In his distress, and to extricate himself from the maze he had found himself in, Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir activated the elderly tycoon, Armand Hamer. This was a rather mysterious figure to most of the Israeli public, who lived in Los Angeles, California, and was very influential in Russia. Among other things, Hamer actively lobbied for the release of the Schneerson Collection from Russian exile and tried to return the precious collection to the Rebbe and his library – and in general, he used his connections with Soviet President Gorbachev to benefit the Rebbe's activities in Russia.
The one who was in close contact with Hamer was Arik Sharon - and immediately after the explosion of the brilliant political concoction known as the "stinking exercise", and after the government was overthrown in a vote of no confidence, Sharon devoted himself to thwarting the formation of a left-wing government, and with inexhaustible energy did everything possible to erect a dam and return coalition support to Yitzhak Shamir.
On the surface, the effort was destined for failure given the clear support of parties that held 61 seats in the Israeli Knesset and supported Shimon Peres. But Sharon, like Sharon, with characteristic stubbornness, set a goal and did not say desperate, as he engaged all possible forces and tools in the complicated game plan before him.
And then, Eric came up with a brilliant idea. He remembered the connections that Armand Hamer from Los Angeles had with the Rebbe, and he knew what he knew about the actions that made the Rebbe grateful to Hamer. Sharon wasted no time and made a telephone call to the Rebbe's secretariat, also putting Armand Hamer on the line. In that conversation, Sharon said that he had an extremely important message and he asked in every possible way that the Rebbe would listen to the conversation himself.
I don't know if his request was granted on the website, or if the Rebbe set a different time for it, but in the end a telephone conversation took place in which the following were present on the line at the same time: the Rebbe, Armand Hamer and Arik Sharon, as well as the member of the secretariat who connected and connected the line in New York.
It was an important and substantial phone call, during which Sharon literally "sworn" to the Rebbe that he was personally responsible for Yitzhak Shamir returning to his original position, and for guarding the integrity of the country without a hitch. Armand Hamer, for his part, added and pledged that he would personally be a "contractual guarantor" in the matter.
I heard the words firsthand, and whoever informed me about it claimed that it was a dramatic and emotional conversation, centered around an "oath" and "guarantee" whose purpose was to restore the Rebbe's trust in Yitzhak Shamir.
An equally important detail, I learned later, is that it turns out that the highly publicized arrival of journalist Oded Ben Ami - then a reporter for Kol Yisrael in Washington - to New York, and the "innocent" question he asked the Rebbe, which was answered with a resounding answer that caused a huge turn in the political events in Israel, with the Rebbe expressing open, public and clear support for Yitzhak Shamir, and even stating that it would be better for a narrow government to be formed under his leadership - all of these were done with timing and planning in advance.
Ben Ami was invited from Washington, D.C., by the Rebbe's secretariat, to ask the question, "What is the Rebbe's opinion on what is currently happening in Israel following the overthrow of the government?" The goal, deliberately, was to deliver a message in the Rebbe's voice and in the most explicit and public manner, in order to prevent any speculation and to bring to light what has happened.
Peres introduces a government
On Wednesday, 9 Nisan - April 4, 1990, just two days after the "bombshell" that was dropped on the political system in the form of the Rebbe's voice stating that only Shamir was worthy of leading the government - Peres presented his new government to the center of the Alignment party and sought the party's approval - ahead of the swearing-in ceremony in the Knesset, which was scheduled for the Sunday after Passover.
At the climax of the festive meeting of the center, which was broadcast live by the media, Peres's ringing voice was heard as he announced the names of the designated ministers - headed by: "Shimon Peres, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs." A hasty announcement, which entered the political pantheon as being ahead of its time and never fulfilled itself.
Even earlier, on Tuesday - the day after the Rebbe's words were broadcast on Kol Yisrael, the Council of Torah Sages of Agudat Yisrael convened for a special discussion, at the end of which it was decided to task the faction's Knesset members with signing a coalition agreement with the "Arrangement" led by Peres.
On that day, the agreement was signed by all Agudat Israel Knesset members, including Eliezer Mizrahi. Avraham Werdiger signed - but his signature later disappeared from the document (and opinions were divided between those who believed that Werdiger, an amateur painter who was no stranger to pens and brushes, had originally used a pen with disappearing ink; or perhaps he had merely pretended to sign during the coalition situation and in reality had managed not to sign).
Things unfolded very quickly, and on the morning of the government's swearing-in day, the Sunday after Passover, it became clear that two Agudat Yisrael Knesset members, Avraham Werdiger and Eliezer Mizrahi, were missing.
Peres failed to present his government; the hours ticked by and the special session of the Knesset was postponed from hour to hour in an attempt to locate the missing. When efforts proved futile, the session was announced to be canceled.
At one point, the president again assigned the task of forming a government to Peres, within the framework of the right granted to him by law, but the efforts failed.
task non Possible
Helplessness and confusion gripped the leaders of the Chabad activists immediately after the Rebbe's words were broadcast on Kol Yisrael. The main reason for this stemmed from the fact that no guidance or instruction regarding the resounding turn arrived. "Through the channels of the Kabbalists" - from the secretariat, no update or briefing, no response or instruction that teaches and illuminates their path in the sense of "know what you will answer."
Shortly after the radio broadcast, my friend Rabbi Leibel Kaplan called me. He shared with me what was happening, in general, and also shared his feelings and the embarrassment he was in.
At that time, he was goal-oriented and focused on the challenge that in his eyes was the most important: since the Rebbe, already in the first response and in the first steps of the path that brought Chabad together with the 'Ma'arach' operatives, explicitly announced that a refuge should be left for a change of direction - therefore, it was clear to Rabbi Leibel that the Rebbe had chosen to activate the "seat of refuge" and in any case his role now, as the one who coordinated and managed the contacts and the relationship with the 'Ma'arach', was to take responsibility.
Rabbi Leibel Kaplan shared with me his determination to work as hard as necessary to remove any resentment and grievances from the members of the Council of Torah Scholars toward the Rebbe. I could not help but be amazed by what was revealed before my eyes in that conversation: the strength of Rabbi Leibel's simple love for the Rebbe.
It wasn't easy. On the other hand, there were great minds, experienced Jews with wisdom and intelligence.
The Rabbi of Bnei Brak, the Harmil Landa, shared with me that the Rebbe of Vizhnitz, author of "Yeshuot Moshe," who was then serving as president of the Council of Torah Sages, called him with great anger in his mouth and voice. It seems that Rabbi Landa appeared to him as a senior rabbinical figure who, on the one hand, enjoys the recognition and support (not to say "protection") of the Hasidic Rebbes who are members of the Council of Torah Sages, and on the other hand is among the most important Chabad rabbis. In his anger, he attacked and said then: "Does the Lubavitch Rebbe think that we are little children?" - and Rabbi Landa, who was not at all privy to the matter, knew nothing about everything that was done, and all he could do at the time was listen politely, try not to say a single word that would inflame the flames, promise to convey the message, and then called me and told me in detail the content of the conversation and tried to extract details from me, whether I knew what things were said.
But most of all, he felt a personal insult to the one who currently leads the Gur Hasidism in Ramat and was the son of the Rebbe of the author of "Halev Simchah" (who at that time was bedridden, and his place on the Council of Torah Elders was filled by his son - alongside his uncle, "Peni Menachem," who at that time served as the head of the "Sefat Emet" yeshiva and chairman of Agudath Israel).
The current Rebbe of Gur was considered the "father of the movement" in the Council of Torah Sages; he was the one who put forward the uncompromising demand to amend the "Who is a Jew" law, knowing how much this struggle was in his father's soul, and to the same extent he also felt respect and feelings of closeness to Lubavitch in general and the Rebbe in particular. In the months leading up to this, he described to everyone the magnitude of the hour, and the golden opportunity that had now arisen to amend the "Who is a Jew" law.
It is interesting to note in this context that even within the Council of Torah Sages there was no unanimity of opinion regarding the decision to go with the "alignment." The greatest opponent of the initiative was none other than his uncle, the author of "Hafni Menachem," who supported the Likud and opposed cooperation with Shimon Peres. However, the current Rebbe of Gur managed to convene the "Council" and hold a discussion that was ultimately decided by the majority opinion that supported entering the government headed by Peres.
The intensity of the hurt felt by the current Rebbe of Gur stemmed not only from the sharp and sudden turn in Chabad's position - and the absolute impact of that turn on everything that was happening. But also, and perhaps mainly, from the fact that the words resonated through a radio interview with journalist Oded Ben Ami; like this, without the 'council' and its members being informed in advance, and without giving any room for maneuver to the party's leaders and those at its head. In his eyes, this was perceived as nothing less than a huge betrayal and a personal injury.
Efforts to "minimize damage"
In his personal diary, Rabbi Leibel Kaplan expressed the words of those days, a word spoken in his own way, from his authentic perspective. Leafing through the pages of the diary allows us to experience with the writer the moments of truth in which he mobilized with all his might, without any hesitation, to toil and struggle to "minimize damage."
He contacted and mobilized every Chabad lobbyist and activist, briefed Rabbi Barka Wolf (Chabad spokesman) and even tasked Rabbi Ephraim Wolf (the Rebbe's representative in the country) - to go out and meet with the current Rebbe of Gur; Rabbis Yitzhak Yehuda Yaroslavsky and Mordechai Shmuel Ashkenazi were sent with messages to the members of the Council of Torah Elders; the messages were drafted with wisdom and effort and had a tremendous impact in order to dissolve the hurt feelings, to assuage the anger at the "interference" in the role and leadership of the Council of Torah Elders, and to remove from their hearts any resentment towards the Rebbe, who had so consistently and unquestionably maintained their position.
Below is a small quote from Rabbi Leibel's diary:
"Regarding the statement made by the journalist - we did not receive any information from the US (and to the best of my knowledge, the rabbis here did not receive any information about this, and so did the rabbi...) until it was announced on the radio the next morning. I did not hear the announcement on the radio myself, but he told me about this... that morning, and so on. Of course, the things that were announced were not accurate, and the announcement on the radio was probably not accurate either... We did not attach enough importance to the announcement that was played on the radio, that we have no information about this, and to what extent it is accurate. Especially after the secretariat also knew about the decision here, "Dashv ve El Ta'aseh." That is, that Chabad does not interfere in political moves, Y.B.) and we did not receive any information about any change in this, even though it was known that the meeting of the Council of Torah Elders on this matter was to be held tomorrow (we did not receive the text of the statement until Monday night)."
Here, Rabbi Leibel Kaplan reveals in his personal diary a little bit about the intense shock that struck him immediately after Oded Ben Ami's article was broadcast on the radio:
"Meanwhile, Rabbi Chaim Yitzhak Cohen of Sedigora called me on Monday morning, shortly after the radio broadcast, to ask if there was a change in Chabad. I told him (based on what I knew at the time and all the above background) that there was no change and that we were not interfering. The above asked me to say yes to Sedigora (meaning: to the Rebbe of Sedigora, a member of the presidency of the Council of Torah Sages, one of the senior Lubavitch friends within it and one of the leaders who support the integrity of the land without compromise. Y.B.).
"The defendant asked me on the phone what the rumor was that he had heard, that the radio announced the Chabad position, what was on the radio. I told him that I myself did not hear the broadcast, but according to what I was told, it was so and so (much less clear than what was later published in writing), but there was no change to the Chabad position that there is no interference and that the Council of Torah Sages should decide. He asked me what was said in the aforementioned announcement about the prohibition of returning territories. I told him that the position of the Supreme Council of the Torah on the issue of the territories has been known and publicized since ancient times, and if they want to learn from this that they should go with the Likud, they can learn that without regard to what was said now, because there was nothing new in it now, and in any case, the Chabad position is that there is no interference, and that the Council of Torah Sages should decide"...
The next development, which Rabbi Kaplan recounts below, shows that there was someone in the Rebbe's secretariat who ensured that the words the Rebbe uttered to the journalist would not be enough, but that the words would be proactively conveyed to the members of the Council of Torah Sages of Agudath Yisrael.
Rabbi Kaplan again describes:
"On Monday night, when we received the full text, we saw that the matter was not as simple as we had thought and considered what to do. And since that night Rabbi Wolf (Rabbi Araka Wolf) spoke with Harari"l Shai Graner (Rabbi Leibel Gruner, one of the Rebbe's secretaries) and instructed him to ensure that the text of the 'Kylo' Daat' was conveyed to the members of the Council of Torah Sages, we settled for that.
"The next day, Tuesday morning, Rabbi Yaroslavsky called me and told me that Rabbi (Gruner) told him about passing the text to Rabbi Alter (the current Rebbe of Gur) and Rabbi Pinchas-Menachem and Huiznitzer, and that he was working on it. When he handed the text to Rabbi Alter, it was apparently not so clear to him that the intention was that they should go with the Likud, and in any case, he suggested that the rabbis come to the Council of Torah Elders' Meeting and present the matter there."
"Rabbi Yaroslavsky told me that he consulted with Rabbi Ashkenazi (the rabbi of Kfar Chabad), and they decided that since there was no information that they needed to intervene more than to pass on the text of the declaration, and the last time they tried and intervened (in the matter of who was a Jew at the time) it was a failure, so it was better to be content with this. Rabbi (Yaroslavsky) asked me for my opinion on this and I agreed with their opinion."
Enters the thickness of the beam
The very instruction of Rabbi Leibel Gruner to Baraka Wolf to forward the transcript of the Rebbe's conversation to the members of the Council of Torah Sages (and to ensure that the establishment of the coalition government is thwarted) is an initiative that constitutes a 180-degree change of direction from the clear line that Chabad had taken until then, at the Rebbe's instruction - according to which Chabad does not interfere in what is being done by Agudat Yisrael, and every decision of the faction is made by the Council of Torah Sages (which is the authoritarian authority and has no exceptions).
However, we can also learn from it, how clear it is to everyone, even to the secretary of Rabbi Leibel Gruner, who are the loyal individuals who are responsible for continuing to manage the Rebbe's activities and representation in the Holy Land. Not for a single moment were we considered "people who have failed," HaShem.
However, it is important to re-read the above quote from Rabbi Leibel Kaplan's diary for another reason - and I can attest to the extent to which the lines reflect the mindset, the feelings of all the activists and Hasidim who were 'in the business' in the Holy Land, those who, on the one hand, knew about the consistent line and orderly method in which Chabad activity was conducted in its relations with the political system in general (not interfering in politics), and with the Agudath Israel party in particular - and on the other hand, unexpected and unprepared news arrives, via the airwaves, that is not consistent with this trajectory.
How many of us, to this day, would be willing to believe a piece of news coming from the media - if it clearly contradicts the reliable, inside information they have? The media was not then, as it is not today, a source of accurate and reliable information. Certainly not a reliable source for people inside a system that has internal work procedures and "radio flashes" are not included among its means of communication.
Every intelligent reader is given the opportunity to understand and notice - from within and between the lines - the extent of the lack of understanding and awareness regarding the sharp turn reflected in this radio "discourse." It was difficult, if not impossible, to comprehend at the time that the Rebbe would now choose to intervene proactively and explicitly in the Israeli political cauldron; while bypassing all other factors. Even if his holy will is to thwart, knowingly and deliberately, the establishment of the Alignment government headed by Peres, and to prevent any chance of its establishment being possible - it was still surprising, if not improbable, in a subconscious mind, that the Rebbe would do so directly and actively.
Today, we all know that the Rebbe had 'taken the reins.' However, up until that moment, with stubborn consistency, he had referred every political matter to the Council of Torah Scholars - and then, in one moment, he entered the thick of things and created a new reality, something that no one could have perceived at that moment in real time.
Not a member of the Chabad activists headed by Rabbi Leibel Kaplan, nor any of the Chabad rabbis, including Rabbis Ashkenazi and Yaroslavsky - who within a few days, as will be described, will choose to "hitchhike" on the golden opportunity that suddenly came their way, to turn their skin and even become our active executioners.
Chapter One:
35-year-old secrets revealed for the first time: The 'stinking exercise' that shook Chabad
Chapter Two:
Chapter Three:
When Oded Ben Ami asked the Rebbe: "So it is preferable that Mr. Shamir be Prime Minister?"
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