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There was no meat in Leningrad;
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for two years, there
were no Shochetim.
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There was nothing we could do;
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we didn't eat any
meat for two years.
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Reb Mottel Lifschitz came to town
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to circumcise the newborn
son of a friend of mine,
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and we were eating
at the same table.
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I said, "Reb Mottel,
have pity on my children;
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they haven't seen
meat in two years.
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Slaughter an ox, an animal
or a chicken -- something!"
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He said, "Izzy,
I can't slaughter here;
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if the authorities discover that I
shechted here without their permit,
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I will lose my permit to
slaughter in Moscow as well.
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You are young; you
should study Shechita.
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If you need a teacher,
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spend a month at my house,
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and I'll teach you to
slaughter chickens."
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When my mother heard
my plans to travel away,
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she found an old Chassid in the area
who taught me the laws instead,
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and Reb Refoel Nimyotin
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accompanied me to
watch every Shechita,
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but I didn't have a Kabbalah,
a Rabbinical approbation.
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My teacher forbade me to approach
the government appointed rabbis
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to ask for their Kabbalah.
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So, for several months,
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every time I shechted I needed
to drag along an old Shochet
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to watch and inspect my work.
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It could be several times a week,
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an uncomfortable drive
of several hours,
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to slaughter the chicken
at some non-Jew's farm...
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I decided that I would continue
shechting until Yom Kippur.
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I would shecht the Kapparos
on Erev Yom Kippur,
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and then I would wait for a visiting
Rabbi to give me a Kabbalah.
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Several Chassidim had
been sent by the Rebbe,
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but the government had
discovered their identities
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and had sent them
right back home.
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On Erev Yom Kippur
I was shechting,
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and I was approached by
Reb Avraham Medalia.
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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,
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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;
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I already spent
17 years in prison.
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Let me see you shecht,
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and I'll give you a Kabbalah."
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I did a shechitah
and he approved,
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but he said, "I won't
write the Kabbalah.
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I spent enough time in prison;
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if someone asks for
your approbation,
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let him call me,
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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 --
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two minutes hadn't passed,
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"Izzy, Izzy";
they called me back.
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A bochur had arrived from Moscow,
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his name was Yehudah; they
called him Yehudah Hakatan.
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He said, "I'm not
sure what this means;
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the Rebbe said to
give you a message:
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'Take on the occupation of a Shochet.'"
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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,
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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.
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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,
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"Take on the occupation of a Shochet."
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I could barely shecht a chicken,
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I wasn't a real Shochet.
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A few months later,
I had a whole Yeshivah,
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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,
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he asked the Rebbe for a blessing
that I receive an exit visa,
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I had been waiting
for several years,
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seven or eight years,
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probably seven years,
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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.