Monthly Archives: February 2011

We had 2 interviews scheduled today, one at 10 AM with Mrs. Joni Nathanson and another at 3 PM with a Rabbi from Crown Heights. Late last night our second interview canceled on us . As we heard that he cannot make it, someone from the production office called in with an urgent request. Faithful and Fortified – Volume 3 is on its way to production and there is a missing a link about Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin’s relationship with the Rebbe. Rabbi Sholom Duchman is the one who can shed light on it, and they need it ASAP. “We can’t finish the editing without it!”

Rabbi Sholom Duchman of Colel Chabad, took time out of his busy schedule to connect some important dots.

So the 10 AM appointment turned to 11, and Rabbi Duchman took time out of his busy schedule and sat with Yechiel Cagen to share his angle on the story. Amazing is all we can say. Stay tuned for the real thing on DVD…

So its 10:55, and in 5 minutes we have our next interview. Whats the rush? Well, we are very careful about making sure that no two interviews look like they are shot in the same background. It gives a variety to the film which brings comfort to the viewer. So here we are, just switching around the camera and the lights as Mrs. Joni Nathanson arrives. Does anyone know how long it takes to set up the camera and lights for an interview? Whew. We’ll leave it at that.

Joni lived at 1418 President St. She and her family lived just above Rebbetzin Chana Schneerson, the Rebbe’s mother. She describes the special closenes her family had with Rebbetzin Chana, and how they would speak with her outside in the yard every day. Joni herself was always afraid of ‘The Crazy Lady’ who lived on the first floor, and the Rebbetzin would always calm her down, and walk her in the building so she wouldn’t be scared!

"Even though we weren't Lubavitch, it was always very important to us to hold the door for the Lubavitcher Rebbe when he would come visit his mother. He would pat our heads as he walked in!"

Probably her fondest memory is of when the Rebbetzin would meet her on the way home from school almost every day. She would always ask “What are you learning in School? Please show me your books!” Now you see, Joni was always quite uncomfortable – she didn’t go to a Jewish school, she went to public school. Most of the Jewish kids around went to Jewish schools and she always felt like an outsider among them. Actually, they made her feel like an outsider. The one person in her life who accepted her unconditionally was Rebbetzin Chana. Joni choked up while describing what that did for her self esteem. Only now after many years can she appreciate it.

If you think that was all, not just yet.

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Today we visited Mr. Zvi Bamberger in Long Beach, NY. He comes from the illustrious family of the Wurtzberger Rabbonim. The Previous Rebbe writes about how he visited Wurtzberg with the Rebbe Rashab, and the Gadlus of his Zaide. Actually a cute anecdote. See Sefer Hasichos attached.

Although he came in shaking, and not knowing what to expect, he describes how the Rebbe put him right at ease.

His family’s first encounter with our Rebbe was in 1953 when they came to NY for his brother’s wedding. They were then living in Denmark, and his father was the Rov in a Shul there, and they were struggling terribly to get a Minyan, they were quite fed up with the whole responsibility, and they already wanted to move to the US.
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They knew of the Rebbe and came to get his advice. When they mentioned the problem, the Rebbe said “Why not give it to me? I have a nice young man who i can send there to open a Yeshiva. You provide the beds, etc for the dormitory, and I will provide the Rosh Yeshiva and Talmdidm.” V’kach Hava. They returned to Copenhagen and made the necessary arrangements, and shortly after the that the Yeshiva opened up. He says that he remembers the Yeshivah opening in 1955, and the boys learning there.
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When the Rebbe turned 75, he felt he wanted to present a gift. What can you give a Rebbe that he will appreciate? He decided to present to the Rebbe a Sefer and a Kovetz (a book of scholarly discourse and a small paperback publication) that he had just personally published of his grandfather’s Torah insights. He was delighted to recieve a letter back in the mail with the Rebbe’s handwritten note, with an interesting request about an interesting custom. See attached.
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He told us about some more VERY interesting Yechidus’n as well.

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The My Encounter with the Rebbe team spent a whirlwind 10 days in Montreal interviewing members of the community who had personal encounters with the Rebbe.

Though the trip is over and the team is back in Crown Heights, the interviews and experiences of these special Yidden are now recorded for posterity.

Some highlights from the trip, from the diaries of Yechiel, Mendy & Zalmy:

A typical cold and snowy day in Montreal...but we are still out there trucking!

- COLD The first thing we learned when we arrived:

Icicles form in your mustache (from your breathing) just from walking from the house to the car!

We’re not in Crown Heights!

- COLDER We bought an external hard drive to record the high-definition interviews we’d be filming on the trip. We left it in the car the night that we arrived, and it was so cold that the next day it wouldn’t turn on! We had to exchange it.

-Montreal’s Beis Rivkah girls had the opportunity to conduct an interview with Mrs. Sarah Feigelstock, a former teacher at the school.

Mrs. Leah Gniwisch's sister was very ill, and her cousin made an emergency trip to NY to receive a blessing from the Rebbe

- This trip was health-heavy. Countless stories were told about the Rebbe’s blessings for health, despite the doctors’ worst prognosis’ and how the people rebounded miraculously.

- Where’s the camera?! When we were setting up for the presentation at Yeshiva, Zalmy had to run back and get his camera. (not funny..)

-We caught personal stories of how the Rebbe knew each person personally and guided each individual with deep insight, although each one came from a completely different walk of life.

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Several weeks ago, for the Bar Mitzvah of Yochanan Boruch Gutnick, the son of Rabbi Yosef and Stera Gutnick, a special eight-minute preview was created of the upcoming film Faithful and Fortified Volume III: Prime Ministers.

The film features five Prime Ministers, including Menachem Begin, Yitzchok Rabin, Binyomin Netanyahu, Yitzchok Shamir and Ariel Sharon, focusing oon their relationships with, and guidance from, the Rebbe.

Yesterday we spent the day in Brooklyn, interviewing Rabbi Eli Lipsker and Mrs. Faina Branover.

Rabbi Eli Lipsker was almost like the Rebbe's personal musician, as he was the one who played by all the public Lubavitch events that the Rebbe participated.

Rabbi Lipsker was one of the first Yeshiva boys to go out and study music to begin an actual career. That of course entailed courses and classes that were attended by people from all walks of life. The Rabbis in the yeshiva weren’t the least bit supportive of his extra-curricular activities, and even condemned his ‘behavior’. They felt that it wasn’t in the ’spirit’ of the Yeshiva.

Well suddenly one day 3 of the Rabbis approach him at different times and sympathetically ask “How are your music studies? How much time do you need to spend for them? How do you pay for them? Do you maybe need financial assistance?”

It turns out that the previous night that had a meeting with the Rebbe about the Yeshiva, and they mentioned this young student and his ‘mis-behavior’. One even suggested that maybe he doesn’t belong in the yeshiva after all… The Rebbe was visibly upset with them and said “How can you say such a thing? Maybe from here will be the source of all the Chassidic music that we lack today? Why dont you show interest and encourage him?!”

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Although we are sad to admit it, all good things must come to an end at some point. The trip to Montreal was so full of

Rabbi and Mrs. Minkowitz share with us their courageous acts of holding their Yiddishkeit strong in pre-war Soviet Russia.

exciting people and fascinating stories that it was hard to leave. So hard, in fact that we spent the last night there in a midnight interview with Rabbi and Mrs. Chaim Meyer and Feigel Minkowitz! We weren’t able to tear ourselves away from this holy work, and we had to make sure that we documented every last encounter that they had with the Rebbe.

They also gave us a glimpse of what it was like to live in pre-war (and war-torn) soviet Russia. They both just barely escaped the battle front with their lives, and spent the war years deep in Russia on the cities of Tashkent and Samarkand. On the way out of Russia, Mrs. Minkowitz went on the train loads of Polish citizens who were allowed to exit out of the iron curtain. Many Jews posed as Polish citizens, so as to be able to leave Russia, and to finally be done with the terrible persecution that they were suffering from because of their religion.

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