Thursday, the third day of Chol HaMoed Pesach — 'B'tzeil HaKodesh' with the Satmar Rebbe shlit"a

The Rebbe entered for Shacharis at around 10:15. The baal tefillah was R' Yoel Bar'a Hirsch. The Rebbe approached the amud for Hallel.

- Pesicha: R' Aharon Biner and R' Yudel Steinmetz.
- Kohen: R' Amram Cohen.
- Levi: R' Moshe Ber Landau.
- Shlishi: the Rebbe's grandson, Rabbi Yisroel Dushinsky shlit"a.
- Hagbah: the Rebbe's grandson, Rabbi Yoshe Mordechai Elazar Lavin shlit"a.
- Gelilah: Rabbi Avrohom Leib Landau shlit"a.
- Revi'i: the Rebbe shlit"a.
- Hagbah: Rabbi Yoel Bar Berger shlit"a.
- Gelilah: R' Avrohom Philipp.

Mussaf: HaGaon R' Lipa Berkowitz shlit"a, moreh tzedek. The davening concluded at around 12:00.

After Shacharis, a bris was held for the newborn son of R' Yaakov Moshe Rubinstein, in the home of his father, R' Aharon Dovid, where the Rebbe served as sandek and mohel.

At around 3:40 the Rebbe arrived at the Beis Medrash HaGadol for the historic, uplifting gathering of the mitzvah of 'Pidyon Peter Chamor', in the presence of thousands upon thousands of members of our community.

First, the Rebbe entered his private room, where the kohen who would perform the redemption, the Sereda'hely Rebbe shlit"a, had come for a Yom Tov visit. A pleasant conversation ensued regarding the laws of pidyon peter chamor and matters of Yom Tov Pesach, and the Rebbe bestowed his holy blessing upon him.

Afterwards the Rebbe entered the main sanctuary of the beis medrash, greeted the rabbonim shlit"a, and broke out into a fiery, joyous dance in the center of the floor for several minutes. For an extended time they sang melodies of yearning and longing for the coming of Moshiach.
The chairman of the gathering, HaGaon R' Shlomo Shabsai Kestenbaum shlit"a, one of the rabbonim of our holy community, continued by presenting the order of the gathering, the pidyon, and its halachos.
At around 4:20, the second kohen who would perform the redemption, HaGaon HaTzaddik Rabbi Binyon Strasser shlit"a, Av Beis Din of Nitra, arrived at the gathering, and the Rebbe greeted him warmly and honored him to speak. He spoke of the greatness of fulfilling the mitzvah of pidyon peter chamor, thanked the Rebbe shlit"a for honoring him to serve as the kohen, continued with recollections of the holy Rebbe, the Divrei Yoel zy"a, and concluded with warm blessings for the Rebbe shlit"a and for the entire assembly. The singing of Jewish melodies about the coming of Moshiach continued, led by R' Mordechai Wolf Landau.
At around 5:00, the kohen, the Sereda'hely Rebbe shlit"a, arrived at the gathering, and the Rebbe greeted him warmly.
The Rebbe drank a l'chaim, wished l'chaim to the rabbonim HaGeonim shlit"a and the entire assembly, and then immediately delivered words of Torah. At the start of his address, the Rebbe warmly greeted the two distinguished kohanim shlit"a and wished them abundant blessings. The Rebbe mentioned the joy that on this very day, the third day of Chol HaMoed Pesach in the year 5728, they merited to fulfill the first part of the verse that was read today, 'And every firstborn of your sons you shall redeem', at the pidyon haben of his firstborn son, HaGaon HaTzaddik, the Av Beis Din of Williamsburg shlit"a; and today they are fulfilling the second part, 'And every firstborn donkey you shall redeem with a lamb'. They hope that soon they will be able to fulfill the end of the verse, 'And none shall appear before Me empty-handed'. The Rebbe discussed all the halachos of peter chamor and the various questions that arose during the period since the project began, particularly regarding fulfilling the mitzvah twice. The Rebbe continued with a lengthy discourse of aggadic teachings regarding peter chamor, explaining it in several ways, combined with guidance, and spoke fiery words about 'You have chosen us from among all the nations': if the donkey has even a small partnership with a gentile, it is no longer holy and one cannot perform a pidyon peter chamor. One must remain entirely separate from the gentiles and not imitate them in anything, so that there be a complete separation between Israel and the nations. In this merit, we will merit the coming of Moshiach. The Rebbe concluded with warm, holy blessings for the entire assembly.

The two donkeys and the two lambs were brought in, regally adorned in honor of the mitzvah as is customary, and were placed on a special platform in front of the main bimah.

The singing of melodies of inspiration continued, and the badchan of the King, R' Mordechai Dovid Esterreicher, sang special warm rhymes in honor of the gathering.

At around 6:15 the first pidyon peter chamor began. First the Rebbe acquired the lamb from R' Meir Hirsch through kinyan kesef and kinyan hagbaha, then went out to his private room and put on a new bekitshe for the bracha of Shehecheyanu.
After a few minutes the Rebbe returned and recited the Leshem Yichud with holy emotion. He took the lamb and, with holy fervor, recited the bracha 'Asher kidshanu b'mitzvosav v'tzivanu al pidyon peter chamor', continued with the text 'Hareini mafrish teleh', recited the bracha of Shehecheyanu in a voice hewing flames of fire, and handed the lamb to the kohen, the Sereda'hely Rebbe shlit"a. Then he also redeemed the donkey with silver coins, in order to satisfy all opinions in case the lamb turns out to be a treifah after shechita. R' Moshe Goldstein was honored to hand the money to the Rebbe shlit"a, and the Rebbe acquired it and handed it to the kohen.
The kohen, the Sereda'hely Rebbe shlit"a, then recited the bracha of Borei Pri HaGafen over a cup of wine and wished the Rebbe shlit"a l'chaim, and the Rebbe bestowed his holy blessing upon him. The Rebbe then broke into fiery, holy dancing, with flames of fire and the joy of a mitzvah, for an extended time.

Afterwards, the Rebbe honored the Sereda'hely Rebbe shlit"a to ascend and bless the assembly with Birkas Kohanim. The Sereda'hely Rebbe shlit"a spoke brief words of blessing, wished the Rebbe shlit"a abundant blessings, blessed the entire assembly with Birkas Kohanim, and concluded that the Rebbe should soon merit to go out to greet Moshiach Tzidkeinu and be able to fulfill all twenty-four matnos kehunah.

'As he did the first time, so he did the second': the Rebbe then acquired the second lamb from R' Elazar Kleinberger for the second pidyon peter chamor through kinyan kesef and kinyan hagbaha. Then the Rebbe went out to his private room to change into a new bekitshe for the second Shehecheyanu, and after a short pause, in accordance with the ruling of the Dayan shlit"a, between the two pidyonos peter chamor, the Rebbe returned and recited the Leshem Yichud. HaGaon HaTzaddik, the Av Beis Din of Nitra shlit"a, asked that the Rebbe shlit"a include him in the bracha of Shehecheyanu, and the Rebbe then recited the bracha, said the text of the pidyon, and recited Shehecheyanu with fiery fervor. He handed the lamb to the second kohen, HaGaon HaTzaddik, the Av Beis Din of Nitra shlit"a, and then also redeemed the donkey with silver coins. R' Moshe Aharon Kestenbaum was honored to hand the money to the Rebbe shlit"a, and the Rebbe acquired it and then handed it to the kohen.
The kohen, HaGaon HaTzaddik, the Av Beis Din of Nitra shlit"a, then recited Borei Pri HaGafen over a cup of wine and wished the Rebbe shlit"a l'chaim, and the Rebbe bestowed his holy blessing upon him. The Rebbe then honored him to ascend and bless the assembly with Birkas Kohanim. He ascended, spoke of the greatness of Birkas Kohanim and its holy influence and segulah, and blessed the entire assembly with Birkas Kohanim, along with abundant blessings for the Rebbe shlit"a.

The joyous singing continued and the Rebbe stood up and danced for an extended time, from the emotions of his heart. At the conclusion, the Rebbe wished the entire assembly 'a gut mo'ed' and blessed that the mitzvah should bring everyone all good things always.

On his way out, the Rebbe expressed great thanks to the distinguished askanim who helped make it possible to fulfill this rare mitzvah, particularly HaGaon R' Baruch Stern shlit"a and HaGaon R' Shlomo Shabsai Kestenbaum shlit"a, who worked out the entire order of the gathering and pidyon in all its details, and the askanim R' Yoel Weiss and R' Moshe Yosef Friedlander, who arranged all the technical aspects of the gathering, and all the other askanim. The gathering concluded at around 7:00 and the Rebbe went home to his holy residence, where the Rebbe davened Mincha.

After Mincha, HaGaon HaTzaddik, the Av Beis Din of Nitra shlit"a, came for a Yom Tov visit to the Rebbe in his holy home. A pleasant conversation ensued regarding matters of Yom Tov Pesach, and the Rebbe gave him his new sefer Lev Aharon Moadim – Pesach, bestowed his holy blessing, and accompanied him out to the street.

At around 8:15 the Rebbe washed for a seudas mitzvah in honor of the mitzvah of pidyon peter chamor together with his family.

After the seudah, at around 10:30, the Rebbe davened Maariv.

After Maariv, the Shinover Rebbe shlit"a came for a Yom Tov visit. A pleasant conversation ensued regarding chumros on Pesach, particularly among the tzaddikim of the Tzanz and Shinova dynasties. The Shinover Rebbe shlit"a gave the Rebbe shlit"a the sefer Imrei Menachem by his father, the Shinover Rebbe zt"l, and the Rebbe gave him his new sefer Lev Aharon Moadim – Pesach, and bestowed his holy blessing.

▫️ Satmara Niyes 🌴 ▫️