THE REBBE'S OWN UNITED NATIONS - COLlive.com

September 26, 2008 ~ crOWN heights Newspaper 7
Horav Hachossid Reb Boruch Shifrin
1905-20th of Tishrei 1986
By: Aharon Abrahamson
Horav Hachossid Reb Boruch Shifrin
was born in 1905 on the 26th of Sivan
in Paritsch, White Russia to Horav
Tzvi Hirsch and Mrs. Fayge Shifrin.
Reb Boruch was fifteen years old when
his father was beaten by a gang of anti-
Semites. For the last five years of his life
he was bedridden with pain as a result of
the beating. In those years, Reb Boruch
underwent great difficulties in order to
study in the underground yeshivas in
Kremenshug and later, far from his home,
in Kharkov.
Reb Boruch merited special kiruvim
from the Previous Rebbe. In his twenties,
he visited the Previous Rebbe in
Rostov and later in Leningrad. During
one Yechidus, he received an American
dollar from the Previous Rebbe which the
family cherished throughout the years.
Another expression of kiruv took place
when the Previous Rebbe was about to
make Havdala and he searched for Reb
Boruch and asked him to hold the candle.
For a period of time, Reb Boruch served
as the Previous Rebbe’s personal secretary.
While in yeshiva in Kremenshug,
he once merited going on a shlichus of
the Previous Rebbe to the
resting places of the Alter Rebbe and the
Mitteler Rebbe in Haditsch and Nevel
respectively, read the pidyon.
On the 14th of Kislev in late 1928, Reb
Boruch married Miss Sonia Paar and they
lived in Vitebsk for a while. After his wedding,
Reb Boruch joined his father-in-law
in raising money for the underground
Yeshivas Tomchei Tmimim. In Adar
1931, the KGB discovered the yeshiva in
Vitebsk and his father-in-law Reb Eliyohu
Paar was arrested and Reb Boruch and
his wife escaped.
Arrested before Pesach
Early in the morning at 5:00 A.M., at the
beginning of Nissan, there was a banging
on the door. The KGB entered the house
and found receipts for Yeshiva Tomchei
Tmimim, clear evidence that Reb Boruch
was involved in yeshiva activities. Reb
Boruch bid a tearful farewell to his
wife, and was taken away by the KGB.
In prison, he underwent torture as he
was interrogated. Reb Boruch’s cell and
that of his father-in-law was separated
by a thin wall.
Hunger Strike
Pesach arrived and Reb Boruch insisted
that he would not eat any chometz. He
demanded matzos from the prison officer
and the officer responded harshly. Reb
Boruch decided to fast. When he was
served bread, he refused it saying that
he didn’t eat bread on Pesach. The same
thing happened in his father-in-law’s
cell. Reb Boruch successfully refrained
from eating chometz during the eight
days of Pesach.
At the end of Nissan, Reb Boruch was
about to be released but needed to sign
an agreement not to disclose any details
about his incarceration. Reb Boruch
refused to sign since it was Shabbos, but
eventually he was freed.
Settled in Leningrad
After a while, the authorities again began
searching for Reb Boruch. For months he
slept in the shul to evade the authorities
looking for him. Two months later, Reb
Boruch received a draft notice from
the Russian army. When he asked the
Previous Rebbe how to respond, the Previous
Rebbe advised him to leave town.
He ran away
to Leningrad
where there was
a large community
of Chabad
Chassidim. The
Previous Rebbe
also advised him
to obtain a passport
for three
years residency
in Leningrad.
This was for a
long period of
time and was
u n u s u a l f o r
those days. The
Rebbe’s vision
was fulfilled, Reb
With Granddaughter
Boruch successfully received the passport,
as well as a nice apartment.
In 1937, tragedy stroke Reb Boruch when
his youngest daughter Masha succumbed
to an illness and was nifter.
In the summer of 1941, Reb Boruch
received a new notice to report to the
army. The Russian army was fighting
the Germans and was in dire need of
manpower. Reb Boruch’s wife informed
army officials that he was ill. By a miracle,
the officer at the army office handed Mrs.
Shifrin the appropriate papers and told
her that her husband needed to travel to
a different location to report. This was
an obvious miracle since it enabled Reb
Boruch and his wife to escape before the
Nazis entered their city.
Burying the hunger fatalities
Reb Boruch was a person who always
tried to make things better, whether it
was a fundraising project for Yeshiva
Tomchei Tmimim, or maintaining a
Mikva in Vitebsk. During WWII, when
Leningrad and other cities had no food,
many people succumbed to the hunger
and died. Reb Boruch brought many
Jews to Kvuras Yisroel, a Jewish burial.
Reb Boruch also lost his daughter Rochel
Leah to diphtheria illness at this time.
To escape from Leningrad, Reb Boruch
and his family travelled over a frozen lake
to get to the train station. After a twenty
day train trip, they arrived in Alma-Ata
in Kazakhstan, where the Rebbe’s father,
Horav Hagaon Hamkubel Reb Levi
Yitzchok, was living in exile during the
last years of his life. Reb Boruch and his
son Hirshel would visit Reb Levik on
a steady basis, davening with him and
participating in his Farbrengens. Reb
Boruch merited serving Reb Levik until
his very last day, when he was nifter in
exile on the 20th of Av 1944.
WWII ended and in Iyar 1945, the world
learned about the atrocities against the
Jews that had taken place during the
war. Russia opened her borders, and
Russia and Poland agreed to allow Polish
citizens who had escaped into Russia to
return to Poland. Many Jews, including
Lubavitch chassidim, took advantage of
this offer and left Russia.
The Shifrin family first traveled to
Moscow, and then to L’vuv, where they
received the appropriate
documents to leave
Russia. In Poland, they
stayed in a refugee camp
in Krakow for three
weeks. From there the
Zionist organization Brecha,
transported them to
Czechoslovakia. After
much wandering they
arrived in Saltsberg, Austria
where they remained
for a year.
Eventually the Shifrin
family settled in
Paris. Reb Boruch was
appointed gabai of the
the Pletzel shul, where the
Rebbe’im had davened during their visits
to Paris. Reb Boruch served as a mohel
and shochet. Many refugees came with
uncircumcised children and Reb Boruch
performed many brisim.
Ireland was the next stop. Numerous
chassidim arriving in France, went to
Ireland to work as shochtim for a brief
while. Reb Boruch received the Previous
Rebbe’s blessing and traveled to Ireland
where he worked for two years and
then returned to France. In France, he
continued raising funds for the Yeshivos
Tomchei Tmimim in Brunoy, France
and in Israel.
Gracious Hosts
Reb Boruch and his wife were gracious
hosts who constantly brought needy
people into their home. There were
children of a Lubavitch family who were
always outside looking for something to
eat. When Reb Boruch saw the children
he would invite them into his home.
In later years, these now grown children
related to Reb Boruch’s daughter, “At one
point we were starving to death and there
was nothing in the house to eat. Your
parents saved us from hunger”.
Reb Boruch was also gracious with
money. A non-Lubavitch bochur recalled
that he needed a loan for a business
investment. Reb Boruch did not ask
many questions but immediately gave
him the required amount. This made a
deep impression on the bochur and he
always recalled this favor.
Travel to the Rebbe in New York was
expensive. On many occasions, Reb
Nissan Nemanov, mashpia of Yeshivas
Tomchei Tmimim in Brunoy would
approach Reb Boruch on behalf of a particular
bochur and request his assistance
in purchasing a ticket. Reb Boruch would
immediately give the money.
To Be Joyous
During Kislev of 1960, Reb Boruch went
into Yechidus with the Rebbe and the
Rebbe told him to be joyous. When he
asked the Rebbe why he should be joyous,
the Rebbe replied that there is what to
be joyous about. When Reb Boruch left
Yechidus, he began dancing for hours.
In 1963 his wife Sunia was nifter and Reb
Boruch remarried. Reb Boruch wished
to settle in Israel and when he consulted
the Rebbe, the Rebbe responded that his
physical and spiritual livelihood was in
Paris and not in Israel. On one occasion,
when Reb Boruch was in Yechidus and
discussed the matter once more with
the Rebbe, the Rebbe told him that at
the present he did not see a reason to
leave Paris. “What will you do there?
Say Tehillim?” To which Reb Boruch
replied that he would also continue his
activities in communal affairs in Israel.
After a few months, the Rebbe consented
to Reb Boruch’s move to Shichun Chabad
in Jersualem, where he continued his
activities.
Daily Schedule
His daily schedule would begin at 3:00
A.M. when he would begin reciting
Tehillim on his porch. After Tehillim
he would study a Maamor Chassidus of
the Alter Rebbe in Torah Ohr or Likutei
Torah for an hour, and at 8:00, he would
go to shul for shacharis. Reb Boruch
would slowly daven shacharis aloud,
word by word. On Shabbos, he would
daven many more hours. He davened
and learned with his entire being. Every
day he would walk to the Kosel to daven
and some days he would remain there for
the entire day.
As long as the feet are functioning,
why do I need a car?!
On his way to the Kosel he would review
Tanya by heart. On one occasion when
his grandson Reb Yehuda Eidelkop met
him and offered him a ride, he said, “As
long as the feet are functioning, why do
I need a car?!”
Prior to Sukkos 5746/1985, although
Reb Boruch was eighty years old, he
insisted on building the Sukka himself
and adamantly refused any assistance
from family members.
On Chal Hamoed Sukkos he was hospitalized
and on the 20th of Tishrei
returned his soul to her creator.
He left his daughter, Mrs. Tamar Eidelkop
of France; his daughter, Mrs. Rivka Junik
of Belgium; his son, Reb Hirshel Shifrin
of Crown heights; and grandchildren
and great-grandchildren serving as the
Rebbe’s Shluchim worldwide.
We should speedily witness “The ones
who dwell in the dust will awaken and
rejoice” with Hachossid Horav Reb
Boruch Shifrin among them.