The well-known Rabbi Yosef Wineberg shared an interesting experience. In 1945, when he was living in Chicago, the Previous Rebbe sent his emissary, the distinguished Chassidic rabbi, Rabbi Shmuel Levitin, to Chicago on a special mission. Rabbi Levitin was sent by the Lubavitcher Rebbe to visit and bring warmth and inspiration to the Jewish community in Chicago in general and to a certain Mr. Lisner in particular.
The Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson asked Rabbi Levitin to pay a personal visit to Mr. Lisner, who was a wealthy Jewish businessman in Chicago and a descendant of a prestigious Chassidic family.
“Send him my warm regards and blessings,” the Rebbe said.
At the train station in Chicago, Rabbi Yosef Wineberg, then a young man and living in Chicago, was waiting to greet Rabbi Levitin. As he stepped off the train, Rabbi Levitin asked Rabbi Wineberg:
“Do you know Mr. Charles Lisner?”
“Most definitely,” responded Rabbi Wineberg.
“Where can I meet up with him? Which synagogue does he attend?” asked Rabbi Levitin.
Rabbi Wineberg, never at a loss for words, responded with a smile:
“I can tell you which synagogue he should attend, but I don’t think that’s the place you’ll find him… ”
Calling on the rabbi of the synagogue to come along with them, the three of them made an appointment to visit Mr. Lisner at his office.
A day or so later, they met in the businessman’s office. He welcomed the distinguished rabbis very warmly. Mr. Lisner was especially touched and inspired by the personal regards from the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
The conversation flowed easily, and at the end of the visit, Mr. Lisner reached for his checkbook and asked:
“To which organization shall I address my contribution?”
Rabbi Levitin responded: “Please put away the checkbook because I did not come for a donation.”
“But why else would an elderly rabbi come all the way from New York, just to enjoy a cold drink in my office?” responded the surprised Lisner.
The rabbi of the synagogue then chimed in and tried to explain.
“In the Old Country, there were many small Jewish communities spread all over the countryside. Each community had their own synagogue, Torah scrolls, and other religious articles. All Torah scrolls, Mezuzahs, and Tefillin are handwritten with ink on parchment by a scribe and from time to time need to be checked for flaws – which then need to be fixed by a qualified scribe. The smaller communities in Europe couldn’t generate enough work to support a permanent scribe, so it became common to see traveling, or wandering scribes who fixed, and rectified any flaws in the holy scrolls.
“Every Jew, Mr. Lisner,” the rabbi continued, “is like a living Torah Scroll. Our sages say, “yesh shishim ribuy otiyot baTorah” – there are 600,000 letters in a Torah scroll. Each Jew has a letter in the Torah. It can happen sometimes that some “letters” of our Judaism get a little bit “rubbed off”, and we lose touch with some Mitzvot. The Rebbe sent Rabbi Levitin to be one of the traveling scribes; to provide a little spiritual ink, a dab of inspiration, and a brush of warmth, to reconnect our Jewish brethern to Torah and Mitzvot and reinstate the Jewish person’s intimate connection with G-d.”
Lisner was deeply moved by this parable. Having completed his mission, Rabbi Levitin returned to New York. Upon his return, he shared what was said with the Rebbe, expecting positive acknowledgment for this innovative example. But to his surprise the Rebbe was silent.
Worried, he asked:
“Did we say something incorrect? Doesn’t the Talmud compare a Jew to a Sefer Torah?”
“Yes,” responded the Rebbe warmly in Yiddish, “but there is one big difference. The Torah is written with ink on parchment, two separate entities combined into one. The ink could be erased or rubbed off. But the Jew – The Jew is like the Torah with engraved letters. The Torah is engraved in his/her heart, and on the soul. When letters are engraved, as were the Ten Commandments on the two Tablets, it is impossible for them to be rubbed off or separated in any way. At times a little dust can accumulate and cover the letters.”
Here the Rebbe picked up on the parable and concluded:
“The job of the ‘wandering scribe’ is to help brush off some of this dust. Instantly the letters will shine.”
As I sat at the conference and listened to this account, I found a new meaning for the term ‘engraving’.
By Rabbi Zushe Greenberg the Rebbe’s shliach (emissary) in Solon, Ohio.
Rabbi Greenberg shares: “I heard this story more than thirty years ago from a tape recording of Rabbi Wineberg speaking at a Kinus Hashluchim (Conference of emissaries in NY).
Postscript:
Mr. Lisner descended from Chassidim, and his last name had been Anglicized from Liozhner. Reb Shmuel was to tell him all about his illustrious Chassidic ancestors and attempt to return him to the path of Torah and mitzvot. The mission the Previous Rebbe entrusted to Rabbi Levitin, was successful and Mr. Lisner made the change around and returned to the path of his ancestors. He became one of the leading figures of Chabad in Chicago and beyond.
In a letter penned by the Previous Rebbe to Mr. Lisner on the 11th of Tamuz 5704, he blesses Mr. Lisner and his wife and children. The Rebbe expresses his gratitude for the leadership role Mr. Lisner has taken in the establishment of the Yeshiva Achei-Tmimim Lubavitch of Chicago, his philanthropic work for the Yeshiva Tomchei Temimim Lubavitch, and for his involvement in the establishment of Agudas Chabad.
In this letter, the Previous Rebbe shares interesting facts about his family.
“Surely your late father, my esteemed friend and Chassid, has told you all the details of your illustrious family and how their name came to be Liozhner. Your grandfather, my friend, and Chassid, Reb Mendel Yitzchak was born in the city of Staradov, in the district of Tshernigov, and studied in the Yeshiva of my grandfather, the Tzemach Tzedek in Lubavitch. At the directive of the Tzemach Tzedek, he learned shechita (ritual slaughterer) from the Chassid, Reb Tzvi Hirsh. The Tzemach Tzedek then appointed him to be the head shochet for the city of Vitebsk. He blessed him with long life and much success. Your grandfather was a shochet for 58 years! And not once was an animal he shechted declared treif (not kosher) because of a mistake in the way it was slaughtered.
The Rabbi and Chassid, Reb Mendel Yitzchak told me that his grandfather, the Chassid, Reb Yechezkel was born in Staradov. He was from among the Chassidim of the Alter Rebbe. Once every two years he would travel on foot to the Alter Rebbe in Liozhna. When the law was passed requiring every family to adopt a surname, Reb Yechezkel chose Liozhnov, after the city Liozna where the Alter Rebbe lived.
When he heard about the arrest of the Alter Rebbe, he was deeply distraught. He fasted and prayed for the complete release of the Alter Rebbe. He offered to give his life for the Alter Rebbe to live and passed away shortly before the release. In the early morning hours of Yud Tet Kislev, a number of Chassidim met in the synagogue to pray and surprisingly each of them shared that their friend Yechezkel came to him in a dream and informed him that on this day the Alter Rebbe would be released!
Your grandfather, the Chassid, Reb Mendel Yitzchak was one of the biggest devotees to Chabad Chassidism. He visited Lubavitch twice a year, in honor of the holidays of Shavuot and Yud-Tet Kislev.”
For more details and the complete fascinating letter, please see: Igros Kodesh of the Previous Rebbe, Chelek 8 Page 340.
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