Melava Malka Stories

The Baal Shem Tov with Little Shaul Margolis

To know the true meaning of Purim joy, one had to go to Medzhibozh and spend Purim in the company of the saintly Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov. Many were the lucky ones who did. So great was the crowd that there was not much left of the Purim feast in the way of food or drink to go around.
But there was much to drink of the endless fountain of Torah which flowed from the lips of the Baal Shem Tov. It was an experience which forever remained engraved on their minds and hearts.

The life of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson

Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson led an intensely private life. “Very few people knew about the relationship that I had with the Rebbetzin,” said Londoner Mrs. Louise Hager, who knew the Rebbetzin since the 1960s and spoke to her by phone at least once a week. “I think that was one of the strengths of the relationship. It was totally private.”

The previous rebbes prophecy (part 2)

“Behind the synagogue in the Bronx where I was the rabbi, there was a butcher shop facing the road. The back wall of the shop was attached to the synagogue wall. The Jewish owner of the butcher shop was a successful businessman and soon his small shop was not large enough for his growing business.
He found a larger space close by and decided to sell his shop which was attached to our synagogue.

The previous rebbes prophecy (part 1)

Reb Michel Vishetsky was a young man who had recently come to the United States from Russia. In Russia, Reb Michel was active in the underground Refuseniks movement, teaching Judaism secretly.
When he arrived to the freedom of America, he did not forget about his friends who were still in Russia. He became active in an organization which aided Russian Refuseniks by sending them packages of food and clothing to help them survive.

Lessons learnt from a horse

The court of Rabbi Schneur Zalman, the founder of Chabad Chassidim, was located in the small White Russian town of Liozna. His many chassidim flocked there to be near him; to pray, and to celebrate the festivals, and to receive his blessings, and to benefit from his Torah wisdom and guidance.
Once, a chassid came to the Rebbe with a heavy heart. When he entered the Rebbe’s room, he could not restrain himself. Tears flowed from his eyes.

Reb Meir Refoels becomes a Chassid (story #2)

It happened one day that a poor man who lived close to Vilna, came to the city of Vilna. He was a very learned person and a Chasid and was walking to Liozna to the Alter Rebbe. Passing through Vilna, he decided to remain there for Shabbat. He made himself comfortable in the synagogue, took out a Gemara (book of the Oral Torah) from the bookcase and sat down to learn.
The shamash (synagogue caretaker) realized that this passerby was not like the usual poor people.

Reb Meir Refoels becomes a Chassid (story #1)

There was a certain Chassid, whose son in law, left his wife, the daughter of the Chassid. Three years had passed since he disappeared, and not a word was heard from him. He thus left his wife an aguna. (A woman whose husband’s whereabouts are not known, and she does not have a get -divorce document.) The Chassid and his daughter came to the Alter Rebbe and poured out their bitter hearts to him. They asked him for his advice and blessing.
The Alter Rebbe told them to travel to the city of Vilna and go to the elected community leader of Vilna and ask him to find her husband.

Reb Mordechai of Chernobyl and his 5 sons

The Tzadik Reb Mordechai of Chernobyl known as the Maggid of Chernobyl, was the son in law of Rabbi Aharon of Karlin the Great. from this marriage, he merited to have five sons, all of whom became famous scholars and rabbis when they grew up.
After his wife passed away, for a long time, the Maggid did not yet think about remarrying.

Chanukah in a soviet prison

“There I was, sitting in a Soviet prison without even the remotest possibility of lighting the Chanukah candles,” related Reb Berke Chein, a venerable chassid who spent years in prison after a failed attempt to duck under the Iron Curtain.
One of the many unsung heroes of the Chabad effort to stand up to the Soviet monster, Reb Berke was legendary for his sincere devotion to fulfilling every mitzvah in the best possible manner.

Rabbi Yedidia Ezrahain and his work for Iranian Jewry

I was born in the city of Sanandaj, Iran, to a line of rabbis that originally come from Safed, Israel, nine generations ago. After the 1979 Islamic Revolution broke out, I was appointed as the head of the local rabbinic court, as well as the head of the community council, making me the lead person between Iranian Jewry and the new regime.
Not long after that, a group of militarized Iranian students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers, who supported the Iranian Revolution, took over the United States embassy in Tehran taking fifty-two people as hostages.