9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
There was no meat in Leningrad;

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
for two years, there[br]were no Shochetim.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
There was nothing we could do;

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
we didn't eat any[br]meat for two years.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Reb Mottel Lifschitz came to town

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to circumcise the newborn[br]son of a friend of mine,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and we were eating[br]at the same table.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I said, "Reb Mottel,[br]have pity on my children;

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
they haven't seen[br]meat in two years.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Slaughter an ox, an animal[br]or a chicken -- something!"

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
He said, "Izzy,[br]I can't slaughter here;

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
if the authorities discover that I[br]shechted here without their permit,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I will lose my permit to[br]slaughter in Moscow as well.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
You are young; you[br]should study Shechita.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
If you need a teacher,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
spend a month at my house,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and I'll teach you to[br]slaughter chickens."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
When my mother heard[br]my plans to travel away,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
she found an old Chassid in the area[br]who taught me the laws instead,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and Reb Refoel Nimyotin[br]

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
accompanied me to[br]watch every Shechita,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but I didn't have a Kabbalah,[br]a Rabbinical approbation.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
My teacher forbade me to approach[br]the government appointed rabbis

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to ask for their Kabbalah.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
So, for several months,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
every time I shechted I needed[br]to drag along an old Shochet

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to watch and inspect my work.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It could be several times a week,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
an uncomfortable drive[br]of several hours,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to slaughter the chicken[br]at some non-Jew's farm...

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I decided that I would continue[br]shechting until Yom Kippur.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I would shecht the Kapparos[br]on Erev Yom Kippur,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and then I would wait for a visiting[br]Rabbi to give me a Kabbalah.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Several Chassidim had[br]been sent by the Rebbe,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but the government had[br]discovered their identities

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and had sent them[br]right back home.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
On Erev Yom Kippur[br]I was shechting,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and I was approached by[br]Reb Avraham Medalia.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I only knew that he was a[br]professor of mathematics.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
He came over to me and said,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"I heard from Reb Refoel NImyotin[br]that you need a Kabbalah.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I am an ordained rabbi[br]but I can't say so publicly;

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I already spent[br]17 years in prison.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Let me see you shecht,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and I'll give you a Kabbalah."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I did a shechitah[br]and he approved,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but he said, "I won't[br]write the Kabbalah.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I spent enough time in prison;

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
if someone asks for[br]your approbation,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
let him call me,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and I'll explain why[br]I didn't put it in writing."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Now, I at least had an[br]address to send questioners.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
The next moment --

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
two minutes hadn't passed,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"Izzy, Izzy";[br]they called me back.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
A bochur had arrived from Moscow,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
his name was Yehudah; they[br]called him Yehudah Hakatan.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
He said, "I'm not[br]sure what this means;

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the Rebbe said to[br]give you a message:

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
'Take on the occupation of a Shochet.'"

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
That same moment,[br]on that Erev Yom Kippur...

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I saw then how the Rebbe...

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Three-four months later,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Rabbi Dovber Levy came[br]to Russia a second time,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and he tested me and[br]wrote a Kabbalah.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I have my first Kabbalah from him;[br]later I received from others.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I didn't understand[br]the Rebbe's words,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"Take on the occupation of a Shochet."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I could barely shecht a chicken,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I wasn't a real Shochet.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
A few months later,[br]I had a whole Yeshivah,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
a large group of students[br]from all over the Soviet Union,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and I taught them Shechitah.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
When a friend of mine left Russia,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
he asked the Rebbe for a blessing[br]that I receive an exit visa,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I had been waiting[br]for several years,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
seven or eight years,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
probably seven years,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and the Rebbe said, "I give him[br]a blessing for everything he'll do."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
We literally saw how we accomplished[br]things that were supernatural.