chassidim – Melava Malka Stories

Reb Chayim Yehoshua and the “Snatchers” (Part 1)

The Famous Chassid Reb Dov Zev of Yekaterinoslav (Deneiper today) related the following story: While he was an emissary of the Rebbe Maharash (4^th Lubavitcher Rebbe), Reb Dov Zev regularly visited the city of Gluchov, where one of the elders of the Chassidim, Reb Chayim Yehoshua, lived. Whenever Reb Dov Zev visited Gluchov, he delighted in listening to Reb Chayim Yehoshua tell stories of the Chassidim of the old days.

The Matriarch of Hebron in the late 1800’s

A ray of light and hope dawned after 53 wrenching and arduous days. The exhausted family welcomed the little baby girl into her auspicious lineage and their challenging world.

Reb Zusya of Hanipoli and a Tailor

Penniless as always, patient as always, Reb Zusya of Hanipoli knew no rest – and now his wife was nagging him for a new dress. In the end he had no option but to somehow put together the money needed. He bought the material and handed it to his wife to give to the tailor. Now, surely, he would enjoy some peace and quiet.
But when Friday came, he saw clouds gathering over the features of his Rebbetzin.

The children of the Rebbe

A number of years back, the Jewish Joint Organization arranged for a group of Jewish educators, principals and teachers from America to travel to Odessa, Ukraine. The purpose of the trip was for them to see firsthand the way of life of Jewish students there.
When the organizers of the trip searched for a place where the group could have a Shabbat meal together, they reached out to the Shluchim of the Rebbe in Odessa. Unbeknownst to them, this special Shabbat was the day before Yud Alef Nissan, the birthday of the Rebbe.

“Rebbe, I need a hug!”

I’m originally from Melbourne, Australia and despite the fact that I grew up going to a Jewish school with Jewish friends, the extent of my family’s observance was making kiddush on Friday nights and attending Pesach seders.
We also went to shul for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, and that’s about it.

“Elijah the Prophet” appears at the Seder!

Macon, Georgia, an hour’s drive from Atlanta, did not yet have a Chabad presence. Enter Rabbi Chaim and Chayala Markovits, directors of Chabad of Rural Georgia. This young couple from Australia and California, opened the first Rural Chabad Center in the US. They travel around the state to small Jewish communities and bring the warmth and light of Chabad to each place. One of their first Jewish experiences was to offer a public Seder in Macon for Passover last year, 2021. They rented a room in a hotel and transformed it into a beautiful Passover Seder complete with all the details including a delicious kosher for Passover meal. Jewish people heard about it and came out of the woodworks to attend. As the Seder progressed, little did they realize that G-d had planned a special guest to join them for the Seder. The unexpected guest appeared and for a moment the assembled thought they were seeing, “Elijah the Prophet” dressed up as a local.
Here is how it happened:

The Rebbe Helped

In the winter of 1975, we moved from the US to Europe. My wife had booked a flight from New York via Montreal because this ticket offered a substantial savings. I was to join her along the same route three weeks later when my job would end, and our lift would be shipped.

Excerpts from an upcoming book about Rebbetzin Shula Kazen’s life

… Not far from our new home was the Zemach Zedek shul*, founded at the end of the 19^th century by Chabad Chassidic immigrants from Russia….

The Rebbe’s blessing after an Ohel visit

Although I lived in Brooklyn for many years, had an Orthodox Jewish education in my youth, and passed by 770 (the main Chabad synagogue located in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, NY) quite often, I never had the opportunity to engage with Chabad in a meaningful way, until….

Reb Gavriel Nosei Chen

There lived in Vitebsk a prominent Jew by the name of Reb Gavriel. Soon after the Alter Rebbe, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, became the first Rebbe of Chabad, Reb Gavriel became a devoted Chassid of the Alter Rebbe.