Parshas Vayeira
Yud Gimmel Cheshvan 5765

PARSHAS VAYEIRA
Outside the door of the Tzemach Tzedek's study stood his little grandson, a boy of four or five years old, who would grow up to be the Rebbe Rashab. He was waiting for yechidus to receive a blessing in honor of his birthday, Chof Cheshvan (the twentieth day of Cheshvan).
As the door opened and the little boy walked in, he burst into tears. The Tzemach Tzedek lovingly calmed his grandson and asked him, "Why are you crying, my child?"
Trying to muffle his sobs, the boy confided in the Rebbe. "Zeide," he cried, "I just learned in cheder that HaShem appeared to Avraham Avinu. Why doesn't He appear to us, too?"
Gentle, wise eyes gazed deeply into the child and comforted his burdened little heart. "My dear grandson," explained the Tzemach Tzedek, "When a ninety-nine year old Yid, a tzaddik, decides to circumcise himself, then he deserves to have HaShem appear to him."
Children often burst into tears when they do not get what they want. But are those things really worth crying about?
We can see from this story what a Jewish child should insist upon, and what could bring him to the point of tears. Every Jew has a neshamah which is part of HaShem. Because of that neshamah, a Jew, and especially a Jewish child, wants to actually see holiness, not only to be told about it. The Rashab's example teaches every child to desire and ask for this.
This is especially true today when there are so many signs that Mashiach is coming soon. When the geulah comes, we will be able to see HaShem's holiness all around us. Just like the Rebbe Rashab cried for something he really wanted, we should cry out to HaShem and insist that He bring the geulah now.
When we cry out and demand the geulah, we may have tears in our eyes, but these are not tears of sorrow or sadness. We are crying in determination, because we want it very much. But we have a happy feeling in our hearts, because we know that it is coming very soon.
Please Tell Me What the Rebbe Said, (Adapted from Sichos Shabbos Parshas Vayeira, 5752)

Congratulations to M. M. Rapoport and Mendel Sherman (11 years old) for figuring out last week’s Brain Buster.

The answer was Canaan (in Hebrew letters)

Yud Alef Cheshvan
Rochel Imainu passed away on Yud Alef Cheshvan as Yaakov entered Eretz Yisroel. She is buried in Bais Lechem, which is about four miles southwest of Yerushalayim. The medrash says that Hashem commanded Yaakov to bury her there so that the Yidden would be able to pass her kever on their way into exile and pray for their redemption. On account of her great deed of not allowing her sister to be embarrassed in public, Hashem will hasten Moshiach.
It is also the Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Schneur Zalman Aharon (Razah), the brother of the Rashab. The Razah was a master story teller and always had a smile on his face. Once, during a farbrengen, the Maharash praised the Razah saying, “He has a brilliant head. He can think two quite separate thoughts at the same time!” He is buried in Vitebsk.

(Days in Chabad)

Levi Gerber
Wynnewood, Pennsylvania

I live in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, which is outside Philadelphia. Where I live there are a lot of Jews, especially on my block. There is one man on my block who is not very nice to people. Nobody likes him because he always speeds down the block, yells and honks his horn at everyone.
One Sukkos, my brother’s friend and I went to bentch lulav and esrog with people on our block. We decided to go to him too. We were expecting him to be mean to us. We knocked on his door and surprisingly he was happy to bench lulav and esrog! Now when he drives down the block, he always waves to me.

Send us a short paragraph about your shlichus and we will publish it in our future “connections”! Please include your name, age, and location.
E-mail us at: cyh@shluchim.org

Editor’s note: The “Stories of Our Rabbeim” will generally be in order of the Rabbeim. However, this week we will share several stories about the Razah, R’ Schneur Zalman Aharon, whose Yahrtzeit was on Yud Alef Cheshvan.
R’ Schneur Zalman Aharon, the Raza”h
When the RaZA was nistalek on the eleventh of Cheshvan 1908, the Rebbe Rashab decided not to inform his mother, Rebbetzin Rivka, who wasn’t well at that time. However, a short time later she made it known that she was planning to visit him in Vitebsk.
The Rebbe Rashab was afraid that if she was told the truth, the sudden shock would have an adverse effect and possible severe consequence. He chose HaRav Raphalovitch and a few other elder chassidim to slowly hint to her the sad truth. Entering the Rebbitzin’s apartment, they began speaking and slowly turned the topic to the greatness of the RaZA, her oldest son.
The Rebbetzin understood the hint and said to them, “I’d like to tell you two stories about him. In the latter months of my pregnancy with him, I was once by my father-in-law the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek. The Rebbe said to me, ‘Mazal tov, you are carrying a great person.’”
She then related a second story. “When Zalman Aharon was a young child, my father-in-law the Rebbe arranged a shidduch for him with [the RaZA’s] first cousin, the daughter of his son, Rav Yisroel Noach. Rav Yisroel Noach asked his father, “Tatte, you are making a shidduch for my daughter without my knowledge?” The Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek replied, “What are you afraid of? Perhaps he won’t be a great sage. That he will be able to learn on the same level as you is without a doubt.” After saying these two stories about him, Rebbetzin Rivkah recited the berachah of dayan ha’emes and sat shiva.
Heard from Rav Yitzchok Yoel Raphalovitch

After the histalkus of the Rebbe Maharash, especially since the [Rebbe] Rashab was only twenty-two and didn’t show any interest in accepting the Nesius, many chassidim decided to accept the RaZA as Rebbe. Arriving at the train station (most likely in Vitebsk), the RaZA noticed a large assemblage of chassidim waiting and understood that they were there to proclaim him Rebbe. Knowing that he wasn’t destined to be Rebbe, he took a watermelon {Author’s note: Either he had it or bought it}, cracked it open, and walked out of the train car eating from a large chunk. Seeing this “strange” behavior, the astonished chassidim quickly changed their mind and didn’t proclaim him Rebbe. Heard from Reb Shimon Levin

When I was in Moscow, an elderly Rav who was originally from Vitebsk davened in the same shul as I did. He remembered the RaZA and related the following conversation he had had with him. I knew the RaZA and I once asked him, “You are the firstborn, so why aren’t you the Rebbe instead of your younger brother? Why is he the successor to your father?” He answered, “A Rebbe has to have ruach hakodesh. I don’t have it.”
I then asked, “And your brother, does he have ruach hakodesh?”
He replied, “Neither one of us is a liar. I don’t have ruach hakodesh and I am not Rebbe. My brother had ruach hakodesh even before his bar mitzvah. He already had it when he was twelve. Therefore he is the Rebbe.”
Oros B’Afeilah, p. 57

Coming Soon....

A newsletter for kids, by kids

Hey Kids,
The new monthly newsletter “Let’s Connect” is a newsletter for YOU, by YOU, so we need your help! Choose one of the topics listed below for the Kislev Edition of “Let’s Connect”, and e-mail the story, report, paragraph, essay etc. no later than Thursday, Yud Tes Cheshvan, November 4 to CYH@SHLUCHIM.ORG.

* All participants will receive 1 picture (from a set of 5) of drawings of the Rabbeim.
* The winners (the ones that we publish) will receive a keychain with the Rebbe’s picture and Tefilas Haderech in the back.
* The winner of the Featured Chabad house, which will be published every month, will receive the new Chitas with their name engraved!

These are the topics that will be published in the Kislev Newsletter:

1. Featured Chabad House
a. Picture of your family on Shlichus
b. How you got the Shlichus and when
c. Picture of your Chabad House
d. Peulos that your family runs (optional: picture)
e. How the children help out in the Shlichus (optional: picture)
f. Moving story that happened on Shlichus (optional: picture)
g. The challenges of living on Shlichus (optional: picture)

Kislev – A Chassidishe Chodesh
2. Essay about a Chassidishe Yom Tov in Chodesh Kislev: (choose 1)
a. Rosh Chodesh Kislev
b. Bais Kislev
c. Tes and Yud Kislev
d. Yud Gimmel Kislev
e. Yud Daled Kislev
f. Yud Tes Kislev
3. Essay on how your family celebrates the Chassidishe Yomim Tovim on Shlichus
4. A Chossid’s Hachana for Yud Tes Kislev – Rosh Hashana L’Chassidus
5. Essay on “What being a Lubavitcher Chossid means to ME”

CHANUKAH
6. Story of Chanukah
7. Chanukah on Shlichus
a. Describe Chanukah functions in your city
b. post a picture of Public Menorah
8. Chanukah Fun Page

9. Coming to Crown Heights for the Kinnus Hashluchimim