"And Therefore, the Righteous Shall See and Rejoice, and the Upright Shall Exult" — The Night of Simchas Torah, 'B'tzeil HaKodesh' with the Satmar Rebbe shlit"a

At approximately 12:20 the Satmar Rebbe shlit"a entered the beis medrash for Maariv, in the presence of hundreds of chassidim and men of deed. The baal tefillah was the Rebbe's grandson, R' Yoel Brach"b Pilaff. After Maariv the Rebbe went to the mikvah.

At 1:25 the Rebbe shlit"a entered the beis medrash wrapped in a borrowed tallis for Atah Horayso. Opening the Aron: R' Yaakov Hersh Heiman (Williamsburg).

At 1:40 the Rebbe shlit"a began dancing the elevated Hakafos.
The Rebbe shlit"a said five Torah thoughts during the Hakdama.
First Torah thought: On the verse 'Yedid Nefesh Av HaRachaman' — through mitzvah dancing the feet are sanctified with supernal holiness, and the holiness spreads throughout the entire body.
Second Torah thought: On the verse 'Hadur Naeh' — the Name E-l is the Name of Chesed; through it one borrows kindnesses and mercies from Hashem. Now, during the Hakafos, is the time when one can pray for everything good, and one accepts upon oneself to repay later.
Third Torah thought: On the verse 'Higaleh Na' — in the verses "Chag HaSukkos Taaseh Lecha" and "V'hayisa Ach Sameach" the names are hinted at that are effective for children, health and livelihood.
Fourth Torah thought: Before Kel Mistatter, on the verse 'Vayedaber Moshe es Moadei Hashem' — even when one only speaks a good thought, the Holy One, blessed be He, joins it to the deed, but this applies only to tzaddikim; yet it is said also regarding those who take shelter in the shadow of tzaddikim. Therefore the earlier tzaddikim are sent down during the Hakafos, as brought in the Zohar HaKadosh and received from our holy Rebbes, so that one can rejoice in the future. The tzaddikim in whose shadow the congregation took shelter, the father z"l and the uncle z"l — whether one sees them or does not see them, believe me that they are here and they bestow all good. "V'zos HaBracha asher beirach Moshe" — when the father z"l comes, it is not an empty visit; rather he blesses every single one.
Fifth Torah thought: On the verse 'Bereishis Toratcha HaKedumah' — through the blowing of the shofar and the mitzvah of lulav, the merit of Avraham Avinu at the Akeidah is awakened. Even if there are difficulties regarding Jewish children, one should not ask; rather, "Ach tov vachesed yirdefuni kol yemei chayai."

The Hakdama concluded at approximately 4:10.
At the third Hakafa, all those who have the privilege of being teachers of Torah to Klal Yisroel in our holy mosdos around the world were honored to come take a Torah. At the fourth Hakafa, all the grandchildren of the holy Rebbe, the Beirach Moshe zy"a, were honored.

After the Hakafos, the Rebbe shlit"a recited Shema Yisroel, Hashem Melech and the other verses. Reciting the verses of Shema Yisroel and baal korei: R' Baruch Stern (Williamsburg).
Aliyos. Kohen: R' Eliyahu Shaul Katz (Boro Park). Levi: R' Moshe Yeshaya Wertzberger of the holy city Montreal. Shlishi: the Rebbe shlit"a. Hagbah: HaGaon Rabbi Hillel Rabinowitz shlit"a (Monsey). Gelilah: HaGaon Rabbi Yoel Brama Friedman shlit"a, moreh tzedek of our kehilla in Monsey. They finished at 5:35, and the Rebbe wished a good Yom Tov to the entire congregation.

The Rebbe shlit"a went home to his holy residence and immediately made Kiddush, and conducted the Yom Tov seudah privately with several grandchildren and members of his household. During the seudah, a conversation developed about the customs of Klal Yisroel on Simchas Torah by our holy Rebbes zy"a and by the gedolei Yisroel of earlier years.
The Rebbe honored R' Yoel Weider with the zemiros, and R' Naftali Hirtzka Stein with Birkas HaMazon.

Yom Simchas Torah

Simchas Torah morning, Erev Shabbos Kodesh, at approximately 11:05 the Satmar Rebbe shlit"a entered the beis medrash.
Pesukei D'zimra and Shacharis were davened quickly as is customary. Baal tefillah: R' Yoel Br"sh Wertzberger shlit"a. At Nishmas, they said "HaKel," "HaMelech" and "Shochen Ad" in the Yom Tov, Yamim Noraim and Shabbos nusach, as is customary. The Kohanim duchened, and the Rebbe shlit"a took several orphans from the family of the community under his tallis, as is his holy way. They finished at approximately 12:30.

At approximately 1:00 the Rebbe shlit"a entered the beis medrash for Atah Horayso. Opening: R' Yitzchak Wolf Pilaff (Williamsburg).

At approximately 1:15 the Rebbe shlit"a began dancing the holy Hakafos. The Hakdama concluded at about 3 o'clock.

The Rebbe shlit"a said 4 Torah thoughts, two during the Hakdama and before the fourth and sixth Hakafa.
First Torah thought: On the verse 'Yedid Nefesh' — even if one makes only a slight movement in the service of Hashem, it is very precious in Heaven.
Second approach: The Creator placed in nature a trait of yearning, of not being satisfied with what one has. In material matters one should indeed use the traits of contentment, but in spiritual matters one must be in a state of ascending, rising above one's present level. This does not refer to those who do not learn at all; rather, those who do learn should learn with greater understanding, perseverance and diligence.
Second Torah thought: On the verse 'Higaleh Na' — from the sukkah one sees the nachas ruach of serving Hashem with material needs, and the great honor of Heaven when Jews who are preoccupied with earning a livelihood and sustenance engage in Torah even more than those who sit in the tent of Torah.
Second approach: Even though there is no reward for mitzvos in this world, through "adding from the weekday to the holy" there is indeed reward. One must bring out the praise of Jews who sit every week on Shabbos waiting for Mussaf; they do not run away from Shabbos, and for this there is reward in this world. Especially now, as we are close to the seventh millennium, "the day that is entirely Shabbos," it is the time of adding from the weekday to the holy. Now, on Erev Shabbos, we must hurry the Hakafos, not out of laziness, G-d forbid, but out of the holiness of Shabbos. As a reward for this, the power of Shabbos, adding from the weekday to the holy, will be bestowed for the entire year, so that there is reward in this world.
The Torah thought before the fourth Hakafa — the Hakafa of Moshe Rabbeinu, on the verse 'Bereishis Bara Elokim': through this Torah thought, the claim of the angels, "Will they come to sin before You," is nullified, and each person is awakened, according to his level, to accept and add in Torah learning.
The Torah thought before the sixth Hakafa — the Hakafa of Yosef HaTzaddik: the 39 shakings are effective in bringing down livelihood. Therefore it is the custom of our fathers and holy Rebbes to make the shakings with the sefer Torah at the sixth Hakafa, which is the attribute of the holiness of Yosef, who bestows livelihood. During the sixth Hakafa one accepts upon oneself to be careful with holiness in speech, deed and thought, especially regarding technological devices.

Between the Hakafos they sang the piyutim of the Chareidim with great arousal, as is customary.
During the Hakafos, hundreds of guests from abroad were honored.

At the sixth Hakafa the Rebbe shlit"a made the shakings with the sefer Torah with elevation and devotion, in the manner of our holy Rebbes.
The seventh Hakafa was held only on the bimah because of the late hour and the approaching holiness of Shabbos Kodesh. The Rebbe took his own sefer Torah and danced with great affection and elevation, in supreme joy.

At the conclusion, at approximately 4:45, the Rebbe said Vayesyu and recited Ledavid Mizmor verse by verse.

During the Torah reading, the attendants of the Rebbe received aliyos. Kohen: R' Shmuel HaKohen Perl. Levi: R' Yoel Yuda Rubinfeld (Williamsburg). Shlishi: R' Yehoshua Mendlowitz. Revi'i: R' Chaim Shlomo Fischer. Chamishi: the Rebbe shlit"a.

They immediately went over to the Polish room for the Torah reading.
The Torah was read and the tefillos davened quickly because of the shortness of time.
The attendant R' Yoel Kaufman recited the Reshus for the Chassan Torah, and the Rebbe shlit"a received the aliyah and read with great arousal and pleading.
Hagbah for the first sefer: R' Moshe Aharon Steinberg; gelilah: R' Yoel Brama Weider.

Chassan Bereishis: R' Eliezer Low (London). A tallis was spread out like a chuppah, as is customary.
Hagbah for the second sefer: R' Yoel Wertheimer; gelilah: the bochur, an attendant of the Rebbe, Shneur Zalman Eckstein.
Chassan Maftir: R' Naftali Hirtzka Stein.
Hagbah for the third sefer: R' Yaakov Brama HaKohen Friedman; gelilah: the bochur Mordechai, son of R' Chaim Eliezer Davidowitz shlit"a.

Mussaf was davened by R' Avrohom Moshe Lebowitz. They made merry as is customary. Mincha was davened immediately. They finished at 5:30.

The Rebbe shlit"a went home to his holy residence accompanied by song and music, and immediately made Kiddush five minutes before the time of candle lighting. He washed for the Yom Tov seudah and made hamotzi on an elongated challah. Yom Tov foods and kraut were brought in as is customary.
The Rebbe shlit"a sang Sisu V'simchu and recited the blessing over the cup. They finished at approximately 6:35, and the Rebbe went to the mikvah in honor of Shabbos Kodesh, in his holy residence.

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