Shavua Tov!

The Rav gave a corking shiur last Thursday night, which was written up in Shivivei Or. I am planning to translate quite a bit of it, starting with the below, where the Rav explains how he was prevented from getting to Uman this year by his persecutors.

Enjoy!

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Shiur given after Ma’ariv prayers, October 16, 2025

Now the Rav was…

That’s it, the Cholkim (persecutors of the Rav) immediately did a new [black] visa [preventing the Rav from getting to Uman]. We left on Monday, we left to Caesaria on a plane, so that they wouldn’t follow after us.

And after that, we were there for two days. On Wednesday, we left, we left with a plane to Cyprus. From Cyprus we had a flight to Romania, on Wednesday. On Wednesday, they delayed us, so at five in the morning we left to Klausenberg.

Before everything, we travelled to Klausenberg. If you want to fly to Uman, fly to Klausenberg. We travelled until Siret, six hours, on the Romanian-Russian border. And there, they said that it’s only possible to come [i.e. to get to Uman] on Sunday.

On Friday the black visa was nullified, but the Cholkim immediately did a new one.

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We got there at three, they said, we still didn’t cancel it.

At three, we got to the border, after Siret, and then we got there another time at 9pm, and they said that there was a new black visa, that the Cholkim managed to do. And this was on Sunday.

After this, on Wednesday, we tried again, and then we went to [text missing in original]. And he succeeded to [text missing in original] there someone from the head of the border police.[1]

They said: Come back on Sunday.

On Sunday when we got there, we discovered that he’d already flown off, there was a meeting at the UN. He went to drink whiskey, vodka, like the Chabadnikim drink in 770.

He travelled to 770, to drink a little whiskey.

Then they said that exactly then, the person who was in charge of cancelling the [black] visas had left, he was on the way to the airport. He said:

I will call from America.

He called from America and said [to the Rav] you need to go by yourself. [I.e. not accompanied by the gabbaim.]

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The gabbaim were not to blame.

Now, Natan[2] received murderous blows, because they said that he was to blame that the Rav didn’t get to Uman. They could have killed him. The gabbaim have nothing to do with this, who are responsible for this are the Cholkim.

Hashem wanted that we would be in Krakow [for Rosh Hashana 5786]. That we would see the bridge [where Jewish girls jumped to their death, rather than be handed over as playthings of the Nazis], that we would be at the Rema.

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Now, we clarified that all the Tzukers[3] descend from the Rema.

All the Tzukers come from Trolobitsch, Trolobitsch is the Rema. All the Trolobitschs – you are also a Trolobitsch.

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TBC

Translated and excerpted from Shivivei Or 428.

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FOOTNOTES:

[1] Without mentioning names, the version I heard is that the Rav managed to contact someone very high up in Ukraine, who gave permission for him to enter the country.

[2] One of the Rav’s gabbaim was apparently beaten up by unnamed elements in Shuvu Banim, who blamed the gabbaim for the Rav again not getting to Uman this year.

[3] One of the Rav’s daughter is married to a Tzuker. That Tzuker is one of the leading persecutors of the Rav, and has been responsible for many unhappy events within Shuvu Banim, when he was still involved with it. However, the Rav’s Tzuker grandchildren are with the Rav, and some of them act as his gabbaim.