Lipa Brennan, Dovid Abenson, Shaul Cohen and Danny Rothenberg – some of our Manchester bochurim now studying in New York – met our group at the airport and drove us to Crown Heights. We arrived at 770 around 4:30 p.m.

I had barely alighted from the car when our friend, Rabbi J.J. Hecht, full of bonhomie and camaraderie, hailed me. He said I was just the man he was looking for. An aid dinner for one of the organizations he runs called Machon Chana (a Lubavitch girls’ seminary in Crown Heights) would be held tonight. The Rebbe had requested that all visitors attend this dinner and had specifically given instruction that I, Zalmon Jaffe, be present to make a speech. These were “direct orders from the boss,” said Rabbi Hecht. (J.J. is a practical joker, hence, one can never be sure when he is joking. However, something said in the Rebbe’s name is not something anyone jokes about.) My son Avrohom and Menachem Mendel Katsch, who were standing near me, were also included in this invitation.

During our stay last Shavuos, Rabbi J.J. Hecht had approached Roselyn and me and cajoled, appealed, pleaded and insisted that we make a half-hour recording for his youth program radio show. We acceded to his eloquent and passionate pleas. The recording was impromptu – there were no rehearsals. J.J. met Roselyn and me a few days later and said, “Congratulations, Mrs. Jaffe, you were marvelous.” Poor me, no mazel!