Input of Tape %SA1, Collection Abe Rice (=AR), 'Midtown Prison' 

Tuning guitar.
?Meir?
Hello - it's not on.

Ok, good.
R. Shlomo singing: Shomer, shomer, Yisrael. 
Ah, could I tell - chevre.
First of all, I want to thank the people here for letting us in.
 Yeah, but I tell a special story in our of our [or: the] holy Father  for letting us in -- thank you so much.
You know, I just came came back Thursday night from Israel. And, while I was in Jerusalem, a man came to tell me ?how things were going?. He says --
-- You know, for us, it's very special to invite a guest Friday night. Because -- the Sabbath -- G_d's day -- so you have to invite guests --
Anyway, so he noticed, in the synagogue, there was a poor man, and he looked so dirty, and he was smelling so bad, but he realized, nobody'd going to invite him Friday night.

So he told him, come Friday night 8 o'clock to my house, we'll feed you. Stupidly -- obviously, he has nowhere to go -- he came 1:00 [P.M.] in the afternoon. And this person has 11 children. And he's not so rich. You know, Friday afternoon, everybody's running around, preparing for the Sabbath, and this person --- and he's running so bad, it was -- terrible. So he said to his wife, `I'm going to tell him, he should leave, and come back 8 o'clock, or not come back; I just don't have the strength.' His wife says, `No, we can't do this, we can't put him to shame; let him sit here. '___________ about 4 o'clock. This poor man gets up and he says, `I can't wait 'till 8 o'clock, I want you to feed me right now.' [They think] Ok, thank G_d [English for the routine expression, b'ruch '' ] here [or: yeah ] we'll feed him and -- get rid of him.
So they have 11 children, so they have, not only a Frigedaire, they have like -- a big cooler. So the woman opens the door to the cooler and there she find -- her two-year-old baby -- is about 80% frozen -- lying there. If she would have waited until 8 -- G_d forbid, the baby would have been dead. And because she didn't -- she had compassion on the poor man -- G_d had compassion on her.
And then the yiddele told me -- another unbelieveable story: You know we have those -- great rabbi ?Zionist leaders?. So -- he heard the story from Reb Yochanon -- from his former Rebbe. He was a Survior [of the Holocaust ] and -- and he was freed by American soldiers, in Dachau. And hr said his former Rebbe was -- riding in a taxi, and in front of him was -- President Eisenhower
 And -- on a certain street-corner, there was a woman crying so much -- awesome.

So Eisenhower said to his driver, stop the car, I'd like to go out and ask her if I can do something for her. So Eisenhower left the car, and walked up to the woman. At that moment his car blew up. Can you imagine -- because he did something good, G_d saved his life. It's an unbelieveable story. True story to remember.

You know sometimes, we think we're doing somebody else a favor, and in the meantime, what we're really doing, is saving our own life [or: lives].
Have to tell you a cute story.
I had an uncle in England. This was already -- 180 years ago [ie, ca. 1780 ], would you believe it -- like my great-great- great-great-great uncle.
You know today, thank G_d, prisons are not as bad as they were 180 years ago. And also -- we have more justice. 180 years ago, sadly enough, you know, we Jews had absolutely no rights. And -- a Jew could not be a witness. And any drunkard or thief could be a witness, against a Jew.
So -- My great-great-great-great-great uncle was a very wealthy man in London. And he got a permit to go to [`to go to' or: `through'] the prisons. Unbelieveable. And he would go every Friday to prisons -- and he had a right to walk around . So he would listen to people. And when he saw that someone really was innocent, he tried to help them from outside. Jew or non-Jew, he wouldn't -- he was a very good man.
One day he came into prison, and then he saw a man who was accused of having killed somebody . And my uncle knew that he didn't do it; that he was -- just -- the police were looking for somebody, so they took somebody. So he exchanged garments with him, and gave him his permit, and he walked out, and he says, I'm a rich man, I'll get out. So -- but he was kept in prison for -- you know, when you put the stamp on me,  -- to get out -- I was thinking, gvalt --
My great-great-great uncle stayed in prison for a few years - - He sat [or: stayed] in prison for 4 years.

But anyway -- I want to bless all the inmates. I want to bless you that G_d should open gates. And also, I want to bless the judges -- that G_d should shine into them -- they should never, ever, ever, accuse [ie, convict, or sentence to prison] somebody who's innocent.

You know, that in Jerusalem, as long as we had our own court, on the day when the judges sat together -- got together to judge, they had to fast. Because it's awesome to judge somebody. Awesome, awesome.

And -- I want to bless -- not only the inmates here, the inmates in all the prisons in [or: of] the world, that if they're really innocent, G_d should open gates for them. And those who did something wrong, they should -- make up for it fast, and then -- come out good people. Because it's so easy to be in prison, and then come out angry and bitter. 
And -- You see, the most important is, that a person has to start every day, like it's the first day of my life. Sounds so simple. You know, someone says: `Here, every day, I start anew.' That's already not `starting[-anew]', you start [or: you're starting] [the same old thing] again. The moment you ?say? 'start again', that means, you're not starting. It has to be like -- never before. Never before.

Let's sing a good song:

R. Shlomo responds: Hodu HaSHEM. Good. Give me A-minor. Can you give a big hand to this unbelieveable keyboard -- he's the best.

 R. Shlomo: What
 R. Shlomo: But not everybody understands. 
 Singing: Hodu HaSHEM:
(Apparently recording cut off)
 I need a bit of harmony, chevre. 
 _____ Yeah, that's good too. Strums a chord. What is this [or: it], E or D. D Minor.

R. Shlomo:
I don't know, all of you, if you heard -- one of our great -- actually, one of the holiest masters in our tradition -- the holy Baal Shem Tov -- lived about 250 years ago -- and his great- grandson, Reb Nachman -- who was like -- fire. And two things: people who ?saw? energy into it -- ?saw life? -- that -- the greatest sin the world is -- to be sad. ?Many of us today? [or: 'needless to say' or 'meaning to say'] -- imagine -- we're just human beings. Sometimes we have 2 million reasons to be sad. But it doesn't mean you cannot be happy also while you are sad. So you're a ?little? bit sad. But it doesn't mean you have to be dead. You know, sometimes people they're sad, and they're like -- dead, buried in a cemetary, in a living cemetary. 

So you're sad. Ok, but still be alive.

And the second thing , which is --- part of the first. Don't ever give up.

And before he left the world -- he passed away very young -- when he was -- 38 years old -- and he had -- in those days, you know, when someone G_d forbid, had T.B. 
it was hopeless, and he was -- just dying. He summoned all his strength, and he yelled at top of his lungs -- Don't -- ever give up. Don't ever give up.

So here's where the story begins:
Approximately 120 years ago, there was a rich Jew in Odessa, and he was a banker. And he thought he's rich. One day he told his Accountant, let me look at the books. And he realized, that unless he puts in 2 million rubles in his bank, he'll be bankrupt in 4 days.
And you know friends, today, if someone is bankrupt, he declares bankruptcy. What's he doing, he's going to Switzerland, and sends letters to all the people he owes money, `Wish you were here, having a good time -- '
I can only advise you, declare bankruptcy fast. But, in former good days, when you declare bankruptcy, you'd be on the next train to Siberia.

Ok, when he realized, he needs 2 million rubles, not to go bankrupt, he wasn't so desperate then. He thought, ah, I have enough credit, I'll have to borrow some 2 million rubles from another bank.
And I want you to know something else. 2 million rubles, 120 years ago, it was not, 2 million dollars today. It was like, 200 million rubles, because people were living on kopeck-es, right.
Anyhow, to make it very short: Crazily enough, he couldn't get any credit. On the second day he decided, he has to commit suicide, because he's not going through -- he doesn't want to go to Siberia, and he doesn't want to go through the shame that his - -
. It's not up to the blank leader on tape G2=SA1a, so I assume the Cut-off is also on G1=SA1 . So maybe it was a cut-off on the original recording. } }

: Continuation of Teaching on Side B:}

He _______ old, had a wife and children. And he thought, I'm not going to commit suicide in my house.
He decided to commit suicide in the synagogue. So he went to the synagogue, and he put the poison on the top shelf, under one of the books,  and he went home. And for 2 more days he tried to get -- the two million rubles -- couldn't get it. On the fourth night, most heart-breaking _____, what can you do. After dinner he said to his wife, I have -- to make some errands. He goes to the synagogue -- and there was no electric light, just candles -- he put the candle on the table, and is trying to reach with his hand, to take out the poison from under the book. But he was nebuch shivering so much, so the book under which he had put the poison -- fell down.

And here I interrupt myself:
You know, Reb Nachman, the holy Master, after he passed away, they printed his teachings. And usually, you know, the first page, it says the name of the author. But for him, when they printed the book, on the first page it says: `Our Master Reb Nachman says: Don't ever give up.'

[REFERENCE: Rabbi Nachman of Bratzlav. born: Mizhbozh, Podolia, Russia 1772; Died: Uman, Podolia, Russia, 1811. Likutei Mohoran, first published in Ostroh in 1808. (Avraham Yaakov Finkel reproduces the Title page in his `The Great Hasidic Masters' (Aronson Press, 1966; ISBN 0-87668-595-5 (hardcover); ISBN 1-56821-939-3 (softcover). ]

And only on the second page it says: These are teachings of the holy Master, Reb Nachman.

So:
So the book fell down, and automatically, you bend down to pick it up.

And the book had opened. And he looks. Said: `Reb Nachman said [or: says], Don't ever give up.'

He picked up the book, and sat down by the table. And he said, Master of the World, is this a message from You. . Ok, I won't commit suicide tonight. I'll wait another day, but PLEASE, don't disappoint me.

And he just looked at those words, 'Don't give up', all night long.

The next day, it was already the 5th day, each time there was a knock on the door, he was sure it's the police. ?Gvalt?. To make it very short:
For three more nights, he went every night to the synagogue, and just opened the book and stared at the words. One the 7th day, he got a letter from the bank in Holland: And the bank said: Please forgive us a million times. Seven years ago we took a loan from you of 2 million rubles, and we completely forgot to pay it back. We're sending you the money with interest.
Gvalt.

So that night, he went back to the synagogue again, but his heart was so -- filled with joy. So for the first time he opened the book, and turned to the second page. And there it says, these are teachngs from the holy Master Reb Nachman, the great-grandson

of the holy Baal Shem Tov. Turn [or: turns] another page. And there it begins the teaching:  Happy are those who walk in the way of G_d.'

But he was so dead tired, from all those previous nights. Fell asleep on the book. And in his dream, he saw a young man, maybe 35, 38 -- with long earlocks [peyes] and a very little beard. And he asked him, who are you. And he said, my name is Nachman. You're learning my book. He says, I want you to know -- 100 years ago -- before he died -- When I yelled, Don't ever give up, I thought of you. I was praying for you, you shouldn't give up.
So he says, Holy Master, heilige Rebbe, what should I do now. He says, I'll tell you what you do. Sell your bank, and go to the holy Land. And I want you to print my book in the holy Land.

And I want you to know: I met an old Bresolver hosid -- who's 90 years old -- and he's a student of this banker from Odessa -- and he turned him on to Reb Nachman. Unbelieveable. Let me just [say that:] -- I heard this story from someone who met this banker, and told me this story. Unbelieveable.

So anyway, I want to bless you friends: Don't ever give up, don't ever be sad, and when you see somebody else sad, give him strength.
You know:
You know -- You know, physically, when you give an injection, you have to know exactly where to put it in. I remember one time, I -- I needed an injection, I went to the hospital, so this man there - nebuch -- he should have been a shoe-shine man -- but he put the needle 50,000  _____ it's not the right place -- got to know exactly -- where to put it in.

You know sometimes -- you want to give strength to another person -- like an injection of life -- but you didn't put it in the right place, and it just hurts. I want to bless you to give each other strength, but put the needle -- in the right place. And also, I want to bless the [Catholic] Father, when he gave little injections of life -- right into the blood-stream. And bless me back.


Want to bless [or: tell] you one more thing, you know. Basically, our life is so fast, and we don't really [or: even] know who really loves us. Sometimes you sit somewhere -- like a place like this -- you have time to think.  R. Shlomo: I'm sorry, what?
.
R. Shlomo. Ya.
So it's time -- sometimes you have time to think -- whom do I really love -- and who would I like to see the most -- and also who loves me the most. You never know, right.

I heard an unbelieveable story. One of my friends, who was in the Army in the 2nd World War -- and he had 3 girl-friends. And he couldn't make up his mind, whom to marry. So the War is over, he's coming back to America. He sends a letter to all the three girls: He says, `I'm so heart-broken to inform you, that I lost my feet.' It wasn't true, but that's what he wrote. And `I'm sure -- I'm sure you still love me.' So -- then he writes -- Two didn't show up. And the one who really loved him, showed up. But thank G_d, he had feet. So at least -- he saw who loves him the most, right 

And also I want to share something very special with all of us.
Sometimes -- I'm sure a lot of people, who maybe really are innocent, or at least they think they're innocent -- they're angry at G_d, what am I doing here. But I want you to know friends, we are not here for the first time. Sometimes, we have to make up for something we did last life-time. And -- heavy.

I want you to know: a person came to the holy Baal Shen Tov. And he said, I'm so angry at G_d. Everything I do -- I can't get my life together -- everything is wrong, and I'm just -- full of trouble.
He says to him, I tell you, there's no other way, you have to go to Vilna -- city in Russia -- and there ask for someone by the name Mordechai -- and --he will enlighten you.

So he comes to Vilna. So he says, I'm looking for somebody Mordechai -- and at that time it was not such a big Jewish community, like today [ie, as it was when R. Shlomo left Europe].

So they tell him, there is no Mordechai here. Only 200 years ago there was a famous gangster, a thief, informer to the police, by the name Mordechai. Thank G_d he's not alive any more.

{Comment (sa): Gangsters are businesspersons in a pre-equal- opportunity environment, and thiefs are simply persons who have taken a vow of poverty with occasional exceptions; but informing on the members Jewish community to the goyische estblishment is condemned in the amidah.}

Comes back to the Baal Shem. He says, there is nobody there Mordechai, only they said, 200 years ago, someone lived by the name Mordechai, was a big gangster.

He says, Don't you understand. You are that Mordechai. You came back to the world, to make up for everything you did wrong.

And all of us, all of us, you know. G_d should bless us, we should Fix everything we have to Fix.

And -- all of us.
You know, I tell you something: Most of us don't have our lives in order. We don't have our act together. I mean, the whole world doesn't have their act together. And maybe all of us together -- maybe -- bring about the redemption of the world. 
R. Shlomo: What?

R. Shlomo: We're all getting tired(?).

This is a song I made up at the wedding. And it was in San Francisco. In Golden Gate Park. I wish you would have been there, friends. Were thousands and thousands of people. In the good old days.

And I made up the melody -- and the groom, who was -- I don't know where he disappeared -- at that time, this was like, '68, '69, his(?) poetry(?) was in all the magazines -- so I made up the melody, and I said -- Sam , we have no words for it. Oh, he says, Ok, let me give you words.

R. Shlomo singing:
Lord, get me high, get me high, get me high Lord, get me high, get me higher. [Repeat lst 2 lines ]

Chorus:
Higher, higher, higher, and higher
[Variation 1: higher and higher and higher and higher] Higher, and higher and higher.

D.C. al Capo

Lord, let me be, let me be, let me be just one breath Etc.

You know, you add millions of -- ____ to it.

I want to share with something.

Apparent remarks with chevere off-mic; short break.

R. Shlomo: I ?forgot to? finish the story.

You know today, in our tradition, you know we're counting after the moon, it's the last month of the year, and in four weeks is Rosh HaShana. And by -- according to the Sephardi tradition, these four months [sic, I think; but mis-speak for 'weeks'] , and according to the Ashkenaz tradition only the last week, you wake up about four(?) in the morning and  you go to the synagogue -- certain prayers -- even before the morning prayer. 

Ok: ___________?Reb Moishele of Kassover? , one of the greatest rabbis in the world, 200 years ago -- all year long he was there at the prayers -- for those special prayers -- before New Year's - - early in the morning -- he was always late -- like -- they would start the prayers 4 o'clock -- and he would only come 06:00. 

Ok, so his followers -- they would ask, 'where's the holy Rabbi', and they would say, Gvalt ______ , he's up in heaven, praying. He's not sleeping. 

But the Anti's [mitnagim, who were scrupulous in observing halachot as written, and skeptical of innovation ] said: Yeah, most likely he's lying in his bed, snoring away. And the poor followers [hasidim], those idiots, think he's praying. He's sleeping away.

So one time a real Anti- came to the city, and he says, I have to find this for myself. He managed to get into the bedroom of Reb MOSHELE SATOVER , and he dedcided, I'll sleep under the bed and see what's happening.
So, about 1 o'clock, Reb Moshele Satover comes in; and you know those holy rabbis, we waste our time till we go to sleep. Those holy rabbis had to deal with G_d. The moment they put their -- face on the pillow, they're deeply asleep. So Reb Moshele Satover comes in, puts his holy face on the pillow, and he's really asleep.
Hah: Mr. Anti thinks, Ach!.  The way he sleeps, he's going to sleep through tomorrow morning, fast. I know this guy. Suddenly about 3 o'clock , Reb Moshele Satover wakes up. And you know the rabbis, they wear special garments, like ?flags? and high shoes -- he's sees he's opening his closet, and taking out the uniform of a Cossack. He is dressed like a Cossack, and takes an ax, puts it over his shoulder and he's going out the door. 

And the anti-, from afar, goes behind him.

And you know he's walking at night through the forest, and he's praying -- give me harmony --
. And the Rabbi is praying, it seems like the stars are praying, the sky is praying, the clouds are praying. And he finds a tree. And the holy rabbi said to the tree, You know, I'm so sorry, I have to chop you off, because I need the wood for something very important. 

And he begins to chop the wood, and mean-while he was chopping the wood he says:
:

Chops the wood, puts it over his shoulders, walks in a different direction.  The Anti- walks behind him.

Finally they come to a very broken house, broken windows. 

It's the house of Chana-le, the widow.

She has 11 children. 

And heilige Reb Moshele Satover knocks at the window. He says, Channa-le, I'm bringing you some wood. I(?) want to heat your house. The kids must be starving from cold. }}

Then Chana-le says, Oh Ivan, thank you so much; you come every night to heat my house, and I haven't paid you , I owe you so much money.
He says, Chana-le, don't worry; there's a G_d in heaven; He always pays.
So then Reb Moshe-le Satover goes into the house, and those kids are freezing ; and he makes a fire and he says:

And here the(?) Reb Moshele Satover makes a fire for those -- little children who are cold -- but he's warming the whole world. 

In fact he's still warming our souls right now.

After he makes a fire, he goes fast back -- he goes to his house - - changes his garments -- by now it's 6 o'clock -- and the anti- walks behind him. And the Rebbe walks into a synagogue. 6 o'clock. The prayers are over. And the anti- overhears two followers saying to each other -- You see -- the Rebbe's late again --he must have been in heaven. And the anti- says: What did you say -- in heaven -- much higher.

So here's the song:

R. Shlomo singing: Lord, get me High.
This is a prayer that this month -- should be good -- full of joy, full of peace, full of blessing -- full of healing -- full of redemption --
So give me the best harmony.

R. Shlomo: chanting the  Rosh Hodesh prayer in full, with traditional chazanut (not his own tunes -- there is a phrase I know from 'wolt ich in der strassen gelossen -- shabbos, heilige shabbos): Yehi Ratzon .

R. Shlomo: I have to go. What?

I don't know this -- beautiful gentleman. What's your name? 
R. Shlomo: Thank you a million times. _______ ?true? friend. Isn't it hard for you to hold it [maybe the microphone] the whole time?

R. SC: Thank you a million times. And Father [presumably, the Catholic prison chaplain who arranged his visit], again, thank you a million times.
 Singing the chaser niggun.

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{COMMENT: (sa): In Memory: Bob "Wertz" Armitage, z'l:

Bob "Wertz" Aritage, z'l, was a founder of New Buffalo commune, in Arroyo Hondo, New Mexico, on land Taos pueblo gave to the Spanish a long time ago. He was part Jewish, and among the Founders/Builders of New Buffalo, and he cheered and joked folks through the first summer, and nursed everyone through that first winter, when they all came down with hepatitis from the open outhouse near the outdoor kitchen.
So he finished up what he could of the 2nd wing of the abobe house, with whatever visitors had dropped in, and then he had to close off the unfinished wall with bales of straw, becuase it was too cold to work with adobe, with the freezing temperatures every night -- the mortar-mud wouldn't set.
That was in the winter of '67-'68; in the spring of '68 the straw bales caught on fire -- the kids had been playing with matches -- a straw fire starts very inconspicuously, but it's almost impossible to catch and put out. Justin Case brought the tractor with the front-loader, to move out the bales, but the fire caught to the wood roof, which was covered with tar-paper. Rick Klein was up on the roof trying to dump buckets of water, and his wife called to him to get down. Then the roof caught and fell in. Everything that could burn, did. I eventually found my earthen pre-Colombian pot-holder, which had been up on the sleeping loft. Those pre-Colombians must have been into something. We, or they, held a meeting, and the Indians sent by a drum, but they already decided to rebuild the house on the same foundation. That took all summer. I did a bit of weeding and irrigating, and sometimes mixed a bit of mud, or helped carry adobe bricks.
Blond Larry used to say, at New Buffalo: The only rule is, there are no rules; and to live here costs all you've got. Up at Lama Foundation, on Lama Mountain, they had plenty of rules; they couldn't even build a proper privy without holding meetings to get their heads together.
In early 1970 chickens were coming home to roost, some of them from Veetnam. An anarcho-pacifist community guarded only by a shared essentially religous ideal is magic while it works, but may be undermined by opportunists; we were. It was in that phase, with no obvious challenge to unite the community, that Bob Wertz died suddenly of some kind of tuberculosis (not pulmonary), in late February or early March. At his request he was buried, in what ammounted to simple Jewish style, just a shroud, though the hospital insisted, against his request, on embalming his body, in I think the 2nd arroyo to the left of the old outdoor kitchen, near the top of the property, below the road.
In the weeks before you would see him, standing outside, gazing at the sunsets over the mountains, in such appreciation of the splendour.
Rick Klein, who founded New Buffalo, and bought land near Lama Foundation, would know all about Bob Wertz.

Steve Amdur, Kibbutz HaOn
4/28/98 - Tiferet sh'b TIFERET

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