Tefilin and demostrations

Rabbi Lipszyc's Story of the week Dedicated in honor of Yoel Leib's Birthday. In 1968, before Pesach, The Rebbe spoke a very sharp sicha against the organizers (mainly Rabbi Meir Kahana hy”d) of a massive demonstration (supposingly) for Russian Jewry at the Statue of Liberty. The Rebbe made clear that most of the participants meant it lishma, and should be praised for their intentions, but that the head organizers were warned of the disastrous results that were going to come about because of the timing, yet because of their own pride refused to reschedule it. Throughout the years the Rebbe worked diligently and diplomatically behind the scenes and successfully was able to get many Jewish families out of the former Soviet Union. The Rebbe had been informed that there were 150 families that had just gotten visas and permission to leave Russia during the upcoming Chol Hamoed Pesach. However, with the planned demonstration to take place the Sunday before Pesach, the Russian government warned that if the demonstration goes forward, these 150 families’ visas would be cancelled. This was no less than a death threat for those families. (When a Russian applied and was granted a visa to leave the country they lost their jobs and the right to work. They were considered traitors to the country, and therefore were denied the right to work.) The Rebbe told Rabbi Kahane that he knows that he won’t listen to him if he asks him to cancel the demonstration, so he’s requesting that he just postpone the demonstration until after Pesach so that these 150 families can get out. Rabbi Kahane really upset the Rebbe when he responded that better these families lose their visas so that eventually “all Jewry” can get out. The Rebbe asked, who gave him the right to bring down on these 150 families such a calamity? If he was in Russia and chose to rip up his own visa in order to make a statement, as foolish as it may be, at least it shows an ideal. But for him to be in a free country, with no threat to his own life, for him to threaten the lives of 150 families is purely criminal. Unfortunately Rabbi Kahane did not listen. Here we can see and appreciate how a true Jewish leader acts. He does not care, if someone else will get unearned credit, or if the general populace will have a mistaken belief in what really transpired, the Rebbe’s main interest was in damage control. How do I know this? Because I was 1 of 3 bochurim to have the z’chus to be called into duty for the damage control. Sunday morning, the day of the demonstration, Reb Dovid Raskin a”h (then director of Lubavitch Youth Organization) called three of us to a side. Mendel Lipskar (now shliach to Chabad of South Africa,) myself and a third bochur. He told us that the Rebbe wants us to go to the demonstration at the Statue of Liberty, “not as official representatives of Lubavitch,” but to just put on tefillin on as many Jewish men as possible, in order to turn this disastrous demonstration into something positive. As the Rebbe had stated in the above-mentioned sicha, most of the attendees were young idealistic participants who totally meant it altruistically, and the turnout was massive. Three packed ferries carried everyone to Ellis Island. We three managed to push ourselves onto the first ferry. On that first ferry was the keynote speaker and the main drawing card to the rally, the famous actor, singer and activist Theodore Bikel a”h. He was surrounded by all the young university students. I turned to my two colleagues and said that if we can get Theodore Bikel to put on Tefillin, it will make our job with all the others that much easier.  Now you need to understand, this is 1968, the Tefillin Campaign had just begun less than a year earlier (Lag B’Omer 1967) and it was still a daunting challenge to go up to strangers and ask them to put on Tefillin. The other two thought I was out of my mind. Did I really think that such an important person as Theodore Bikel would put on Tefillin, especially in such a public display? (To tell the truth, I really didn’t know “how important Theodore Bikel was,” I just knew that he was some actor.) So I decided to do it myself. As I pushed forward to get to him, Mendel Lipskar, decided to follow behind me, to see what would happen. (He was positioned so that if something went wrong he wouldn’t be embarrassed.) The third bochur wouldn’t even let himself be seen. As I walked up to Bikel, I said, “you’re Theodore Bikel.” He said, (seeing Mendel Lipskar as well,) “and you’re Lubavitcher Chassidim.” I was devastated, we were not supposed to be there officially as Lubavitcher Chassidim and here we were exposed, I felt that I blew it. I asked, “that you’re Theodore Bikel is obvious, but how do you know that we are Lubavitcher Chassidim?” To this he laughingly replied, “that you are chassidim is obvious from your dress, that you are Lubavitcher Chassidim is obvious from the fact that you would have anything to do with a goy like me.” Since there was already somewhat of a rapport between us, I asked him if he would agree to put on Tefillin? His answer was so beautiful, that I have used it many times throughout my years of doing the mitzvah campaigns. He said, “now don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against doing anything Jewish, and there is no question that Tefillin is a Jewish thing… but wouldn’t it be hypocritical for me who doesn’t keep Shabbat, and I don’t eat Kosher, to put on Tefillin?” At this point Mendel Lipskar steps forward and explains that the Rebbe has proposed the “theory of the partial mitzvah” and that each mitzvah is separate and has its own effect. I also threw in that besides, there’s a rule mitzvah goreres mitzvah, and when you do one mitzvah it brings you to do another one. He agreed to put on Tefillin. Although I helped him put on Tefillin, he made the brocha and said Shma on his own. I was about to take off the Tefillin but he stopped me and said, “since I have the Tefillin on already, let me say Shmona Esrai” and he turned to a side and said the amida. I smiled at him and said, “you see it’s working already.” People were taking pictures of him with the Tefillin on and he was happily posing for them. When we left 770 to go to this demonstration, we were going down the stairs to the subway. A bochur was coming up the stairs at the same time. He was carrying a box of large buttons that were the first of its kind, hot off the press – I PUT ON TEFILLIN TODAY, DID YOU? Knowing that that’s what we were going for, I asked for a bunch of buttons to take with me. He gladly gave me a dozen. As I am taking off the Tefillin from Theodore Bikel, I pull out of my pocket one of the buttons and pinned it on him. He loved it and did a few more photo shots with it on. I was hoping that he would wear it during his speech . When we got to Ellis Island we set up the Tefillin stand in the back of the crowd and started putting on Tefillin with individuals. When Theodoe Bikel started speaking, I excused myself from my colleagues and told them I wanted to see if he was still wearing the pin. It was such a big crowd that it took me practically his whole speech to get close enough to see him. He was proudly wearing the pin. But as he was finishing his speech, he literally floored me when he said, “…and now if you really want to do something for Russian Jewry, there are 2 Lubavitcher Chassidim in the back (he had only seen me and Lipskar) go put on Tefillin with them!!!” I ran back to our Tefillin stand and told them what happened and to get ready for a mob. Sure enough, we couldn’t stop until sunset and we put on Tefillin with more than 1,000 people. What a terrific report we were able to give the Rebbe when we got back to 770. Years later it was clear that Theodore Bikel was a big admirer of Lubavitch and many shluchim would bring him to speak at various events, but it wasn’t until the late 70’s that I learnt that it was that meeting on the ferry that endeared him to Lubavitch. 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