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By Shneur Zalman berger, Beis Moshiach Magazine

“Our hiskashrus to the Rebbe from behind the Iron Curtain was primarily by learning the Rebbe’s teachings,” said my father-in-law, R’ Lipa Klein, who became connected to the ‘tree of life’ despite the Iron Curtain that separated between him and the Rebbe.

R’ Lipa does not pretend to speak of lofty and great matters. To him it was a simple fact of life that whenever a maamar or sicha of the Rebbe managed to make it to Tashkent, where he lived, he immediately made handwritten copies to enable Anash and the tmimim to learn the Rebbe’s Chassidus. They knew how to appreciate treasures like these.

While during the day he was busy making a living, he made the copies late at night so that more Chassidim in captivity would be able to quench the thirst of their souls with the life-giving waters of the Rebbe’s Torah.

My father-in-law is one of the old-time Chabad Chassidim in Nachalas Har Chabad. I spoke to him at length and heard about hiskashrus to the Rebbe in Russia under the conditions of those days, along with later recollections that we heard from him over the years.

LIVING FOR OTHERS

R’ Lipa Klein was born in 5695/1935 in Pushkina, a suburb of Leningrad, where there was a small Chabad community. In the one-room home of his parents, Rabbi and Mrs. Shmuel Menachem and Miriam Klein, there was a secret minyan three times a day and farbrengens took place. The communists harassed him steadily, as they knew that his father produced goods in an independent factory so he wouldn’t work on Shabbos and even ensured that his sons learned Torah.

During World War II, his family escaped eastward with a group of Chassidim from Leningrad. For two years they stayed in a kolkhoz, Bortyuk, about a hundred kilometers from the nearest city of any size. After two years of living under difficult conditions, they moved to Tashkent.

In Tashkent, the Klein family continued to work on behalf of others by maintaining Torah and tefilla. The family members were leading activists when it came to helping the many refugees who poured into Tashkent and looked for living quarters. Their home was an address for hospitality. Occasionally, weddings, brissin and farbrengens took place there, which were forbidden.

At first, his father served as gabbai of the shul near their home but one day, KGB agents raided the shul and locked it. The Kleins decided to remove the Sefer Torah and did so by breaking into the shul through the window. The Sefer Torah went straight to their home. After that, the Chabad minyan took place in their home, despite the danger.

WE DIDN’T WANT TO BELIEVE THE RUMOR

R’ Lipa was fifteen when the Rebbe Rayatz passed away and the Rebbe accepted the nesius. Despite the many years that passed since then, he remembered the first initial rumors:

It was during a particularly difficult time, when Stalin ruled us with an iron fist and was particularly harsh with religious Jews. We felt the pressure. Every tefilla and farbrengen was accompanied by fears of arrest.

The Iron Curtain was never stronger. The government did all it could to prevent a connection with the western world. The censor worked hard to check every letter that came and went from the west to the Soviet Union, so when the Rebbe Rayatz passed away, we knew nothing.

From Shevat until Nissan we had no information. It was only as Pesach approached that rumors began to come from the Chassidic community in Samarkand. Despite this, whoever heard anything did not want to believe it. Nobody had a way of ascertaining the veracity of the news. As time passed, we slowly began to realize that the Rebbe Rayatz had indeed passed away. We were devastated. Along with this information we slowly began to get crumbs of information about his successor.

There was someone who said, “There is a good successor,” but they did not mention a name. Some time later, we found out that the second son-in-law, Ramash, had become Rebbe.

HANDWRITTEN LIKKUTEI SICHOS

An important part of hiskashrus to the Rebbe in general, and especially behind the Iron Curtain, is learning the Rebbe’s teachings. What could be done when it was impossible to go to the nearest sefarim store and buy a book of Chassidus? Even the sifrei Chassidus that there were, had gotten worn out over the years, torn, or lost. The sefarim supply dwindled.

Chassidim were moser nefesh to learn Chassidus and they began to copy by hand sichos and maamarim for Anash and the tmimim. R’ Lipa was a professional copier who worked hard to copy kisvei Chassidus. It might be a single sefer Chassidus found in the home of a Chassid or in the shul’s geniza. He would copy the sefer, page by page, making additional copies for others.

It was only in later years, when emissaries of the Rebbe went to Russia disguised as tourists, that they brought sifrei Chassidus of the Rebbe with them. When these few sefarim came, they were so precious to R’ Lipa. He would treat them like the treasures they were and copied them quickly and accurately to enable other Chassidim to learn.

R’ Lipa still remembers the day that the first four volumes of Likkutei Sichos were smuggled to Tashkent. They came into the possession of R’ Yosef Vilenkin. R’ Lipa made sure to get hold of them and began to learn them. When he had to return to them to the owner, he sat at night, after a hard day’s work, and copied sicha after sicha. His exhaustion didn’t stop him although you can occasionally see signs of exhaustion manifest in his handwriting.

Feelings of love and connection to the Rebbe were only expressed through learning writings of Chassidus. They yearned to see the Rebbe’s face which strengthens the feeling of hiskashrus, but from where could they get a picture? What is so easy nowadays was impossible back then in Russia. Chassidim knew that pictures of the Rebbe couldn’t be smuggled into Russia since the censors and customs already knew what he looked like.

Still, the Jewish brain looks for creative solutions:

“My brother-in-law, R’ Moshe Goldschmid, once went to the Israeli embassy in Moscow with his mother, when his mother got an exit visa. When he left the embassy, his pockets were full of pictures of the Rebbe. With open miracles he was able to bring them to Tashkent without incident.”

MONTHS PASSED UNTIL THE BRACHA FOR THE SHIDDUCH ARRIVED

The ironclad hiskashrus of the Chassidim behind the Iron Curtain was superhuman. Despite not seeing the Rebbe and not hearing Torah from him, they still felt an enormous feeling of hiskashrus. When they were about to finalize a shidduch, they knew they couldn’t do anything until they received the Rebbe’s bracha.

Due to the complicated postal conditions and fear of the government, from when a request for a bracha was sent until they received a response, could sometimes be many months. Still, the Chassidim waited patiently because they did not want to finalize a shidduch without the Rebbe’s consent and blessing. This was the case with my in-laws, R’ Lipa and his wife, Rochel:

“Rochel Sirota was suggested as a shidduch for me; the daughter of Rabbi and Mrs. Mordechai and Rivka Sirota. We knew them well from the years that we lived in Tashkent. When it came time to finalize the shidduch, we sent a letter to our friend, R’ Yona Lebenharz who had moved to Eretz Yisrael a few years earlier. In those days, because of the danger, it was preferable to send a letter to Eretz Yisrael than to the United States. We sent the letter to R’ Yona and he sent the question to the Rebbe.

“R’ Yona did not delay and sent us a brief notice about the positive answer. More time passed until we received the original answer, a handwritten blessing on a white paper. It was written in code, mostly in Russian, and signed with the Rebbe’s first name only.

“Our wedding was on 1 Tammuz 5728 in the yard of the Sirotas. The mesader kiddushin was Rabbi Zalman Dovber Pevsner, the one who taught me Torah for years. The Sirotas’ yard was full of rejoicing guests who came from Tashkent and Samarkand and the mashke flowed like water.”

EXIT FROM EXILE

The Klein family, like many other Jews, were not allowed to leave Russia because of the Soviet Union’s ironclad policy. The Iron Curtain opened somewhat in the seventies and many Jews left Russia including the Kleins. They received instructions and guidance from the Rebbe.

At the beginning of Sivan 5731/1971, the mother Mrs. Miriam Klein left together with one of her sons, Lipa, his wife and children, Doba (Hershkop) and Mendy (today, director of a Chabad house in Eilat). They left for Eretz Yisrael and from the airport they went directly to Nachalas Har Chabad.

R’ Lipa Klein and his family arrived in Nachalas Har Chabad on Friday, 4 Sivan,. On Shabbos, erev Shavuos, a farbrengen was held in shul, where Chassidim, who had just arrived from Russia, farbrenged. R’ Yaakov Notik and R’ Lipa Klein told the Chassidim about Chabad communities in Tashkent, Samarkand and Moscow.

During the farbrengen, the mashpia, R’ Zushe Posner spoke fervently about how a Chassid who came from Russia must immediately go to the Rebbe. He said he would personally take care of visas to the United States.

This promise was not made in a vacuum for in those days, the American government made it difficult for those who had just left Russia to get visas, in fear of spies. They considered every citizen who left Russia to be a potential spy. However, R’ Zushe had good connections at the American embassy in Eretz Yisrael and he knew how to obtain visas even for new immigrants.

It was four months after R’ Lipa landed in Eretz Yisrael that he boarded a plane again and set out to be with the Rebbe for Tishrei.

“I went to the Rebbe for Tishrei 5732. As was the way at that time, new immigrants were invited by the Rebbe to come to him. I remember that when I saw the Rebbe, my excitement knew no bounds. My eyes teared up and and I said the shehechiyanu blessing.

“I had yechidus a few days later and I asked for a bracha for my two brothers who remained in Russia and wanted to leave. The Rebbe wanted to know details about our leaving Russia and I told him we had to pay a huge sum as a bribe. The Rebbe said that when my brothers would leave, there would be no need to pay a bribe and they would leave soon.

“Indeed, two months later, my brothers and their families arrived in Eretz Yisrael.”

DELEGATION SENT TO THE POSEK, RABBI MOSHE FEINSTEIN

The group of immigrants, including R’ Lipa, received many signs of closeness from the Rebbe throughout Tishrei. On Chol HaMoed, there was a convention of “Tzeirei Agudas Chabad” (“Tzach”) and R’ Lipa was asked to speak as a representative of the immigrants. He spoke about secret minyanim, learning Torah in secret, and about the fire of hiskashrus to the Rebbe that burned constantly.

The secretary, Rabbi Chodakov, sought some of the new immigrants who were called to his office. The immigrants, including R’ Lipa, had no idea what was about to happen. Suddenly, R’ Chodakov left his office with the immigrants and went directly to the Rebbe’s office.

“In those days, the Rebbe was battling to amend the Law of Return so that only Jews who converted according to halacha would be considered Jews. In the yechidus, the Rebbe asked us to go to the offices of the Agudas HaRabbanim in New York and meet with the gaon, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, to make clear to him the importance of the Rebbe’s battle to amend the law, with an emphasis on the assimilation in the Soviet Union from where we had just come. We were to ask the Agudas HaRabbanim to announce that they sought to amend the law so that in Eretz Yisrael they would understand that Jews in the United States wanted the law amended immediately.

“One of the Chassidim asked the Rebbe whether to tell the rabbanim that they were speaking on behalf of the Rebbe. The Rebbe said that speaking on his own behalf he could do on his own. ‘The point is that the immigrants who just came from Russia and are concerned about the assimilation in Russia, should speak for themselves.’

“That same day we went to the offices of Agudas HaRabbanim. When we arrived there, we were taken into the rabbanim who were sitting together with Rabbi Feinstein at the head. R’ Chodakov introduced the Chassidim and said a few words about each one. When he introduced me, he said, ‘baal madreiga.’ I have no idea what he meant but that is what he said.

“I began our meeting by reviewing the sicha the Rebbe said at that time about ‘the ashes of Yitzchok.’ When I finished, everyone present spoke for a few minutes about the importance of amending the Law of Return.

“At the conclusion of our brief speeches, Rabbi Feinstein said on behalf of the rabbanim of the Agudah that he agreed with the Rebbe’s view and indeed, it was important to work carefully to amend the law to prevent assimilation. He declared that he would work to amend the law.”

THE REBBE GAVE A HUNDRED DOLLARS

When I asked my father-in-law for tidbits from yechiduyos with the Rebbe, I heard a special story:

It was in the seventies when they built a new building for Yeshivas HaBucharim in Kfar Chabad. During the construction, the question arose as to whom the land on which the building was being built belonged. As time went on, the story became more complicated until the Beis Din Rabbanei Chabad dealt with it.

I went to the Rebbe at that time, and the menahel, my friend R’ Berke Schiff, asked me to tell the Rebbe about the mess and to ask the Rebbe what to do. The Rebbe said that when it came to a halachic matter, the rabbanim dealt with it and he did not want to get involved, but as far as the yeshiva’s finances, he would help. The Rebbe then took out a $100 bill and gave it to me.

When I returned to Eretz Yisrael, I gave the bill to R’ Simcha Gorodetzky, one of the founders and menahalim of Yeshivas HaBucharim and he sold it for an enormous amount of money that went to the yeshiva.

STAYING WITH THE REBBE DESPITE THE WAR

R’ Lipa traveled regularly to the Rebbe. Tishrei 5734, when the Yom Kippur War broke out, he can never forget.

“I went with my wife for Tishrei and left our little children, Doba and Mendy, with my mother in Nachalas Har Chabad. We arrived for 6 Tishrei and attended the Vov Tishrei (Rebbetzin Chana’s yahrtzeit) farbrengen with the Rebbe.

“In the middle of Yom Kippur we heard that a war had begun and motzoei Yom Kippur we received information that was publicized in the American media that many Jewish soldiers had been killed, many others had been taken captive, and the IDF was in big trouble.

“Leaving two little children with their grandmother didn’t seem the right thing to do during a war and we thought of returning home immediately. Before we took steps in this direction, instructions were issued by the Rebbe’s office not to alter plans and to remain in Beis Chayeinu as originally planned, which we did.”

Mrs. Rochel Klein adds:

“This was my first time at the Rebbe. When I heard about the war I panicked. I was very concerned about my little children and wanted to return home quickly to protect them. Calling home in those days wasn’t easy as it is today. You had to wait for letters in order to know what was really going on. After they announced that the Rebbe said to stay, I had no questions. We stayed for Tishrei with the Rebbe and after Simchas Torah we were happy to return to Eretz Yisrael and the children.”

HISKASHRUS – THEN AND NOW

When I tried eliciting “Chassidishe hergeishim” about hiskashrus to the Rebbe then and now, when we don’t see the Rebbe, the answer was brief and with a long silence. “It’s a sensitive subject because the big question is what is the essence of hiskashrus?”

I tried to describe the hiskashrus of the younger generation: today, even little kids prepare for Yud-Alef Nissan with good hachlatos and good deeds as a gift for the Rebbe and they all talk all day about the Rebbe, and they haven’t seen the Rebbe, “just like you in Russia,” I said.

My father-in-law’s reaction was a serious look and then a big smile:

“Hiskashrus to the Rebbe is divided into three parts: thought, speech and action. When you sing a niggun of the Rebbe, you connect with thought; when you learn the Rebbe’s teachings, you connect with speech; and when you do what the Rebbe told us, you connect with action.

“What is most important? In Tanya, the Alter Rebbe says that the main thing is action even in relation to Torah study. The same is true for hiskashrus. There is no doubt that the most important thing is to do what the Rebbe said based on the instructions and answers he gave us.”

My father-in-law, despite his great knowledge in Torah and especially the Rebbe’s teachings, does not feel like a mashpia. When I asked him how one instills inyanei Moshiach in all aspects of avodas Hashem, as the Rebbe demanded, he said:

“First of all, one must be careful to fulfill every paragraph in Shulchan Aruch; that’s alef-beis. After that, with every mitzva one does, one needs to think that he is fulfilling this mitzva in order to bring about the revelation of Moshiach with the true and complete Geula.

“Needless to say, one needs to learn the sichos and maamarim on inyanei Moshiach and Geula about which the Rebbe himself said they are ‘the direct path to bringing the Geula.’”

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