Rabbi Zalman Shimon Dvorkin a’h, the Mora De’asra of Crown
Heights, passed away in 1985. In the year following his passing, representatives
of the community put forth a number of suggestions for the appointment of new
Rabbanim, and based on the Rebbe’s directive, they held elections in which the
entire community participated.
At the same time, a number of alternate suggestions were made
which the Rebbe negated. On the 17th of Adar II, 5746, seven members of Agudas
Chasidei Chabad wrote to the Rebbe about a meeting which had taken place in
which it had been decided that a certain Rav would be brought to the community.
They asked whether the suggestion was proper.
The Rebbe answered:
There were a number of such meetings about the
above-mentioned - by representatives of a number of Shuls of the community
and of the mosdos in it. And why is this that suddenly the vaad
Agudas Chasidei Chabad is marish olamos [creating a storm in the
worlds]?!
Following this clear answer, which negated the involvement of
the vaad Aguch on the topic of choosing Rabbanim, the members of the vaad Aguch
tried to feign naivete and wrote another letter on the 22nd of Adar II, 5746,
which said that the meetings of the vaad Aguch regarding Rabbanus was only about
the Rabbanus Chabad, and not about the Rabbanus of the community, since they
knew about the answer which Rabbi Bukiet had received:
If we’re talking about the Rav of the community alone, this
is pertinent to the residents of the community.
Regarding the Rabbanei Chabad alone, this is pertinent to
Aguch.
In collaboration - this is pertinent to the two mentioned
above.
Based on this answer, members of the vaad Aguch thought that
the Rebbe’s opinion was that the topic of Lubavitcher Rabbanim was pertinent to
Aguch, and they, therefore, met to discuss the topic of the Rabbanus of the vaad
Rabbanei Lubavitch. They decided not to mix in to the Rabbanus of the community.
The Rebbe replied as follows:
It is understood that after a year in which nothing
was done * [the asterisk indicates words referred to in their letter] about the
Rabbanus of Chabad
And since action was taken specifically when they saw
things actually being done ** [the asterisk indicates words in their
letter] regarding the Rabbanus of the community, they deliberately began
now, and it will therefore, cause confusion and a split and
controversy etc. and will disturb (or more than that) the
above-mentioned elections.
(For understandable reasons some of them paid no attention to
it, and some of them boycotted it.)
It seems they want to nicely and innocently explain to me
that when they will bring a Rav here (whom seven men selected) it would not
confuse the Rabbanus of the Rav of the community at all, etc. etc.
As of now, the reasoning has not been accepted by me.
Naturally, after such a clear and sharp answer, the
suggestion of a vaad Rabbanei Lubavitch was dropped.
After this, on Shabbos Parshas Yisro 5747, the gabbaim of 770
at that time did not give an aliya for the Asseres HaDibros to the Rabbanim of
the community. At the farbrengen of Shabbos Parshas Mishpatim, the Rebbe
strongly protested this shocking behavior (the Sicha in its entirety is printed
in Hisvadius 5747, vol. 2).
At that time, the Community Council decided to hold a public
meeting for the entire community in 770 in support of the Rabbanim of the
community and to protest the dishonor to the Rabbanim caused by a certain
faction. But the gabbaim, instructed by one of the secretariat, refused to grant
permission for the meeting and closed the Shul.
The following quotation is part of the Rebbe’s response to
one of the gabbaim written on the margin of that individual’s letter, dated the
24th of Shevat, 5747:
That gabbaim should close the Shul to most of those who daven
there, to my knowledge, only in Moscow and her companions do the gabbaim
do things like that.
2) Not to give the Rabbinical aliya to the Mora DeAsra
has not even been done in Moscow as of yet.
In addition, the Rebbe stopped giving dollars to one of the
gabbaim to distribute to the people at the end of the farbrengen (it was
customary for the Rebbe to distribute dollars for shlichus mitzva money for
tzedaka at the end of farbrengens) until he publicly asked forgiveness in the
Rebbe’s presence from the Rabbanim of the community.
In 5748, at the first Shluchim Convention, when the Rebbe was
informed of the fact that the Rabbanim had not been invited to the convention,
the Rebbe called one of the secretaries who had organized the convention, and
told him that he would not attend the farbrengen until all members of the Badatz
were invited to the convention.
In Cheshvan, 5750, Aguch decided (without the Rebbe’s
consent) to found the "Vaad HaRabbanim HaKelali," and someone prepared an ad for
the "Algemeiner Journal" about the founding of the vaad which was to act as
poseik for all Lubavitcher matters, because - they claimed - the Rebbe was not
satisfied with the Badatz (r’l).
The editor of the paper submitted the ad to the Rebbe before
printing it, and the Rebbe responded:
Obviously, I am satisfied with the Rabbanim of the
community shlita, and may they have length of days and years in their work.
Obviously, there is no chief Rabbi in Chabad (not of the
community and not of the world) and there never was.
At the farbrengen of Shabbos Parshas Bo 5750, the Rebbe said
that Torah anthologies should be published in connection with it being forty
years since the histalkus of the Previous Rebbe. After Shabbos, members of the
Vaad HaRabbanim HaKelali wrote a letter suggesting that they publish an
anthology of chiddushei Torah from all the Lubavitcher Rabbanim. They also
suggested that they prepare a kabbalas panim for the Rabbanim/guests who would
be coming to the Rebbe for Yud Shevat, at which time they would discuss various
topics such as building mikvaos etc.
Within a few minutes the Rebbe replied:
I cannot respond about how it should be * since it is
not known at all when this vaad was created, who created it etc. etc.
What is shocking (it being contrary to Shulchan Aruch
- literally hasagas gevul) is that there were meetings like this before
and all of them (as they were publicized by so and so, and so and so) -
either they don’t want to know about it or they forgot about it (all of them
!?). In any case - there is no place to drag, me in particular, into this.
The Rebbe meant that this was hasagas gevul on the Rabbanim
of the community since they were making a kabbalas panim for the Rabbanim/guests
(for Shavuos) according to the Rebbe’s directive.
Following this answer, the members of the Vaad HaRabbanim
HaKelali wrote a long and detailed letter, about the events leading to the
founding of the Vaad HaRabbanim HaKelali, and it has all been printed already in
the pamphlet "Mi Bara Aileh" (Brooklyn 5755). One of the main things written
there is:
When we accepted this, a prior condition was that if this
would lead to the lessening of the kavod of the Rabbanim of the community, and
also any damage to the community, ch’v, and in general to matters pertaining to
the community, we are not responsible for this and will not mix into this bli
neder, for community matters pertain to the leadership of the Badatz of the
community, and our activities must be only regarding things outside New York.
Only after they informed the Rebbe that they agreed not to
infringe on the Badatz and not to mix in to community matters at all, and that
all their activities would be only concerning things outside New York - did the
Rebbe approve the founding of the Vaad.
The lesson to be learned from all this: According to the
Rebbe’s directives, all the mosdos of the community, and the Lubavitcher mosdos
of the community, are under the authority of the Rabbanim of the Badatz of the
community, and no other Rabbinical organization has the authority to mix in to
the Lubavitcher affairs of the community.
