The General: "The Rebbe Began To Cry"

"Why don't you go to Eretz Yisroel? Such a powerful figure like the Rebbe can definitely influence and have an effect on what's going there–at least spiritually!"

-Ron Pekar

I would like to present a very powerful Yechidus of the Rebbe with a General of the IDF from 1975.This e-mail is dedicated to Chabad of long island city in honor of the opening of their new Chabad house this week.

The General: "Will there be another war in Israel?”

The Rebbe: "The Arabs are just unable to attack right now. But if left to regroup and recuperate, the moment they regain strength, without a moment's hesitation, they will attack. The army should have gone into Damascus and Kahir. Why wasn't it done? The army should have gone–even with out the permission of the government. It was a very critical (and dangerous) time, and we should have kept pressing the main cities.

"Why didn't Arik Sharon continue going into Kahir? He was just one hundred kilometers from there! It's very hard to accept the story that there was no gas on the way, because there was gas for the Egyptian forces and if Sharon wanted to use it there would have been no problem."

Rebbe: "Did you ever fly to Kahir?"

General: "Yes." [Describes the city to the Rebbe].

R: "Why didn't you take planes and fly there and take the city? Why didn't you surprise them? The planes should have flown there and taken the city, even if only for a bit of time. Had they done that, everything would have been different. "

G: [Asks Rebbe how G-d can stand by when Zurik (a friend of his) dies, following the death of his brother Udi by just two years. How could G-d have permitted this? Where is G-d?!]
(The Rebbe began to cry and then said:)

R: "It is indeed a very terrible and frightening incident; but who are we to judge the actions of G-d? I am 73 years old and I study as much Torah as I can, and I keep trying to add in Torah study. I feel that I have acquired a level of wisdom. And yet all that amounts to nothing before the wisdom of G-d. We therefore cannot judge situations a s they present themselves. Because, in retrospect, very often, the meaning and purpose of many mysteries are revealed. Similarly, maybe time will show how the deaths of Udi and Zurik prevented many more Jewish deaths."

G: "Are you scared to live like a Jew here in Brooklyn ?"

R: "When you're fighting during the time of war you fight with courage and sincerity. Similarly, when I do what I need to do, even if outwardly 'dangerous,' I have faith and trust in G-d, because He alone controls what happens here on earth, and he is looking out for the interests of every Jew."

R: "Why don't you go to Eretz Yisroel? Such a powerful figure like the Rebbe can definitely influence and have an effect on what's going there–at least spiritually! I have heard many different answers that the Rebbe has given to people and I also heard that it is a question that bothers many people. "

R: "If I would sit in Eretz Yisroel my influence on world Jewry would be limited. I would not be able to communicate with Jews in Moscow and even this conversation would be impossible in Tel Aviv. I find that this place is the most conducive for my work."

Good Shabbos.

Menachem.

Copyright © Menachem Kirschenbaum 2007