‫ב“ה‬

ISSUE ‫ תשפ״ד‬,‫ כ׳׳ו אדר ב׳‬,‫ערב שבת פרשת שמיני‬ For this week’s episode

586 Erev Shabbat Parshat Shmini, April 5, 2024

of Living Torah,
visit [Link]

HERE’S
my
JEWISH HEART AVAILABLE
STORY (STRINGS ATTACHED)
Generously
sponsored
by the MR. AVROHOM HILSENRAD

In 1949, when I was eight years old, my father took me

along with him to a meeting with the Previous Rebbe.
Although my father was fluent in Yiddish, he had a hard
time understanding the Previous Rebbe. As he explained
to me, the Rebbe had a speech impediment, which was
in some way connected to the suffering he had endured
under the communists in Russia. Therefore, the current
Rebbe was also present in order to act as an interpreter
and to facilitate the conversation with his father-in-law.
I didn’t understand a word of Yiddish, and my father
translated for me.
When we came into the room, the Previous Rebbe asked
me something.
“The Rebbe wants to know if you wear tzitzit,” said my
father. Tzitzit are the fringes we are commanded to wear
on the corners of any four-cornered garment.

M
“Yes,” I replied. In fact, in the school that I went to at the
y parents were both brought up in chasidic families time, I was probably the only boy who wore tzitzit. So it
— my father’s family was Vizhnitz and my mother’s was actually somewhat unusual, and getting someone to
Ger — and both came to America as children in 1920. I continue wearing was an achievement.
was born in 1941, and grew up in Flatbush, in an area that “Do you know how many strings there are on the
was almost entirely Jewish, but barely had a minyan of garment?”
Shabbat-observant Jews.
I didn’t know, so the Previous Rebbe prompted me: “Well,
My father, Zalman Aryeh Hilsenrad, began working for each corner has eight strings, and there are four corners.
the Orthodox Union (OU) as a young man, and a couple How much is eight times four?”
of years before I was born, he became the first executive
director of the organization. In a time when many Jews “Thirty-two.”
were uninterested in the old ways and were becoming “Ahh,” he said, and then he went on to draw out a message
more Americanized, he worked to revitalize observant about the importance of wearing tzitzit. Lev, the Hebrew
Judaism. word for “heart,” has the numerical value of thirty-two.
In the 1940s and ‘50s there weren’t many chasidic courts This meant, as he put it, that “if you want to always have a
one could attend in New York, and my father would go yiddishe lev,” that is, a Jewish heart, “make sure to always
to many of them, but his closest connection was with wear tzitzit!”
Lubavitch. You can be sure that after hearing that, I never missed a
For as long as I can remember, my father had a picture of single day of wearing tzitzit. Even if others did not, I knew
the Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe on his desk, and he would that if I kept on wearing them, I would be in good shape.
visit him regularly. After the passing of the Previous Rebbe in 1950, my father
continued to visit the new Rebbe, probably a few times a
continued on reverse

An oral history project dedicated to documenting the life of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M.
Schneerson, of righteous memory. The story is one of thousands recorded in over 1,700
videotaped interviews conducted to date. While we have done our utmost to authenticate these
stories, they reflect the person’s recollection and interpretation of the Rebbe’s words.
mystory@[Link] | [Link] | © Copyright, Jewish Educational Media, 2024
 continued from reverse

year, to discuss his personal and philanthropic activities, approach. It tries to wrest those bad traits away from
as well as his writing. For about twenty years, my father you, but sometimes you just end up holding on to them
wrote a weekly column for the Jewish Press, and I know with even more strength. Chasidus is like sunshine: When
that he consulted the Rebbe on what ideas he should the sun warms you up, you want to remove your coat.
emphasize, and how to approach certain issues. Later, Learning Chasidus will warm you up spiritually, and then
when he was thinking about publishing his columns in a you will shed your undesirable traits on your own.”
book, the Rebbe encouraged him to do so, and helped him
choose a title: The first volume was published as My Soul Of course, there are many types of Mussar. There are the
Thirsts. classical works of Jewish ethics, like Chovot Halevavot
and Mesilat Yesharim; there is the Slabodka school,
At fifteen, I went off to Baltimore to study in the Ner which focuses on the great potential that every human
Yisroel yeshivah, so I rarely went along with my father to possesses; and then there is a tougher approach, like that
these meetings. When I was back home for the holidays, of Novardok. This approach was more common in the kind
though, I would often walk to Crown Heights to attend of yeshivah I attended. I recall that one teacher used to yell
the Rebbe’s public gatherings. It was an exciting place to at us about the dangers of worldly temptation: “You think
be, and I would enjoy the atmosphere, while watching the an ice-cream costs a nickel? It can cost you the World to
Rebbe speak and the chasidim sing. Come!”
Although I was learning in a non-chasidic, Lithuanian-style Chasidus has a more gentle and positive means of
yeshivah, I was always tolerant of other kinds of Jewish persuasion. For our generation, I believe the Rebbe was
communities and schools of thought. Actually, the head saying, it is also a more effective method for encouraging
of my yeshivah, Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchok Ruderman, himself people to go on the right path.
came from a Chabad family. I was also familiar with ______________
various other chasidic courts and learned many chasidic
texts. Mr. Avrohom Hilsenrad resides in Baltimore where he previously
Still, Ner Yisrael was very much of the Lithuanian worked as a city planner, as well as a budget official for the State
orientation, which generally wasn’t too fond of chasidic of Maryland. He was interviewed in Baltimore in February, 2024.
thought and could sometimes be disparaging of chasidim.
I must have once said something along those lines because
on one occasion, when I accompanied my father to an This week in….
audience with the Rebbe, he first took me to the study hall
in 770, which was across the hall from the Rebbe’s office.
‫לע“נ ר‘ ישראל יעקב וזוגתו מרת קריינא ע“ה לאקשין‬
He wanted to show me that there were great Torah ‫ע“י בניהם ר‘ נחמן ור‘ אברהם ומשפחתם שיחיו‬
scholars among the chasidim. While we were there, he
introduced me to one of the students, an impressive  734-1974, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, the leading
>5
young man named Rabbi Avraham Shemtov, and we had Halachic authority in America, visited with the
a long conversation. Rebbe. They spent over an hour discussing Torah
When I was about twenty, I went along with my father matters, as well as current issues of concern
for another audience with the Rebbe. I believe my father to the Jewish people. Later that night, Rabbi
mentioned the attitude towards chasidic thought that I had Pinchas Menachem Alter, the future Gerer
been encountering in my yeshivah. Rebbe, spent an hour and a half with the Rebbe.
The Rebbe asked me whether I had any questions for him, 1 Nissan
and I did.
 742-1982, after urging chasidim to invest more
>5
“What is the difference between Chasidus and Mussar?” time and energy in prayer, the Rebbe recalled that
I asked. Mussar, meaning ethics, referred to an approach when he was in Paris in 1947, he saw chasidim,
towards spiritual development that was popular in
Lithuanian Jewish circles. recent refugees from the Soviet Union, who would
pray on Shabbat with great devotion. “Some of
The Rebbe told me that he would answer by way of those people are here now, but they were praying
a parable. Both schools of thought work to improve this morning without any enthusiasm!” The fact
a person’s character, which involves ridding them of that they are now living in relative comfort, the
negative character traits, but in different ways. Rebbe explained, means that they should be praying
“Let’s say you are outside, wearing a heavy overcoat,” said with more energy than when they were refugees.
the Rebbe. He spoke in Yiddish, without any theatrics, in In conclusion, the Rebbe clarified that he was not
his straightforward, even-keeled manner. “When a wind speaking about anyone specific, and his words
comes and tries to blow your overcoat off, you hang onto were directed to whomever this guidance applies.1
the coat even more tightly. This is similar to the Mussar 3 Nisan
1. Torat Menachem 5742 vol. p. 1108

In honor of the 16th yahrzeit of

Supported by members of
‫גיטל ביילא בת אברהם‬
Gloria Freedman
by her grandchildren Jacob & Benjamin
‫ואתה תצוה… להעלות נר תמיד‬
You can help us record more testimonies by dedicating future editions of Here’s My Story