Shliach’s American Express Motto

By COLlive reporter

This past Thursday night at The Beis Medrash in Crown Heights the lights were on until 2 AM while young and old participated in a farbrengen with Rabbi Moshe Feller, Head Shliach of Minnesota.

Thanks to TorahCafe.com and COLlive.com, an additional 2,087 participated from the comfort of their home in the Yud Aleph Nissan Farbrengen – the only thing they were missing was the ‘farbeisen’ which included hot potato kugel.

Rabbi Feller’s focus was clearly limud haTorah. He stressed the importance of a Yid to fulfill his obligation of learning Torah daily.

He related that when he was a bochur learning in 770, Mazkir Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky once came to him with a note from the Rebbe. Of course this was an unusual occurrence. The note read: One has to be a lamdan kipshuto (literally a Torah scholar.)

Chossid Rabbi Yisroel Gordon sat at the head table as well and spoke about the early years he spent with the Rebbe in America.

Rabbi Feller also shared the following:

Once when he went in for yechidus several years after going on shlichus the Rebbe asked if he had a kvius in learing Torah every day. The Rebbe said, “One has to learn every day, it can be for fourteen minutes, fifteen minutes or nineteen minutes, but it has to be every day.”

The Rebbe was not chas v’sholom saying that it shouldn’t be for longer, the point was that the learning must be with a kvius– is has to be strong and unbendable, Rabbi Feller said.

“I’m trying to kill time is a commonly heard term, but you’re killing yourself by killing time. Time is the most precious gift from G-d it must be utilized not killed! If you’re looking for something to do, don’t ‘kill’ the time, use it out; go visit someone in an old age home, cheer someone up in the hospital, etc.”

He strongly urged the crowd to follow American Express’s motto when it comes to carrying Teffilin: “Don’t leave home without it!”

He talked about serving Hashem with simcha. The Rebbe once wrote to him that “being b’simcha is the conduit for all of Hashem’s brochos.” Rabbi Feller says he tries to follow this directive on his shlichus especially when things get tough- like when his checks become baal teshuvos!

He ended the farbrengen with a heartfelt rendition of Ani Maamin reminding us all that the goal must always be to bring Moshiach, and we must bring him even before Pesach this year.