Editing Rabbi Pinchas Hirschprung (section)

== His Connection with the Rebbe ==
Once Rabbi Hirschprung gave a lecture at a summer Torah gathering in 1987 in the Catskill Mountains, New York. When the audience expressed amazement at his incredible knowledge of the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmud by heart, Rabbi Hirschprung said: "You think this is expertise? Do you want to see true expertise? Open any of the dozens of volumes of Likkutei Sichos, study each talk with the footnotes and then you'll understand what expertise is!"

On one occasion, Rabbi Hirschprung told about one of the first times he had a private audience with the Rebbe. During their conversation, the halachic definition of "immediately" and "at once" came up. He was stunned by the Rebbe's ability to "walk" with him through the entire Talmud and later commentaries to collect all the places where these definitions are mentioned.

The Rebbe showed special affection toward Rabbi Hirschprung. On many occasions, the Rebbe called him a "living Torah scroll." Every time he came to a farbrengen or dollar distribution, the Rebbe blessed him warmly.

On one occasion, during the controversy against the Rebbe in the 1980s, Rabbi Hirschprung was invited to a family celebration in Israel, and was sent free flight tickets, with the ultimate goal being to defame - God forbid - the Rebbe's honor. When the Rabbi heard about this, he immediately canceled his trip, and this was the day before the flight, when all his suitcases were packed. It happened that one of America's great rabbis was invited to a political conference in government circles in Israel. During this period, the Rebbe was fighting to amend the "Who is a Jew?" law, and Rabbi Hirschprung's participation could have been interpreted as supporting the government's position not to amend the law. Rabbi Hirschprung didn't hesitate and called to tell him not to go. The rabbi told Rabbi Hirschprung that only if he would rule according to Jewish law that it's forbidden for him to go would he not go. Rabbi Hirschprung immediately responded that according to Jewish law there is a complete prohibition to travel to that place.

A similar thing happened when the Rebbe said that all rabbis should sign a halachic ruling that stated it's forbidden to give any part of the Land of Israel to Arabs. Rabbi Hirschprung sat for several hours with an acquaintance's phone, dialed the numbers of various rabbis, and explained to them the importance of their signatures. Dozens of rabbis understood the serious implications of returning territories from the Land of Israel, and they opposed the move.
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