Rare Letters Shown at Farbrengen

By COLlive reporter

It was a night of l’chaims, singing and rare documents.

The nightly farbrengen in the sukkah held for members of Congregation Beis Shmuel in Crown Heights on Sunday took its participants on a journey to earlier days in the Brooklyn neighborhood.

Rabbi Levi Garelik, a rov and teacher in Brooklyn and Brussels, brought with him some historic papers to better illustrate how the holiday-packed month of Tishrei was spent at 770 Eastern Parkway over the years.

First, he showed a letter from the Frierdiker Rebbe dated Elul 5700 and written to a shul in Chicago, acknowledging their wishes of Mazal Tov for moving into his “new house,” referring to 770 Eastern Parkway, in time for Tishrei.

What is evident on the letter, Rabbi Garelik pointed out, is that the stationary had not yet been printed with the address of 770, rather it is a temporary stamp.

In those days, Lubavitcher chassidim didn’t have their own sefer slichos and Kehot Publications had not been founded yet, he said. Instead, Lubavitchers had been using other versions and often mixed up Chabad’s customs.

So the chossid Reb Avrohom Paris reviewed the Frierdiker Rebbe’s slichos and copied down the notes of which paragraphs we say and which we don’t. He later shared the list with chassidim, Rabbi Garelik said, and presented the document.

Another example he gave of how order came to be over the years was the “moire shiur,” the division of daily learning portions of the Tanya.

Starting in 5704, the Frierdiker Rebbe would give out every few weeks the portions that should be learned every day. It would be printed periodically, until the next batch was given out.

Rabbi Garelik had one to show, but pointed out that this had another notice.

“Although in the siddur it is printed that on a day that we don’t say Tachanun, we do say Kapital 20 of Tehillim at the end of davening, this document from the Frierdiker Rebbe says “men hot mir gebetn ibergeben” which means that he was “requested” to publicize this.

The nightly farbrengens for men were organized by Rabbi Moshe Pinson, founder and president of Bais Shmuel. Rabbi Chaim Schochet led one of the farbrengens.