Photo Credit: Jewish Press

Holiday Davening

Once again this year, Kehilas Mevakshei Hashem is offering to enhance your yamim noraim experience, making it more affordable and enjoyable.

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We will, IY”H, be conducting uplifting, melodious Carlebach-style tefillos at a new Flatbush location. The divrei Torah and drashos will be practical, educational, and inspiring.

All seats will be partially subsidized, with a selection available gratis for those in need.

For reservations and information, call 718-469-6999.

Kesivah V’Chasimah Tovah to all.

Rabbi Yehuda Levin
Brooklyn, NY  

 

More On The Rebbe’s Letter To A Chess Grandmaster

In writing my weekly “Collecting Jewish History” column for The Jewish Press, I always look forward to the thought-provoking comments and observations readers send my way, which are always much appreciated.

At the end of my September 2 column, I wrote about how Rav Menachem Mendel Schneerson wrote to chess grandmaster Samuel Reshevsky to congratulate him on an important chess victory, which he characterized as a “Kiddush Hashem,” and also to ask Reshevsky to try to contact Bobby Fischer to “find some way in which he could be brought back to the Jewish fold, either through your personal efforts, or in some other way.”

In response I received the following amazing correspondence from Mrs. Frida Schapiro, which I feel compelled to share with readers:

 

Shalom Mr. Singer,

I just finished reading your fascinating column “The Frum Chess Grandmaster and the Lubavitcher Rebbes” and I got very excited, as now I was able to connect the dots. Let me explain.

My father, Rabbi Dr. Nissan Mindel z”l, was the personal secretary of the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson, as well as of his successor, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. He traveled with the previous Rebbe and his small entourage by ship from war-torn Europe in 1940 (the last passenger ship to leave) to New York and served the two Rebbes until 1994.

Besides being the author of numerous works of chassidus in English for young and old which he did at the behest of the Rebbes (you might be familiar with his well- known Talks and Tales monthly magazine for children and with the English translation of the Tanya), Rabbi Mindel also served the Rebbes in the capacity of personal secretary, writing their letters in four languages – English, Hebrew, Yiddish, and Russian (composing the letters from the dictation he took down from them). I like to refer to him as the “royal scribe.” He kept a carbon copy of every single letter (at the request of the Rebbe) – both communal and personal – and eventually gathered some of these English, personal letters, categorized them and prepared them for publication in a series which he titled The Letter and the Spirit. He prepared enough letters to fill ten volumes; we are now working on volume four, and volume one came out during his lifetime, with instructions to us to continue the project.

Which brings me to the reason that I am writing to you.

You might be interested to see the letter which the Rebbe wrote in 5744 to a chess master (in Spring Valley) – with very warm and encouraging words, referring to the article in The New York Times and to the Kiddush Hashem which he so brilliantly displayed, which included a request to help a fellow Jew and fellow chess champion. I always found this letter very fascinating and so inspiring; the love and concern which a Jew should have for another, no matter how far removed he may be from the Jewish way of life.

As my father was very careful in removing any identifying features in the letters, so as to maintain privacy and confidentiality, there is no name or address on the letters as they are printed in The Letter and the Spirit series. We do have the originals, but I have not gone to the archives to look for the original of this letter, and I assume that this letter was written to Samuel Reshevsky. The part of the letter that you quote in your column is the “P.S.” in that letter. I was thrilled to learn of the history behind this great man – the context within which this letter was written to him by the Rebbe.

 

Mrs. Schapiro was also kind enough to forward the actual text of Rebbe’s letter:

 

By Grace of G-d
25th of Adar Sheini, 5744
Brooklyn, N. Y.
Mr. [Blank]
Spring Valley, N.Y. 10977

 

Greeting and Blessing:

After the very long interval since I heard from you directly (which is somewhat surprising), I was pleased to have been informed of your recent success in the International Tournament as reported in the New York Times of March 18, 1984. I was doubly gratified because it was good to know that you continue to participate in International Tournaments and, especially, that you shared the first prize in the Tournament at Reykjavik.

Needless to say, the most gratifying point is that you continue to display a Kiddush HaShem Barabim, insisting upon your right not to play on the holy Shabbos and that your stance was recognized and accepted. What made it even more conspicuous is that there was another Jewish contestant, from the U.S.S.R., who attempted to be a stumbling block in your way which made your Kiddush HaShem all the more brilliant. May G-d grant that for many years to come, you will continue to use your great influence in the cause of Kiddush HaShem, and do so in good health, with joy and gladness of heart, and in happy circumstances both materially and spiritually.

The above is very much in the spirit of Purim which we observed just recently, as we read in the Megillah that although in those days, as nowadays, Jews were spread and scattered among the nations of the world, facing all kinds of difficulties as Jews, nevertheless they clung to their Jewish way of life, as the Megillah says, “Their Laws were different from those of other peoples.” However, because of their determined and proud stance as Jews, to quote the Megillah again, “Mordechai the Jew” and the “People of Mordechai” would not “bend their knees nor bow down” before anyone or anything that challenged their Jewish commitment – precisely this is what brought about that “For the Jews there was light, joy, gladness and honor,” meaning also honor and admiration for the Jews on the part of their erstwhile enemies.

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