Melava Malka Stories

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.

Senator Derzhavin and the Jews

In addition to disseminating Chassidic teachings, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the Alter Rebbe, founder of Chabad Chassidism, worked methodically and discreetly to protect and improve the welfare of Jews living in Russia. This began shortly after Catherine the Great took up her position in 1772, and Jews were granted citizenship rights.
This began shortly after Catherine the Great took up her position in 1772, and Jews were granted citizenship rights. The Rebbe chose 12 wise and successful Chassidim to relocate to the capital city of Petersburg, where they were to establish contacts with various government officials in the course of their business dealings.

The power of a Tzaddik

An upright young man once set out from his home in Vilkomir to buy up merchandise in Niezhin. Though not a chassid himself, he was on very friendly terms with a celebrated chassid by the name of Reb Yaakov Kadaner*.
Before he left home, he called on Reb Yaakov, to say his ‘good-byes’ and receive his blessing for his trip, as is customary among good friends.

Reb Chayim Yehoshua and the “Snatchers” (Part 2)

The Chassid Reb Chayim Yehoshua spent four months in the vicinity of Kazan. At home, his business affairs often took him to the small villages, and so he was quite familiar with the ways of village folk.
He would travel from one small village to another, ransoming the children. Some of them fled on their own after they were released. As for the others, he had to care for them and find them a place of refuge.

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.