פ“תש‘שבט | ה‘ הכנה לי

ה“ב

פ“תש‘שבט | ה‘ הכנה לי

2 MINUTES - MEMORIZE באתי לגני

2 MINUTES - LEARN TODAY’S הכנה

2 MINUTES - ANSWER THE QUESTION

ENTER A DAILY RAFFLE!

ARE YOU READY

TO STRENGTHEN YOUR KLIK?

#1

שבט‘ ב

Did you know?

Did you know that YOU were chosen by the Reb-be to bring Moshiach?

Yes, YOU!

We are part of the Dor HaShvii, we are so lucky to be Chassidim of the Rebbe, and we are going to bring Moshiach today!!

That is our mission!!

MISSION STATEMENT

Q: What is the MISSION for the Rebbe’s gen-

eration - Dor HaShvii?

#2

שבט‘ ג

Did you ever turn around because you felt somebody looking at you?

Did you know that if you look at someone for a very long time, they’ll feel it and turn around, even if they didn’t see you!!

Guess what?!

Did you know that the Rebbe puts aside special time to think about every single chossid?

And when the Rebbe is thinking about you, you somehow feel it deep inside, just like you feel it when someone is looking at you, and you think about the Rebbe, too!

So next time you’re thinking about the Rebbe, remember that the Rebbe is thinking about YOU!

THE REBBE IS THINKING ABOUT YOU!

Q: What does the Rebbe put aside time to do?

#3

שבט‘ ד

Yud Beis Tammuz is the day that the Frierdiker Rebbe came out of prison! It is such a special day. And Rabbi Berel Baumgarten, a shliach of the Rebbe in Argentina, always loved to spend that special day in 770 with the Rebbe!

But one year, he had to travel to Brazil, and he realized that on the day of Yud Beis Tammuz he would be on a ship! He was so upset, so he sent the Rebbe a telegram, and asked that the Rebbe should think about him on the day of Yud Beis Tammuz.

In order to reach Brazil, Rabbi Baumgarten had to cross a big river by ferry - a boat with an open deck , with a bunch of rafts tied together to carry cars.

Together with some other people, Rabbi Baumgarten followed instructions and drove his car onto the raft. As soon as the cars were parked, he and the others left their cars and enjoyed the fresh air.

At first, Rabbi Baumgarten was happy to find that two of his fellow passengers were yidden! But very soon he realized that these yidden didn’t know anything about yiddishkeit, and they didn’t want to talk to a Rabbi, and they even showed him treif food to make fun of him!! He was very sad, and went to sit back down in his car.

Suddenly, there was a big huge shake - a banana boat had slammed into the raft! Huge beams began tumbling down, pushing cars off the raft and into the river. To his shock, Rabbi Baumgarten’s car also began to move. He slammed his foot on the brake, but he couldn’t stop the car! It too crashed into the waves and started to sink!

DID I THINK ABOUT YOU?

Q: What did Rabbi Baumgarten ask the Rebbe?

#4

שבט‘ ה

Now Rabbi Baumgarten was a big man, over six feet tall and more than 250 pounds. Yet, as big and strong as he was, he couldn’t open the car door; the water pressure was simply too great. What happened next, he nev-er knew, but suddenly his door opened, and he found himself out of the car and in the water, being pulled up-ward.

Boruch Hashem, he escaped the sinking car, but Rabbi Baumgarten had never learned to swim! Frantically kicking and flailing his arms for what seemed like hours, had barely had any strength left when his head sud-denly broke through the water. Exhausted, Rabbi Baumgarten could only bob helplessly up and down; he had no idea what was keeping him afloat. He could see the raft close by, but he couldn’t move towards it.

Suddenly, he heard a rumbling thunder in the distance, and realized with horror that the river’s powerful cur-rent was beginning to pull him away from the raft, and towards a waterfall! As the white water crashed over him, Rabbi Baumgarten looked up to see a man throwing a life-preserver toward him. It splashed into the river just within reach. Rabbi Baumgarten grabbed the life-preserver and drew it close. He tried to put it over his body, but he was simply too big. Though his he had almost no strength left, there was no other choice; he would have to hold on by hand. While in the water, he pictured the Rebbe’s face before him.

After he had been brought onto the raft and began to calm down, the two yidden whom he had met before came over to him. They realized that it was because of them that Rabbi Baumgarten had returned to his car, and apologized for being not nice. The man who had showed him the treif food even promised to keep ko-sher! After Rabbi Baumgarten reached the shore, he began to think. He had no explanation for the miracle that had happened to him!

Days later, he understood. When he called the Rebbe’s office and asked that the Rebbe be told what had hap-pened, one of the secretaries told him when his telegram had been delivered. Calculating the difference in

DID I THINK ABOUT YOU?

#4

שבט‘ ה

time-zones, he realized that the Rebbe must have been reading the telegram at the exact time that his car had been thrown off the raft!

All these calculations, however, came later; at the moment, he had something more important. His personal belongings had all been lost with the car, and he was far from any Jewish community. Where would he find a tallis and tefillin with which to daven!?

He did not know what to do, how can he a miss a day of tefillin!?

He decided to try hiring a private plane. Although it was a lot of money, he was able to find a pilot who could fly him to another city before sunset. He sent a telegram to the leaders of the Jewish community there, asking them to meet him at the airport with tefillin.

But there was a mix-up, and no one greeted Rabbi Baumgarten at the airport. With less than an hour left before nightfall, Rabbi Baumgarten grabbed a cab and told him to hurry to the nearest shul. Unfortunately, night fell before he could get there. Broken-hearted, he stopped the cab and sat down on a nearby park bench and cried.

At his next yechidus, he asked the Rebbe how he could atone for not putting on tefillin that day.

Before answering his question, the Rebbe looked up at him and asked: “Well, did I think about you? Yes or no?

DID I THINK ABOUT YOU?

Q: What did Rabbi Baumgarten ask the Rebbe?

Q: Who did Rabbi Baumgarten picture in his mind when he

was in the water?

#5

שבט‘ ו

I was sent as the Rebbe’s Shliach to Amherst, Massachusetts. Amherst is a college town.

I very much wanted to open our Chabad House with a splash. So I decided to hold a concert! We

hired a superstar Jewish singer, and we publicized the event all over!

The concert was scheduled for Sunday, and on the Friday afternoon — maybe an hour or two be-

fore Shabbos — I called up the ticket office to find out how many hundreds of tickets had been

sold. The ticket lady said, “Hold on — I have to check the computer.” A minute later she came back

on the line and said, “Eighty-seven.” I said, “No, no, no, no, no. We’re talking about the concert this

Sunday.” “Theodore Bikel?” She asked. “Yes, that’s the one!” I replied. “Eighty-seven tickets.”

I was so upset. The Shabbos before the concert was probably the worst Shabbos of my life. I went

up to the second floor of the Chabad House from where you could actually see the concert hall,

and I looked at it. I don’t remember if I was literally crying, but inside, I was sobbing.

As I was standing there, I remembered a story that I had heard about Reb Mendel Futerfas:

He was arrested, and he spent ten years in Siberia. One time, when things were really hard, he had

the idea of sending a letter to the Rebbe in his mind. He imagined making all the preparations, writ-

ing the letter, and sending it.

A week later, his family in England received a letter from the Rebbe addressed to Reb Mendel. It be-

gan with the words, “In response to your telegram…” The Rebbe got the letter that Reb Mendel

wrote in his mind!!

So I thought to myself, “If only I was on the level of Reb Mendel, if only I could do something like

that, I would send a letter to the Rebbe in my mind. I would write, ‘Dear Rebbe, You sent me here to

I’M GOING WITH YOU

#5

שבט‘ ו

make a Kiddush Hashem, and I am about to do the opposite. Rebbe, please save me!’”

The next morning I tried to put on a brave face. The time came to go to the concert. As we walked

toward the concert hall, I got ready for the worst. As we turned the corner, I was amazed: Huge

lines of people were waiting in front of the ticket office! They were all buying tickets for the concert.

My Bubbe had come for the dedication. Right after the event, she went to New York to have a

yechidus. My grandmother told the Rebbe she had been at the concert earlier that day.

So the Rebbe sat back, and he started asking questions about every detail of the concert. Finally,

the Rebbe asked, “Nu, and how many people were there?” My Bubbe replied, “Over one thousand.”

To which, the Rebbe responded, “Over a thousand?! And yesterday Yisrael was so worried…”

How did the Rebbe know?

My grandmother and my parents were all sure I had written him a letter, but I had not. I had to ex-

plain to them that I had only “written” to him in my mind!

It was then that I realized that when I was in Amherst, standing there looking out from the second

floor of the Chabad House, the Rebbe was there with me, making sure that I had nothing to worry

about.

The Rebbe had said to his shluchim, “Ich fohr mit eich — I am going with you. When I send you

somewhere, I’m coming with you. You’re not going alone.” But he didn’t just say it, he meant it lit-

erally. Ich fohr mit eich really meant, “I’m going with you.” He was going to be there with me, help-

ing me at every step of the way.

I’M GOING WITH YOU

Q: What did Rabbi Deren realize?

#6

שבט‘ ז

Every year Reb Pinchas Reizes would go to the Rebbe for the entire Elul and Tishrei! One year Reb

Pinchas was not feeling well, and he was unable to travel to the Rebbe for those months, and he was

very upset.

On Shemini Atzeres, while he was sitting in the sukkah and eating the Yom Tov meal, Reb Pinchas sud-

denly cried out, “Oy Rebbe!” To everyone’s amazement, Reb Pinchas told them, “The Rebbe is thinking

about me right now.”

Indeed, at that very moment, the Alter Rebbe was also in his sukkah farbrenging. Suddenly he said,

“Pinchas Reizes needs physical healing. What I am unable to give him, I don’t give. However, I can give

him a brochah for physical health.”

The chassidim wondered why the Alter Rebbe had mentioned Reb Pinchas in middle of the meal. After

the Yom Tov ended, the chassidim all began their journeys home.

On their way, those who passed through Shklov stopped at Reb Pinchas’ house and asked him to honor

them with a l’chaim. Reb Pinchos immediately served them a l’chaim and invited them to sit down for a

farbrengen. To the delight of Reb Pinchas and the other chassidim who had been unable to be with the

Rebbe, they repeated some of the things they had heard from the Rebbe during Yom Tov.

They also mentioned that the Rebbe had spoken about R’ Pinchas at a farbrengen on Shemini Atzeres.

To their astonishment, some of the chassidim who had remained in Shklov said, “We know, since at that

moment Reb Pinchas cried out, ‘Oy, Rebbe!’” Sefer HaSichos 5705, pp

OY REBBE!

Q: What did R’ Pinchas tell the chassidim when he cried out Oy

Rebbe!?

#7

שבט‘ ח

My parents moved on shlichus to Houston, TX, 15 years ago, and over time established a new Chabad

House in an area called Uptown, which is pretty far from the large established Jewish community. My

siblings and I are very involved in all areas of the shlichus, and I am especially proud to join my father

on mivtzoim all the time.

The fact that we do not live in the same neighborhood as my school friends has been very hard for me.

After school, and Shabbosim and Yomim Tovim can be lonely, as I can’t just walk over to my friends’

homes to play with them. This year, I was at the Ohel for Vov Tishrei and I wrote a letter to the Rebbe

requesting a bracha to succeed in my shlichus of teaching Yidden whatever I can about Yiddishkeit. I

also asked for a specific bracha that I should have friends living nearby.

A few days later, we were playing ball in the yard of the Chabad House when a woman opened the sec-

ond story window of the apartment complex next door, and said, “Hi! I noticed this is a Jewish place.

We’re Jewish too. We moved here last week. Can we come over?” Her son was standing next to her and

I excitedly invited him to come over to play football. The Stein family moved to Houston from New York

one year ago. Barely nine months after they settled in, the Hurricane Harvey came and many people

were homeless! Since their new home was badly damaged by the hurricane, the Steins lived in a hotel

room for five weeks until a local rabbi was able to arrange an apartment right next door to our Chabad

House!

Their son Danny is my age; he came over to play for a while and we had a great time. On Sukkos, the

Steins watched me helping some of our guests shake lulav and esrog and asked if they could come

over to do that too. I happily invited them over and proudly helped Danny in doing the mitzvah for the

first time in his life. Throughout Sukkos I shook lulav and esrog with over 115 people. Since then, Danny

and I have become good friends. The Rebbe gifted me a great friend—right next door.

THE REBBE GIFTED ME A FRIEND

Q: What happened when he asked the Rebbe for a bracha?

#8

שבט‘ ט

We are shluchim in the Virgin Islands and there is no Jewish school for my siblings and me to

attend close to home. I was a student at Shluchim Online School since I was four-years-old. Alt-

hough I really loved it, sometimes I found it difficult to concentrate while learning on a comput-

er.

In 5776, as I entered the fourth grade, I asked my parents if I can go attend a cheder. They de-

cided that if I would learn well for the upcoming weeks I would go to Detroit for two weeks to

join the cheder there. I was very excited! I worked hard, and right after Chanukah I was on my

way to Detroit. Those two weeks were amazing. It was so exciting to learn in a real classroom,

to see the teacher in person and to play with boys my age. I made many new friends and was

so disappointed when the two weeks were over.

I flew to New York to meet my father, and we went to the Ohel before going home. In my pan I

wrote to the Rebbe how much I enjoyed learning in the cheder in Detroit. I asked the Rebbe for

a brocha that I should be able to continue learning in Detroit. I did not want to go home and

continue learning on the computer because it was so difficult.

Minutes after leaving the Ohel, my father received a WhatsApp message that he shared with

me on the way to the airport. It was a ksav yad kodesh of the Rebbe which said:

והשם ‘ סמוך להוריו שי‘ וילמוד תורה במקום ובאופן שיהי -‘( לא כדאי שישאר כאן )בנו שי—ל“עפכהנ

יצליחו

Based on the above – it is not worthwhile that (his son שי)‘should remain here – [rather] he

THE REBBE IS ANSWERING ME!

#8

שבט‘ ט

should learn Torah in a place and in a way that he will be close to his parents שי.‘And Hashem

should grant him success.

When my father read this to me I became very excited. “The Rebbe is answering me on the ex-

act issue I wrote about in my pan!”

For the next two years I remained in S. Thomas and continued learning on the Online School.

Whenever I was frustrated with the situation I remembered the way the Rebbe answered me

and it gave me a lot of koach. At the beginning of the 5778 school year, I wrote a letter to the

Rebbe asking to learn once again in a regular cheder. Unfortunately, several hurricanes came to

the Virgin Islands that month and my family was forced to move to Detroit for many months.

As a result I was lucky to learn in cheder while still being close to my family. This year is the first

year I am learning away from home, as I remain in cheder while my family is, baruch Hashem,

able to move back home. I feel that the Rebbe ensured that I make that transition at the right

time. Only now do I feel ready to be away from home long term. Although I never saw the Reb-

be b’gashmiyus, I feel the Rebbe’s tremendous brachos and attention all the time.

THE REBBE IS ANSWERING ME!

Q: What do you think is so special about this story?

#9

שבט‘ י

Dear Shlucha,

Over the last nine days, we got ready together for Yud Shvat, the day

on which our Rebbe became Rebbe!

We learned that the Rebbe is always thinking about each and every

single one of us, his chassidim, and when that happens, it makes us

think about the Rebbe, too!

We heard such amazing stories that show us that whenever we need

a bracha or we just want to tell the Rebbe something, the Rebbe will

always answer us!

Surely, today on Yud Shvat, the Rebbe is thinking about each and

everyone of us, me and you, and about our hiskashrus—

connection—to him.

What is one thing I can do to make my hiskashrus

with the Rebbe even stronger?

STRENGTHEN YOUR KLIK!