From Rutgers to Rebbe "The makin of a field commander"

As the years creep there emerges an existential threat to the revolution and that it denial. It's not just the demigod of ancient egypt it is the ammo that the haters arm themselves with. They claim that the daily miracles we've seen rebbe perform with our own eyes were merely slight of hand and they will soon attempt to distill rebbe through an artscroll bio the same way the rav has been yeshivishized.(note to rabbi lamm's dismay rebbe didn't print the yu emblam in an attempt to have the reshimos accepted in the velt. rebbe did this in order to get the rav's torah out there and must be commended for taking action "eis lasot you can erase the yu emblam") . In any event many a chasid's memory begins to fade as they move into modern orthodox communities and become numb to the teaching of the revolution only to be awakened with a midlife move to israel, and i thought it important to jot down some of the stories,epics,lore,legends you get the pic so they are not lost forever. I thought an appropriate place to start would be to talk about rebbe's legendary tzfat trip. For one chasid it was where it all began(hence the title of the post). On rebbe's annual midwinter trip to israel (i would appreciate help from all who remember details) Rebbe decided to take a vision quest to tzfat. He and his driver reb feivel set out along with yoni goldstein ,yona, danimal,akivah ben cannan and your humble naarator. We crammed into reb feivel's nobody knew how they got ther or why they were chosen but we all embraced the oppurtunity to make new friends and enjoy the ride. We headed out for tzfat toward evening enjoying some snacks and tunes traveling a journey of hours in only minutes. We got to a split on the highway one direction headed toward tzfat and the other was toward naharia. It was decided that we should stop in nahariah to see the famed kabbalist and grandson o the bab sali rebbe david abuchaseira. We showed up and rebbe used his protecsia to ensure a speedy audiene with the great sage. We urged rebbe to teach us some torah and comendiered a side room where rebbe gave us a shiur on mishloach manot as he feasted on bananas. I pulled out m guitar to play a niggun but was met with scowls by a hoard of sephardic jews who were waiting to share their troubles with the rebbe. We went into see rebee david and he asked us each our names and gave us a blessing. I said that my name was yitzchak eliezer and he recited the passage by yitzchak's blessing of mea shearim. We all left and rebbe remained inside alone with rebbe david. rebbe emerged 15 minutes later shared a bit of cake with all of us and said that rebbe david let him ask whatevet he wanted and his shamash refused to accept any money from rebbe. Rebbe explained this is a sign of a truly great person because he is supported by one or two rich gvirim. As we were on the way out of town it was suggested that we stop at the beach to break bread sing a bit and pray the evening service.It was pouring outside, yet when we arrived at the beach the rain suddenly stopped heralding rebbe's arrival. The water came up to meet rebbe for netilat yadayim and we broke bread and frolicked on the beach singing songs of free men. We returned to the car with our bellies full and our heads held high and no sooner then reb feival stated the car did the gates of heaven open and we were shlacked by buckets of rain. The hour was getting late and we were all certain we would not find any accomadations at this late hour in tzfat. We arrived at the hotel ron in the wee hours of the morning to find a friendly clerk behind the front desk waiting to show us to hour rooms. We drew lots to figure out who would spend the night with who I think I spent it with the akivah? others will remember the details and we settled in to a good night sleep.