My Encounter with the Rebbe (Video)

As First Secretary in the Israeli embassy in Moscow during the late 1950s, Aryeh Lova Eliav assisted Chabad's underground network in their mission to preserve Judaism in the Soviet Union. After completing his post in Russia, he had a private audience with the Rebbe, which lasted seven hours.

In April, 1985 the Rebbe instructed Professor Herman Branover to call his contacts in the Soviet Union and inform them that freedom was closer than they could possibly imagine.

As a young man, Rabbi Aharon Serebryansky lived in Australia, and was among the original students of the Lubavitch Yeshivah there. When he found himself devoting vast amounts of time to teaching others rather than to his own learning, he turned to the Rebbe for guidance.

Freddy Hager comes from a long line of famous rabbis and Chassidic Rebbes. At his first private audience with the Rebbe, the Rebbe told him how to carry on the family legacy.

Mr. Bentzion Rader and his wife, Hinda, live in London, England. In 1974, the Rebbe instructed them to publish a chassidic primer for Jewish women.

Mrs. Leah Kahan shares some of the Rebbetzin’s admiration for the Shluchim, which she heard first-hand.

Mr. Peter Kalms lives in London, England. In one of his letters, he explained to the Rebbe the financial pressures that Chabad institutions were facing there, and that it may compel them to restrict some of their classes...

In the mid-1950s, Rabbi Yosef Goldstein and his family lived two floors below the Rebbe and Rebbetzin, at 346 New York Avenue.

In 1969, Mr. Gordon Zacks was Chairman of the UJA's Young Leadership Cabinet. Shortly after delivering a keynote address to three thousand communal leaders from across the US and Canada, he was informed that the Rebbe wished to meet with him - for a “heart to heart” discussion.

Don't wait so long as since I last spoke with you to report good news in spreading Judaism, especially in the realm of Jewish education. Your main concern must be: What are you doing to benefit the community?

Joe Cayre, businessman, philanthropist and co-founder of Good Times Home Video, shares some personal business advice he received from the Rebbe.

Mrs. Rochel Lipskar used to visit the Rebbe's mother, Rebbetzin Chana Schneerson of blessed memory. On occasion, Rebbetzin Chana would recall the Rebbe's childhood.

In 1941, Yehudah Leib Posner, age 13, and his brother Zalman, age 14, were students at the Yeshiva in 770.

In 1972, Yehuda Avner was a senior diplomat at the Israeli Embassy in Washington.

Rabbi Zev Segal served as Rabbi of the Young Israel of Newark for fifty years, and was president of the Rabbinical Council of America. Through his work, he visited Jewish communities across the globe.

Rabbi Yisroel Meir Lau was Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1993 to 2003. He had his first private audience with the Rebbe in 1974, shortly after the Yom Kippur War.

In 1966, Rabbi Yosef Krupnik was a student at the RJJ Yeshivah on the Lower East Side. From his teacher, Rabbi Shaya Shimonowitz, he heard a story about the Rebbe in Europe.

In 1979, Mr. Freddy Hager was a diamond dealer in London, England. Business was slow, and he came to the Rebbe for advice.

In 1962, Dr. Yaacov Hanoka was a physics student at Pennsylvania State University. After a group of rabbinic students visited his campus for Shabbos, he was intrigued to learn more about Judaism. His Hillel rabbi arranged a private audience for him with the Rebbe.

Dr. Yaacov Hanoka continues the account of his first year studies at 770.

Rabbi Sholom Ber Butman recalls his childhood memories of the Rebbe in Paris, 1947, when the Rebbe flew there to greet his mother after she escaped Russia.

Rabbi Sholom Ber Butman concludes his childhood memories of the Rebbe’s stay in Paris in 1947. The Butman family was staying at the same home as the Rebbe’s mother after her escape from Russia.

The Rebbe records in his diary of 1932 that his father-in-law and predecessor, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch, instructed him to don four pairs of Tefillin every day. Rabbi Yisroel Gordon was a student in 770 when the Rebbe arrived in America in June, 1941. He recalls how this secret first became known to American Chassidim.

Rabbi Avraham Korf is head Shliach of the State of Florida. He shares some instructions he received from the Rebbe in how to balance groundbreaking Shlichus with respect for existing institutions.

Rabbi Nochum Avraham Yakobovitch was in Paris during the Rebbe’s stay there in 1947. He was present one Shabbos when the Rebbe was studying alone in the synagogue.

Mr. Hirsh Katz recalls some of the Rebbe’s personal guidance to him as a youth. His father, Reb Yankel Katz, was a major supporter of Chabad in America, whom the Rebbe termed, “a good friend.”

Mr. Bentzion Rader shares a private audience he and his wife had with the Rebbe, at which they discussed the Rebbe's views about Aliyah and demonstrations for Soviet Jewry.

Rabbi Moshe Herson is Head Shliach of the State of New Jersey. As a student at 770 from 1955 to 1959, he would spend his summers visiting remote Jewish communities.

In 1961, Dr. Velvel Greene joined NASA’s Exobiology program. He had his first private audience with the Rebbe in the mid-1960s.

Dr. Velvel Greene worked in NASA’s Exobiology program searching for life on Mars. He continues the account of his first private audience with the Rebbe in the mid-1960s.

Mr. Joe Cayre and his brothers founded Good Times Home Video. He shares an episode involving himself and one of his brothers.

Mr. Yaakov Hardof is an electrical engineer, and founder of Amperon Electronics and Soundsystems and Interconcept Incorporated. In 1957, he spent close to two hours with the Rebbe discussing... engineering!

Mr. Yaakov Hardof continues the account of his 1957 audience with the Rebbe, when the Rebbe asked him to explain an engineering breakthrough of the time: the transistor.

Mrs. Esther Goldman shares a heartwarming story of the Rebbe’s concern for a young expecting mother.

In 1960, Rabbi Yosef Wineberg began to deliver Tanya lessons over the radio in New York. The Rebbe's mother, Rebbetzin Chana Schneerson, was fond of his broadcasts. When she passed away in 1964, he asked the Rebbe for permission to honor her memory in a special way...

Rabbi Yisroel Meir Lau tells the “story behind the story” of the Rebbe’s foresight regarding his position in Israel’s Chief Rabbinate.

Rabbi Chaim Nachman Kovalsky was a student of Rabbi Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg, author of the Halachic responsa, Sridei Eish. He shares a story he heard from Rabbi Weinberg about the Rebbe in Berlin.

In 1950, Rabbi Yehuda Leib Posner was a student at 770. He received some coaching from the Rebbe on how to approach the topic of “science and faith.”

Rabbi Sholom Ber Levine shares the account of the Rebbe and Rebbetzin’s departure from Paris, as told to him by the Rebbetzin herself.

Mendel Notik worked in the Rebbe and Rebbetzin’s household during the 1970s. He shares a story he heard from the Rebbetzin about a “campaign” of the Rebbe to save Jews in Nazioccupied France.

Rabbi Menachem Tiechtel was a refugee in Southern France during the Nazi occupation. He shares a story about the Rebbe that he learned during that time.

Rabbis Dovid Edelman, Hershel Fogelman and Yehuda Leib Posner were students at 770 in 1941. They describe the first Farbrengen the Rebbe held after arriving safely to America from war-torn Europe.

Dr. Yitzchak Block is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Western Ontario. Upon the Rebbe’s instructions, he disregarded his desire to avoid academic conferences. One time, however, the Rebbe seemed to go too far...

Mrs. Chana Sharfstein recalls one of her first private audiences with the Rebbe, as a young woman in her early twenties, when the Rebbe asked her about her prospects for marriage (1954).

On the night of Shemini Atzeres, 1977, the Rebbe suffered a heart attack during the Hakafos celebration. Dr. Ira Weiss was part of the medical team that treated the Rebbe at 770 over the next month and a half. He recalls the Rebbe’s first Farbrengen following the heart attack.

In the early 1970s, Mr. Peter Kalms planned to move his family from England to Israel. Before making the move, he visited the Rebbe to receive his blessing.

In 1947, the Rebbe flew to Paris to escort his mother to the United States after her escape from the Soviet Union. While there, he visited a small Yeshiva outside Paris where Rabbi Yaakov Holtzman was a student. Later, in New York, he worked in the Rebbe’s household.

Rabbi Shimon Goldman's father-in-law, Rabbi Yochanan Gordon, was head of the Gemillas Chesed Shomrei Shabbos interest-free loan fund for over twenty years. The Rebbe sets a high bar for how to measure the fund’s success.

Rabbi Mordechai Ashkenazi shares a personal audience with the Rebbe, where an answer was given to a question had, but not asked.