the rebbe's - Beis Moshiach

FEATURE
Several weeks later, Yankel called
me in Montreal and related that
Irwin was waiting for my response to
the accusations against Lubavitch.
Yankel recommended that I describe
my Yeshiva goals in a positive light
and enlist Irwin as my advocate to
convince my parents to cease and
desist from their campaigns.
I conferred with my friends in
the Montreal Yeshiva and decided to
write a letter featuring a story in
which a Chassidic merchant traveled
with his wife to sell goods at a fair
in Eastern Europe. After selling most
of the goods, the merchant went to a
Chassidic synagogue to pray the
afternoon prayers.
After prayers, the merchant
joined a Farbrengen populated with
some powerhouses of D’vekut,
experts at cleaving to the Almighty.
The time passed swiftly as the
merchant heard stories and
explanations about increasing one’s
attachment to the Almighty and
purifying the Neshama.
The Farbrengen was suddenly
interrupted as the merchant’s wife
entered the synagogue, demanding
her husband’s assistance in selling
the last of their wares. The merchant
asked his wife, “and what will be
when we sell these final wares?”
34
BEIS MOSHIACH - 15 Kislev 5766
SUSTENANCE
BY RABBI DOCTOR YOSEF FREEDLAND
SURGEON, PATENT ATTORNEY
A first-person account of Doctor Yosef
Freedland’s insightful experiences on his path
to t’shuva and with the Rebbe. * Part 2 of 2
“We will have extra money”, she
replied.
“And what will we do with the
extra money?” he asked.
“We can buy nice items to
brighten our home.”
“And what will we have when we
brighten our home?” he asked.
“Then we will be happy.” She
replied.
The merchant smiled and asked,
“Why should I leave this synagogue
right now and go through all that
trouble, when I am already very
happy?”
I concluded the letter, asking
Irwin to convince my parents and
uncles that no harm would come
from staying in Yeshiva long enough
to build a Torah framework that
would serve me throughout life.
Sometime thereafter, my parents
reported that Irwin not only called
to chastise them for their
interference, but had reportedly read
my letter verbatim, to at least one
group of country clubbers, including
an embarrassed uncle or two,
assembled in the club sauna of all
places. Irwin’s apparently aggressive
intervention effectively thwarted any
further plans to contact other
benefactors of Lubavitch or, for that
matter, begin a new campaign.
After my first year in Yeshiva, I
extended my studies a number of
years, learning several years in K’far
Chabad, followed by 770 and
eventually obtained an institutional
“S’micha”, Rabbinical Ordination,
from Tomchei Timimim, 770, and a
private S’micha from Rabbi
Hirschprung A.H., Chief Rabbi of
Montreal.
In 1975, prior to my wedding, I
was fortunate to meet the Rebbe
Shlita personally in Yechidut for
marital blessings and directives on
“parnaseh”, earning a livelihood; a
tremendously important Yechidut
that can cause the very Heavens to
shine upon one’s soul, now and in
the future.
The soul, upon completing a
sojourn on this physical world, is
asked several monumental questions
about what transpired during the
sojourn, including:
Did faith and ethics guide your
work?”
Did you work to produce Yiddishe
children to carry on the legacy of
Torah?
Did you maintain “kevius itim”;
set times for daily Torah study?
Posed before an infinite,
boundless, all-encompassing and
unfathomable Creator, these
questions are multi-dimensional. For
example, the very actions imbued
with faith and ethics bring holiness
into the world, encourage peers to
do the same, and leave a legacy for
progeny to follow.
The words, “ infinite, boundless,