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There was no meat in Leningrad;

2
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for two years, there
were no Shochetim.

3
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There was nothing we could do;

4
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we didn't eat any
meat for two years.

5
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Reb Mottel Lifschitz came to town

6
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to circumcise the newborn
son of a friend of mine,

7
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and we were eating
at the same table.

8
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I said, "Reb Mottel,
have pity on my children;

9
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they haven't seen
meat in two years.

10
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Slaughter an ox, an animal
or a chicken -- something!"

11
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He said, "Izzy,
I can't slaughter here;

12
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if the authorities discover that I
shechted here without their permit,

13
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I will lose my permit to
slaughter in Moscow as well.

14
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You are young; you
should study Shechita.

15
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If you need a teacher,

16
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spend a month at my house,

17
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and I'll teach you to
slaughter chickens."

18
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When my mother heard
my plans to travel away,

19
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she found an old Chassid in the area
who taught me the laws instead,

20
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and Reb Refoel Nimyotin


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accompanied me to
watch every Shechita,

22
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but I didn't have a Kabbalah,
a Rabbinical approbation.

23
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My teacher forbade me to approach
the government appointed rabbis

24
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to ask for their Kabbalah.

25
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So, for several months,

26
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every time I shechted I needed
to drag along an old Shochet

27
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to watch and inspect my work.

28
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It could be several times a week,

29
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an uncomfortable drive
of several hours,

30
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to slaughter the chicken
at some non-Jew's farm...

31
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I decided that I would continue
shechting until Yom Kippur.

32
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I would shecht the Kapparos
on Erev Yom Kippur,

33
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and then I would wait for a visiting
Rabbi to give me a Kabbalah.

34
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Several Chassidim had
been sent by the Rebbe,

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but the government had
discovered their identities

36
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and had sent them
right back home.

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On Erev Yom Kippur
I was shechting,

38
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and I was approached by
Reb Avraham Medalia.

39
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I only knew that he was a
professor of mathematics.

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He came over to me and said,

41
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"I heard from Reb Refoel NImyotin
that you need a Kabbalah.

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I am an ordained rabbi
but I can't say so publicly;

43
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I already spent
17 years in prison.

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Let me see you shecht,

45
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and I'll give you a Kabbalah."

46
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I did a shechitah
and he approved,

47
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but he said, "I won't
write the Kabbalah.

48
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I spent enough time in prison;

49
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if someone asks for
your approbation,

50
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let him call me,

51
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and I'll explain why
I didn't put it in writing."

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Now, I at least had an
address to send questioners.

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The next moment --

54
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two minutes hadn't passed,

55
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"Izzy, Izzy";
they called me back.

56
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A bochur had arrived from Moscow,

57
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his name was Yehudah; they
called him Yehudah Hakatan.

58
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He said, "I'm not
sure what this means;

59
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the Rebbe said to
give you a message:

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'Take on the occupation of a Shochet.'"

61
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That same moment,
on that Erev Yom Kippur...

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I saw then how the Rebbe...

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Three-four months later,

64
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Rabbi Dovber Levy came
to Russia a second time,

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and he tested me and
wrote a Kabbalah.

66
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I have my first Kabbalah from him;
later I received from others.

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I didn't understand
the Rebbe's words,

68
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"Take on the occupation of a Shochet."

69
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I could barely shecht a chicken,

70
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I wasn't a real Shochet.

71
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
A few months later,
I had a whole Yeshivah,

72
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a large group of students
from all over the Soviet Union,

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and I taught them Shechitah.

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When a friend of mine left Russia,

75
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he asked the Rebbe for a blessing
that I receive an exit visa,

76
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I had been waiting
for several years,

77
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seven or eight years,

78
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probably seven years,

79
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and the Rebbe said, "I give him
a blessing for everything he'll do."

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We literally saw how we accomplished
things that were supernatural.