mivtzoim stories – Melava Malka Stories

Tefillin in Union Square

“Hi! Not sure where to send this to so I figured the number on the side of the bus would work! Please excuse my long message.
My name is Laurie and I live in Southern California. Our oldest son, Jacob, became Bar Mitzvah in the beginning of the pandemic – May 2020. My mother’s very generous Bar Mitzvah gift to him was a trip anywhere in the USA, and he chose New York. Because of the Covid restrictions of the past 2 years, we were only just now finally able to schedule this very special trip.

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:

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….

Miracles that happened through the printing of the Tanya

A young man who traveled extensively for business, decided that he would print a Tanya in each city he visited.
Sometime later, his father didn’t feel well and needed heart surgery.

His Jewish Name

Many years ago, I received a voice message on the Chabad House answering machine. The person on the call was asking desperately for a return call. So, I called him back.

A Menorah On A Car Kindled A Soul

I had the most unusual phone call. A man called up anonymously, no caller ID, and asked, “Can I speak to a rabbi?”
“Yes, sure,” I answered.

Tefillin In Manhattan

Rabbi Kantor shares his experience.
…..This is what brought me to the streets of Manhattan. There, on the mundane streets of the New York an inspiring story unfolded for me. I share it here with you, as it shows the detailed Divine Providence of Hashem down here on earth. It gives us a chance to see the presence of G-d in the smallest details of our lives.