Rabbi Soloveitchik coming to Rebbe in 1980- Cincinnati Chabad House Farbi #6- Rabbi C Dalfin

the the buildup to this faan we we all heard on the day of the faan that he is coming now the the background is that he never came to faan and the Reb never went to one of his lectures he was the main lecturer of talud at what's called today Yesa University in in the Washington Heights um at that time it was called Yesa elhan Reitz Reit TS since when they started the college they changed the name to Yesa University he was a genius he came from a long line of very respected rabbis and leaders and Scholars the rebi came from the schneerson family who are also Geniuses very respected but mhid he came from what was once the antagonistic group toid although his family never signed on the proclamation ostracizing okay but nevertheless he still was part of that camp and he and the rebi became as Rabbi ker said good friends in Berlin because they there how many Orthodox people did you have there at University few several they hung out with each other they became friends with each other in the late 20s uh 28 29 30 and they they they attended some classes some the same classes they went to certain rabbis to hear classes from them anyway they became good friends once they came to America rebbi salvic settled in Boston and the rebbi in Brooklyn but he would come up every week every single week since uh 1930s to Manhattan two three days a week and then he would spend the rest of the time in Boston and he would teach he was probably the best teacher of the tal in the world in the world he was a master teacher clear thinking talud is like law you know if you had to right and he was able to dissect the particular issue and come up with a a solution right so his classes were sought after not just by students at the University sh University but in the evenings uh Tuesday nights so we give a class in a Manhattan sh place was packed they came from all over Brooklyn they came into Manhattan 8 7:30 8 night whatever was to hear his class on Tisha which the saddest day of the year during the summer he would speak for 8 hours in Boston and people would come from all over the tri state area to sit his feet and hear him expound on the kinos on Lamentations so talking about a genius of geniuses top in the Jewish world and theab rebi who was a genius and aidic rebbi and a sadic a holy person but they never really once they came to America saw each other much once twice three times when he came to uh Comfort the rebi for the loss of his mother and things like that so it was a very few times I never saw him come and I attended the Reb faas for many years 25 years since the early 70s since I was 10 11 12 I started to attend those fingas and uh we heard that he's coming so this is the background okay to get him to come was wasn't easy took a lot of maneuvering not that he had anything against but you know he's in a different world he's not cdic but he heard is the Reb's 80th birthday I'm sorry it was the Reb's 30th year since he became a a rebi a leader he became in 1951 so this was going into his 30th year so he wanted to honor his friend from from that he knew from Berlin and I remember when he walked in the place there was 5,000 people in that room I'm telling you everyone was on their feet quiet quiet and he walked a few people walking behind him he walked in and they gave him a chair he already had beginnings of Parkinson's and then the rebel walked in now when the rebel came up to the stage where he sat where he would sit cuz everyone this way people could see him he was on a stage he um before he went to his seat he stopped and he saw rabis salvic and they gave each other such a smile and such a handshake I'm telling you it felt I thought they're going to embrace and kiss each other that's how the warmth was ex exuding how how how palpable you can feel it feel it in that room two men of great lineage and great minds and great leaders and Great accomplishments they meet face to face and what do they represent this one represents theic movement and this one represents the l l it's called lsh Lithuanian movement and they're embracing oh well not embracing but they're face to face like I'm see even closer to look at then the rebi goes and sits down oh the Reit did not sit down I saw this the Reit did not sit down until Reb salvic sat down even though the rebba was a year older Reba was born 1902 Reb Sal was born 1903 he would not sit down till his friend sat down on a chair when he sat down the riv sat down the rabbi spoke with an interval for a total of about an hour a half to an hour and 45 minutes that the rabbi stayed of his elevation even though he had Parkinsons he told his driver later he made a a joke he said if I would be Aid if I were Aid I would say the re made a miracle so the driver said what Miracle did he make re C he said I was sitting there and you with Parkinson's my feet didn't Shake that's why I thought I would be there only for 20 minutes I couldn't I couldn't sit you know and it didn't my feet weren't shaking so I stayed longer and longer an hour and a half to an hour and 45 minutes he stayed at that bring in when he left his driver was RAB he went to the car with RAB Shak from the Bronx who was by the way the chaplain 1945 who came first to after the war ended he came to to Europe Rabbi JJ Shak was his name is was his name so he went along with the rabbi sh was very close to him so he said he called him rebi teacher teacher so what do you say he says I knew him in Berlin he knew the rebi in Berlin but I didn't know that he has leadership qualities I know him as a genius I know him as a but he was very reserved very quiet salvation was much more outgoing talkative re was very quiet what I saw tonight he said 5 thousands of people in the room and he's leading the show he's conducting he's orchestrating that's leadership that's leadership and he said that's impressed him most and I remember remember this this this event it was it was a moment in history it really was I just wish that the whole Jewish world or would have seen this would have been there because you know in philosophy and ideology you can you can argue you can go back and forth but when you see something with your own eyes right and it's concrete and it's in front of you you can't there nothing to argue about it happened 9/11 I remember where I was 911 do you no I remember I was walking up the steps of a synagogue remember most of them weren't born yet oh I wasn't born Oney old okay okay I'm sorry I I got carried away I wasn't born but I I I mean I remember like now I remember walking up the steps of the synagogue just walking up and someone's standing there and he's looking and said what happened he says something happened there smoke I I remember it like yesterday just like you know John F Kennedy got shot the people who live through that they remember like yesterday this event with the Reb and thank you for asking me to talk about this about some event was I think probably the most historic moment for anyone I mean in in who who who knows and studied kabad what kabad the movement is all about the philosophy the ideology what it wants and to see this unity in real life and I I wrote a book a 400 page book about rabish the rebba and called R and rebba I wrote a whole book on both of these two men and my opening story is this story that I just told you and uh most people read it were actually not katnik were Wu people I did three reprints of it coming out now with a sequel to it God willing at the end in December and um the point is that that you're right there's certain moments that you'll never forget and it's important to share and hopefully you you heard it now and you'll share it with your future you know with your families and your friends parents because these moments in Jewish history makes our nation you have to understand that I know younger people are not into history you know even most older people are but anyway I'm into history and I I see the big picture I see the big I see 200 years from Russia Ukraine Poland Hungary Germany coming all together today September 25th 20 2024 but through all of you but you're not I understand some of you from different countries that's not the point the point is everyone's different no two people are alike have you ever met two people that are alike twins what twins twins and and even twins they're not like I have thank God grandchildren are twins and they're so different and they're really they love each other the twins they you know everything was twins twin twins two different people so no two people are alive like here so take the experience take the experience of all of us I think one of you said uh said that in in before you know what makes what makes these type of group Gatherings special is this interactive discussion camarad very important very important even though today much has gone online I teach every four days a week I'm even teaching from here the rabbi knows he's been kind to accommodate me so we're online and we see each other and I feel like I'm I'm like I feel like I'm in a classroom like this even right it's interactive and we started seven years ago we're at seven years now four times a week a half an hour Monday through Thursday we study together and more than the the the the the learning that we're doing and we're doing some serious learning of serious Texs it's the group that's been created the Friendship the so brothers and sisters you know the togetherness and this is very much part ofic Judaism to create what's called A brotherhood and a Sisterhood that's why cidic Judaism is so contagious it lends itself to this friendship you know the rabbi used the word formality informality this informality like what's the what's the most normal thing about a kabik that he he or she is not normal yeah that's conservative and reform and Orthodox the rebi once told me in a letter all labels are no Goods even if and and this was a flyer that I that I was going to send out did I tell you the story I came to Marine County 1984 my wife and I we were married Just 4 months I saw a flyer from a rabbi in Chicago a friend which had his picture on it and it said in large words I am not reform I am not conservative I am not Orthodox and then a smaller word says I am kabad the philosoph is a Jew is a Jew and that's it I said and then and and I said wow this is a great we had 19,000 Jews officially on the Federation list and I so I I printed up 5,000 cards I said I'm going to send this out this is the way I'm going to introduce myself to the to the Jewish community in Marine County 5,000 cards I send in and I made this flyer with my picture I took the same words right but I have a boss babbi so I want to get his approval so I sent it in not even even asking so much but just letting him know this is what I'm doing before I sent out those 5,000 cards within a few hours the secretary called me says the rebi has made comment on your flyer and basically told me the message itself contradicts excuse me the words themselves contradict the message by saying you are not reformed you are not conservative you are not Orthodox that means you're giving credence to the labels and he said a Jew is a Jew the fact that someone belongs to a conservative Sho or reformed Temple or an orthodox synagogue okay that's who they pray that's not who they are you're not conservative you're not orth you're not cidic I'm not cidic I'm a Jew who happens to like and to follow theic way but I I'm a Jew so the rebi said by saying I'm not this I'm not that means you're saying there is a b and c and you're not that but it's not true there isn't ABC I took the 5,000 I threw it in my dumpster they never went out I remember like now we are all together we all in this together all of us all of us when you some of you shared your anxiety and your stress and your depression I feel it I really do it hurts me I cannot you know even if if I don't have clinical you know depression or depression I still empathize not just sympathize empathize with you about this issue and the answer is togetherness togetherness we will overcome but we got to be together you can't just you know you know come once in a while you know what I'm saying I don't mean I'm saying you have to be together whether it's a phone call an email a WhatsApp a text you know you know think about the other person you're going out you heard tonight from some people how they feel pick up the phone send them hey you want to come for a drink you want to come to to a party you want you want to come for a walk the bike the biking you know she said oh maybe I'm go biking with you don't let it just be now you heard that next week or week two two now you're going biking give her a call send her a message hey you want to come along for the ride reach out first of all you'll feel like a million bucks if it happens you've done something for someone else you know when we feel depressed many times by yourself exactly and when you think only about yourself and you just self selfelf true I heard this from a big Rabbi he spoke at a faan in Jerusalem I was there and someone who's successful and he has students and you know he's a person in his late 70s and he said to a whole group of people he said when I get up in the morning if I think about my own my family I get very depressed my grandson has this issue my granddaughter has this issue and they don't you know what I'm saying problems but when I think about others I become happy what can I do for others you get up in the morning what can you do for others sometimes what you can do for others is by calling them I just want to talk do you got five minutes five minutes anyway I want to say and conclude this it's been wonderful being here and God should give us the ability to come again and enjoy and hopefully all of you will come one day with the rabbi the Ritson to New York to when we'll we'll we'll join you at some point and um you know and have a good blessed New Year sh sh sh good year should be written and inscribed in The Book of Life in the book of Health in the book of happiness and all the hardships difficulties and anxieties and depression and loneliness and sadness should dissipate and disappear like you said to pray God can make it happen now he doesn't have to wait till tomorrow right and flood everyone with lots of of money to be able to do only good things and each and every one of you at the right time find your mate your spouse and make a family got to continue the Jewish Family very very important you know and uh for some reason if you can't whatever the case you know make help someone else make a Jewish family and God I'm serious I'm very serious I'm very serious you know sometimes it's not for us for whatever reason I want to go into it right now it's a different discussion not for now the point is make a Jewish Family help a Jewish Family okay okay okay theof the show is now over then the