Viznitz shocked • Rebbe asked: don't walk with wife

The Vizhnitzer Rebbe declared specially strict regulations which will be enacted in the chassidus from now on, including: the prohibition of walking with one's wife on the street and a ban on free newspapers.

Since the peak time of the Rebbe the Yeshuos Moshe of Vizhnitz, that next month will be twelve months of his passing, such a dramatic stand, as happened tonight (Tuesday), at the large Beis Midrash in Kiryat Vizhnitz Bnei Brak, is not remembered.

The announcements published in the Batei Midrash of the chassidus, heralded a special talk which the Rebbe will give on the occasion of the end of days of Shovevim, which will deal with matters of the home and is naturally for avreichim only.

The Rebbe ordered the Vizhnitz telephone system which transmits various events and conversations on live, that this evening must not be broadcasted, so that young people, namely bochurim and children, will not listen to what is said in it.

The recruit was general. Thousands of Vizhnitz chassidim from across the country came to the Beis Midrash. No one presumed the intensity of the new regulations which will be announced.

After the Rebbe spoke about the days of Shovevim which are towards the end, the Rebbe announced the various regulations, including some unprecedented and surprising.

The most dramatic regulation is that it is forbidden for an avrech to walk or hang out with his wife on the street. This prohibition is known primarily in Gur. The Rebbe added that between husband and wife and between peers it is important for appropriate topics of conversation. "Not every subject is proper to put on the table and there are many unspeakable things and one should not deal with them at all", he intoned.

Other regulations the Rebbe suggested were that the grooms who are preparing for their marriage, are to be guided by instructors from the ranks of the chassidus, and are familiar with Hasiddish customs. He also asked that the Hasiddim speak only Yiddish at home.

In addition, the Rebbe criticized the women's clothing. "There are those who wear too long and there are those wearing too short. All according to the best of fashion and against the opinion of Torah and Chassidus. The daughter of Israel should dress appropriately and modestly. One should also make sure that the cover on the wig women wear on their heads will be wide enough and not as those who wear a short wig cap and that they believe they are yotze."

The Rebbe added that one should wear a wide hat on ghe wig and be machmir to wear a scarf on the wig, as was emphasized by the Yeshuos Moshe zt"l in his will.

The Response in Vizhnitz

One of the leading chassidim clarified: "The Rebbe did not land regulations and ban walking with the wife on the street, but rather encouraged this by saying our holy Rabbonim zy"a clarified the custom of chassidim is that a woman walks down the street behind her husband, as indicated by his elder the Imrei Chaim in the possuk that Eliezer asked Avraham Avinu "Maybe the woman would not want to go after me," Avraham answered: If the woman would not want to go after the husband, "and you will be free of my vow" - and do not take her as a wife for Yitzchak my son.

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!