A Jew once said to the Rebbe during "dollars," "I saw the Rebbe in a dream, and I kissed his holy hand, but suddenly his hand disappeared ?"

The Rebbe replied, "May it be G-d's will that all of your dreams will be for the good. But you do not need to get involved in dreams, but in reality, in spreading Yiddishkeit, putting on tefillin, tzitzis, and all good things."

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Rabbi A. G. relates: "On Thursday, 23rd Sivan, 5741, I drove to a certain street in New York. Suddenly, several blacks in a car tried to block me. A tense car chase broke out, and I only managed to get away from them by a miracle.

"I felt so unsettled by this incident, which was such a clear case of divine providence, that I wrote to the Rebbe and asked what I needed to correct within myself. The answer was, ?That he should have (Tehillim, Tanya, a Siddur) a pushke in the car.? When I saw the Rebbe's answer, I was amazed. First of all, I did have all of the items mentioned in my car. Secondly, why were the Tehillim, Tanya, and Siddur put in parentheses, while the pushke specifically was not? I decided to investigate the situation more closely, and I discovered that as I thought I did have a Tehillim, Tanya, and Siddur in my car. But I also remembered that I had lent the pushke to a friend two weeks previously, and he had not yet returned it to me.

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Rabbi Manis Friedman, principal of Beis Chana in Minnesota, relates that he used to translate the Rebbe's farbrengens that were broadcast on American TV into English.

A Jew from California, who was one of America's wealthiest men, one day "happened" to put on the TV, and while flicking through the channels found a broadcast of a farbrengen. At that moment, the Rebbe was speaking about the need to spread the awareness of the Seven Noachide Laws. The Rebbe'spoke very strongly, noting that while a person is doing business he has plenty of time to deal with a non-Jew, but when it came to the Seven Noachide Laws, he would find that he had no time at all.

The Jew who was watching this was sure that the Rebbe was referring to him because he had many dealings with non-Jews throughout the United States and Russia. This moved him a lot, but when he saw the Rebbe's penetrating glance, he felt a tremendous sense of inspiration.

Immediately he got hold of the number of Rabbi Shlomo Cunin, head shliach in Calfornia, and told him, "Yesterday I saw the Rebbe at a farbrengen, and I am sure that he meant me. Call the Rebbe now, and tell him I am prepared to do whatever is necessary."

Since then, the man became very close to the Rebbe and is now one of the biggest supporters of Chabad in California.

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A Jew who was close to Chabad once came to the Rebbe during the distribution of "kos shel bracha" on Motzoei Simchas Torah and spoke to him for several minutes. He asked the Rebbe for a bottle of vodka for his family.

The Rebbe asked, "And what will I receive from you in return?" The man thought for a few minutes and replied, "I?ll influence ten other families to kasher their kitchens." The Rebbe then asked him to raise this number to twenty. The man nodded his head in agreement, and the Rebbe then gave him the bottle.

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Rabbi Yehudah Leib Groner, the Rebbe's secretary, relates:

There was a time when the Rebbe wanted people to review Chassidus in public. Every week, a list of names would be given to the Rebbe of those who had given over this public review. On one particular occasion, I brought the lists to the Rebbe, and he noticed that the names of those who were recently married did not appear.

"And who says that those who wear a tallis are exempt from reviewing Chassidus in public?" the Rebbe remarked. "If anything, the opposite is the case! If they didn?t go over it before, they should specifically do it now (after their wedding) and start reviewing Chassidus in public."

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Among the many instructions and directives that we heard from the Rebbe over the years, there were those that are more well-known and those that less people are aware of. Sometimes, several directives were given during a farbrengen, but only some of them were well publicized.

One example of this is the farbrengen of the last day of Pesach, 5744/1984. The most well-known instruction that the Rebbe gave then is that of studying a daily portion from the works of the Rambam' However, at the same farbrengen the Rebbe also said something else. He stated that every single individual should sit down at least once a week to ponder concepts of Chassidus and contemplate the depth of what he has studied, without any other, secondary objective. The purpose of this study should be to reflect on these subjects for their own sake so that they should have the appropriate effect upon the individual.

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The first time that the late Rabbi A. Y. Gershentkorn, the first mayor of Bnei Brak, had a yechidus with the Rebbe, the Rebbe asked him how he, as a public figure, could write so many sefarim. (Rabbi Gershentkorn wrote a very famous sefer on Tehillim called Nayim Zemiros Yisrael.)

Rabbi Gershentkorn replied that he learned how to utilize every single moment that he had at his disposal, and that he also received divine assistance. The Rebbe then told him that the Tzemach Tzedek was once asked how he managed to write so many chiddushei Torah when he was so busy with thousands of Chassidim. The Tzemach Tzedek replied that when there is divine assistance, the pen flows.

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The Rebbitzen asked the Rebbe on several occasions to take a brief vacation to rest and refresh his energies. However, the Rebbe always refused. The Chassidim discussed what would be a good way to convince the Rebbe to accept the Rebbitzen's suggestion, and they decided to send the late mashpia Rabbi Nissen Nemanow to speak to the Rebbe about it.

Reb Nissen went to see the Rebbe, and during their conversation he said, "Over the years, all of the Rebbeim would take a vacation, so why doesn?t the Rebbe also go?" The Rebbe replied, with a smile: "Once, the Chassidim would sit and learn, and then the Rebbeim could go on vacation. But today, it's a different situation and the Rebbe has to stay behind and learn. ?"

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A Jew who used to go on an annual summer vacation of several weeks once wrote to the Rebbe that he was about to take a break. The Rebbe replied, "This seems to be a contradiction, because surely one cannot take a vacation but rather receives it. For if it were possible that he took it himself, this would mean that he is free right from the beginning. Moreover, this is actually contrary to the concept of ?they are My servants.? Nonetheless, the meaning is understood, and since his intention is that of good health it is in accordance with the Torah. ?"

The Rebbe concluded the letter with the wish, "And it may it be His Will that it will be successful, and he will use his vacation to increase in true freedom as there is no one who is truly free unless he is occupied with Torah."

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The first time that the late Rabbi A. Y. Gershentkorn, the first mayor of Bnei Brak, had a yechidus with the Rebbe, the Rebbe asked him how he, as a public figure, could write so many sefarim. (Rabbi Gershentkorn wrote a very famous sefer on Tehillim called Nayim Zemiros Yisrael.)

Rabbi Gershentkorn replied that he learned how to utilize every single moment that he had at his disposal, and that he also received divine assistance. The Rebbe then told him that the Tzemach Tzedek was once asked how he managed to write so many chiddushei Torah when he was so busy with thousands of Chassidim. The Tzemach Tzedek replied that when there is divine assistance, the pen flows.

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On the night of 20 Marcheshvan 5721/1960, all of the teachers of the schools in the Reshet Yosef Yitzchok education network gathered for a special meeting at which they heard from the heads of the network what the Rebbe had told them during their visit to New York during Tishrei.

The late Rabbi Dovid Chanzin opened the meeting with the following:

"The Rebbe'sees each one of you as a shliach mitzvah of the Rebbe, because you are in the frontline of the battle, and for this reason the Rebbe requires much from you. What the term ?requirement? actually refers to here is being given strength. All of the Rebbe's requirements need to be fulfilled. Each one of us therefore has to examine very carefully how and where he has advanced in recent times. Afterwards, he should then improve more and more. The Rebbe particularly expects eighth-grade graduates to be able to join our yeshivos, and our role is to prepare them for this."

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In a telephone conversation with the Rebbe's secretariat on 7th Teves, 5733/1973, the late Rabbi Moshe Slonim, who was part of the administration of the Reshet Yosef Yitzchok education network in Israel, asked if a special yeshiva should be opened for the network's graduates [many of whom came from non-religious backgrounds] because the existing yeshivos would not accept even the most talented graduates.

Rabbi Hodakov replied, "The network is not connected with the yeshivos. Our yeshivos need to accept whoever is most suitable, and the yeshivos themselves need to decide this according to the students? level of knowledge. Since the graduates of the network could go on to yeshiva, the network itself should not set up its own yeshiva. Rather, the network should arrange that the yeshivos should allow the graduates to study there, or at another yeshivah. (At this point, the Rebbe interrupted the discussion, and added ?Kiryat Gat.?) Yeshivos are relevant to the yeshivos, and the network is relevant to the network."

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On one particular occasion, the late Rabbi Schneur Zalman Garelik, Rav of Kfar Chabad, told the Rebbe that he intended to resign from the Rabbinate because he felt that Kfar Chabad needed someone better.

The Rebbe replied, "The choice of being a better Rav is in your hands."

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Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Havlin, Rav of the Chabad community in the neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo, Jerusalem, related the following story:

Among those who received matzah from the Rebbe on erev Pesach, 5732/1972, was Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Leizerson, one of the Rabbanim of Yeshivas Torah Vodaas. In his youth, Rabbi Leizerson studied in Mir Yeshiva, and towards the end of his life he became very close to the Rebbe. At the same time, just as he had done in previous years, the Rebbe gave Rabbi Leizerson some matzah for the late Rabbi Nochum Pertzovitz, the Rosh Yeshiva of Mir, whose health had recently declined. This time, the Rebbe asked if Rabbi Pertzovitz was still giving shiurim. Rabbi Leizerson replied that he did not actually know, and the Rebbe instructed him to tell Rabbi Pertzovitz that he should continue giving shiurim.

Several years before, I used to study in Mir, and as I was about to return to Israel from 770 Rabbi Leizerson asked me to deliver the matzah to Rabbi Pertzovitz along with the Rebbe's instruction. When I reached Rabbi Pertzovitz's home and did as I was asked, Rabbi Pertzovitz was amazed to hear what the Rebbe had said. Around that time, Rabbi Pertzovitz's doctor had told him to stop giving shiurim because it could damage his frail health even further. However, Rabbi Pertzovitz refused to do so because he felt that without his shiurim his life was just not worth living. Yet at the same time, he did not feel entirely comfortable with this refusal.

Now Rabbi Pertzovitz was happy to hear the Rebbe's instruction, because it reinforced a decision that he had made himself at the very same time.

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One of the students at the yeshiva in 770 was once speaking to a friend studying in Lakewood about the merits of learning Chassidus in the morning before davening, and he explained the significance of pnimiyus haTorah. Later that evening, the Tomim went into yechidus with the Rebbe, and the Rebbe asked him if he learned Chassidus every day. When the student replied that he did not, the Rebbe told him the exact same things that he had said to his friend earlier that day.

The Tomim left the room feeling very moved and amazed. "It was as if the Rebbe had been listening to our whole conversation ?" he remarked. When his friend went into yechidus immediately after him, the Rebbe'said that he should make sure to spend the night in 770 "because on the night of Rosh Chodesh there will be a farbrengen in the yeshiva, and it would be very good for him if he would rub shoulders with the Chassidim."

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Someone once sent the Rebbe a book and a letter in which he wrote that the author of the book had much respect for the Chassidic movement. In his reply, the Rebbe wrote:

" I would like to study the writings of one whose way of relating to this creates an echo in his soul, and since the Mishnah rules that it is not the theory but the action that is the most essential, this echo must surely reverberate through his everyday life."

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Regarding a gathering of the descendants of the Alter Rebbe, the Rebbe once gave a fascinating explanation of the concept of "descendants":

In other versions of the Siddur, the prayer "Vehaerev na" includes the words, "we and our descendants and our descendants? descendants." However, the Alter Rebbe'states in his Shulchan Aruch and Siddur that there was no need to add "our descendants? descendants." This is because our children's children are also defined as our descendants. The Rebbe added that in fact, there was a specific merit in this version because by adding "our descendants? descendants" it is as if we are only asking for the blessing for the sake of our children and grandchildren, and does not include the subsequent generations. If, on the other hand, we only use the expression "our descendants," this includes all of the generations that will follow until the end of time.

At this point the Rebbe gave a specific instruction regarding the descendants of the Alter Rebbe. Their relationship to the Alter Rebbe only came about due the fact that their ancestors were his descendants, but they themselves are also considered to be his offspring. Therefore, the Alter Rebbe's sons and his subsequent generations all fall within the definition of the "descendants of the Alter Rebbe." This only increases the sense of responsibility and privilege among them to follow in his ways.

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The late Rabbi Yitzchok Gershentkorn, Chief Rabbi of Kiryat Malachi, once went to "dollars," where he conveyed greetings from the residents of Nachlat Har Chabad. He said that they were working very hard and were looking forward to when the Rebbe would come to the Holy Land with Moshiach.

The Rebbe replied, "Amen. In general, being happy with one's lot is a great thing, but not when it comes to Torah and mitzvos, where there should always be more. If you want to be happy regarding the past, that is fine. A Jew should always be happy. But apart from this, we should always strive for more."

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A Jew who had produced a special edition of Chumash Bereishis once walked past the Rebbe during "dollars." He told the Rebbe that he had financial difficulties and was not sure whether to produce an edition of Shemos.

The Rebbe replied, "Definitely you should. And from Shemos, you should move on to Vayikra, and then on to Bamidbar and Devarim. It should be complete. The Torah begins with Bereishis and relates to ?the eyes of all Israel,? and this is how we should also consider the Oral Law ? in the same way as the Written Law."

The Rebbe then gave the man an extra dollar for the publication of Shemos and asked, "IF I give you also for the rest of the sefarim, would that speed up the printing?" The man replied, "It would speed things up." The Rebbe then gave him additional dollars for Vayikra, Bamidbar, and Devarim.

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The former IDF Chief Rabbi Gadi Navon once had a two-hour audience with the Rebbe. Afterwards, Rabbi Navon spoke about this very special encounter:

I had never previously encountered the tremendous knowledge and genius of the Rebbe. ? One of the issues that we discussed regarding the army Rabbinate was Nusach Achid, and I quoted from the Chasam Sofer. In reply, the Rebbe quoted something else that the Chasam Sofer said. In conclusion, the Rebbe'stated that while the soldiers are in the army, unity is the only option, but when they return home they should be told that each one of them has to follow in the footsteps of his ancestors.

We also spoke about the concept of when a Jew puts on tefillin even just once, Rabbeinu Chananel states that he is no longer considered as "karkafta" [literally, a scalp]. When the Rebbe asked me to send him all of the material that we publish on this issue, the Rebbe mentioned the Gemara, "Whoever has 100 will want 200, and whoever has 200 will want 400." The Rebbe continued: "We have already received 400 from you and your associates, and I would like you to bring it to 800." I promised the Rebbe that I would do my best.

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