Once, on a Yom Tov, when R’ Avrohom Pariz was in his hometown
of Bobruisk and walking down the street, he was asked to complete a minyan
for Mincha. When R’ Avrohom entered the beis midrash, he saw his
friend, R’ Aryeh Leib Sheinen, sitting in tallis and t’fillin, and
davening at length. R’ Avrohom saw that if they counted R’ Aryeh Leib,
they had a minyan without him.
When R’ Avrohom asked why they didn’t count his friend in the
minyan, they said that the bachur had been sitting there since the
morning and didn’t see or hear what was going on around him, so they deemed him
insane and didn’t include him in the minyan!
That’s when R’ Avrohom understood the difference between
Aryeh Leib and himself - according to the baalei battim, he was still
sane! R’ Avrohom would later say that this incident made him start focusing on
his avoda more zealously.
***
This is R’ Avrohom Pariz as he is depicted in the new book,
Echad Haya Avrohom, edited by his grandson, Rabbi Eliyahu Wolf. R’
Avrohom’s beautifully depicted biography offers an image of a chassid and
soldier, loyal and devoted. He considered the world as naught. When do you do a
cheshbon ha’nefesh? When baalei battim consider you normal!
That was R’ Avrohom.
The reader is swept into a different world, the inner world
of a chassid whose entire being and everything he did was focused on
aggrandizing the name of the Rebbe and publicizing the greatness of the Rebbe to
the world. His only desire was that every Jew should appreciate who is "hod
kvod k’dushas ha’Rebbe shlita Melech HaMoshiach."
There are times when you read a book describing the life and
attitudes of chassidim of yesteryear and you wonder: How would a
chassid of the stature of R’ Itche der Masmid, for example, manage in
our times? How would R’ Zalman Zezmer feel if he were born in the seventh
generation and walked into the 770 of our day?
There’s no doubt that if R’ Avrohom were with us today, he
would lead the way with the flag of pure faith.
The R’ Avrohom depicted in this book would have adapted to
the 770 of our time with ease. There’s no doubt that if R’ Avrohom were with us
today, he would lead the way with the flag of pure faith.
R’ Avrohom’s cry of "Rebbe" rises up from the pages of the
book and pierces the heart. It cries out for hiskashrus, for putting
oneself aside, for a tangible love towards our father, our shepherd. It demands
of the Tamim of our day: How is it possible that there is a Jew in the
world who still doesn’t know who is Moshiach? How is it possible that there is
still a Jew in the world who did not write a letter to the Rebbe? How is it
possible that you are still considered normal by baalei battim? Wake up!
***
The first part of the book is devoted to R’ Avrohom’s
biography, stories woven together to form the amazing life of a great chassid.
What follows are a few incidents which illustrate R’ Avrohom’s pure faith and
the energy with which he publicized the Rebbe as Melech HaMoshiach.
I GAVE BIRTH TO YOU THIS DAY
R’ Levi Pariz relates: "Once in Nissan, my grandfather, R’
Avrohom, came to my parents’ home in Kfar Chabad and asked my mother if she had
a bottle of mashkeh in the house. My mother, who was afraid that her
father-in-law was going to hold a sudden farbrengen in her
kosher-for-Pesach house, hesitated.
"My grandfather realized why she hesitated and calmed her by
saying that he was making the farbrengen in the shul. R’ Avrohom
took the bottle of mashkeh and headed for the shul.
"After Maariv, R’ Avrohom put the bottle on the table
and announced the farbrengen. When the chassidim asked what the
occasion was, R’ Avrohom called out: ‘Haint iz der tog vus der Melech
HaMoshiach iz giboren gevoren (This is the day Moshiach was born).’
"And that’s how Kfar Chabad celebrated Yud-Alef Nissan for
the first time."
(This story was first printed in Beis Moshiach, issue 305, p.
67.)
WHO IS MOSHIACH?
Rabbi Yosef Hartman relates: "My grandfather, R’ Avrohom,
demanded three things at farbrengens:
"1) Learn chassidus, especially Likkutei Torah,
Torah Ohr, and the Rebbe’s maamarim and sichos.
"2) Follow all of the Rebbe’s directives without holding
back; behave with utter devotion while nullifying all personal desires.
"3) Spreading the wellsprings of chassidus among all
types of people so that Moshiach will soon be revealed and redeem us. Who is
Moshiach? Obviously the Lubavitcher Rebbe."
WORLDWIDE LEADERSHIP
R’ Avrohom would always repeat:
"Publicize the Rebbe’s awesome greatness. Tell everybody
about his tremendous bekius in all parts of Torah, tell about his
worldwide leadership, tell about his ahavas Yisroel. When men, women,
children, and seniors, hear about the Rebbe, they will become connected to him,
they will write him letters, they will consult with him, etc. They will become
mekushar to him, and then the Rebbe will be revealed as the Moshiach of
our generation."
Every telegram he wrote began with "L’chvod ha’Rebbe
M’Lubavitch Melech HaMoshiach."
ONE LESSON - ONE MOSHIACH
R’ Avrohom would say:
"You ought to consolidate all the schools of the Reshet into
one school, all the classes into one class, all the lessons into one lesson. One
teacher is enough to instill in the children that the Rebbe of Lubavitch is
Melech HaMoshiach."
AS R’ AVROHOM SAYS
The gabbai and chassid, R’ Yochonon Gordon, was
the one who arranged the malkus for the Rebbe on Erev Yom Kippur before
Mincha. One year after malkus, R’ Yochonon said to the Rebbe, "Der
Oibershter zol helfin, zol shoin zain vi R’ Avrohom zogt (Hashem should help
that it should already be like R’ Avrohom says)."
The Rebbe then asked what R’ Avrohom Pariz says. R’ Yochonon
answered, "At the Rosh HaShana meal in the Rebbe Rayatz’s apartment, R’ Shmuel
Levitin gave R’ Avrohom the honor of being m’zamein and bentching,
but R’ Avrohom refused. Afterwards, R’ Avrohom explained his refusal [to R’
Yochonon]: He would have said, ‘B’reshus Admur Melech HaMoshiach.’"
The Rebbe smiled at R’ Yochonon and said, "Amen, kein yehi
ratzon."
I SAW MOSHIACH
On more than one occasion, R’ Avrohom said to me and to
others, "Baruch Hashem, ich hob derlebt Moshiach’n" (Thank G-d, I’ve
lived to see Moshiach).
***
An important part of the book is the section of letters R’
Avrohom wrote to fellow chassidim and relatives, as well as to the Rebbe.
You cannot get a full picture of R’ Avrohom without reading the letters he wrote
to fellow chassidim - and especially his emotional letters to the Rebbe.
R Avrohom insisted that his friends and family strengthen their hiskashrus
to the Rebbe, write to the Rebbe, love the Rebbe like a father, and forget
their own issues "until his name is publicized throughout the entire world."
THE TIME HAS COME FOR THE HISGALUS OF MOSHIACH
R’ Avrohom wrote in a letter that there were generations of
Tanaim and Amoraim, tzaddikim who wanted the revelation of the Ohr Ein
Sof baruch Hu, but Hashem remained hidden. But now, he wrote, the time has
come for Atzmus Ein Sof baruch Hu to be revealed, and through
whom?
"You! You know who and what you are, and the Rebbe knows even
better who and what you are. Why are you sleeping?
"This means that the time has come for the revelation of
Melech HaMoshiach. What is Moshiach? As the Rebbe shlita said, Moshiach
is a neshama in a guf, a body that can be touched with physical
hands, and can be seen and heard. The time has already come for righteousness
and justice, the time has come "l’saken olam b’malchus Shakai" - and he
will do it; the entire world will recognize him and accept what he says.
"A chassid is someone who must reveal that there is a
Rebbe in the world, and must reveal what a Rebbe is.
"The chassid R’ Shmuel Munkes hung himself over the
Rebbe’s courtyard gate. When they asked him the reason for this behavior, he
gave a unique answer. He explained that over a tailor’s door hangs a sign
advertising that a tailor is there, and over the shoemaker’s door hangs a sign
that lets you know a shoemaker is there. On the Rebbe’s door there needs to be a
chassid so that they will know that a Rebbe lives here.
"R’ Shmuel Munkes was a chassid who, from his first
yechidus, worked on himself so that anything he wanted, he denied himself.
When he hung himself over the gate, it wasn’t just to do it; it was a lesson.
The job of a chassid is to reveal that there is a Rebbe!
"Just as there is a mitzva to reveal that there is a
Creator of the world, there is a mitzva to reveal there is a Rebbe.
Avrohom Avinu revealed and explained to all the Arabs that there is a Creator of
the world. A chassid must reveal and explain that there was a Moshe
Rabbeinu and the idea of ‘I will stand between you and Hashem.’"
THE REBBE OF THE WORLD
"…Right before [the] wedding I met a tourist from Brooklyn. I
asked him, ‘Do you know about the Lubavitcher Rebbe?’ He said he did. I asked
him if he had seen him. He said, ‘Yes, a nice Rebbe.’
"I said to him, ‘He’s not just a nice Rebbe. He’s the Rebbe
of the world.’
"Said the tourist, ‘Even half the world is pretty good.’
"I said, ‘No! He’s really the Moshe Rabbeinu of the
generation.’
"He said, ‘Don’t be foolish ... He eats and drinks. He’s a
good Jew.’
"I was really bothered that yet another person did not know
who the Rebbe is.
"... When I see that they still don’t know who the Rebbe
shlita is, it means, ch’v, it could continue this way for quite some
time ... You certainly understand how what could happen from this pains me.
"You know, Mendel, who is to blame? Our avreichim! The
handful of mekusharim… and you and I are included ... that we hide the
Rebbe for ourselves, are afraid of speaking about him, to the point that we hide
him even from ourselves in that we don’t think of him ..."
"A GREAT HONOR TO OUR NASI"
"... so too regarding us: When we all live in unity like one
family, then that will be a great honor to our Nasi, the Rebbe Melech
HaMoshiach shlita.
"But, ch’v, when we are torn and estranged among
ourselves, then we cast down and trample the honor of ha’kadosh shlita.
"In the Rebbe’s holy letter to me he writes: ‘You should know
that the one responsible for all inyanei Chabad is hu shlita, and
all intermediaries, whether the ziknei ha’chassidim, the young
chassidim, or the lamdanim, are all as nothing. The responsibility is
solely on him, shlita, himself.’"
"EVERYBODY SHOULD KNOW IT’S HIM"
"... kinder, ‘Banim atem l’Hashem Elokeichem.’
Father in Heaven, we are Your children, and we want You and Your servant, the
Rebbe shlita. We don’t need others and we don’t want others. Reveal
before all so that all will recognize that he - the Rebbe shlita - is the
Moshiach that we all, and all the Jewish people, are waiting for, b’chesed
u’v’rachamim, speedily mamash amen, kein yehi ratzon."
"THE REBBE MUST BE PUBLICIZED FROM ONE END OF THE WORLD TO THE
OTHER"
R’ Avrohom printed and distributed leaflets proclaiming that
the Rebbe is Moshiach. When the secretariat found out about it, he received a
telegram from them ordering him to stop distributing his proclamation and send
them the remaining ones. Regarding this he wrote in a letter:
"Listen Yisroel’ik. The Rebbe shlita must be
publicized from one end of the world to the other. We have the ability, and the
responsibility for this rests solely on us.
"We have the kochos for it. We must be totally
involved with all sorts of stratagems. Nobody should say, ‘What can I do?’ And
no one should say: ‘I’ll wait for the Rebbe shlita to command me.’
"Two thirteen-year-old children killed an entire city,
Sh’chem, and this came from the emuna u’bitachon on the ‘zakein’
(Yaakov) that nothing bad would result, because the zakein would protect
them. It should be the same with us: bitachon v’emuna tehora in
the Rebbe shlita that he will protect us, both above and below, from all
evil.
"We must do and do, but not out of personal considerations
such as the Rebbe shlita giving us a pat on the cheek, or because someone
else says we’re doing something good. Or the other way around - that we’ll be
made fun of or we’ll have bizyonos for doing it, etc. Both consequences
have to mean the same to us.
"The main thing is action, and if afterwards they’ll tell us
to stop, we must obey instantly. We have to carry out the not-doing with the
same oneg as the actual doing.
"Listen Yisroel’ik. If you say it’s too high a level for you,
[you should know that] it’s not. This thought comes from the tricks of the
yetzer!
"What I say now is just for you and our avreichim: You
were given [in the past] and are given now, today, mamash unlimited
kochos. Take advantage of it. Rise a bit above the ‘I’ Leave the ‘I’ aside a
bit, and then you will see [that you have] elevated kochos.
"Be well. Begin with action and seek something to do and then
you will find the way. Just don’t sleep, [and act] seriously."
***
R’ Avrohom’s letters to the Rebbe are full of love, yearning,
and a strong desire to see the king in his glory. In his letters, R’ Avrohom
beseeches "l’orer rachamim rabim al kvod k’dushas Admur shlita Melech
HaMoshiach." Here are some excerpts:
*To arouse great mercy from the true source of mercy and
kindness so that Hashem will have mercy and grant us unwarranted kindness so
that we - every one of Anash and all Israel - recognize and see that
Kvod K’dushas Admur Menachem Mendel ben Chana shlita is Melech HaMoshiach.
We will devote ourselves and cling to him with all our heart and soul and might
until we become literally one with him, shlita. The entire world will
fall before him and he will gather our outcasts from the four corners of the
world and lead us upright to our Holy Land, may it be built and established
b’karov, karov mamash, with kindness and mercy. Amen, kein yehi ratzon.
*Please arouse great mercy from the true source of mercy and
kindness that Hashem, may He be blessed, grant us unwarranted kindness, to us
and all Israel, that He have mercy on his anointed one, Kvod K’dushas Admur
Menachem Mendel ben Chana shlita, that he be in good health, and his name
made great from one end of the world to the other. May Hashem send him great
treasures of gashmius so that he can realize all his desires and succeed
with great success wherever he turns. May Hashem fulfill the requests of his
heart in all details, b’gashmius u’b’ruchnius together.
Each and every one of Anash, yichyu, and of all Israel
should recognize and see that he is Melech HaMoshiach. It should be easy for him
to subdue us so that we are humbled before him. We should be a kli pnimi,
and become literally one with him, shlita. The entire nation should fall
before him. All the Jews in Russia should leave soon from the straits to
expansiveness. He will lead us upright, and all Israel, to our Holy Land, may it
be built and established b’karov karov mamash with kindness and mercy.
Amen, kein yehi ratzon.
On Tisha B’Av 5728 (1968) R’ Avrohom went to the Meoras
HaMachpela to ask our holy Avos to daven for the Rebbe. An overly
curious chassid standing nearby took a look at the pa’n that R’
Avrohom left at the kvarim. He saw that R’ Avrohom had asked them to
arouse great mercy on "Kvod K’dushas Admur Melech HaMoshiach Menachem Mendel
ben Chana, shlita."
***
The final section of the book has letters from the Rebbe to
R’ Avrohom which testify to the special relationship the Rebbe had with his
devoted chassid. One of these special letters was written on 9 Shevat
5711, one day before the Rebbe formally accepted the nesius. The Rebbe
added the following words in his own handwriting:
"R’ Avrohom, m’darf tzurik arupbrengen dem Rebbe’n, azoi
iz tzu shver - sai far mir, sar far aich, un ver hut hanaa derfun?" (R’
Avrohom, we have to bring the Rebbe back - it’s hard like this, both for me and
for you, and who takes pleasure in it?)