rebbe stories – Page 3 – Melava Malka Stories

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.

The Rebbe and Dudu Fisher

During the time that the Previous Rebbe was staying in Riga, Latvia, my grandparents were living on the outskirts of the city. In January 1932, in the freeze of the winter, my grandmother went into labor with my mother, and things started to go wrong.
She was rushed to the hospital, where the doctors decided that it was necessary to abort the baby in order to save her life.

Biography of Rebbetzin Chana Schneerson

The Chassidim of Nikolayev would fondly recall Chana’s scholarship as a teenager. When a maamar (Chassidic discourse) would arrive from Lubavitch—either repeated by a Chassid who was present at the Rebbe’s discourse, or as notes sent to her father’s home—she would meticulously and faithfully transcribe it, making it available for the eager Chassidim.
Bright and talented, Chana had an excellent ear for music—a quality she shared with her father.

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.

The Rebbe Feels Your Pain

For two years after my marriage, I attended a post-rabbinical college for Torah study, known as a Kollel. About three months into my studies, I was summoned by Rabbi Chaim Mordechai Aizik Hodakov, the Rebbe’s personal secretary and also the director of the Kollel.