secret lives of ex-lubavitchers
I read this in an issue of Beis Moshiach (Hebrew). I misplaced that edition so can't relay the date. (Translation, mine.)
"Before I went back to Israel my father's business partner Charlie (Yechezkel Roth) came to bid me farewell. A Jew who was one of the first students of Tomechi Temimim, which the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe had established in America; this person had descended from the path of Torah over the years, and our talk continued until I told him about my studies in Yoga and suddenly I found myself opening up to him the concerns of my heart. I told him with great vivaciousness of the Torah of Yoga which I learnt and on the ways of meditation. All my attempts to tell him of the exaltedness of Yoga he contradicted and in place explained that in Judaism there was the concept of meditation and that it is featured in the book, the Tanya."
"I didn’t pay heed to his words and I received them in a mixed manner. I was then a young bochur, and listening to what an older person was telling you, I shed with, 'the world is for the young.'"
"Towards the end of our discussion, I told him that I dream of going to India, to study where Yoga was founded. At this point, he lost his composure and screamed "instead of going to India, where there many diseases, it would be better for you if you went to Kfar Chabad."
The article goes on to say that Bentzion Cohen went to study at University in Israel and, at the suggestion of Charlie Roth, visited his friend, the mashpia, Zushe Posner.
When Shlomo Chaim Kesselman went into yechidus and mentioned Bentzion Cohen’s resolution to think chassidus before davening, the Rebbe stood up and exclaimed, "Bentzion Cohen thinks chassidus before davenimg?! Shlomo Chaim would repeat this story at many farbrengens.
Bentzion Cohen resides in Kfar Chabad with his wife and children.
Judaism.com
December 14th, 2009 at 11:24 am
Great story. I remember staying with Charlie Roth at his place in upstate New York.
My father has the 1941 school picture of Tomchei Tmimim and both my dad and Charlie are in it. One year, I made a copy of the picture and gave it to Charlie as a birthday present. Five years later, Charlie met my brother and told him that the picture was one of the nicest presents he ever got.
December 14th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
great shavuos that was indeed. i remember reb charlie’s shiur, well i remember him saying that all of humanity’s search for love in people etc, is really a a search for the love of god.
December 14th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
Radloh,
Thanks for translating and forwarding Ben Tzion’s report in Bais Moshiach. I don’t remember that I actually shouted that he has to go to Kfar Habad nor said anything about disease in India.
When he told me about Yoga I described the 4 Worlds and Eser sfiros of Hasidus which he didn’t believe came from Judiasm at all. So when I returned to the office I sent a letter to Zushe Posner asking him to invite Ben Tzion for shabbes to Kfar Chabad and show him the 4 Worlds and Eser Sfiros in a sefer.
The next I knew of this was 6 months later from an editor’s chair by Gabe Cohen, Ben Tzion’s father, relating about his son the Lubavitcher. When I next talked to Gabe I asked what happened and he sarcastically said the equivolent of vus macht du zich nisht visindik and furthermore his wife Helen won’t talk to me for what I did. I swore I did nothing of the sort and only went to see Ben Tzion off at the ship as he requested and then sent a letter to Zushe asking him to show Ben Tzion some Hasidic concepts in a Sefer.
So he told me that after the weekend in Kfar Habbad Ben Tzion returned to Hebrew University where he was studying , packed his bags and returned to Kfar Habad.
Ben Tzion now has 11 children and scores of grand children and lives in Kfar Chabad.
May Hanukah bring you much light and warmth. much love Charlie
December 15th, 2009 at 10:34 am
corrupting the yugennt tsktsk