60,000,000 people in the United States and Canada felt most uncomfortable at the end of last week, as a result of the great blackout. The Mayor of the City of New York, Mr. Michael Bloomberg, called upon the citizenry to remain calm, explaining that this is not a critical matter, rather, one of “discomfort.” It perhaps would have been appropriate to refer the residents of Greater New York to the early pioneers of Kfar Chabad in order that they should hear how it was possible to live without electricity. Even without water.

These were the early days when Kfar Chabad was first established. Some seventy Russian immigrant families had come to populate and breathe new life into the abandoned area. Many of them arrived from large Russian cities that had provided home electricity and running water. Yet, in Eretz Yisroel, they were compelled to endure a lower standard of living, going for years without such basic services.

Mrs. Chaya Chein, recalls from a mother’s point of view. “We were among the Kfar’s first founding families. The hardships were most uncommon. In all the cities I lived in the Soviet Union and then later in Europe, there was electricity in the homes and running water from the taps. But when we arrived here, we were forced to provide light with kerosene lamps, and draw water from wells. The water was not clear, but reddish in color. It was extremely difficult to manage without electricity and gas. We were a family with small children, and we didn’t have a heater. The lighting in the house at night was very dim. We cooked on a small fire that we lit outside.”

In contrast to Mrs. Chein, there were other residents who were familiar with this type of lifestyle. Rabbi Shlomo Meidanchik, Chairman, Agudas Chassidei Chabad, who served for many years as the Kfar’s Vaad Chairman, recalls that he was already used to this from Russia. “I was born in a small town in the Ukraine, where there was no electricity, water, or gas. This is how I lived until the age of seventeen. Later, I lived in other Russian cities that had electricity. But when I arrived in the Kfar, I got used to the lifestyle with which I grew up very quickly. Of course, it’s hard today to describe how we lived then in such difficult conditions, but that was the reality.”

In those years, there were people who were appointed especially with the task of cleaning the kerosene lamps and lighting them anew each night. These lamps provided a dim source of light to the streets of the Kfar. One could see R. Yisroel Yitzchok Zalmanov, of blessed memory, walking through the village streets to kindle the lamps, and R. Tzvi Lieberman, of blessed memory, who would make certain that they were cleaned the next day.

HaRav Yitzchok Mendel Liss, who served then as the Vaad secretary, recalls life without electricity:

“Electricity means light. Electricity also means a refrigerator. We had refrigerators of days gone by – boxes in which blocks of ice were placed. The ice seller would come to Kfar Chabad, stopping every so often to give a long blast with his horn, so we would know that the iceman had arrived… There were no stoves for home heating and baking in Kfar Chabad in those days. The Kfar had a bakery where bread was baked each day, and challos for Shabbos and Yom Tov.

“This is how we lived, yet we could not reconcile ourselves to the situation. We spared no effort to obtain electrical power lines for Kfar Chabad via the national electric company. The main obstacle that confronted us was the huge amount of money that we had to pay the Israel Electric Company for the connection.

“When the well-known askan, HaRav Pinchas Althaus, heard about this, he decided to offer his assistance in the matter. He used his connections with the philanthropist, R. Shlomo Pelmar, a Lubavitcher chassid from Chicago who donated $20,000 towards the project, “and there was light” in Kfar Chabad. First, the lighting was installed in the streets, and then, each resident made certain to connect his home to the electricity network…”

Back then, extra special efforts were made to finish the entire Kfar Chabad electricity installation before Chag HaGeula, Yud-Tes Kislev, which would be publicly celebrated with the participation of thousands of people arriving from all over the country for the event. The tremendous efforts bore fruit, and the central shul was bright with illumination for the great Yud-Tes Kislev farbrengen. This was a great achievement, as it was still in the first days after the founding of the state, and most villages and moshavim had yet to acquire the luxury of electrical power.

HaRav Yisroel Leibov, of blessed memory, writes about Kfar Chabad’s historic connection to the electrical network in one of the Chabad periodicals. “Due to the efforts of R. Pinchas Althaus, Kfar Chabad’s connection to the electrical power lines was completed in time for Chag HaGeula, Yud-Tes Kislev. Mr. Zalman Shazar also exerted much effort on the matter, and thanks to them, the electrical line to the Kfar was installed. The Israel Electric Company did everything possible to complete the work by Yud-Tes Kislev.”

Shortly thereafter, the Rebbe MH”M wrote a letter of thanks to Mr. Shazar for his assistance: “I was pleased to receive notification that the electrical lighting in Kfar Chabad has actually been arranged, and that a farbrengen has already been held to its light on the auspicious day of Yud-Tes Kislev. Since they have written to me that the matter has been settled, much thanks and appreciation to him and his strength and vigor.” (Igros Kodesh, Vol. 8, 14 Teives 5714)

In 5716, R. Itche Mendel Liss, Kfar Chabad Vaad secretary, arrived at Beis Chayeinu. He carried with him a protocol from a recent meeting of the Vaad. Among the issues discussed at the meeting was the lighting on certain Kfar Chabad streets that had not yet been arranged. During the yechidus with Rabbi Liss, the Rebbe took interest in great detail regarding the street lights. He even sent a letter to the Kfar Chabad Vaad, encouraging them to complete the installation of the street lights: “It appears from the aforementioned protocol that the electric lights are not yet in place. It is my hope that they will hurry up as much as possible, as from the 15th of Av, the days get shorter.”

Ten years later, in 5726, the Rebbe MH”M asked the residents of Kfar Chabad to install a generator that would be connected to the Kfar’s main electricity network for usage on Shabbos and Yom Tov. Up until then, only a few Kfar Chabad families were stringent regarding the use of electricity on Shabbos. Some would connect to a small battery for Shabbos usage; others would eat their Shabbos meals by candlelight.

It would be appropriate here to preface any further discussion with the words of HaRav Eliezer Melamed of Yeshivas Beit E-l, in order to understand the halachic problem of using electricity manufactured on Shabbos:

“It is clear to all that electricity must be supplied throughout Eretz Yisroel every day of the week, including Shabbos. Any damage to this electrical service involves an endangerment to life. Hospitals maintain medical equipment which run on electricity. Even in many private homes, there are sick people who are in need of certain medical equipment to save and protect their lives. Similarly, the defense establishment is aided by electrical machinery, which if unavailable, can prevent a proper response in an emergency situation. During the cold winter months, many homes are heated by electricity, and its interruption can endanger the health of infants and sick people. Even during the summer, similar endangerment of the ill who require proper air conditioning can come as a result. In addition, since we are accustomed today to store food over many days in refrigerators and freezers, a stoppage of electricity can create a spoilage of food. Furthermore, this can lead to cases of botulism, which can place lives seriously at risk.

“Therefore, the Israel Electric Company must make certain that the service continues unimpeded on Shabbos. In this light, if a power failure occurs in a particular place, everything must be done to restore the electricity supply, due to the fear that in that location, a life-or-death situation might otherwise result.

“However, most regrettably, it is a known fact that Israel Electric Company employees engage in work on Shabbos that is non-essential to the maintenance of electricity service for the purpose of cutting expenses. Furthermore, if there was greater awareness of Shabbos observance, it would be possible to activate the electricity manufacturing system automatically without human intervention. Then, it would only be necessary to retain manpower at electricity stations to monitor the network and tend to service breakdowns in emergency cases. However, the Israel Electric Company does not actually make an effort to prevent these work activities on Shabbos. Therefore, several leading rabbanim have tended to rule stringently and forbid the use of electricity manufactured on Shabbos by the Israel Electric Company in order not to benefit from acts of Shabbos desecration or to be a partner in this chillul Shabbos.” (See rabbinical rulings at length, The Talmudic Encyclopedia, Vol. 18, Appendix.)

Even among those rabbinical authorities who show stringency on the use of electricity on Shabbos in Eretz HaKodesh there are those who are lenient in the event that the electricity was manufactured together by Jews and non-Jews, as in the Diaspora.

For this reason, the Rebbe MH”M, for whom halachic observance is the primary basis of his entire doctrine, wanted the residents of Kfar Chabad to be more stringent and use electricity on Shabbos that was manufactured by a generator, and not by Jews working on Shabbos Kodesh.

At first, the Rebbe did not express an explicit opinion on the matter. In 5717, HaRav Eliezer Karasik came to the Rebbe with a request that he awaken people to the subject of electricity manufactured on Shabbos in Eretz HaKodesh, similar to what the Rebbe did regarding Israeli ships that traveled on Shabbos. The Rebbe responded that the Israeli ships come to New York, and therefore, he got involved in the matter. Whereas, on the subject of electricity, “This is a question for Eretz HaKodesh, and especially since the differing opinions among the rabbanim of Eretz HaKodesh with their reasons and arguments are well-known.”

Two days later, the Rebbe wrote a letter to a certain Jew who asked a question about electricity on Shabbos, and the Rebbe responded again that the matter had already been debated in Eretz HaKodesh.

Only in later years did the Rebbe urge the residents of Kfar Chabad again and again, foremost among them the rav and the askanim, to do everything possible to adopt a system of private electricity on Shabbos.

It is interesting to note that several Karlin-Stoliner chassidim from Yerushalayim wrote to the Rebbe on the subject and requested financial assistance to purchase a battery for their beis midrash. The Rebbe responded that there is no special fund for this purpose, and current funds are already overburdened. “In any event, according to what is written, ‘I am a companion to all that fear You,’ a private check is enclosed as a symbolic participation in the aforementioned matter.” (Igros Kodesh, Vol. 19, p. 8)

In 5724, HaRav Yitzchok Mendel Liss went into yechidus again, where he urged the Rebbe about the need to install a generator in Kfar Chabad. The Rebbe instructed him to take money from his secretary, HaRav Chaim Mordechai Isaac Chodakov, of blessed memory, as his participation in the project’s expenses. “Immediately after the yechidus, I went to Rabbi Chodakov, and he told me that he has nothing to give me now due to lack of funds. I told this to the Rebbe, and he gave me an answer during the farbrengen on Shabbos. The Rebbe said that if the treasurer says that there is no money, he has to be replaced!

“Needless to say, immediately after Shabbos, I received a sum of money from Rabbi Chodakov…”

In 5726, the Rebbe wrote about this officially to the residents of Kfar Chabad. “I was very happy about the arousal by many residents of Kfar Chabad (may they increase in number) among all the residents of Kfar Chabad – shlita – to arrange a gen5sal from above” to carry out this important takana, so that Kfar Chabad will have kosher electricity, according to all opinions.

In this same letter, the Rebbe also informed the residents of Kfar Chabad that he would pay 10% of all expenses. “Bli neder, I will authorize the participation of the fund of our Rebbeim – the founder and administrator of Kfar Chabad – in a tenth of all expenses connected with this [project].”

Even in the very first letter, the Rebbe wrote with much urging and impetus that he is looking forward to good news on the matter: “May it be G-d’s will that they will do all this with the greatest possible speed, and better, one Shabbos earlier. May the merit of the many assist them and may the bracha of my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe, accompany them in all this and bring them success. Expecting and wishing for good news in this matter.” (Igros Kodesh, Vol. 24, p. 88).

A short while later, a special committee, aptly called the Generator Committee, was appointed by HaRav Shneur Zalman Gorelick, rav of Kfar Chabad, with HaRav Meir Tzvi Gruzman serving as chairman. Rabbi Gorelick himself customarily hooked the electricity flow in his home to the battery every Friday afternoon.

The following Elul, the Generator Committee members wrote to the Rebbe about what they had accomplished up until then and the obstacles that they had encountered. They asked if they should continue with their activities towards the purchase of the generator, despite all the obstacles. The Rebbe responded with the general letter of Chaf Av, where he personally jotted the following notation in the margins (boldface in the original): “I was most disappointed by the activities regarding the generator. I had hoped that it would be as I wrote, to set it up ‘one Shabbos earlier,’ yet many, many months have passed since then! And finally, they come with a question whether [or not] to even buy the generator! Nevertheless (and very much so), I hereby write again (and may it be His will that at least now they will not be idle words) the answer to their question, according to Rashi’s commentary in Parshas Balak (22:7): if they will buy it at this time (immediately upon receipt of this letter), there is substance to it, and if, etc.”

“They immediately collected money from Kfar Chabad residents and the long awaited generators were purchased,” Rabbi Shlomo Meidanchik recalled. “At first, there were two, and later, a third one. After the generators were installed, they had to be made operational. So, every family paid a monthly sum for maintenance expenses. HaRav Meir Gruzman worked diligently on this matter together with other Kfar Chabad residents – all with the continuous encouragement of the Rebbe.”

As is known, the Rebbe himself participated in the purchase of the generators. In one of his letters, the Rebbe jotted in his own handwriting, “How much exactly do I owe on the generator?”

HaRav Elazar Gorelick, then-Kfar Chabad Vaad member who was vigorously active in the whole project, recalls the difficulties in connection with the generator. “The whole issue of providing electricity through a generator was a family affair. My grandfather, HaRav Shneur Zalman Gorelick, was always stringent about the use of a battery, as he would say, ‘As HaRav Yaakov Landa does.’ The running of the generator was accompanied by many problems, as it did not always meet the heavy demand of electricity. Sometimes, we were forced to place notices on Friday in the streets of the Kfar, requesting that people refrain from running heaters on Shabbos in the winter months, and later, air conditioners during the summer, so that the generator could stand up to the burden.

“Over the years, Kfar Chabad has expanded and grown in great measure, and the generators could not meet the demand, and there were constant problems in running it. As a result, for a variety of reasons, the generators have not been in operation for several years now, and that’s a pity, since this is the clear desire of the Rebbe.”

It is appropriate to note that shortly after the Kfar Chabad generators were installed in Adar Sheni 5727, the Rebbe said in a yechidus with HaRav Boruch Shimon Schneerson, of blessed memory, Rosh Yeshivas Tchebin, “You have no doubt received word about the building of a generator in Kfar Chabad that runs on Shabbos and Yom Tov. In my humble opinion, iz dahs a gevaldiker inyan (this is a tremendous thing). And most important, people should see and do, so that the matter should spread forth from Kfar Chabad to every place in Eretz Kodesh, may it be rebuilt and re-established.”