A MIXER OR A MIKVEH?

4 CROWN HEIGHTS Newspaper ~January 30 2009Our HeroesHagaon Hachossid Horav Chaim Meir Bukiet1919-27th of Teves 1998Part IBy Rabbi Michoel SeligsonSpecial thanks to Reb DovidZaklikowskiHagaon Hachossid Horav ChaimMeir Bukiet was born on the 24thof Menachem Av 1919 in Wislica,Poland, the only child of HoravHachossid Reb Avrohom Shmueland Mrs. Rochel Bukiet.The Previous Rebbe establishedmany small chadorim across thePoland, including one in Chmielnik,the town where Chaim Meir wasraised. One morning while passingthe cheder Chaim Meir’s motherheard the Kol Torah and thought itwould be a proper place for her sonto learn. The young Chaim Meirlearned there for a few years untilhis father sent him to TomcheiTmimim in Warsaw, having firstinquired about the yeshiva. ChaimMeir grew to be a brilliant and successfulstudent.Chaim Meir was a diligent studentas well. Once asked what his hobbieswere as a young child he answered, “Iliked to learn what I understood.”Chaim Meir continued to learn inthe Lubavitch Yeshiva as he becameolder and as the yeshiva moved fromWarsaw to Otwock, Poland, wherehe was among the elite students. Atthe age of seventeen he wrote a Torahdiscussion printed in Hatomim, amagazine published under the directorshipof the Previous Rebbe.In later years, one of his grandsonsasked Reb Chaim Meir about theTorah article written at such a youngage. Reb Chaim Meir recalled. “Iwrote an essay on the Rambam andsomeone passed it around the studyhall. It reached the hands of theRosh Yeshiva, the Gaon and ChossidRabbi Yehuda Eber, who was alsoone of the editors of Hatomim. Heasked me if he could publish it andI agreed.”The Rosh Yeshiva Reb Yehuda Eberwould deliver a deep and analyticalshiur and immediately after theconclusion of the shiur Reb ChaimMeir would review the shiur for theother students.The students who were togetherwith him in the famous LubavitchYeshiva in Otwock, Poland attestedto how he would stay up throughoutthe night learning with his studypartners. Rabbi Moshe Baitch, whowas a student in the yeshiva, oncerelated that he remembered howReb Chaim Meir and Reb ShmuelDovid Raichik used to learn togetherwith great enthusiasm late into thenight.Concern for His ParentsWhile in yeshiva Reb Chaim Meirsuffered from very bad headaches fora number of weeks. He visited thedoctor in his town and was advisedto get more sleep at night. He nevertold his parents, knowing that thiswould cause them concern and hedidn’t want to worry them.Living in Poland was not necessarilycomfortable for Jews. Reb ChaimMeir responded to the questionof whether he experienced anti-Semitism in Poland, with a personalexperience. “I will share somethingthat happened to me when I was abochur in yeshiva. I was once standingin the courtyard of the yeshivanext to a tree, davening with deepconcentration. Out of the blue a rocklanded on my head. I turned aroundand there was a Polish boy standingthere. I remember how they oncesurrounded the yeshiva and triedto break in. There were many othersuch occurrences.”Previous Rebbe’s Instruction toLeave PolandAs WWII approached, Reb ChaimMeir returned home in order thathis parents not worry about him. Hereceived a letter from a dear friend ofhis, Reb Menachem Zev Greenglas,stating that the Previous Rebbe hadinstructed all the students to leavePoland and head for Vilna, thenunder Latvian control.Reb Chaim Meir spoke about thosedays. “When I got the letter I showedit to my mother. She went to a Rabbiin the neighboring community. TheRabbi said that if the Rebbe wouldknow what was happening at theborders [of Poland and Russia] hewould not tell the students to fleetoward the borders.My motherasked me to stay.I did not want toleave my parentsalone and notknowing if the letterwas accurate,I stayed. After awhile I receiveda telegram thatthey were waitingfor me in theyeshiva, to leavefor Vilna accordingto the Rebbe’sinstructions. Idecided to go andpacked a few smallthings. My fatherand I left, headedtowards Russia.My ailing motherwas unable to joinus.L e a v i n g h i sFamily“It was snowingstrongly that night. By the time weleft the town my father realized thathe couldn’t make it and told me that Ishould go on by myself. It was PurimKatan and on the way we met a fewpeople. Together we experiencedgreat miracles as we passed by theGerman soldiers. I arrived in Warsawon Friday and stayed with a relativewho was a great scholar. His wholefamily was there and there was noplace for me to put down my headand sleep. After Shabbos I left hishouse and began wandering.”Reb Zalman Bukiet, the Rebbe’sshliach in Boca Raton, Floridarecalled. “My father’s mother wasnot comfortable separating fromher only child and she did not takeit well that he left. So great was herpain that she wrote a letter to theRebbe after my father left Chmielnikstating, ‘Why did you take away myonly son?’ When my father came toNew York, someone told him aboutthe letter and he took it to heart. Healways felt bad that he had left hisparents never to see them again.In 1986 my father saw an ad publicizinga gathering of the members ofthe Chmielnik Jewish community.My father decided to go hoping tomeet anyone who had informationabout his parents. He asked me toaccompany him. We went and tomy father’s astonishment, they wereeating non-kosher food. We sat downand my father was asked to speak.He noted how they all had the meritto be saved from the war and addedin astonishment, “And this is themanner in which you act now?!” Weleft immediately thereafter.A few weeks later my father saw an adfor another gathering in a differentlocation. After his previous experiencehe didn’t know if he should go.We finally decided to go and thistime the meeting was composed ofobservant Jews. We sat down andthey asked my father’s name, andhe responded ‘Chaim Meir Bukiet’.Hearing the name, one particularindividual related the following. ‘Iwas with your parents as we enteredthe train to the concentration camp.I remember I helped your father ontothe train, as he was an older man. As Iwas helping him, he said ‘A dank G-taz Chaim Meir iz nisht do’, ‘ThankG-d that Chaim Meir is not here.’ Iremember seeing my father’s faceshine as he heard those words, anda big weight [of sorrow] was liftedfrom his shoulders.”In an interview with the Kfar Chabadweekly, Reb Chaim Meir describedhis ordeal during WWII. In general,the torture and humiliation that theWarsaw Jews endured during the firstdays of the war was horrifying.Searching for the PreviousRebbe“The Germans would persecutefamilies. For example, they wouldkidnap the husbands and send themaway to work in factories for theGerman war effort. One night theyarrested any Jewish woman thatthey found on the Warsaw streets.There were many acts of brutalityagainst the Jews, collectively andindividually.The Previous Rebbe was then inWarsaw. When he heard that theGermans were searching for him,he hid in the home of Reb HirshelGurary.A messenger came with the newsthat they were looking for the Rebbe.The message was relayed to theRebbe, including the informationthat contacts had been establishedwith people in the United States torescue the Rebbe. The Rebbe advisedthat if a messenger came they shouldallow him into the Rebbe’s room. Itwas Shabbos, a knock on the doorwas heard, and Reb Hirshel Gurarygot up to open the door. Representativesof the U.S. were at the door.Right then German agents came tothe house as well. When they sawthe American representatives theGermans left.When I came to Warsaw the PreviousRebbe was still there. In orderto pass from Warsaw into Russia,one needed to cross the Buk Riverto the side under Russian control.Rumor had it that the Russians werearresting all Polish citizens who