Yesterday was Day One and we managed to interview seven people in a 10 hour day!

Mr. Dennis Blauner talks about his father, Jerry Blauner - "The Zaydy of the Valley" extraordinary relationship with the Rebbe. The Rebbe was like a father to Jerry and gave all sorts of advice in business.

We started the day with the interview with Dennis and Suzie Blauner. They talked about their father, Jerry Blauner – the “Zaydy of the Valley”, close relationship with the Rebbe. Jerry received over 100 answers from the Rebbe throughout the years! The Rebbe was like a father to him giving him advice in many of his business dealings.

We then interviewed Rabbi Josh Gordon of the Valley. He shared with us some of the horaos that the Rebbe gave him on shlichus. One directive that Rabbi Gordon lives with is “…Yaavod B’meretz u’Bitachon Chazak – Work hard and with a lot of trust in G-d!”  He also spoke about the many brochos he received from the Rebbe that helped and guided him to build “Chabad of the Valley”.

The other interviewees talked about their personal brochos they received from the Rebbe. One of them was Dr. Les Rosenthal. He was sitting in shul (synagogue) on Rosh Hashana when he felt a strong headache and he almost fainted. He was rushed to the hospital and the doctors said he had an aneurysm. Before going ahead with a procedure, Rabbi Mordy Eibinder told him to ask for a brocha from the Rebbe. The Rebbe’s answer was “there is nothing there and everything will be fine”. Sure enough, before they went for the surgery, they took another look and lo and behold nothing was there.

Rabbi Josh Gordon talks about the different directives he got from the Rebbe throughout the years. A fascinating interview!

The Sacks family also talked about their story with the Rebbe. Their son Ryan was sick with leukemia and the Rebbe told them to check their mezuzas. They did so and in one of the mezuzas by the words “Lmaan yirbu y’meichem v’mei bneichem” – was posul. They got them fixed and BH, Ryan recovered. Both Ryan and his mother told the story. While Ryan told the story his parents started to cry as they looked on. Very powerful

Stay tuned for Day 2!

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JEM’s My Encounter with The Rebbe team will be heading to Southern California from September 4-14th – and we are looking for people to interview.

Set up of a typical My Encounter interview

The My Encounter with The Rebbe project interviews people who’ve had personal experiences with the Rebbe. The goal is to capture all of the profound and deep experiences people have had with the Rebbe on video – and to share those experiences with the greater Jewish community.

This will be our third interviewing trip this year – the My Encounter team traveled from their base in Crown Heights to capture interviews in freezing Montreal in the winter and warm Miami in the spring. Now before the summer (and 5771) is out, we have one last stop: LA.

If you know people in Southern California who have had encounters with the Rebbe, please have them email interviews@jemedia.org, or have them call 347-450-1770 to set up an interview.

Thanks!

Rabbi Zalman Kazen, one of the first pioneer Shluchim of the Rebbe in the United States, passed away this past Sunday, 8 Tammuz – July 10th.

Rabbi Kazen was interviewed as part of JEM’s My Encounter with the Rebbe project on 6 Iyar, 5769 – April 30^th, 2009 about his encounters with the Frierdiker Rebbe and the Rebbe.

This is a raw excerpt of the interview – no subtitles, etc. – relating his visit to the Frierdiker Rebbe in Leningrad in Tishrei of 1927.

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The last two days were spent travelling back in time, and around the world. From Brooklyn to the Catskills, from Scandinavia (Denmark, Sweden, Finland), to Soviet Russia, and Italy as well. Nearly 11 hours of footage.

Rabbi Moshe Lazar retelling his personal encounters with the Rebbe.

Yesterday we were privileged to sit with Rabbi Moshe Lazar, a Shliach in Milano, Italy. Although not from a Chabad family himself, he spent his childhood and high school years – in the 40s – in Chabad Lubavitch institutions in NY, and continued to be active until he got married. His major contribution in those years was the establishment of the (now internationally acclaimed) Chabad camp network “Camp Gan Israel”. He shared in detail of all of his involvement and spoke with gratitude and love about the Rebbe’s direction and encouragement throughout the years.

In over 40 years of leadership, the Rebbe never left the city of NY, besides for a visit to the campgrounds of Camp Gan Israel. Rabbi Lazar described the excitement and the rush, when the Rebbe suddenly decided to make his first visit to the camp.

He described how the Rebbe toured every part of the campgrounds, commenting on everything, to ensure that the children have wholesome experience both practically and spiritually.

Notice how far Rabbi Lazar is from the background.

The Rebbe embraced the institution of’summer camp’, noting the tremendous positive affect we can have on children when they are in a Torah-based atmosphere 24/7. Their pure souls connect with their heritage in such a powerful way, much stronger than school can do.

Rabbi Lazar continued to talk about the Rebbe’s care that he felt all through the years. He stressed again and again – “The world doesn’t understand what the Rebbe is! Most people put him up on a pedestal as if he is high on a mountain. The Rebbe was actually just the opposite! Although he was so very great, he would always come down to our level and make us feel loved, thereby raising us up. We all felt like he was a father, a caring father, that was sincerely interested in what was going on in our lives, and that he guided us – directlyor through our teachers – in our developmental years”.

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Mishpacha magazine featured Yechiel Cagen, the director of the My Encounter with the Rebbe project, in this weeks edition.

Click on article to make larger.

© Mishpacha Magazine www.mishpacha.com Published 6/29/11

Yesterday we went out to Wilmington, Delaware to interview Rabbi Dr. Immanuel Schochet who was by his daughter and son in law – the Vogel’s (Chabad Shluchim in Delaware) – for Shavuos.

The Schochet family spent war time in Switzerland, then moved to Holland, and finally came to Canada in 1951. Rabbi Schochet started his studies at Chabad Lubavitch Yeshiva in 1952.

We covered many topics in this important interview.

The well-known and scholarly Schochet family spent war time in Switzerland, then moved to Holland, and finally came to Canada in 1951. Rabbi Schochet studied at Chabad Lubavitch Yeshiva from 1952-1959. After his marriage in Toronto in 1961, the Rebbe encouraged him to pursue his University studies diligently, even supporting him financially with jobs from Merkos L’inyonei Chinuch in New York!

He wrote many many articles for Merkos, and translated and wrote many many books. There were many edits that the Rebbe made to his works, and many of them are in letters that he gave to be published in Igros Kodesh. He told us that after a couple years the edits were less and then non-existent – because he learned from his mistakes and learned the Rebbe’s style. One of the many memorable changes the Rebbe made was when he wrote a biography on the Baal Shem Tov. In the course of his research he quoted from many sources, not necessarily from Sifrei Chassidus, and sometimes from non-religious historians. The Rebbe was very vocal in opposing this style, telling him that although they are surely credible scholars, when it comes to a holy Tzaddik and a way of life that these authors do not conduct, their outlook and opinion simply cannot be accurate. On this topic, the Rebbe expected him to use sources that were only from the Rebbeim and credible Sifrei Chassidus.

The Rebbe’s office had an official translator named Uriel Tzimmer. He knew many many European languages, and when the Rebbe got a letter in a foreign language – that he didn’t know – Mr. Tzimmer would translate them (and the Rebbe would reply in English, Yiddish or Hebrew). After he passed away the Rebbe’s office contacted Rabbi Schochet and asked him if he could help out with translating letters in some languages (due to his European origin). He readily agreed. He also figured that it would be exciting work – you know, seeing firsthand what the Rebbe gets to see! In reality though, among the important correspondences, there was a lot of trivial matters and even ‘nudging’ and ‘kvetching’ that he came across. He asked the Rebbe if he could just give over the ‘jist’ of these letters instead of translating word for word all the kvetching, etc. The Rebbe absolutely refused – “You can tell many things from how the person wrote, and what else they wrote as a lead up to their issue. It will help analyze their problem, and give insight if there are other underlying issues that need to be addressed…”

Interestingly enough, he only once asked the Rebbe about a suggestion for how to deal with missionaries, and the Rebbe gave quite a vague answer – “Tell them that the Rambam also knew Tanach.” He explains it to mean that we must remind them that we have been studying Tanach for generations, it was written by Jews and for Jews and if you have a question, come ask a Jew! And the questions that you have, were raised and answered many, many generations ago, etc.

There are a many, many more nice anecdotes, and beautiful expressions of the Rebbe’s care that he shared, but this is off the top of my head.

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Reb Berel Weiss, noted Chossid and philanthropist passed away today.

JEM’s My Encounter with the Rebbe team had the Zchus of interviewing him at his home in Los Angeles, on 9 Elul, 5768, September 9, 2008 about his encounters with the Rebbe.

This is a raw excerpt of his interview – no subtitles, etc. -  relating his first encounter with the Rebbe.

It was Shmini Atzeres of 5722, and through his relationship with Rabbi Raichik of Los Angeles, he was encouraged to come to NY for Tishrei.

Rabbi Raichik told him to go up and say Lichaim to the Rebbe, and if he wants he can mention that he will give a donation. He did just that, and told the Rebbe – I’m pledging $100,000 to the Mosdos! The Rebbe calmly replied his usual response L’chaim V’livracha! He was stunned! “I realized then how great the Rebbe was. He was not fazed by my donation. Had I been by a different Rebbe, he would told the Gabbai to quickly pull up a chair for me, and seat me at the front…”

After Yom Tov when he went into Yechidus, the Rebbe addressed the donation.

Then at a subsequent meeting, he told the Rebbe that he wants to take his business public. The Rebbe discouraged him, “who needs more baalei batim on themselves?” He said, “What do you mean? I’ll make millions, and I’ll give a million dollars for the Mosdos!” To which the Rebbe replied “And what will you bring me?’” He was a little confused… The Rebbe continued, “How many Blatt Gemara will you bring me??” The Rebbe wanted him to learn a thousand Blatt by the end of the year!

He was not expecting that. But the Rebbe wouldn’t let up. The Rebbe even shared with him a vort that Rashi writes about Zevulun, and concluded, “When Zevulun would go out on their ships, they would take with them a Tanya, a Tehillim’l, a Chumash’l, and learn in their free time! Its time you sat down and learned!!”

Once again it is Friday — time to watch The Living Torah. As the screen flickers on we await the Rebbe’s holy countenance and his immortal words. We watch and are transported back to those incredible years when farbrengens abounded and occasions to see the Rebbe were many. Perhaps at times we took those magical days for granted and didn’t take advantage of every golden opportunity.

Girls at LEC elementary school in Miami watch a My Encounter interview.

Today memories flood our minds, waiting in line to receive a sefer or a dollar from the Rebbe, the anticipation, crush, awe and then the Rebbe’s words, spoken to each of us personally. We recall how we ran home quickly and wrote the date and the words of the Rebbe on the dollar he had just given us and added it proudly to the growing pile of dollars that we treasured. Some people had more personal stories, a surprise answer from the Rebbe or a miracle story, which they were happy to share with family and friends.

I open up my eyes and find myself back in the present. I look around at my children and students and can see from their faces that for them the feeling is different. Though my generation lived with the Rebbe for far too short a time, at least we have our own distinct memories. We listened enviously to awesome stories of the older generation who had come from a more intimate and less crowded time in Lubavitch. Then we heard the early shluchim who had kept up a steady stream of correspondence with the Rebbe and now have all those letters to sustain them. But at least we know the feeling and understand what it meant to be part of it.

Rabbi Leibel Shapiro answers a questions asked by an elementary student about his first yechidus with the Rebbe.

Enter “The Living Torah” and “My Encounter with the Rebbe.” What a magnificent, albeit daunting, project. Some clichés cannot be improved upon: “A picture paints a thousand words.” With the advent of technical and media resources we are now able to give the next generation a taste, a glimpse , of what was. Even more, we, together with our children, continue to hear more than we ever knew. We learn from each “Encounter” what a privilege it is to be a Chassid of the Rebbe..

This past week we were privileged to host the team from “My Encounter with the Rebbe” at our school, Lubavitch Educational Center in South Florida, which also encompasses Beis Chana, Klurman Mesivta and Yeshiva Gedolah Rabbinical College.

The students were given a behind-the-scenes view of the production. Rabbi Mendy Alevsky gave a presentation about how this project began, and the cameramen showed the students the technical aspects of lighting a set. The students then viewed some footage and discussed what worked and what needed improvement.

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Sunday, was our last official day of interviews in South Florida.

Jerry Levine started our day at The Shul, describing filming the Rebbe for 'Windows to the Soul' in 1992.

Thanks to Rabbi Lipskar and Rabbi Shea Rubinstein, we used the main sanctuary at the famous ‘The Shul’ in Bal Harbour, Florida for an ‘Open Mic Day’. We interviewed eight people in total throughout the day!

Our day started at 7:30 am at The Shul, debating whether to use the main sanctuary or the smaller daily shul. The problem with the main sanctuary was the many big windows that shine light into the room, posing a big problem for interviews because you can’t control the light. The issue with using the smaller shul was that people are used to davening there on Sunday morning and we would get a lot of disturbances in the first half of the day. We ended up using the main sanctuary and Yankee Teitelbaum, our cameraman, worked his magic to make sure we got a great frame.

After about a two and a half hour interview, Rabbi Yoikel Weiss, the Karastirer Rebbe's son, walks out of the main sanctuary at The Shul. Rabbi Weiss reminisced about the days that he lived in Crown Heights in the early years of the Rebbe's nesius (leadership).

Our schedule was as follows:

9am: Jerry Levine – a renowned journalist and film maker. Jerry talked about his memories filming the Rebbe up-close for the documentary ‘Windows to the Soul’ and behind-the-scenes stories with the Rebbe surrounding Chanukah Live.

10am: Marc Sheridan – a business man from Bal Harbour who talked about his many encounters with the Rebbe. One that stands out is that when they were making plans to build the beautiful building now called ‘The Shul’ there was a debate whether they should take the ‘build and they will come’ approach or wait until all the funds were secured. The Rebbe told Sheridan, a member of the building committee, to take the same approach as with one’s personal house:  take a mortgage and build right away!

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Three interviewers from the organization charged with preserving teachings of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, took their operation south this week.

Jewish Educational Media dispatched a film crew to Miami this week to record personal recollections of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory.

On the hunt for 100 people who had first-hand recollections of the Jewish leader, Rabbis Yechiel Cagen, Yankee Teitelbaum and Mendy Alevsky focused on Miami as part of their effort to commit 1,000 personal testimonials from people across the globe to film.

Cagen, who directs the “My Encounter with the Rebbe” project for Jewish Educational Media, explained that it runs alongside JEM’s mainstay Living Archives program, a daunting endeavor to preserve 70 years of still and moving footage and audio recordings – including thousands of hours of the Rebbe’s public addresses and appearances. My Encounters instead takes a more intimate look, shining a light on how the Rebbe personally affected people in the post-Holocaust world.

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