Melava Malka Stories

The Children’s role in the Yom Kippur war

“Being privileged to grow up in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, as a child, I would see the Rebbe all the time. Typically, we saw him on Shabbat, as there was school during the week, but I remember how exciting it was when we would be able to go to 770 (the central Chabad synagogue where the Rebbe davened – prayed and farbrenged – led Chassidic gatherings) for the Minchah service on days there was no school. At 3:15 in the afternoon, the Rebbe would come into the synagogue, and he would hand us each a coin to place in a charity box.

Continue reading The Children’s role in the Yom Kippur war

The Humbling of Avigdor

Some 300 years ago, there lived an affluent man named Avigdor. He brought a large sum of money to Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov, to be distributed to the poor on his behalf.

The Sealed Note

In the city of Uman, Ukraine there lived a well-respected Jew. As he was getting on in years, he sold all of his belongings and decided to settle in the holy Land of Israel. His desire was to spend the remainder of his days there and be buried there.

Chacham Yosef Chaim (Part 2)

Chacham Yosef Chaim, the great Torah sage of Baghdad, was commonly referred to by the name of his most popular book, “Ben Ish Chai.” Even though he was not the Chief Rabbi of the city, he served as a leading Rabbi there for 50 years until his passing in 1909. He was highly respected by all. His sermons attracted thousands, for he was followed by the great and the simple. What’s more, his house was always wide open to the needy and any petitioner.
Continue reading Chacham Yosef Chaim (Part 2)

Chacham Yosef Chaim

Chacham Yosef Chaim (1832-1909), known as the Ben Ish Chai, was a highly revered Torah scholar and master of Kabbalah. Based in Baghdad, Iraq, he was recognized by the Sephardic community both locally and abroad as an eminent Halachic authority.

Yosef Chaim was born on the 27^th of Av, 1832, into a long chain of rabbinic figures renowned for their spiritual influence on the Baghdad Jewish community over the centuries. His father, Chacham Eliyahu Chaim, the son of Chacham Moshe Chaim, was the head rabbi and leader of Baghdad’s Jewish community.

Rebbeitzin Shula Kazen

Revered for her fiery personality and rock-solid faith forged during a childhood in the former Soviet Union, Rebbetzin Shula Shifra Kazen nourished, guided, and inspired thousands during decades of communal leadership in Cleveland, Ohio.

She was born in 1922 in Gomel, Belarus, then part of the newly created Soviet Union. The eldest of seven children born to Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan and Maryasha (Garelik) Shagalov, her life began under difficult circumstances. Russia had been devastated by the terrible civil war that birthed the Bolshevik revolution, and thousands were dying of starvation.

The lost money

The Chozeh of Lublin had a Chasid by the name of Reb Avraham Ponzier. This Reb Avraham had three daughters of marriageable age. In those days, the father was expected to offer a sizable dowry to marry off his daughter. Unfortunately, Reb Avraham did not have the money. His wife suggested that he should go to the Chozeh and ask what to do.

Rabbi Chaim ibn Attar in the lion’s den

While Rabbi Chaim was still a student in his grandfather’s Yeshiva he learned the skills of a goldsmith, so that he would earn his livelihood without having to make his Torah knowledge “a spade to dig with.”
Later, when he had already become famous for his learning and saintliness and could have held an honored position as a great Rabbi and Rosh Yeshiva (head of a Yeshiva), he declined to be paid for these services. He preferred to earn his money from the work of his hands, for he was a very skilled goldsmith.

Ink that doesn’t fade

The well-known Rabbi Yosef Wineberg shared an interesting experience. In 1945, when he was living in Chicago, the Previous Rebbe sent his emissary, the distinguished Chassidic rabbi, Rabbi Shmuel Levitin, to Chicago on a special mission. Rabbi Levitin was sent by the Lubavitcher Rebbe to visit and bring warmth and inspiration to the Jewish community in Chicago in general and to a certain Mr. Lisner in particular.

Rescued by the Rebbe: A Journey from Curacao to New York

I grew up in Curacao, a Caribbean Island that is part of the Netherlands Antilles. There were no Jewish schools on the island at the time, and I attended the Protestant school.