13 Kislev, 5760
November 21, 1999

Shalom, everyone,

Yehudit and I have relocated to Arad for a total of about eight months.  (We 
arrived a little over one month ago.)  I've been transcribing a tape I made of 
Shlomo teaching in Santa Rosa in 1980, and since its contents are relevant to 
recent and current parshiot, I would like to send it out to the list in small bytes.  
Here is Part One.  Look for subsequent parts in a little while.

Reb Shlomo in Santa Rosa, Sunday afternoon, November 30, 1980 --  22 Kislev, 
5741, two days before Chanukah, the week of Parashah Miketz.  I dedicate this 
transcription to the complete Refuah of Yitzchak ben Leah--Jerry Strauss, 
Shlomo's great friend and supporter--who organized the concert and learning at 
which these teachings were given over.--RG 

Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach:  I want to tell you something very deep.  Let me ask 
you:  what is higher? If G-d reveals himself to you face-to-face, like G-d spoke to 
Moses--Isn't it crazy? G-d never spoke to Moses in a dream--clear prophecy, 
right? To Abraham--clear prophecy.  Isaac--Jacob also, sometimes--clear 
prophecy.  And sometimes, it was in a dream.  And Joseph, which is like an 
earthshaking dream that he'll be the King, you know--I mean besides getting 
involved now, without even thinking--how earthshaking that was! And besides 
everything else, like the first revelation of Jacob, when he leaves the Holy Land--
he's so broken he has to leave the Holy Land, and everything, and everybody 
knows, when Jacob left the Holy Land, he didn't just feel his own personal 
feelings--him, Yankele, leaving the Holy Land.  Jacob was (like) so much one 
with all of Israel, he mamesh felt the pain of every Jew--till Mashiach is coming--
leaving the Holy Land, right? So wouldn't it be more beautiful if G-d reveals 
Himself to him face-to-face and say[s]--"Listen, don't be afraid, Yankele, you'll 
come back, you'll make it back"--[instead of] in a dream?

Okay, now I want you to know something.  The saddest thing is--without saying 
anything bad, you know--my luggage didn't make it, and I had brought about 
200 books with me--the deepest depths--from the Ishbitzer on dreams.  So 
anyways, I'll have to rely on my memory from last year, hopefully, or just make 
it up.  What's memory? You make it up, right? L'Chaim! (Drinks some of the 
milk he had asked to be brought to him earlier.)  From last lifetime.

I want you to know something very very deep.  If someone talks to me face-to-
face--I'll tell you as an example.  Listen to this.  Yesterday I walked on 
Broadway, and I met this absolutely beautiful girl, right? And she was just so 
cute and so sweet, and I just fell in love with her very madly--okay, mazel tov.  
Nothing happens before, nothing after, right?

But you know something else, yesterday I was--yesterday was Shabbos; I 
couldn't be on the subway--so Friday, I was on the subway, and for one split 
second I saw a girl on the other side sitting there and, mamesh, every night I 
dream about her.  What's deeper?

Or I'll tell you something else.  This is one of the deepest, deepest depths of Reb 
Nachman.  How close do you have to be to a person to tell them something 
straight? Basically, a stranger can ask me, "How much is one and one?" I'll tell 
him "two".   I don't have to love him; he doesn't have to love me--I'll tell him 
"two".  There is certain language which is only given when you love somebody 
very much, right? It's the deepest depths, right? On one hand, it's maybe not so 
clear.  On the other hand, it's so much deeper, right?

You know how a Jew makes it in exile? A Jew in exile does not make it because 
[of] all the G-d revelations he ever had--or he will ever have.  A Jew in exile 
when he goes sobbing, is mamesh in the lowest depths, is crying, is broken, a 
Jew is making it because of all the dreams.  You know what dreams are? You 
know, I can tell you a dream and you say it's stupid, right? If you are logic[al], if 
you are straight, it's nothing, right?

Joseph comes [to his brothers] and says, "I had a dream I'll be the King."  Ha! You 
can laugh in his face, right? Imagine Joseph would have come--"I had a clear 
vision, a clear revelation--a prophetic vision--that I would be the King of the 
world."  So that's what it is, right? Where would Joseph be? He would never 
become as holy as he is, as deep as he is.  He had a dream.  So the brothers 
consider him as if he is crazy, right? But can you imagine how deep the dream 
was, that he knew it's not crazy? How deep it is?

You know, I'll tell you, I had this absolutely crazy dream--I discussed it with my 
psychiatrist--I had this crazy dream that there's a ladder, you know, and like I'm 
lying on the floor, and there's a ladder going up from me to heaven.  So my 
psychiatrist discussed it with me, right? 

It's stupid, right? It's...gevalt! You know, I don't want to say anything bad, but 
imagine, G-d forbid, Jacob would have seen a psychiatrist the next day, you 
know? Where would you and I be? Where would we be? Where would we 
stand? He'd say, "Listen, you have some kind of complexes, you know, and all 
kinds of things--"  A dream is so deep, and here I want you to know something.  
You see, what does it mean, "We are in exile"? To be in exile means that G-d 
cannot speak to us face-to-face, 'cause officially he's angry at us, and officially 
we're angry at him, right? But you know what's going on? When nobody's 
looking--when nobody's looking--we are sending love letters to each other, 
right? You know how deep this is? You know how deep this is? It's the deepest 
depth there is.

What's the whole world telling us? Listen, Jews, you're on your way out--forget 
it.  What are they telling us now? Forget it.  You're in Israel? It's a joke.  
Tomorrow morning the Arabs will drive you out.  But gevalt, gevalt, every 
Yiddele knows--every Yiddele knows--it's not true, right? It's not true, right?

Imagine I would come to Yerushalayim, and there's this beautiful holy Temple, 
and it's just real, just, just renovated now by brother Max Cohen from Miami 
donated the paint.  And it's just so beautiful, and we have an interior decoration, 
and we go there, and it's our pride.  It's this beautiful building--how touching 
would it be? Honestly.  And there Rabbi Goren has his office right on the first 
floor.  Really, realistic.  Would you shiver when you go there? No.  You know 
why you shiver? 'Cause it's broken.  It's broken.  And the Zohar kodesh says, 
even when the Holy Temple will be rebuilt, it will be both broken--and rebuilt.

How could G-d take away the holiness of the brokenness, right? You know what 
happened to the broken tablets, when Moshe replaced them? You threw out the 
broken tablets? We have both.  Broken tablets? You know why the first tablets 
didn't last? Because they weren't broken.  It has to be together--broken and not 
broken.

So, dreams--G-d reveals Himself in a dream only to broken people.  So deep, 
right? The deepest depths there is.  Okay, now I have to tell you something very 
fast.  Why was Joseph the first one to be sold? The first Jew to be going into exile, 
being a slave, was Joseph.  Everybody knew by prophecy--this was clear 
prophecy to Abraham--that "Your children will be slaves."  And you know what 
Joseph was praying all his life? Let me be the one for all my brothers.  Let me be 
it for all my brothers.  Don't put it on my father.

And you know, everybody knows, basically the Gemora says that Jacob was 
supposed to go down to Egypt in chains. [Shabbat 89b] And, mamesh, Joseph 
did the whole thing for his brothers.  But you see what's so crazy, imagine you 
walk up to somebody, and you tell them, "I love you the most in the whole 
world."  And they think, they say, "Huh! I  know what you mean.  You want to 
manipulate me, you want to take advantage of me."  Right? So you know, when 
Joseph said, "I'll be the King," what did he mean? He meant, "I'll carry the whole 
burden for you."

You see, an unholy king is someone who is really taking advantage.  "You work 
for me, you're my slave, and I'm the king."  What's a holy king? What's a G-d 
King? Not that "you're working for me"--he is working for you, right?

(To be continued...)




Part Two

Reb Shlomo in Santa Rosa, 11/30/80

Let me ask you, sweetest friends, how did King David conquer Jerusalem? 
Everybody knows that Jerusalem belongs to King David--it's his personal 
property, did you know that? Ir Dovid--Sukkos Dovid hanofales.  Why is Jerusalem 
King David's own property? The answer is very simple.  Everybody knew that--
you know, the seven nations who occupied all of Israel--and then the Chiti Yevusi 
[Hittites, Jebusites]--they were such strong warriors, and they were living on that 
hill where Jerusalem is, and you couldn't get close.  You know, they were 
waiting for two hundred, for three hundred years in Israel after Y'hoshua, and 
nobody conquered Jerusalem.  And do you know? Everybody knows--Hoshanah 
Rabbah, the seventh day of Sukkos, is the day of King David--right? If you 
remember.  Why is this day, the seventh day of Sukkos--you know what 
happened on that Hoshanah Rabbah? King David decided, "I am going to take 
Yerushalayim all by myself."  One man--all by himself.  Because really, if you 
trust God--does it matter to God if one man is going or if a thousand people are 
going? It's the same thing, right? Hoshanah Rabbah, King David walked up to 
Yerushalayim, and he conquered the whole city, right? That's a king, right? The 
king is not somebody who says, "Listen folks, let's go.  I want you to be killed, 
and I am sitting in my office, and I'm directing traffic."  Right? For that you don't 
have to be Dovid HaMelekh, right?

So you see, I want you to know that two people who carried the burden of all of 
Israel on their shoulders--already:  Yosef and Yehudah.  You see, Yosef says, 
"Okay, you can go home."  So all the brothers say, "No, we'll all be slaves instead 
of Binyomin."  Yehudah stands up, and he says, "I want to be the slave."  That 
means two people stood up, and they said, "We want to do it for all of you."  
This is two kings, right? This is a king!

And maybe some of you  know, according to the tradition, it's called, "Ma'an 
malka? Rabbonim." "Who are the great kings? Our teachers."  Why is it? Why is a 
real holy teacher supposed to be a king? (Always a king, hopefully.)  It's not 
someone who puts it on you, right? A real holy king is someone who says, "I'll 
do it for you.  I'll take it off you."  L'chaim, l'chaim. [drinks some more milk].

So you see? Let me ask you something else.  Why did Joseph tell the dream to 
his brothers? He couldn't control himself? Why, he was a yenta--or was he in 
analysis, and one of his brothers was a psychiatrist, you know? I mean, what was 
going on there? The answer is very simple.  You know, Joseph knew one thing.  
If I am supposed to be the slave--if I wanna do it--the saddest thing in the world 
is I have to separate myself a little bit from my brothers.  You know? I have to go 
by myself, right?

So Joseph knew one thing:  the moment I tell this dream to my brothers, they'll 
be angry at me.  But can you imagine?--I have to tell you one more thing, which 
is so beautiful and so heartbreaking.  Let me ask you--what happened at that 
moment when the brothers saw Joseph? Were they laughing? Were they smiling 
at each other, you know, we're finally getting rid of this disgusting Joseph? 
Without getting involved--because I have to daven Mincha--for whatever reason 
they decided they have to sell him as a slave, what do you think was going on at 
that moment? [Long pause.]  I want you to know something.  Imagine you'd be 
up in heaven, right? Can you imagine if someone would have recorded the 
crying of the Jews when we went into exile? When the Holy Temple was 
destroyed when we went into exile? Can you just imagine it? Can you imagine 
the sounds of the crying? It does not compare to the crying of the holy tribes.

And here I want to share with you something which is so holy, that I just have to 
tell you, and I think if some of you remember--maybe Adina [Elana Friedman] 
remembers it.  Okay, there are these two kings in the world.  Joseph is the King 
of all the Tzaddikim, Joseph is the King of all the people who never did wrong 
in their life --and Yehudah is the King of all the people who went wrong--
everything they did in their life is wrong.  And they have the strength to fix it, 
right?

You see, Yosef is the one who gives you the strength not to do wrong, to keep 
yourself going all the time, and Yehudah is the one who gives you strength to fix 
it.  And we need both, right? Those two kings [are] the pillars of all of Israel.  
Now listen to this--and remind me to come back to it, because we have to daven 
Mincha.  I just want to tell you this.  Okay, the brothers decide--basically it was 
Yehudah's decision--we have to sell him as a slave.  Because they say like this:  
"We don't know if he is a Tzaddik or not.  We don't know who he is.  We give 
him a chance.  If he goes to Egypt, and he remains a Jew, and he remains holy, 
he's one of us."  Right? "If gets lost, then he wasn't for real."  Right? Okay, they're 
picking up Yosef from the pit, and they're telling him, "Yosef, this is our 
decision.  If you are real, if you are one of the holy tribes--"  You see, without 
getting involved, you know, they thought he is not one of the twelve tribes.  
Because if you're one of the twelve tribes, how can you separate yourself from 
your brothers? How can you separate yourself from your brothers, right? And 
they didn't know that he's only separating himself because he wants to take off 
the burden of being a slave [from them].  But anyway, that's what it was.

They said, "If you're one of us, you'll make it.  But if you get lost--so you get 
lost."  I want you to visualize--it's the deepest, deepest depths.  But again, it's so 
holy, it's awesome even to think of it.  How do you think the brothers said good-
bye to Yosef? How do you think the brothers said good-bye to Yosef, right? 
Because deep down, can you imagine how much--how much love do you think 
was between the brothers and the house of Jacob? Unbearable, right? It was so 
deep and so holy, we have no concept, right?

Let me ask you, do you think, really, without knowing the depths, do you think 
there was jealousy between Rachel and Leah? Remind me to talk about it later.  
There [were] never two sisters in the world who loved each other more than 
Rachel and Leah, right? The deepest love, like Moshe and Aharon, right? 
Because everybody knows, Moshe and Aharon fixed the sin of Cain among men, 
and Rachel and Leah fixing jealousy between women and hatred between 
women until Mashiach is coming, right? The two pillars--Moshe and Aaron, 
Rochel and Leah.

Okay, the brothers saying good-bye to Yosef.  Okay, so Yehudah, who's the king, 
right? He says to Yosef, "Okay, we're selling you as a slave, and you'll have to 
prove yourself, if you remain a Tzaddik or not."  So you know what Yosef says 
to Yehudah? He says to Yehudah, "My holy brother, please bless me I should 
make it."  Right? "Bless me to be a Tzaddik."  Now listen to this unbelievable 
thing:  Yehudah blessed Yosef to be a Tzaddik.  And you know why Yosef 
remained a Tzaddik? Because of the blessing of Yehudah, right? 

What do you think Yehudah says to Yosef? 'Cause he's selling his brother as a 
slave, as much as he knows "I have to do it," so Yehudah says to Yosef, "Please 
bless me I should do t'shuva."  Right? So Yosef blessed Yehudah to do t'shuva, 
right? And Yehudah blessed Yosef to be a Tzaddik.  Right? It's mind-blowing.  
Mind-blowing is not the word, right? So the two pillars of Yiddishkeit, the 
Tzaddik and the Ba'al T'shuvah--they blessed each other.  It's unbelievable! 
Yosef is only a Tzaddik because of the blessing of Yehudah, and Yehudah is a 
Tzaddik because of the blessing of Yosef.

And you know, I want you to know something.  L'chaim [sips].  You know--
[someone stifles a sneeze] God bless you.  [And again] God bless you.  What's 
the holiness of the holy wall?  You know what's so strange? It's a broken wall.  
And yet, you can see with an unclear prophecy the holy Temple, right? When 
you stand there, you see, mamesh, the Beis HaMikdash, right? But again, if you 
would see the Beis HaMikdash clear, it wouldn't be so deep.  Because behind all 
the brokenness--like on a dream level--you see the Beis HaMikdash--therefore, 
it's so holy. Right?

I have to tell you just one more beautiful thing.  When was the day that the wife 
of Potiphera mamesh really made it strong with Yosef--she says, [either] you do 
it, or I take you to prison.  Which day was that? Everybody knows, it was Rosh 
HaShanah.  But listen to this unbelievable thing.  It was in the morning 'cause 
everybody--it was a whole big thing--it was a little thing in their pagan temple--
and Yosef stayed home.  Okay, I want to--[responding to someone's importunity] 
I'll daven in a minute--I want to share this with you.  [Hebrew quotation]--it says, 
"he saw his father's face." [Sotah 36b] What--he saw his father eating breakfast? 
They [had been] living together.  He saw his father waking up? What moment 
did he see? Which moment was revealed to Yosef? Which moment he saw his 
father? So the answer is very simple.  He saw his father blowing the shofar.  

You know, friends, I don't know if you have ever seen mamash Tzaddikim.  I 
had the privilege of seeing the Lubavitcher Rebbe, I saw the Bobover Rebbe, I 
saw mamesh Tzaddikim the way they looked before they blow the shofar, right? 
When you remember that, it's something else, right? So I want you to know, 
Joseph went into prison on Rosh HaShanah, and everybody knows, he came out 
on Rosh HaShanah.  L'chaim, l'chaim [he drinks again].

You know, the Ropshitzer says the portions of the winter wear heavy furs--you 
know? It's all covered up.  It's all covered up.  And it's such a privilege--you 
know, it's very crazy.  Before Mashiach is coming, in our generation, really, we 
have such holy books; it's getting more and more open to us, and it's really more 
and more accessible to us--the deepest depths of the Torah, right?  Let's say 
twenty years ago, nobody was sitting in Santa Rosa talking about Yehudah and 
Yosef, right? L'chaim.

This the end of Part Two.  May the tears that we shed over the Joseph story be 
transformed into drops of rain to moisten the parched land of Israel, fill her 
rivers, lakes and streams, her reservoirs and aquifers.

Look for the final part next week.


23 Kislev, 5760
December  2, 1999

Dear friends,

The last part is longer than I thought, and I'm still working on it.  But since I 
promised you something more this week, I'll give you the next installment,
and I'll send you the next part as soon as it's ready.

Chanukah sameach,

Reuven


Part III

Reb Shlomo in Santa Rosa, November 30, 1980

You know, I just want to tell you something very special.  You know some
people are--let's say the world--the outside world--the Greek world, the Greek
civilization world.  You know, when someone says to you, a father or a mother 
says, you  know, "My children are the most beautiful children in the world," you 
think they're crazy, right? Stupid! They're subjective, right? It's true.

But I want you to know something.  Do you know what that means? When I tell 
you my Neshamale is the most beautiful girl in the world, for me, you know 
what that means? That means G-d has revealed something to me about my child 
which nobody knows.  And if I say I love my child like I love every other child in 
the world, I'm cutting myself off from G-d's prophecy, right? And, uh, you know, 
I'm sure you feel the same way.  You know, sometimes, when I ask someone 
about their children, they say, "Yeah, they're okay, they're sweet, yeah."  What's 
going on there? 

Did I tell you?--I think I told Yitzchak [Muller] or one of you--one of my first 
experiences in the world.  At that time I was crazy.  I loved this one girl very 
much.  So, it didn't work out.  At that time I was in yeshiva.  It's crazy, you 
know? At that time I was a little big shot in yeshiva, and some of you who know 
a little bit about what's going on in yeshivas, so if you're a good student, then a 
great rabbi wants you for a son-in-law, right?

So a super-great rabbi comes to Lakewood to talk to me about marrying his 
daughter.  I tell you something--he told me all about his daughter:  she's this, 
she's this, you know, like I tell you about Bermuda is beautiful--they have 
beaches and things.  There was not tears in his eyes--he wasn't crying--it was like 
it was a business thing.  He told me since I want to be a great rabbi, and she was 
fitting to be a good rebbetsin, you know? He gave me the whole thing.  Left me 
cold like ice cream.

I want you to know, the next night I decided to visit the father of the girl I love so 
much.  He was a little yiddele, a Polish yiddele, and he had a grocery store in 
Bensonhurst.  What are you selling in a grocery store? You know, a little herring, 
a little corn flakes, a little leftover challah from last Shabbos, you know? 

Okay, I walk in there; it was already maybe 10:30 because I was coming from 
Lakewood, and it was very late.  All right, I took a chance.  I know he's in the 
store till eleven o'clock.  I walk in there; there were some customers.  I'm 
standing there, so after all the customers left, he said to me, "Okay, what do you 
want?" So I tell him, "I'm a friend of your daughter."  Obviously, she must have 
told him about me.  

Do you know what happened? This little grocery store yiddele--suddenly he 
had tears in his eyes.  And he says, "My Tovele, my Tovele--" gevalt, right? So 
forgetting about the whole thing, I said to myself, if I would look for a father-in-
law, I'd take him, right?

But now I want you to know something deeper.  Not only that G-d reveals to 
parents something about their children, but it's going back also.  It's a two-way 
street.  G-d reveals to children something about their parents which no one else 
knows, right? Do you know children--until they're disappointed--until their 
parents, chas v'shalom, disappoint them--think their parents are the most special 
people in the world, right? Do you know what's the most heartbreaking day in 
the world for children? When they find out that it wasn't true.

And you know, I'm one of those special blessed people that I had the privilege 
to believe until this very second how special my father was, you know? So 
special.  Why? Because it was a two-way street.  Because my father, you know? 
My relationship to my father was so special.  So special.  Unbelievable.


Part IV--A Special Garment

[Shlomo davens Mincha, then plays several songs.  Now he's ready to tell a 
story.]

Listen friends, can we sit here for five more minutes? Let me tell you a fast, cute 
little story; then we'll take a little break-aleh.

[He catches sight of Aryeh Trupin]--Hey, brother, hey, I'm overjoyed to see you.  
[Changes his tone]  You didn't bring your trumpet? [Aryeh plays clarinet and 
flute, but Shlomo didn't forget; he meant it generically.]
--I did, but I was, I was sitting so entranced--
--No, brother, I was sure you didn't have it.  How could you hold back? But, you 
know, I'm so glad--

Chevra, can you get a little bit closer for two more seconds? I want to tell you a 
sweet story.  Just to warm your bones with a good story.

[Confers with Jerry Strauss about the schedule.  They agree, and Jerry makes an 
announcement.  Shlomo compliments him.] 

Okay, friends, let me tell you a fast story.  Maybe some of you heard me tell it 
already, so you'll have to forgive me.  And if you didn't, you'll have to forgive 
me I didn't tell it faster.

You know, some of us, friends, are doing someone a favor, and the saddest thing 
is that you regret it after that.  You know? You do somebody a favor--you did--
that's it, right? But to regret it after--what kind of gesheft is this, right? Imagine I 
walk down the street, and I see a poor man.  And at that moment, something 
touches my heart, and so I give him ten dollars.  Next block, I think, "Crazy! Ten 
dollars? Five dollars wouldn't have been enough?"

The famous, classic UJA story about this Yiddele going on a bridge and [the 
bridge] begins to shuckle, and he's afraid he'll fall in, and he says, "G-d, I donate 
$100 for Israel."  Okay, suddenly the bridge is okay.  Nothing.  It stops 
shuckling.  He thinks, "$100 for Israel? Fifty wouldn't be enough?" I begins to 
shuckle again.  He says, "G-d, I was only joking."

But anyway, listen to this.  The is a true story, a classic story.  Everybody knows 
that the Yid HaKodesh, the Holy Jew, was the highest pupil of the Seer of 
Lublin.  And one of the reasons he was called "Holy Jew" is that he had the same 
name like the Seer of Lublin, Ya'akov Yitzchak, and since you're not permitted to 
call anybody by the name of your holy master--so one way or the other--but the 
real holy reason is that one time all the pupils of the Seer of Lublin were 
standing in [the] marketplace of Lublin, and suddenly a Cossack passed by, 
riding on a horse, and he pointed at the Yid HaKodesh; he says, "He looks like a 
Jew."  And he took off.  So obviously it was Eliyahu HaNavi, and he told them 
that the Yid HaKodesh looks like a Jew.

Anyway, he was called Yid HaKodesh, and also everybody knows that if the Yid 
HaKodesh and the Seer of Lublin would have been always very close, they 
mamesh had it in their hands to bring Mashiach.  So if you know, in the history 
of Chassidus, the saddest thing happened.  Suddenly there was a whole group 
of people in Lublin, and they told stories to the Seer of Lublin about the Yid 
HaKodesh.  It was like a little wall between them.  So this took place at the 
beginning, when the other side was working for them not to bring the Messiah 
and to make a little anger between them. 

Okay, now I want you to know, the whole time the Seer of Lublin was aware--he 
didn't believe anything they tell him, but he knew maybe really the time isn't 
there yet, you know? Maybe it's because the time isn't there.

Anyway, one Friday afternoon, the Yid HaKodesh--the Holy Jew--walks into the 
Seer of Lublin, and the Yid HaKodesh was so poor--his father-in-law was a 
baker, and you know--very, very poor.  So his shirt was torn, and it was really 
dirty.  So the Seer of Lublin says (you know--everybody knows--a Talmud 
Chocham--a scholar--is really not permitted to walk around dirty 'cause it's a 
desecration of G-d's name, so he said to the Yid HaKodesh, "You're not 
permitted to walk around with that shirt on Shabbos."  Walks into his bedroom, 
takes out a beautiful shirt--and you have to realize the Seer of Lublin would not 
give a shirt to somebody unless he's completely holy, right--because all the 
garments of my soul, of my body, are just one, right? And to wear a shirt which 
was worn by the Seer of Lublin--ah, your kishkes are turning over, right? I'd be 
afraid even just to go into the same room with the Seer of Lublin and his shirts, 
right?

Okay, the Yid HaKodesh takes the shirt, and he walks down the street.  He 
wants to go to the mikveh.  On the way to the mikveh, he meets Mosheleh the 
Shikker.

And Mosheleh the Shikker, you know, is a shrewd fellow, but mamesh his shirt 
is even more torn and is more dirty, so the Yid HaKodesh suddenly has a flash, 
"I wish Moshele the Shikker would look decent on Shabbos."  He says, 
"Mosheleh, you want a good shirt? I just got a gift from the Seer of Lublin.  Here, 
I give you the shirt."  The Yid HaKodesh went to the mikveh, but in the 
meantime, Moshele Shikker--Moshele the drunkard--wasn't as stupid as that.  He 
walks back to the bar, and he says, "Friends, I have here the most unbelievable 
thing, which nobody ever had.  I have a shirt of the Seer of Lublin.  Who's 
offering the most?" He auctions off the shirt for 1500 rubles, and the one who 
bought it was the bartender, and Monday, he went to the marketplace in Lublin--
it was a real Jewish city--getting on a chair, and he says, "I have a shirt of the Seer 
of Lublin.  How much are you offering?" And he auctioned it off for 10,000 
rubles because someone had a thought, "I have no children," chas v'shalom, "and 
if I wear the shirt," you know, "G-d will help me."  10,000 rubles.

Word got back to the Seer of Lublin, and the Seer of Lublin, to tell you the truth, 
the Seer of Lublin was a bit angry--because he really gave it to him as a present, 
you know? Imagine someone loves me, gives me a gift, I'll say, "Listen, I gave it 
away"--"I gave it to YOU," right? I can understand both sides, right? And remind 
me, I want to tell you an Ishbitzer Torah on that, but I don't want to interrupt 
myself.

Anyway, the Yid HaKodesh was very downhearted.  He thought, "Maybe it's 
really stupid.  Maybe I shouldn't have given it.  Maybe I should have--I don't 
know."  Anyway, he walked down to the outskirts of the city, and he was sitting 
there, and he was mamesh crying 'cause he knew that means another war 
between him and his holy master.  Sitting there and crying.  Suddenly, another 
drunkard--but this time, mamesh, Elijah the Prophet.  You know, when you're 
very broken, then the best thing to tell your story is to a stranger, right? So 
suddenly this drunkard comes up to him and sits next to him and he says, "Hey, 
why are you crying?" You know? Tells him the whole story.

He says to him, "Let me tell YOU a story."  He says, "I want you to know, a few 
hundred years ago, in a city, there was a big thief, Yankele the thief.  And he 
mamash stole, but he was so polished that you couldn't catch him.  He mamash 
stole every penny out of the hands of every Jew in the city, until he was so rich, 
he decided to retire.  Okay, he bought himself a beautiful house.  Everybody 
knew it was stolen money, but you couldn't pin him down. And he lasted very 
happily after.  But you know, if you don't continue to steal, finally your money 
goes out.  

One day, he was left with no money--listen to that chutzpah--he comes to the 
Jewish community, and he says, "Folks, I'm poor.  I want you to support me."  
They said, "What? Until now you ate of our money, and now you have the
chutzpah to come we should give you more money?" You know? "Give us back 
the money you stole from us and we'll support you."

Meantime, this nebich, Yankele the thief, has nothing to eat.  One day, a very 
wealthy man, who was a neighbor, passed by the house of Yankele the thief--and 
by that time he was already an older man.  He saw him sitting by the door of his 
house, so broken, and so hungry, and so desperate--so he said to himself, "I don't 
care," you know? "I don't care if it's right or wrong.  I gotta give this Yiddele 
something to eat for Shabbos."

Went back to his wife, and he says, "Do me a favor.  Send him a lot of lukshun 
kugel, a lot of cholent, and a gefilte fish so he can have enough to eat until next 
Shabbos.  Send him a lot of food! We have enough."

To make it very short, from that Friday on, the rich wife sent food to Yankele the 
thief every Friday.  This went on for many years.  And now, you gotta open your 
hearts, like from here till the end of the world.

One day there were two funerals:  a big funeral--the rich man died; and a little 
funeral--Yankele the thief died.  They both died at the same time, buried at the 
same time, coming up to Heaven--rich man goes first.

Okay, the rich man--and you know, there's a huge scale.  Okay, first they put on 
his good deeds; it didn't take much--a little briefcase--an angel brings the good 
deeds, puts them on one side, that's it.  Now comes the bad side; trucks are 
coming, you know? The Yiddele sees there is no hope for him--you know? He's 
at the end.  Okay, he's sitting there and shivering, and he knows, "In a few more 
seconds they'll decree I have to go to hell, they'll push the button, and I'll be a 
barbecued rich man."

Now listen to this--at the very last second something happened, and suddenly 
the high court says, "You're going to Heaven."  The high court says, "You're 
going to Heaven."  The rich man looks at the scale--the bad side is so heavy, and 
the good deeds is nothing--suddenly he sees--something wrong with the scale.  
And he asks one of the angels, "What's going on here?" They answered him, 
"Don't you understand? Your friend, Yankele the thief, stole away all your 
avayras, all your evil deeds."

It's a gevalt story, you know? What a story, you know? Mazel tov, yeah.  Such a 
holy story, you know? Good Yontif.  Peace.

--From the series, Shlomo in Santa Rosa, Sunday, November 30, 1980 (22 Kislev, 
5741), Parashah Miketz.  One more part coming up.  Recorded and transcribed 
by Reuven Goldfarb.


Part V--Introduction to the Birkat HaMazon

[The tape recorder gets rigged up again at the conclusion of the meal that 
followed the previous teachings and story.  At first it's a scarcely audible jumble 
of words and phrases about how a human being gives help (reluctantly)] "...two 
hours later you bother me again?" "I'll tell you, listen to me now, Harry, we're 
such good friends, who cares about yesterday, today.  Right now I need this 
money."  "Okay, but I gave it to you."  [The dialogue continues in this way, and 
eventually "Harry" gives his friend the loan--$2000--but ends by saying,] "Please 
don't call me for another year."  Compassion, right? This is a human being.

But you know the way G-d, when we deal with G-d? G-d nebich gives me a little 
piece of cake, a little bit [shtain?] dinner.  So I come to G-d with the holiest.  I say, 
"U-v'nai Yerushalayim--can you please rebuild Jerusalem? Can you please bring 
the Messiah?" [Does G-d say,] "What is this Chutzpah?" You know? "I mean, 
really, because I gave you a little bagel, therefore you bother me right away 
about Yerushalayim?"

But now listen to the other side.  I want you to open your hearts.  Remember I 
told you I met this girl yesterday--can't say on Shabbos--it was Shabbos--last 
night I went out, I met this girl.  And she was very sweet, she was smiling.  And 
we walked into this coffee shop, and I said, "Can I take you out for coffee?" She 
says, "Why not?" You know? We're going in there, and I say to her, "Um...uh, you 
wanna give me the sugar, you know, for the coffee?" She says, "Okay."  And I say 
to her, "Listen, you know, you're so beautiful.  Maybe you can give me some 
more sugar.  Would you like to marry me?" You know?

Now listen to this very careful.  If she doesn't love me, you know? "Listen, what 
kind of chutzpah is this?" You know? "I didn't know you five minutes ago." 
Right? "Okay, you're taking me out for coffee, and I give you sugar, therefore? 
Chutzpah!" Right? If she loves me, do you know what she'll say? "You couldn't 
have asked at a better moment," right?

Now listen to this, sweetest friends.  If you don't love a person after doing one 
favor, you say, "Really, I mean, really, take off, such chutzpah!" You know? "I 
just did you a favor--that's it! Don't talk to me for another year."  If you love 
somebody very much, it's the other way around! If you do them one favor, you 
can't wait till you do them another favor, right? 'Cause it's so beautiful to do 
somebody a favor, right? When you love somebody--Listen, my Neshameleh, 
when she'll ask me, let's say in the morning, she'll say, "Daddy, give me apple 
juice."  Ten minutes later, she'll say, "Give me this juice."  I'll say "Chutzpah--I 
just--"? I'll say, "I'm so glad, gevalt!" I'm jumping out of my skin, right? Can you 
imagine, ten minutes later, she'll say, "Take me to Israel."  So I'll blow my mind, 
my Neshama wants to go to Israel! Right?

So I want you to know, bentching is--bentching is, mamesh, that we are so close 
to G-d, we have just a little taste how much He loves us, that I can eat one bagel, 
and ask, "U-v'nai Yerushalayim.  Please, Rabayna shel olam, bring the Messiah.  Fix 
the whole world."

But again, you have to realize--and here I just want to tell you this one very 
important thing.  This is one of the top Torahs of Reb Nachman.  You know, 
most of us think always of life in terms of, "What am I doing with my life? How 
much money do I make? What's my future? What's my past?" This is cute, right? 
It's the outside of it.  Inside--life itself is so deep, right? [Long pause]

Chevra, I don't know what to say.  Mamesh, my head doesn't work.

Anonymous helpful person:  Reb Nachman.  Top Torah.

Reb Shlomo:  Ah, it's a gevalt! Thank you very much.

Same person:  You're welcome.

[Shlomo continues] Reb Nachman says, at that moment, when you put food in 
your mouth, if you want to you can receive life on the highest level.  Listen, I can 
take a bite off an apple and receive eternal life, right? Or I can just receive the 
apple.  It's up to you.

So the story is that--all Breslov Chasidim were big shleppers, you know? Most of 
them.  So Reb Nosson, the greatest pupil of Reb Nachman, was once invited by 
Reb Nachman's grandson, who was very wealthy.  He didn't feel right to go 
there, but he was invited.  The whole day he was crying inside, "Gevalt, my 
rebbe was so holy, and here this one is into money and everything."  So he says, 
"I came to the house," and he regretted that he went.  He wasn't accustomed to 
this kind of riches.  And then he comes to the food.  And he says, "Oy vey."  You 
know? "With this kind of golden plates and golden spoons, you're not gonna--
who knows? Forget it!"  But then he says, "Reb Nachman's grandson walked in, 
and he made a motzi," and he says, "the way he put the food in his mouth, I 
swear to you, I haven't seen it since Reb Nachman."  Mamesh, the utmost--you 
know? With the utmost readiness to receive life on the highest level.

Gevalt, I'm keeling over.  Yitzchak, can you start bentching? And I'll just bentch 
fast, yeah?

Jerry:  Time for you.

Shlomo:  Yeah, but I want to answer back, yeah?

Yitzchak:  Okay, say Rabbosai n'varech.  [Shlomo leads the call and response at the 
beginning of the bentching.  And the chevra begins to sing....]
Quick segue to the concert and the introduction by Rabbi Leo Abrami of Temple 
Beth Ami, the host congregation.

Rabbi Abrami:  Now that Shlomo has brought you all here to our congregation 
for a lovely evening, and I would like to tell you, very briefly, that this concert 
and this workshop this afternoon, this gathering, would not have been possible 
if it had not been for the good will--and the faith-- of one of our friends here--two 
friends--Jerry and Linda Strauss.  And I would like therefore to introduce to you, 
Jerry Strauss.  [Applause]  I would like to mention also the fact that Mrs. Yudel--
Serena Yudel--worked many hours this afternoon to prepare this lovely dinner 
we had tonight, so we want to thank Mrs. Yudel also [applause begins] and all 
the others for making this possible.

Jerry:  It's really my pleasure to welcome Shlomo tonight, as I said before, all the 
way from New York today, you know, and direct from a whole happening last 
night in New York and here with the study group this afternoon.  I also want to 
thank Yitzchak Muller for helping us today with the study group and songs and 
everything else, and he'll also be accompanying Shlomo tonight.  And it's just 
real special because I've just recently moved here, to see so many special people, 
and trying to get to know the community,  and for my wife Linda, and thanks to 
Serena, also, my mom, really my wife's mom, but it's really like the same.  And 
from the deepest depths of my heart, as Shlomo would say, I wanna now really 
give it over to Shlomo and let him bring the light of Chanukah into our lives.

[Shlomo plays an opening number, then addresses the audience as follows] 

Shalom to you, my sweetest friends.  Good evening.  You know, friends, the 
difference between words and singing? It's very simple.  Imagine if somebody 
talks to me, and while they talk to me, I also say the same words.  It's crazy, 
right? Then I don't hear what they say, and they don't know what I'm saying--the 
whole thing is falling apart.  Singing is the other way around.  When someone 
sings, and I don't sing with them, then I absolutely don't know what they're 
singing about, right? The second difference is that words--if I go over them a 
hundred times--the more I utter those words, the less taste they have, right? If I 
say, one and one is two, one and one is two, one and one is [his voice trails off] 
that's it, right? I know it already, right? Singing is the other way around.  The 
more I sing the melody, the deeper I begin to understand the melody.  As far as 
I'm concerned, a melody, unless you sing it at least 200 times, you--[end of tape]

--From the series, Shlomo in Santa Rosa, Sunday, November 30, 1980 (22 Kislev, 
5741), Parashah Miketz.  Recorded and transcribed by Reuven Goldfarb.  
Copyright held by the estate of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach.




AFTERWORD:  Transcriber's Kavanah

My intention, in making these and other transcripts, is to faithfully reproduce, 
word for word, what Reb Shlomo actually said on the occasions when the 
recordings were made.  I do this so that there is an accurate record, in hard copy 
format, so that if something should happen to the tapes, or if the tapes are 
inaccessible, that anyone who is interested can at least read and review the 
teachings and stories given over by Reb Shlomo, and, sometimes, the table talk 
and side conversations.

I want to convey the flavor of what a Shlomo event was really like, not just the 
content, and so I transcribe the interruptions and the hesitations along with the 
brilliant, flowing remarks, commentary, and humor of our rebbe.  I omit false 
starts and some distractions.  My goal is to produce a transcript that can be 
enjoyed, savored, learned from, read aloud, shared, and eventually, perhaps by 
another hand, further edited for clarity and concision.

For example, it wasn't until I started doing some of these transcripts that I really 
noticed how often Reb Shlomo says, "You know?" and "Right?" In common 
speech these interjections are regarded--especially by English teachers and 
speech coaches--as extraneous and annoying.  In Reb Shlomo's case, they seem to 
me to be devices intended to invite those assembled around him into his 
thought processes or into those in whose name he is speaking.  They are there to 
foster intimacy and empathy.  But for those who have not heard his voice or 
known him personally, they might seem odd or unnecessary.  I am sure that 
many of them could be deleted without any harm being done to his message.  
But for the present, I leave them in.  I don't want to make the decision to delete, 
especially when I am sharing material most people have never seen before.

I also take great care with punctuation and capitalization.  It's not always easy to 
know where to put the quotation marks and where a sentence begins or ends.  In 
general, I use brackets to enclose my own interpolations or helpful descriptive 
background.  Parentheses are part of the text, but more often I use dashes (which 
I type as two consecutive hyphens) to indicate a parenthetical phrase or 
interruption in thought.  I avoid ellipses...except to indicate that something has 
been omitted.  I listen to his voice carefully to understand where a question 
mark is called for and where--rarely--an exclamation point is appropriate.  I also 
thoroughly review the spelling and listen to the tape over and over again, with 
the manuscript or screen in front of me, to be sure I have not misquoted him, 
even in a minor matter.  Where there is a quote in Hebrew, I try to research the 
source and transliterate it correctly.  I use earphones and work in a quiet space, 
whenever that is possible.  It's not always perfect, but I think my efforts tend to 
produce quality work.

Eventually, I am sure, under the auspices of the Foundation and with the 
appproval of the family, some authorized published materials will become 
available.  I offer this series partly at the suggestion of Elana Schachter,* who 
suggested in this space a few weeks ago that individuals who have tapes begin 
making transcripts and circulate them on this list.  Elana edited many of the 
teachings that appeared in the Holy Beggars' Gazette in the 1970s and knows 
whereof she speaks.  She is also a Foundation board member.  I had the privilege 
of doing similar work with Shlomo tapes for AGADA in the 1980s.  I know from 
personal experience that Reb Shlomo was delighted to have his events recorded 
and that he sometimes listened in amazement to things he had said.

On the question of whether someone might share this material off-list, I 
responded to Moshe Eliovson's query in the following words: 

Dear Moshe,

Sorry for my delay in replying.  I have no objection to your sharing the transcript 
with anyone you like; in fact, I'm pleased and feel honored that you find it 
worthy of further distribution.  However, a caveat is probably in order, though 
not, I would imagine, necessary in your case.  The whole issue of who "owns" 
Shlomo or who has rights to his legacy has been raised several times that I am 
aware of and, unfortunately, seems to have been discussed mostly within a 
legalistic framework.  At this point in time, I understand that the S.C. Foundation 
has a claim on his words, music, and image; it is also true that there is a lot of 
latitude allowed by this institution and de facto permission granted to share 
teachings and stories and recorded music within the chevra and to an extended 
audience so long as it is not done for profit and, I would guess, is done in the 
spirit of Reb Shlomo (however that might be defined, and by whom).  Any 
commercial publication, duplication, and distribution would require the 
permission of the Carlebach Family and/or the S.C. Foundation.  Kol Chevra, for 
example, is a product of the Foundation, and all profits go back to the 
Foundation.  In other cases, royalties or a flat fee are required, as well as 
permission.  All that said, I encourage you to share any transcripts I produce 
with whomever you wish subject to the above guidelines.

Chazak u-varukh!

Reuven

If anyone has any better information, please post it to the list.  Thank you.  
[According to Neila, I slightly misrepresented the role the Foundation plays in 
protecting Reb Shlomo's legacy.  All rights are owned by the Estate.]
  

--- Moshe Eliovson <Moshe.Eliovson@lazard.com> wrote:
 Shalom Reuven,


 1) Thank you so much for transcribing the shiur and
 posting it!!!...

 3) May I please have your permission to forward your
 posting along to my friends in the world at large?
 
 Todah,
 Moshe


*Date:	Mon, 18 Oct 1999 16:23:37 +0200
From:	Elana Schachter <elana@actcom.co.il>
Reply-to:	elana@actcom.co.il
To:	Elli-Moshe.Kline@hboc.com
CC:	Mailing list for Reb Shlomo Carlebach Foundation <reb-
shlomo@shamash.org>
Subject:	Re: Increasing Subscriptions and Interest  
Dear Elli-Moshe, and others,
First of all, I agree that this list could use more Torah, and more
members.
Emuna compiled a pretty complete list of Carlebach minyanim in the new
Kol Chevra - the best yet! Contact me if you want to order one ($18
donation to the Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach Foundation).
I am sure many of us have tapes of Shlomo teaching. If we would each
transcribe whatever tapes we have and post them to the list, we would
all benefit.
Incidentally, the Carlebach Foundation is starting a tape collection,
archiving, transcribing and indexing project. Anyone who would like to
contribute tapes, transcriptions, or MONEY is cordially invited to do
so. Although the whole world appreciates and sings Shlomo's songs, we
don't want his deep teachings to get lost.
Kol Tuv,
Elana
	-19-
