5 Unique Rosh Hashana Moments

Before Rosh Hashanah, five Chassidim sat down for a roundtable discussion with the editors of A Chassidisher Derher Magazine, reliving their recollections of Rosh Hashanah in the Rebbe’s presence.

Here are 5 selected moments they shared.

1. Writing a ‘pan’ (note for prayer)
Shared by Rabbi Leibel Korf – Los Angeles, CA

For us bochurim, panim was a unique experience. This was the time of year that we felt our neshamah’s connection to the Rebbe. Standing in line with a pan, there was a feeling ‘az mir geien betten zich bam Rebbe’n’—that we are waiting to give ourselves over, to dedicate our neshamos to the Rebbe. This feeling of a Rebbe-Chossid relationship was something that we felt very clearly by panim.

There was once a bochur that expressed his doubts to a friend while waiting on the line, saying that it isn’t possible that the Rebbe is paying special attention to each person, in a line so long and so quick. The bracha, he maintained, is more a general one.

As he approached the Rebbe, the Rebbe wished him “kesivah vachasimah tovah” like everyone else. Moving on, the Rebbe turned around to him again and said once more “kesivah vachasimah tovah.” Obviously, his doubts immediately evaporated.

2. Avinu Malkeinu With the Rebbe
Shared by Rabbi Moshe New – Montreal, QC

“Avinu Malkeinu and the various other niggunim during the Yomim Noraim were very special, as the Rebbe would conduct the singing by banging his hand on the stender. The fusion of everyone singing along in unison following the Rebbe’s hand motions was amazing.

“This would take place all year as well, but on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur it took on a whole new element of feeling and excitement. Often, the Rebbe would motion to repeat the niggun of Avinu Malkeinu a number of times.”

3. Organizing the Shofaros
Shared by Rabbi Yosef Kesselman – Oak Park, MI)

The ‘organizing’ of the shofaros was very unique. The Rebbe would begin moving around the shofaros and the handkerchiefs (a red handkerchief passed down from the Tzemach Tzedek, a large white handkerchief, and another one), covering them and uncovering them again and again in a deliberate manner.

While doing so, exertion was apparent on the Rebbe’s face; it looked similar to a person lifting heavy weights, all the while moving around and organizing the shofaros.

After organizing the shofaros, sometimes for several minutes, the Rebbe would throw his tallis far over his head, covering the panim as well, and he would stand silently that way for a few minutes, leaning over the bimah.

We would sometimes hear the Rebbe crying from under the tallis. I remember on Rosh Hashanah 5734, just ten days before the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War, the Rebbe cried very much, and we saw his shoulders shaking from emotion.

4. Tekios — a Child’s Perspective
Shared by Rabbi Zalman Duchman – Roosevelt Island, NY

On Rosh Hashanah, a number of children—me included—would sit on the table that was positioned directly in front of the bimah. There was a special place reserved for children near a table behind the bimah, but I would be on the table in front, facing the Rebbe during tekios.

From there, I was able to stand up on the table and see the Rebbe clearly during shacharis, over the heads of the people standing in front of me. But what was more essential was the fact that by tekios I was literally a foot away from the Rebbe, being able to hear everything, including the ruffling of the paper bags as the Rebbe moved them around.

However, I could not stand up to see the tekios because then I would be blocking the other people standing behind me in the first few rows. We children had our own competitions and arguments over places and mekomos kevuim. It was quite lebedik.

5. Rebbetzin’s Comment
Shared by Rabbi Sholom Ber Spielman – Brooklyn, NY)

My father-in-law, Reb Berel Junik, related: The first day of Rosh Hashanah 5725, a few days before Rebbetzin Chana‘s histalkus, she was present by the Rebbe’s tekios.

On the second day, when she was unable to go to shul, she told my father-in-law that although going the day before affected her health, it was well worth it in order to hear the Rebbe’s tekios.

Then she told him, ‘Ir veist nit vos far a Rebbe ir hot—You don’t know how great of a Rebbe you have. I’m not saying this as a mother; I’m saying it because that’s how it is.’

* * *

Read the full article and others spanning a wide variety of subjects, from the 1969 Moon Landing to the aftermath of the Six-Day War in the newly-released Chassidisher Derher for the month of Tishrei 5777.

The magazine is delivered by mail to thousands of subscribers around the world and available for purchase at Crown Heights retailers. Subscribe at Derher.org/subscribe.