21 Elul 85 years ago , the previous Rebbe moved into 770 Eastern Parkway. Rabbi Yossi Paltiel - 5786

Today is the 21st day in the month of Al. It's the 85th anniversary, 85 years since the previous Reb moved into the building of 770. And that's our topic. We're going to be talking about the previous Reb moving into 770. The the beginning of the story of course is that the previous Reb ran away from the Nazis. Firk was living in Poland and as soon as the war started the Reba left from which is a suburb of Warsaw to the city of Ar itself where he spent tish way I understand it and right after and I I I heard from someone who saw this with his own eyes on the door of the previous apartment there was a sign in German that read the people who live here are Latafian citizens the Germans would destroy him but they were very very politically correct they would destroy him when they started up with a country they didn't kill the army. They killed the people. They punch and drop bombs on the people. It was a it was a it was a shittita cruel and and no one ever to took him to task for it. You know, you talk about, you know, women and children. That was their whole thing was women and children. But if you were if they were not fighting with you, they were good friends. Why? Because the whole thing was what Hitler called divide and conquer. You know, he made friends with you. He he beat up your neighbor. Then he finished beating up your neighbor. He started up with you. He made friends with your next neighbor. And by the time people realized what Hitler was up to, he conquered the whole of Europe. And as a fool, he went into Russia as a fool. As a Russia, Marushia is an idiot. Anyway, but the Fed had a sign on his door. He's a Latvian citizen. He he went through Berlin. The Fed went through Germany to Latafia and then he went from Latia to to Sweden to Stockholm and he took a ship from there to New York and he arrived in Adessa. He arrived in New York and he moved into a hotel. All the people of immigrants had no place to stay. Moved into a hotel. He lived in that hotel for 5 months until they purchased 770. A lot of things happened. There was a there was a big wrestle within the Labavich court at that time about where the fa should live. Theidim wanted the fba to move to Lakewood which is Lakewood is a strong ta today. The Lakewood was then considered a suburb. It's about an hour outside of Manhattan. It's far away. It's and but it's very very suburb. It's beautiful. Then it was certainly beautiful. It's a big city with lots and lots of people and it was like living in a in a in in in a in a in in Labaves living in Atask in a very suburban town. The fir was 60 years old. He was not well physically. They figure they'll settle him over there. It'll be nice and comfy. It'll be peaceful. It'll be quiet. People will come up from New York to see him. Come down from Philadelphia to see him and from all around and he'll be a reba like in the old country. The only person who didn't like that idea was the himself. The firm wanted to live in New York. And he wanted to know which is the most prominent neighborhood in the entire city of New York at that time. The strongest burrow, the richest burrow was a borrow called Brooklyn. And in Brooklyn, the strongest neighborhood was a neighborhood called Crown Heights. >> Yes. The richest Jews in New York lived in Brooklyn. The richest Jews in Brooklyn lived in Crown Heights. And the Reb said, "That's where I'm going to go." And all the people around the deb were giving him advice. But unfortunately didn't take advice so good. He took advice of his own judgment and his own mid neff and his own mission and he settled in crown height. But this is the so today 85 years he moved into 770. I I read an account of a man who was seven when the reb moved in 770. The fico could barely walk. They built a little stage in what is now >> time. Yeah, of course. They built a little stage in what's now the small shaw upstairs. They help the up on the stage. He spoke a few words and then a that he said was that he gives a that from this room all the should go up to but they should be accepted by the it was all new. It was a it was that building was built in 1937. This is 1941. The building was brand new. It was built by a doctor who got into legal trouble and he ended up having to sell. He sold it for $60,000. You know what 770 is worth today? On the market question, it's probably worth $5 million. It's a gorgeous building. I'm not talking about the airport millions. The building of 770 itself is a standalone building with driveways on both sides um with porches in the back on the sides. A lot of the beauty of 770 is lost. You can't see it anymore because when they attached the nearby buildings, they had to take away the porches. There was a porch on the side. There was a porch on the back. There was a six or an eight car driveway behind the building. It was it was a grand house and it was built by a doctor. He had his medical practice there on the first floor. He lived on the second floor on the third floor. Um so and then he had to sell the building. The Reb bought the building. Fab bought the building. A good Kabad bought the building. The Reb moved in. This is so that's what this is what this class is about. It's about the Reb moving into 770. But now I want to give you the background. And the background is not just deep important but it's also very deep. The background is that there was a Jew named Yankavu. Jacob our father. Yankavino. Yanavu is the prototypical wandering Jew. Yankavu was the first Jew to move from a place to a place. Kazal say that Yankavinu should have got in chains. should have gone into chains because when you go into you go into as we say when a Jew moves from place to place in gulos he doesn't move because he wants to he moves because he is forced to so say yank theoretically got into chains but because of the cover of Hashem played his wholehe ended up there and if there was no a famine the whole story that yank came to me I said this is the beginning of golus there's two rules you have to know about golus I mean there's two kinds of Jews there's forgive me for saying it there's real Jews and there's golus Jews there's Jews who who have pride and know and never forget that mashem has chosen us from amongst all the nations that's number has chosen the Jewish people among all the nations. You guys don't understand that yet. You guys feel weird and ashamed that Jews are different. And how come we call ourselves proud? When you're going to reach my age, you're going to look at the Jewish people and you're going to say, "How doesn't anybody else see how this is a different? This is God's people. The Jewish people with all of their tutus are such blessed people. We are the chosen nation." And we have to act chosen instead of apologize. A real Jew knows he's chosen. He doesn't shove it in the guy's face, but he doesn't forget it. This is number one. And then there's a number two. The steps of man are determined by God. Right? You said this morning. If you didn't, you should say now and don't forget to say one of the we say every day is no one knows what those words mean and you're embarrassed to ask. So you say them until like 90. Let me let me open up the English and maybe Rab Muel translates these weird words. He prepares the steps of manem three you make on walking. You know that there's three every morning that we make that we to walk around. Number one, he created dry land that he could walk on. Number two, Hashem decides where we're going to go each day. And number three gives us shoes with which to walk. A real Jew knows these two things. Number one, a Jew is chosen. And number two, a Jew goes with God takes him. And no Jew goes into Gulos willingly. No Jew leaves his place until the Aisha forces him. If you're a Golid, if you're an I'ms sorry Jew, you see the first grasshopper, you run. If you have a goalless mentality, they see the first act of violence in Crown Heights. You run to a different neighborhood. You run to Borough Park. You run to the Long Island as if they the anti-semitism can't find you where you're going to run to. Real Jews do not run. They do not run. They stand. And they only leave when the Aisha makes it very clear that they must. And this is the story of Labavich. This is the story of that. And I'm going to say another thing. You guys are too young to understand yet the difference between and all the other the leader of the whole generation. Now I'm brainwashing you with this right? I'm I'm pulling the wool over your eyes and you're saying yeah what's wrong with the and the other big sadik and some of those sadikim were extraordinarily great. There's a difference. It's going to take a lifetime of living to understand what's special about the because they're not just they're the leaders of the generation and the leaders of the generation have a vision and they have a clarity and they know what they know what they're doing. And the two rules that I just established for you are their right candle and their left candle. Number one, a Jew is special and a Jew leads. He doesn't follow. And number two, a Jew doesn't move till the Aishna makes. So the story begins a long time ago. The story of the be coming to America and settling in 770 85 years ago. Today doesn't start 85 years ago. It starts 160 years ago in the 1860s. And I'm going to tell you the story. I'm going to try to do it in a chronological order in time. So you you'll see how this is all evolving. The golden age of kasidus. The bash found the kasidus, right? Three days ago with bashv's birthday. It was the birthday of kasidus, right? I told you this last I spoke to my class yesterday. In in eight years from today, in 2034, we're going to celebrate 300 years since the birth of um BMPa founded. And the golden age of goes till the 1860s. 1860s is 160 years ago. A long time ago until the 1860s from from 1734 to 1860 130 years there were millions of millions big not necessarily all different types who served Hashem with their whole heart and their whole soul. They were very from they were very connected. They were very happy. They were connected to Sadik. 1866 did some passes away. When the Takarati passes away, a whole generation of Sadik pass away and then all of the SA started. The reform which had been fighting to make inroads into Judaism in Russia began to show its mark. Between 1866 and 1890, which is 25 years, the mood of the Jewish people went from happy and to sad and fry. The number of Jews who became fry is quickly in Russia and then later on between the wars in Poland is unimaginable. It was a very difficult time that was in the last months of his life. You're talking about the winter of 1866. Seamed calls in the youngest of his seven sons, the Reba Marash, who was who was in his early 30s whose older brothers were 25 years older than he was. And he opened up a medish and he would read the madish to the Reba Marash. The medish says it's a call and he open and he reads these died and all his brothers died and the whole generation died the died. The Belba died the firstb died the died and you can go on and on and on. Not the first gabb the kba. A whole generation of sadikim died within two years of one another. Between 1864 and 1866 a whole generation of the greatest and the holiest passed away all over Eastern Europe. So the is what happened in the time died and his brothers died and the whole generation died and the finishes of and the Jews had a lot of children. So the medish says even though all of these people died the god of these people did not the whole generation ofikim passed away and as much as they had successors they didn't have success even all these sadikim died but hashem is still alive calls in his young son marash and he reads him the medish and theash stands and smiles as was the marash he always had a smile on face. He walked out of the room. He went into a corner and he sbed like a baby cuz he knew exactly what his father was telling him. Now did sudden 1860 160 years ago. This didn't happen once. During that winter, the winter of 1866, it probably happened three or four times. I wasn't there, but it's brought down would call in his youngest son. He had five older sons who were giants. And he would read the he would read the this medish and the knew exactly what his father was saying. He knew that now is going to become very hard. And that's exactly what happened when that generation passed away. the the situation in Russia where with the I mean the largest body of Ashkanazi Jews lived in Russia became very difficult physically as much as anti-semitism was until then it became worse compounded by the fact that all of these voices that Yiddish is the problem you have to modernize you have to become a Zionist you have to become a Yiddishist you have to become a communist you have to become a socialist you have to become an anarchist you have to become anist anything but a yiden and yeden may have technically been Boom. But inside their souls were corroding inside their the shamus were ratting. Okay, you have to understand even in 1890 even in 1890 when there was a lot of internal breaking down of the Jewish spirit nine out of 10 Jews in Russia was shabas from by 1940 50 years later nine out of 10 Jews in Russia was not think about this 160 years ago 90% of the Jews in the world were using Today, nine out of 10 Jews are not. You know how quickly that happened? It happened in 50 years. How could this happen so quickly? It's unbelievable. Jews lived in Russia. They lived well and they're poor, but they lived okay. From the 1860s to the Bolsh Revolution, which is 50 years later, 1917, the situation became so bad physically and morally, several million Jews from Russia came to America. And in America, all of them, all of them fright out. My father was in Philadelphia 70 years ago. My father was in Philadelphia 70 years ago. And an old man said to him, 50 years ago, that means 120 years before today. There was a sh full of yidden who was standing shabas a whole day diving. Where are their children? Where are their grandchildren? Where are their great-grandchildren? Where their great great grandchildren? They're gone. They're gone. Some of you are their descendants who did cha but the ratio the rapidity of yiddish frierization is so staggering it's just unbelievable and there's there's explanations there was the physical titus there was the pgrams they were constant in Russia when the Russian government felt like the people were not happy because they were Russian government looking after the citizens they would organize pugs to distract the from their own hunger they should kill Jews It was a politique. It was a system of plating angry mobs. There was pagrums. There was poverty. And then there was the outside influences. People who thought that you're going to come up with a new religion. Call it whatever you want that's going to save the world. Yiddishism, communism, Zionism, the Marash becomes when this is starting. And the Marash in practically he had a very small crowd. Most of his went to his brothers. But he was a leader of the Jews in Russia and he understood what was going on and he saw this collapse. He saw this decline and he made decisions. This is the key word. A reb makes decisions. There was a fateful decision that the Marash made a very fateful decision that made way before the came to 770 that is very strongly connected to the coming. The decision that Marash made was not to leave Russia in the 1870s and the early 1880s. Remarash passed away in 1882. Okay. There was a movement called Belu Budv and House of Jacob. Come let us go. This was the first Zionist movement. I don't know if you understand Zionism. You're brainwashed in labav. So you don't know anything about the world. Zionists believe in aliyah. You have to come and live in the Jewish homeland. They didn't even think it had to be Israel, just a place where Jews could have their own nationalism, which is another story which I'm not going to talk about this morning. It ended up being fortunately for everybody. Um, but Zionists were not necessarily from their ideology. Their shitta was not based on mitzvah. The shitta was based on on Jewish pride, the Jewish independence, Jewish nationalism, Jewish culture, Jewish tradition, but not Yiddish, not Hashem. The earliest version of Zionism or one of the earliest I don't want to say the with concrete certitude was called belu Marash said if they would have added the last two words of that I would have joined if the early Zionists would have said we're going to Israel in the light of God I would have joined them made the decision to stay in Russia staying in Russia meant more prams staying in Russia meant more poverty Staying in Russia meant more difficulty. This was a decision that a Reb makes. That's what the Rebis do. They make decisions and they don't make decisions for themselves. They make decisions for the generation, for the Jewish people. There's I don't know all the reasons for it, but one of the reasons for it is a Jew doesn't run until he has no choice. A Jew's chosen. And the Jew knows every step he takes the makes. So he leaves when Hashem lets him know. And Hashem lets him know. not like Yanka. He lets him know with chains and until the chains are around his wrists and around his neck and around his ankles and around his head, he doesn't go and he made the decision to stay in Russia. And there's a story near the end of the Mash's life, there were a lot of pgrams in Russia, early 1880s, which which is when millions of Jews left Russia and came to America and that Marash basically blackmailed the Russian government. Whoever's deting in here, please go d outside if you don't mind. Um uh the Russian government organized pagrams that Marash went to other countries. He went to Berlin, went to Paris, he went to other countries and he let the news media know that the Russian government is killing Jews. He came back to Petersburg and he met with the leaders of Russia. They wanted to kill him. He said, "You're going to cost us money. They're going to make boycots against Russia. We're going to ruin our economy." And that they told them, "No, we could kill you for this." And the debar said, "I don't care about my own life, but Jewish blood is not cheap. I'm not going to let you kill Jews and sat and watch." So the stopped. You know what else happened? The Marash passed away. We now know, we didn't know this before. We now know it's in the Reb's journal, which was only revealed, the previous told our Madash was supposed to live more years, probably four or five more years. The Madash passed away early. He gave his life for the pags to end so Jews could stay in Russia. This is a rebar gone to he would have taken the the spark with him that the whole history of the world the whole of the world would have been different certain history. But he decided that a Jew doesn't go until he has no choice. He didn't feel like the chains were around his ankles and his wrists and his head. He stayed in Russia. And what happened after he stayed in Russia? He passed away. his son became the EB and the situation got worse and worse and it culminated with the world war I was about 30 years later and at the end of World War I you had the Bolshik revolution revolution completely destroyed and that stayed as long as they possibly could made the famous which you're learning inim is not a yeshiva to study is a school that creates leaders created the army that the used in the Soviet Union to fight with the Stalinists and the communists and is the same yeshiva that produces the thousands of that live in every corner of the world that the Jew comes to any place. It's impossible that a Jew shouldn't bump by mistake into a who remind them that he's a Jew. It's this this Shiva which was started in 1897 that's that's the it's the engine that drives the power that makes Lababich what Lababich is theim. So the Reb Marash made a faithful decision. He's not leaving Russia. And it was only got bad to worse. Got bad to worse. It got much worse. And he stayed as long as he could. The Rashab fought for Yiddish with everything he had. It's so interesting that used to be for lack of words very had a fundamentalist approach. The Ashab was not. He felt he have to fight to hold on to what was left. The changed completely. We have to find the Jew who's lost. And don't screaming if we're not being shame. Give him a hug and a kiss. There's an evolution in Labavich. But this evolution of Labavage was not that changed. It's that the world changed. And because the world changed that attitudes changed that Rashab was very right-wing a big Hanoi. His son and successor who everything he knew he learned from his father turned a new leaf because the world had changed. And there's another part to this puzzle. In Galitzia in Poland, you also had millions of Jews. They lived very well. I'm not going to say they were rich, but they were not persecuted. The king of Galitzia of Austria, Hungary was a man named France Joseph. He ruled for 67 years. The guy forgot to die. 67 years he was a king. And he liked Jews. He should like Jews. And he protected the Jews of religion. He passed away. He died in the middle of World War I. At the end of World War I, um they divided up uh whatever it is, Germany. They created a new country called Poland. Poland was a new very poor country. Deeply, deeply, deeply anti-semitic. Deeply anti-Semitic. I my daughter just married a book, Rabbi Buket, who worked in yeshiva, the grandfather of this boy, the great-grandfather of my told me once, he says, "You don't understand." He told it to me personally. You don't understand. When we said a Jew in Poland, we said he should drop dead. It's not like America. He tells me they hated us so much. So what the Russians had for a hundred years, the Polish got in 20 years. It's like Spain and Portugal. If you know the history in Russia for a 100 years, the Jews suffered pumrums and poverty and slowly but surely became fry. In Poland, it happened so rapidly. Before World War I, not only were most Jews in Poland from they were by the time the second world war came by, by the time Hitler came along, at least half were singing in the horror and havanagila and Zionist mixed groups. They were not from it happened so fast. The decline of Judaism in in in Poland happened much faster than in Russia. In other words, you know the story of Spain and Portugal, you know the story of Spain. In 1391, Jews were forcibly converted to Christianity. In 1492, they were kicked out of Spain. So 101 years, 101 years, the Inquisition, Sus Portugal, everything was good. Then the queen of whatever it is, the queen of Portugal married the king of Spain or vice versa, whatever it is. And in five years between 1492 and 1497, the Portuguese Jews went through what the Spanish Jews went through in 100 years. This is the history of Russia and Poland. Russia and the and whatever it is, Hapsburgs, the uh AustriaHungary. The Jews of Russia had suffered terrible programs in Galitzia. It was much better. But they experienced in those 20 years between 1919 and the beginning of Second World War, 1939, in a in a small amount of time an enormous amount of hate and violence. And along with that became the breaking of the Jewish spirit and so many yidd went away from Yiddish. This is the story and the stayed as long as they could. The end of the story is the fir left Russia in 1927 that next year is going to be the 100th anniversary of the fab is leaving Russia. The fir left was arrested. They wanted to kill him. They tried very hard to kill him and the Russians you know made believe they didn't care about anything from out of the country. the fic of his life was saved literally by a cigarette. He sat down to smoke a cigarette and while he was smoking the cigarette, the churns of international politics turned um when he came out of jail he realized that he can't stay in Russia because if there was going to be a future for Yiddish in Russia, there could not be a leader. There couldn't be a leader because if there was going to be a center, they would never touch him. The fa was a sacred cow. The Russians couldn't touch him. But if you walked into his house, you went to the next day. If you talk to the you communicate the realize has any future he is the problem there's not allowed to be a center it has to become little cells little groups of being nephesh here being neesh there being and they shouldn't know about each other they should not be centralized and that left Russia the day after sim 1926 to 27 27 to 28 sim 1927 the firv made a speech and I don't know why it's not more famous but it's very very important. He says I'm making an announcement and I want you to tell everybody. If anybody thinks that I am leaving Russia because I'm afraid if anybody thinks I am leaving Russia to save my own skin, you should know you don't know the first thing about me. You don't understand me. You don't know my life. You don't know my mission. You don't know my attitude. I'm not afraid of anybody. I'm not afraid of death. He didn't say that, but he implied it. My departure from Russia is not based on fear. There's a plan here. There's a master plan. Said there's a master plan. There's a master plan. Now, did the himself see yet what was going to be? Probably, maybe not. I don't know. But he believed for sure that when yavu is taken from one country to the next and he was taken in chains. He only went because he had no choice. He knew for sure that the knows every step that he takes is very carefully designed by the there's a master plan and that this is there's there's a direction here. This is not just running away. It's running to something, not running from something. And by the way, I forgot a very important detail. very very important detail about 10 years before in the middle of World War I that left Labavich when they left Labavich officially they're supposed to go back they left Labavich because they used to be kidnappings they used to kidnap Gdel is both sides the Germans and the Russians they would kidnap rabbis important people and they would ransom them for favors military favors the had to leave the plan was to go back but the Rashab got on that wagon in in November of 1915 And in the wagon he said labavich has been the center of the ofidis for 101 years and now labavich is going into the rashab knew that this is the one which he's not going back to labavich the rashab understood then also on the leaving of labavich was in chains and the reb leftavich and he went from one place to another place lavinsk and he ended up invas moved to then he moved to malak then the reb left Russia so the rebb said the day before he left Russia. I want you to know I'm not running from fear. I'm not running from a threat. There's a plan who has the plan. The he who created the world and he who created created the plan and the fir left Russia and he moved to Latia and he spent about three years or four years traveling the world. Fake went every place there were Jews. He was in Eastern Europe, he was in Western Europe, he was in Israel, he was in America. The fudic kebab visited America 1920. He's there for 10 months. And he visited every large Jewish center in America. He was as far as St. Louis. He went till the Mississippi. That's if you know American geography, it's half the country, 2,000 miles in. He visited every Jewish center and he he saw what's going into the wind and he smelled what's going on in America. And the stationary reads, if you look at the fabia from the Latia years, it says temporary residence. if he became could not decide where he wanted to live. He eventually decided to move back to Poland which was like going back to Labavich Eastern Europe and he established himself in Poland and he built a yeshiva. He wanted to be near to the few years that the life was a little bit similar to what Labavich had been before was between 1935 and 34 1939 when he lived near the yeshiva. It was veryish. was very traditional. But the Feda's eyes were always forward. When the Feda came to America, the American press asked the GBA what he thought of American jewelry. And the Fidba said of American Jews, they're sincere people. They're good people. They just need direction. They are going to make a great future for the Jewish people. I heard from Rabbi once. said that the American Jews are a good dough, but they need to be properly kneaded before you bake them and you make them into Yiddish bread. So the reporter said to the rabbi, every Jew who comes from Europe says that the Jews of America are lost. You're the only one who is saying that the Jews of America have a bright future for Yiddishkite. And said, okay, he didn't say it, but he implied it. Let's see. Let's see. This is 1930. >> When did you say American >> 10 years later when he came the second time while the was here in 1939 a group a delegation of American Jews visited the fidba representing the so-called Jewish establishment and said to the fedba we are inviting you to settle in America and if you come to America we'll look after you. American Jews had one thing, lots of money and a lot of they were so arrogant but they were had a lot of money. Hadba lived in America from 1930 medically he would have had much better medical treatment in this country. He would have had anything he wanted and if said to the delegation I cannot answer you on the spot. I'm going to think it over. I'll answer you in writing. He left New York in Thomas that means in June or the beginning of July. He wrote a letter in Elo in September three months later and he thanked American jewelry for the way they treated him. He felt very embraced by American Jews. The Feda had just defeated Stalin. The whole world where the kebab went everybody came to see him. He was the rabbi who stood up to Stalin and lived to tell the tale. They were enamored with the fed. The fed said every effort of leadership takes time and planning. I'm not ready. He didn't say no. He didn't say no. He said I'm not ready to come to America. These things have to organize. The laid the groundwork planted a seed for saying there is a real possibility that I'm going to come back to United States of America. If you think about things that he wanted to do before, he had to set the stage for coming to the United States of America. And this is what he wrote to the American Jewish community. I'm not ready to come yet. Now in 1933 became very ill. He almost lost his life. There were doctors that got involved who gave the alternative healing med diet and other things that stabilized the fir became much more limited. But he was still the rebe which is full will and he he was leading the kahil of Anash and in his way the whole Jewish world from Poland in 1938 the reb finally put in papers to come to America. The war started in September 1st 1939 a year before the war started fed made plans to come to America. He set the ball rolling. So when the war started he was already in the immigration files. the American country government knew about the fa because a year before the war he began to put in papers to theoretically move to America but again it was the same story he didn't leave till the bombs were literally falling on his head um the bombs fell on he moved to via the bombs fell on VA he he he got to America in I guess it's March of 1940 our would say that the plane always went on the last possible means of transport. The last ship, the last plane, the last train because he never wanted to move. There was always an attitude of honor move from a place to a place because the aish takes him in chains and there's nobody this is true about that they they they are the Jew they are the Jew they're the Jew who never forgets they're the Jew who never forgets no no you don't make a step and makes you make a step so in 1927 when he left Russia he said that my departure of Russia with a plant 13 years later that ever came to New York and he settled in Crown Heights. When he came here, he was an old man who literally could not walk and he could not talk. Everybody around him, especially his family, wanted him to retire, to relax. I heard from Isaac Pope have a recording of him speaking. He was there when the Reba arrived before the GB's wheelchair landed on the ground of New York. The Reb was shooting on all cylinders. It's very very interesting to watch. There's two vill movies you could watch both of them. The first movie movies the Filami the first time he's tall and handsome. He looks gorgeous. Mish looks gorgeous and he had this big beautiful hat and a cane that he was using for cover not so much for physical mobility. and he comes down a gang plank and you watch it happen and he's looking and he's looking and he's looking and he's looking and he's looking and he's looking. Two big Irish policemen. B. This is called, if you want to know what cover is in America, you have to watch this film. They've edited it. Labavich has doctorred it. You have to see the unedited. You see what happens. The deb is walking down the gang plank like a ramp off the ship and he's looking. He's looking. He's looking at America. He's looking. Two Irish men walk up to the policeman in uniform. One of them physically grabs the deb and holds him like stop. They put their arms under the reb's hand and they walk. You know what kind of is I mean anybody manhandles you but the man is an Irish guy but this is American covered. I have to give you cover. How stop you watch the guy grab the reb both hands. The guy is six inches tall big heavy guy. He puts one hand on the Reb's chest, one hand the Reb's back and says, "Stop." And the Reb looks down at the hand. Looks under the hand and thinks and nods. You have to watch the film. You watch. Oh. Oh, I'm in America. I'm in America. I mean, I got it covered. They're going to give me cover on their terms. They put their arms under the deb's arm and the walks into America. The second time he came in a wheelchair wearing a came off the ship wearing a I want to ask you a question. Who wears aimel on a Monday coming off a ship? >> Some people would say he had no had no box. So he wanted to make sure doesn't get smashed. The only place he could put it was on his head. I don't think that was the reason because the sat on that ship and the said to himself I'm coming to America not because I want to. He would say it over and over again. I never wanted to come to America. I came to America because the Abisha brought me here. And if the Aisha brought me here, I want to know what the Aisha wants from me. And you see you and I follow him. He has to create the vision. He has to create the direction. And the sat on that ship for those wherever it is 12 days and he asked himself, what am I going to do when it comes America? He made a simple decision. Children, children. It's not my it's not it's not as it's not. It's not. It's children. The future of the Jewish world is America. The European world is burning to the ground. It was the war was barely started. But the Reb understood what was going to happen. The future of the Jewish world was in America. And the future of America's Jewish children. I'm going to dedicate myself to children. Before he landed in America, the decision was made. He came off wearing because his entire coming to America was a sacred mission. And before his wheels got off the gang plank and rested on this torso the terra firm of the United States of America as as Schmal Isaac Pope tells us he was shooting on all cylinders. Every gun was firing. You know what the problem was? He had no guns. He had no bullets. He had no powder and nothing. No money, no people, no nothing. The man couldn't walk and couldn't talk. He was going to change America. And he said famously, as you just mentioned, I'm going to make America to Europe was America's Makum. And he tells the story himself tells the story. It was a big fab and people came and they gave him coverage. America is so good at celebrating a hero. But you hear it for 15 minutes. Move on to the next year. We have no patience. They get bored. They made such a big no idea. They in in the in the port the the mayor said representation. There was a big upon him. He went to the grace hotel and then everybody left and two walked into the in his room and they said to the we heard everything you said today. You don't understand America. If you going to try to do what you just said, America is going to chew you up and spit you out like meat in a beat grinder. America destroys anybody who tries to change anything about what America is. In America, you have to be an American. Safa in 1943, three years later at a dinner for Labawi Shiva, opened up his journal, the diary, and he read from inside the diary what he had written three years before on the night that he came here and he raised up his head and he said, "Could you imagine? This is what my friends are telling me. This is what my friends are telling me. My friends are telling me give it up. Don't even try and fa pushed and pushed and pushed and pushed and pushed. In 1947, the said publicly 17 years ago I was in this country and I said that the Jews of America are the future of the Jewish people. The Jews of America are good stuff. They just need to be properly prepared. And all the other Gdel is so disagreed. It's 17 years later. Who was right? He said who was right. Goes I read or they read. The fab was very different than our he had a much much more creative much more imaginative. The fab used to say America is like a solid block of ice. Fab say in America you can't breathe the air. The air is tik and you have to purify the air. And the way you purify the air is through Mishna's bal. And he wanted everybody to study Mishna B in the streets. And over the course of the 10 years, the Fedb is saying you could feel the ice begin to thaw. Then a couple of years after that, the ice is beginning to show cracks. And then a if you follow the you watch him use this metaphor in the cracks, you're seeing a little bit of water. The cracks create a little space. And then a few years after that, the ice is beginning to move. It's beginning to melt. Fida felt what was happening in America. Fed never saw the success of Yiddish in America. But he fought he fought with every ounce of his being. He had no people. He had no money. He had no connection. He had so many enemies. It's unbelievable how many people tried to stop the feed kept doing his work. But he persevered. He persevered. He persevered the wasb's arms and legs. Did it. But the nephesh the the vision the decisions were made by the and today we mark 85 years since the kebab moved into 770 which is the center of the mashia comes the deb's house it's not the fab's house let's be honest it's the house and from this building with the beams and the signs and all them the tunnels he had tunnels no tunnels tunnels light goes to the whole world because 85 years ago a reb knew that you don't move until makes you and when theisha makes you there's a mission and you have to see that mission through the everyone told somebody the did not merit to see that America should be a mo but I am meriting to see I am to see that America is I want to finish with two more stories I'm sorry for holding finish with two more stories okay in 1890 if you're keeping track of the dates the first date I gave you was 1865 1890 1917 17, 1927, 1940. In 1890, American Jews had already established themselves. Okay? Before the Civil War, the whole American Jewish population was 5,000. There were 5,000 Jews. You know what? There was no anti-semitism in America in the first 100 years because there were no Jews here. Jews came after the Civil War, the 1880s mostly, 1880s, 1890s. By the 1890s, there were seven mill several million Jews in America. And they knew that they need they need Yiddish. They made money but they had no Yiddish. They were frying out like crazy. So a delegation of American Jews went to the holy bzb the second of was who was called the bell has four five of bells and then the current belt from a perspective of is the greatest of all the bells why because he did ku in galitia he passed away in 1894 when he died before 894 he created an organization called Maziki Hadas and he made newspapers and fabans he he was fria people fa Jews kov and galitia was bells the made in Russia an organization called makazikias and I would gamble money that he took the name of the bell the bel the second belov in galitzia saw what was happening and he started doing outreach in the 1890s. The rebab 10 15 years later created the by the same name to strengthen Yiddish in Russia. So the bells were and they thought about the Jews who were not bells. So the American Jewish delegation came to the bell and said to the bells, "We need a god in America. Please send one of your leaders to establish in America." And the holy bells said to the American delegation, quote, for my mansion gates of the which means in English in America the light of the has not reached so I cannot send my people go to the go to the people who don't connection to so they went to the covenant of who was a he was a real Jewish leader he didn't just keep his nose in the gum he kept his nose in the street to see what's going on and the coven sent to America in the 1890s. He was a godly ag big big lamb. He came to America and again I don't have time to explain it to you. But first American Jews killed him. They literally murdered him and then a million people came to his funeral. Typical American covenant. How did they kill him? He tried to do what he was meant to do to bring Yiddish kite. He was big fight was kash and every step they destroyed him. They destroyed it that such but the American Jews were so arrogant and then when he died a million people showed up to cry for his death American government. So the the bell off says in 1894 I cannot come to America because doesn't America. Fast forward 50 years it's 1949 the Reb is sitting in 770 and making and there was a Yid there who was the son of ab and he says to this man that lived in King Avenue his father lived in King. He says your father has a sh has balab. says yeah this would come to all the time he would come with his and his uniform tob and he would sit by the table he was impressed by the sobba asks ourb asks his son how many of your fathers did your father bring to the he says none he comes himself his balabatim are American what do they understand so the reb says to this son Tell me if your father knew that the BMP was in New York, would he bring the people from Mish to the BMP? Of course. He said, "Go home, tell your father the BMP lives in New York." And his address 77 East Parkway. Why is he not bringing his people? When the came, it wasn't just a person with great ideas. He brought the you know the story the precious stone which is the base of the king's crown theidis came to this country when the came here and with that coak we have seen the revolution that's taking place it's not pretty it's still a fact that nine out of 10 Jews are not through it's not acceptable but we're on the road to Messiah I just want you to think about this the whole labavich is is 101 years. 770 is 85 years old. And from 770, we go to Mashia. I heard from there was mental. He used to sometimes take me to seven cran heights from Ocean Parkway. So he said that there were three countries. There was a country of there was a country of Avoid. There was a country of Milan. The country of T meant was Galitia Poland. Country of Vida was Russia. The country of was America and the Reb said for the Medina is the country of there's nothing left of is the country of we remained whole with and the country of has remained a whole and that's us that's America Okay.