our rebbeim – 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.

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.

“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:

From Iran To New York

I was born in the city of Sanandaj, Iran, to a line of rabbis that originally come from Safed, Israel, nine generations ago.

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.

The Rebbe saved her life!

There was a young kallah (bride) from a Satmar family who, as her wedding day approached, wanted to go to the Rebbe for a bracha (blessing). Her family members tried to dissuade her from going (as they were not followers of the Rebbe and in some cases very much against the Chabad ideology) but she was adamant.

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.

The Rebbe’s Vision

Dr. Ira Weiss of Chicago, a renowned heart specialist, became very close to the Rebbe and the Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, when he was called upon to be part of a dedicated team to care for the Rebbe after the Rebbe had a major heart attack in 1978*.
In 1981, the Rebbetzin was not feeling well, and Dr. Weiss was called.