason is a longer story), Chabad men do not wear Ataras on their Tallis. But he got it as a gift from his wife, so off her went to Shul with it. Of course, during the farbrengen a fellow Chassid took him to task for this perceived abandonment of Chabad custom, and went on and on about it with some fervor and passion and biting criticism. On their way home, Reb Zushe’s son asked him why he didn’t explain himself.  Reb Zushe explained that his silence helped a few people in this instance: That mean obviously needed to vent and get things off his chest, so allowing him this rant was beneficial. And why throw his well-intentioned wife under the bus? His silence was helpful there, too. This story, and his reaction, are all the better appreciated when knowing how bold, brazen, loud and unfiltered Reb Zushe could be! And yet, he understood that there were times when non-reacting was the better course!

SHABBAT LUNCH, TABLE #2

For Shabbos Lunch they tried to assign table-numbers so to encourage more random Shluchim interactions. I ended up with Rabbi Dov Wagner of Chabad at USC, an old Chabad on Campus colleague, we’ve spent many Kinusim together, and Elchanon Tenenbaum who services Touro College in the Napa Valley of California. He told a memorable story about a sealed envelope he got when walking into Trader Joe’s in his early days when he was down and out.

Rabbi Yossi Gordon, CEO of Chabad on Campus was at our table and he shared a lot of Chassidic stories and family stories, especially from his father, R’ Yisroel Gordon, of blessed memory. The story of how his father tasted chopped liver for the first time in the home of Mrs. Simpson, how his father once called a local Worcestor man (known maybe as Dave) “Hirschel” but while in conversation with the Worcester Chabad Shliach Rabbi Herschel Fogelman, and how his father once witnessed the heartfelt tears of Rav Berel Rivkin on Bais Nissan the yartzeit of his Rebbe, and the sharp remark from R’ Ela Yachil Simpson about the tears (in his words,  indicating that not only did he not have a Rebbe now, but he never did even in the past!) – how R’ Yisroel learned to distinguish between subjective and objective Chassidic emotions, to differentiate between self-focused vs. Rebbe-focused.

R’ Yossi also shared the generational difference growing up in Worcester, without today’s expressed consciousness and familiar language about Shlichus. It was less explained then, less expressed, less understood for the children, or so he felt/remembers it. Today it is much more articulated, expressed and communicated.

And he shared the story of the heavenly landlord-tenant dispute that the Tzemach Tzedek asked Chassidim to help him adjudicate. The main point: The landlord insisted on a Beit Din that was closer to his time, that would better understand the realities of the world, that knew what money looked like. He expressed this about our Rebbe, who relates to us and understands us, and (unlike the Noach Altshuler story) will always advocate for us and shlep us out.

All this was at our own table, Table #2, after some Lchaim.

SHABBAT LUNCH FROM PODIUM

From the Podium during lunch Rabbi Dov Greenberg of Stanford University spoke. He explained the two names of Benjamin, the name Rachel gave with her dying breath: “Son of my suffering” and the name Jacob slightly twisted it to: “Son of my right hand!” which sound similar in Hebrew, but mean very different things. He quoted a passage of Mitteler Rebbe which explains that both Rachel and Jacob wanted this name to influence and guide their son in life, Rachel (especially given her situation) focused on the suffering and sacrifice of the past, while Jacob had a more positive, uplifting, empowering approach. And how the two names of Benjamin, very much reflect two approaches in our time to helping ensure the next generation keeps the vision and mission going forward, especially in adversarial times.

Then farbrengens broke out again, all over the room, and all afternoon long, until Mincha!

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Shabbos night.  Kiddush Levana dancing with clear moon over a summer Jerusalem. Havdalah. Watching Rebbe’s Living Torah.

ALUMNI VISIT ON SAT NIGHT

Before the program began and as people transitioned from Shabbos to Motzai Shabbos, I had two very beloved alumni guests in the hotel lobby, Greg (now Rabbi Binyamin) and Shara, Class of 1999, and the first wedding I ever officiated at, with assistance from my father. This is a beloved couple, alumni who keep close over the many miles, with whom we’ve celebrated Thanksgiving, life milestones, discussed lots of Torah and who made aliyah not that long after graduation. His father wrote one of our first fundraising letters, we we’ve remained connected over the years.  I didn’t bring much Shabbos House SWAG on this trip, unlike Raizy who brought on hers, but Greg and Shara have one of the most extensive extant collections of Simchat Torah shotglasses/jellybean-holders and as they were missing some of the more recent ones, we brought a bunch to help them better complete their set. We caught up on a lot, family things, how UAlbany is faring through all this (Greg was a big student activist and dedicated student leader back in his day), and how things are in Israel and in their community, Shul, jobs and careers and more.

SHARANSKY’S INTRO & CLOSING

Soon after Greg and Shara headed back home to Efrat, the Motzai Shabbos program began with featured speaker Natan (Anatoly) Sharansky, former Soviet dissident and refusenik, author, member of Knesset, and head of the Jewish Agency. He spoke about his experiences with Chabad, especially in serving the former Soviet Union and the challenges on today’s college campuses that he saw long in coming.

Sharansky’s talk covered a lot of issues, history, current events, activism then and now. But the richest parts was the intro and closing. He was introduced by a Rabbi Mordechai Kantor, campus Shliach to some of the Moscow universities. Rabbi Kantor told of his own story, his personal journey, going back to his grandfather who was an anti-religious orator in the Soviet Union, to his relationship with his Shliach after the collapse of the Soviet Union, who had “special glasses” to see and recognize Mordechai’s potential. Mordechai’s story was an amazing intro to Sharansky’s talk. And the close, when Sharansky finished his address, when all the Shluchim got up to clap and sing Nyet Nyet Nikavo, which brought Sharansky back to the podium for some very meaningful words… That was probably the richest part.

A word about all this: My observation has been that today’s college students know precious little (if anything) about the struggles of Soviet Jewry, the incredible oppression and discrimination and persecution under communism. Most know nothing about all this. It’s a part of recent Jewish history which they ought to know more. Chabad grows up on this stuff, its part of our history and lore. Rabbi Dovid Eliezrie’s book “The Secret of Chabad” is based a great deal on this, this is part of the thesis of his book.

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Not sure if there were more farbrengens on Sat Night, but some Shluchim did go out close to midnight, some to engage with and  support lone IDF soldiers nearby, others to experience Jerusalem on Sat Night. I went to bed. Sunday was the last day of the Kinus conference and I needed the energy for it.