In a recent farbrengen-style conversation, Rabbi Yosef Gopin, Shliach to Hartford, Connecticut, traced his remarkable life journey that begins with the underground Chabad networks of the Soviet Union, passes through years spent in the presence of the Rebbe in New York, and continues through decades of shlichus in Connecticut.

He recounts his parents’ harrowing escape from the USSR, describing how his father, who served as an activist for the underground yeshivos, moved the family through Georgia, then to Poking, Paris, and eventually to Eretz Yisroel. From there, Rabbi Gopin paints a vivid picture of early Kfar Chabad, where material poverty stood in sharp contrast to the spiritual wealth of the elder chassidim who lived there.

Rabbi Gopin recounts the first time he saw the Rebbe. “The Rebbe’s face… I never saw anything like it. It was so emotional… Just listen to the tape, the voice… it was one of the biggest wonders that people remained standing in their places.”

He also shares memories from his years in 770 during the late 1960s and early 70s, what he calls the stormy years of the Rebbe’s leadership. Rabbi Gopin speaks about the Rebbe’s strong and uncompromising stance on issues of Jewish security, the early Mitzvah Tanks, and the way the Rebbe remembered even the smallest personal details.

“He talked to us the way he thinks we are capable,” he says. “He didn’t rely on us and what we think we can or cannot do.”

Throughout the conversation, he recounts many personal moments with the Rebbe. Rabbi Gopin adds, “When you walked in, you could not hide anything. The Rebbe didn’t pretend; he knew what to answer you, he knew what you needed, and he knew what you really were.”

He speaks about the boldness of his shlichus in Hartford in those early years. “My friend told me it’s suicidal… to go to a place with no money and no language. But we didn’t care what people thought about us. The Rebbe gave us the faith to go.”

Rabbi Gopin also describes the miraculous atmosphere surrounding the Six-Day War, backlash over the Mitzvah Tank campaign, and many moving personal stories connected to the Rebbe.

Among Chassidim is a podcast by Derher, hosted by Rabbi Yossi Kamman, director of A Chassidisher Derher. The podcast captures the vibrancy of dor hashvi’i through immersive, in-depth conversations. To view all episodes, visit here.

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