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What Sort of Chossid Sleeps Until Nine

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 204-206, no. 12

At Simchas Torah 5685 (1924) in Leningrad, the Rebbe Rayatz spoke passionately against the chossid who sleeps until nine, has davened and eaten by ten, and then strolls Nevsky Street looking where he should not, imagining that a kapotah and gartel or three rubles given to the Rebbe make him a chossid. He cited R. Hillel Paritcher's remark that he does not care for one who strayed and did teshuvah — who knows what sort of teshuvah it was — and explained the teaching that baalei teshuvah stand where perfect tzaddikim cannot: the baal teshuvah is not the same person, he is someone else. He then turned to a young man from Kherson living in Moscow, told him "It's not you," and instructed him to accept divrei chavrus and give a Kiddush on Shabbos Bereishis, adding that everyone must accept upon himself not to sleep past seven in the morning.

4 min to tellexcellent to tell 518 wordsRebbe Rayatz story_000243

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The Dowry and the Villager's Wagons

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 79-80, no. 6

The Alter Rebbe asked the Tzemach Tzedek where his dowry money was; told it had been given to a wealthy man in Vitebsk to invest, he asked whether the Tzemach Tzedek would take it back and place it in the chest of contributions for the Rabbi Meir Baal HaNess fund. The Tzemach Tzedek remained silent, and shortly afterward the wealthy man went bankrupt and the money was lost. When the Tzemach Tzedek's wife came in tears to her grandfather, the Alter Rebbe said, "Should my own children not listen to me?" — and told how the Maggid had once sent him and a companion on a mission, where a Jew living fifty verst from the nearest town, hearing them wonder aloud how a Jew could never hear Borchu or Kedushah, had his wagons loaded to move to town before they had even finished davenen, once he learned they were the Rebbe's students.

3 min to tellexcellent to tell 403 wordsTzemach Tzedek story_000062

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The Great Purim in Rogochov and Reb Yossele's Megillah Gelt

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 63-64, no. 3

The narrator's zeide told that at the "Great Purim" in Rogochov, Reb Yossele der chazzan of nearby Korma — a chossid whom the Alter Rebbe had once blessed to become wealthy — was honored by the Mitteler Rebbe with reading the Megillah. In the middle of the reading, at Haman's words "Whom would the king wish to honor more than me?", he spat out, "Feh, kelipah!" Everyone assumed that the Mitteler Rebbe, who detested outward displays of hispaalus, would give the reading to someone else the next morning, but he called Reb Yossele again and told him he did not know that one must first lay Megillah gelt on the table — then laid down a golden rendel, and each of the more than a thousand gvirim present did the same. So the Alter Rebbe's blessing was fulfilled and Reb Yossele became wealthy.

3 min to tellexcellent to tell 372 wordsMitteler Rebbe story_000045

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Trading One Mitzvah for Another

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 211-212, no. 21

The Rebbe told how the Alter Rebbe, when it was time to enroll the Mitteler Rebbe in cheder, summoned the melamed and proposed in his customary nigun to trade one mitzvah for another: the Alter Rebbe's mitzvah of V'shinantam l'vanecha for the melamed's mitzvah of sustaining his young children. He handed his son over to learn alef-beis, explaining that an alef is a dot above, a dot below, and a line between them. The Rebbe then told R. Pinchas ben Eliyahu Chaim Althoiz that enrolling one's child in Torah study accomplishes the same as the Kohen Gadol in the Holy of Holies — drawing G-dliness down into the world.

2 min to tellexcellent to tell 292 wordsRebbe Rayatz story_000252

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Rashag Opened Jewish Hearts

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 219-221, no. 36

At a Yud-Tes Kislev farbrengen in 5685 or 5686, the Rebbe related that his father had received a letter from the Rav of Chevron reporting that missionaries were trying to buy the shul held by tradition to be Avraham Avinu's, and that 25,000 rubles were needed for a counteroffer. Father and son traveled to Moscow, where a meeting of Moscow gvirim went badly until R. Shmuel Gurary offered to give the entire sum on condition that the shul be purchased in the Rebbe's name, sending in the morning a note and a check for 5,000 rubles though he was then deeply in debt. When the Rebbe brought the note and check to his father, his father said: Rasag accomplished the opening of Jewish minds, and Rashag accomplished the opening of Jewish hearts.

4 min to tellvery good to tell 493 wordsRebbe Rayatz story_000267

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The Melamdim Got Whatever Was in the Pocket

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 195-196, no. 91

R. Yisroel Neveler related in the name of the gvir R. Nosson Gurary that R. Nosson traveled with the Rebbe Rashab to the Alter Rebbe's ohel in Haditch, where both gvirim and melamdim were to enter yechidus. The Rebbe instructed that the melamdim be admitted first and the gvirim afterwards, but R. Nosson reversed the order and told the gvirim to leave their contributions on the table. At the train station the Rebbe asked R. Nosson whether he had money for the tickets; when R. Nosson, who knew the gvirim had left money, was astonished, the Rebbe explained that since the melamdim came in afterwards there was money on hand, and he gave them whatever was in his pocket.

2 min to tellexcellent to tell 277 wordsRebbe Rashab story_000230

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Givers, Drinkers, and Simcha Shel Mitzvah

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 344-345, no. 44

At Reb Hillel Paritcher's farbrengens the custom was to list every participant with a note beside each name — 'giver' for one who contributed toward the mashkeh, 'drinker' for one who did not. Once, after the list was compiled, someone at the end of the table objected that so much money for mashkeh would be better given to tzedakah. Reb Hillel agreed that he was right and that the money should go to tzedakah, then added that now that the mitzvah of tzedakah had been fulfilled, he wanted everyone to contribute for simcha shel mitzvah — and everyone gave even more than before.

2 min to tellexcellent to tell 268 wordsRebbe Rayatz story_000461

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Partners in the Tefillin

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 474-475, no. 18

R. Yisroel Duchman tried to connect everyone he helped to the Rebbe, and so brought a guest of honor from a Shamir fundraising dinner to the Rebbe, after putting on tefillin with him for the first time beforehand. When R. Yisroel proudly reported the first-time tefillin as they passed by, the Rebbe gently remarked that this was not something to be proud of, and then asked the philanthropist with a warm smile whether he would put on tefillin every day if the Rebbe gave him a pair; the man said he would. The Rebbe told R. Yisroel — who asked to be his partner in it — that they would be partners in other projects, and asked him to buy the tefillin at once and bring back a paid receipt. When R. Yisroel returned with the receipt, the Rebbe began handing him bills; R. Yisroel stopped after a few, saying he wanted to be the Rebbe's partner, but the Rebbe insisted he take the full amount for the tefillin, "We will be partners in other things."

2 min to tellexcellent to tell 247 wordsR. Yisroel Duchman story_000652

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"When They Mention My Zeide's Name, There Is Ruchnius"

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 105-106, no. 47

A shadar of the Tzemach Tzedek, described as not overly wise, came to resign, protesting that the chassidim were not discussing Chassidus but drinking mashkeh — two and three quarts. The Tzemach Tzedek answered that it came out of his own funds, and when the shadar still refused, he said he could not believe that his chassidim gather without mentioning his zeide's — the Alter Rebbe's — name, and where that name is mentioned there is ruchnius. He concluded, "Fool, fool; go travel!"

2 min to tellexcellent to tell 224 wordsTzemach Tzedek story_000103

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The Washing Machine and the Leather Coat

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 475-476, no. 20

In 5723 (1962), when R. Yisroel Duchman was earning very little, he served as a chazan in a nearby shul for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, earning around $300, which he set aside to buy the family a washing machine. That year an uncle came from Eretz Yisroel for a bracha to marry off his three older daughters; in yechidus the Rebbe told him that if he grew a beard he would find good shidduchim for them, but the uncle, clean shaven and ten years older than his wife, was certain she would not agree. Knowing that their aunt badly wanted a leather coat the couple could not afford, the Duchmans gave away all the money saved for their much-needed washing machine so the uncle could buy it for her. He began to grow his beard, and within a few months all three daughters found good shidduchim.

2 min to tellexcellent to tell 216 wordsR. Yisroel Duchman story_000654

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Who Will Bring Moshiach

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, p. 178, no. 65

On Simchas Torah 5679 (1918) the narrator heard the following from the Rebbe Rashab. People were discussing the large sums being given to tzedakah, and the Rebbe's son, the Rebbe Rayatz, remarked that they give because the money means nothing to them. The Rebbe Rashab would not tolerate this and said, "Who do you think will bring Moshiach — the penniless? No, the wealthy — they will bring Moshiach."

1 min to tellexcellent to tell 126 wordsRebbe Rashab story_000204

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"Why Are You All Sleeping?" — The Founding of Ezras Achim

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 474-475, no. 17

In 5724 (1963), after R. Mendel Futerfas left Russia, he went straight to 770 to meet the Rebbe and appealed to the chassidic community that chassidim in Russia lacked basic necessities — some had nothing to eat, others had exit permission but no money for tickets — asking, "Why are you all sleeping?" His words moved R. Yisroel Duchman, together with several other chassidim of Russian background, to found Lishkas Ezras Achim to help Russian Jews, and R. Yisroel raised many thousands of dollars for it, saying humbly that he did not understand spiritual matters but understood material things: he wanted another Jew to have food, a bed, and to receive it with a warm, inviting smile. When the Soviet gates opened he made fundraising trips to help emigrants settle in Eretz Yisroel, and he partnered with Dr. Yirmiyahu Branover — whose own exit he had helped arrange — in Branover's organization Shamir for Russian immigrants there.

2 min to tellvery good to tell 311 wordsR. Yisroel Duchman story_000651

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The Shadar Who Was Sent So They Would See His Face

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 461-462, no. 71

The Rebbe appointed R. Zalman Duchman as a shadar, and twice a year he traveled across the country collecting funds, spending a month each winter in Chattanooga, TN with an elder chossid and relative, Rabbi Chasdan, the local shochet, and a month between Pesach and Shavuos in Toronto, where his daughter and son-in-law lived. The trips were hard on him — he could not speak English, had few contacts, and did not bring in large sums — and he wanted to stop, but the Rebbe insisted he continue, saying he was sending him to Chattanooga "az men zol zen aza hadras ponim — that they should see his remarkable countenance." The purpose of such trips had always been to sow spirituality and reap material fortune, and with his warmth and genuine care R. Zalman connected with many Yidden, opened their eyes to the concept of a Rebbe, guided them to the Rebbe's door, and carried their requests to the Rebbe himself.

2 min to tellvery good to tell 304 wordsR. Zalman Duchman story_000627

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He Married Off All Ten Orphans

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 491-492, no. 13

A family of twelve, chassidim of the Skulener Rebbe, arrived in Toronto; the father fell gravely ill and died, leaving a widow with ten young children. R. Eliyahu collected a large sum for them and established an official fund to support each member of the family, and as each child reached marriageable age he found a spouse, arranged everything the couple needed, and married off all ten as if they were of illustrious status, worrying for them as though they were his own children. After R. Eliyahu's passing, the Skulener Rebbe came to the shiva — arriving in Toronto at 3 A.M. after an airplane delay and asking the family to receive him at that hour — to thank them for the kindness shown to his chassidim.

2 min to tellvery good to tell 282 wordsR. Eliyahu Akiva Lipskar story_000672

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Reb Zalman Duchman's Correspondence with the Rebbe

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 504-512, no. 1

Selections from Reb Zalman Duchman's correspondence with the Rebbe, beginning with the Rebbe's first letter of 12 Cheshvan 5709 (1948) and Reb Zalman's reply of 23 Cheshvan 5709; over the following 22 months Reb Zalman sent the Rebbe 212 pages that became the foundation of this book. The Rebbe pressed him to send more than "some" stories, citing that a rich man who brings a poor man's offering does not fulfill his obligation, and later instructed that the stories be checked for accuracy of quotations from our sages, told him to choose from or print the letters he already had rather than wait for a new approbation, and asked "Is there any reason to wait?" A 5722 (1962) letter urges support for Colel Chabad, since the redemption depends on our deeds and activities connected to the Holy Land are therefore especially timely. When Reb Zalman submitted a list of donors for a bracha, the Rebbe answered that their reward is already stated in the letters of the Rebbeim from the Alter Rebbe onward, and asked whether the letter had been properly used in the 150th year since the Alter Rebbe's passing.

4 min to tellgood to tell 540 wordsCorrespondence with the Rebbe story_000677

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The Beggar with the Radiant Face

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, p. 52, no. 31

Der Zeide related that while a group was sitting over a drop of mashkeh in Homil, a poor man with a beggar's sack came in asking for tzedakah, and they noticed a distinct radiance on his face. They asked whether he had spent time with the Alter Rebbe; he said yes but claimed he could not recall anything to repeat. After they pressed him, he repeated the Alter Rebbe's explanation of the Gemara that Hashem extended His little finger and burned the angels: the little finger is the sefirah of Malchus, Knesses Yisroel — Hashem showed the angels a Yiddishe neshamah, and they were consumed.

2 min to tellvery good to tell 230 wordsAlter Rebbe story_000031

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Yechidus at Its Set Time — and a Blessing for Shedrin

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 150-151, no. 23

Yechidus was hard for the tomimim of Tomchei Temimim to obtain, so when one had a small question he would watch for an opportune moment to catch the Rebbe, since the Rebbe had said that yechidus must be attended at its scheduled time, because beforehand he gives tzedakah and asks the Eibershter that his advice succeed. When the narrator's brother Baruch had to travel from Lubavitch to Shedrin, where there was a branch of Tomchei Temimim, he found such a moment and told the Rebbe he was traveling there. The Rebbe answered, “You should study there, and daven and serve the Eibershter” — which the narrator notes marks serving Hashem as a third, further stage.

2 min to tellvery good to tell 237 wordsRebbe Rashab story_000162

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A Fifty-Dollar Partner in the Poultry Business

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 470-471, no. 6

R. Yisroel first took a job in a butcher store and later opened his own poultry business; in yechidus, when the Rebbe asked him for good news, he reported opening his own butcher shop and asked the Rebbe to be his partner, and the Rebbe gave him a $50 bill. In his characteristic way he told the Rebbe, "If you're giving the money to be a partner, $50 is nothing, and if you're giving it as a segulah, then one dollar is also enough." He rose at four a.m. daily for his delivery route, but used his warmth and humor with his Williamsburg customers to move them to give to charitable causes and to change their view of the Rebbe and Lubavitch; his wife Rochel worked in a factory so that he could give his time to the Rebbe and to helping others, and their children nonetheless felt their parents were devoted to them.

2 min to tellvery good to tell 237 wordsR. Yisroel Duchman story_000640

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The Farbrengens and Shiurim of R. Eliyahu in Toronto

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 489-490, no. 10

R. Eliyahu farbrenged with every layer of the community — schoolboys, yeshiva students, middle-aged men and the elderly — always knowing which story or saying suited his listeners, and his Shabbos afternoon farbrengens in shul often lasted until sunset. He was a pillar of the community: he assisted the Chabad institutions in Toronto, those who had escaped Soviet oppression, Colel Chabad in Eretz Yisroel and Lishkas Ezras Achim, and he was among the Rashag's foremost local aides when the Rashag came on behalf of the central Yeshivas Tomchei Temimim in New York. Past retirement age he trained educators in a teacher's seminary, guided youngsters at camp as though he were one of them, and was among the first to open a Kollel Tiferes Zekainim - Levi Yitzchok when the Rebbe proposed it. Well-versed in nigleh and Chassidus, he gave Tanya shiurim to professors and doctors and, for twenty consecutive years, to the community's leading businessmen, and he publicly repeated the Rebbe's maamarim and sichos, all alongside an intense personal learning regimen acquired despite years of hardship and suffering.

3 min to tellgood to tell 440 wordsR. Eliyahu Akiva Lipskar story_000669

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Reb Pesach's Yechidus: Before Davening

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 323-324, no. 9

Reb Pesach Malastovker described to the narrator's zeide his yechidus with the Tzemach Tzedek. Asked what he does before davening, Reb Pesach answered that it is already written — in Likkutei Torah: mikveh, tzedakah and Zohar. The Tzemach Tzedek replied that tzedakah is a mitzvah extending through the entire day, that one is not required to have mesirus nefesh for mikveh, and that his zeide's (the Alter Rebbe's) intention in saying Zohar was Chassidus.

2 min to tellvery good to tell 218 wordsRebbe Rayatz story_000426

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Eliyahu Akiva Lipskar: From Poltava to Tashkent

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 440-441, no. 40

Eliyahu Akiva Lipskar, a young tomim born in Poltava in 5678 (1918) to the local rav R. Chaim Tzvi — who, though not a Chabad chossid, sent his children to Tomchei Temimim as their only hope of remaining upstanding Jews — lost his father at age twelve, when he was arrested for teaching Torah and died from the suffering. Eli went into business successfully as a bochur and donated large sums to the underground operations of R. Nissan Nemenov, R. Bentzion Shemtov and R. Avraham Mayor. Drafted into the Russian army at the outbreak of World War II, he was injured and released for treatment; as an injured soldier he was permitted a helper, and R. Zalman's oldest child and only daughter, who had nursing experience, accompanied him away from the front at Leningrad. The two reached Tashkent, joined the Lubavitch community there and married; when both contracted typhus and were quarantined, a caring chossid, R. Yisroel Konson, sustained them with nourishing food and saved them from death.

2 min to tellvery good to tell 227 wordsR. Zalman Duchman story_000596

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Funding the Secret Chadarim of Tashkent and Moscow

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 484-485, no. 4

In Tashkent R. Eliyahu was a zealous activist: he established chadarim where children were taught Torah, did many deeds of kindness, and helped the public with communal needs. R. Aharon Chazan recounts in his book Neged Hazerem that it was R. Eliyahu who recommended he take a position in the secret cheder network — R. Aharon founded the chadarim and found teachers while R. Eliyahu raised the money to pay them. After his release from the Red Army R. Eliyahu went into business and, despite the danger, profited, using most of the money to support the Chabad underground that secretly maintained yeshivos and chadarim, and to help families whose breadwinner had no work or who were denied ration coupons for refusing to work on Shabbos. Living in Moscow while many religious Jews remained in Tashkent, and with money transfers nearly impossible, he served as a conduit for smuggled goods but dealt only with merchants willing to send some of the wares to the secret yeshivos — all the while in great personal danger.

2 min to tellvery good to tell 224 wordsR. Eliyahu Akiva Lipskar story_000663

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The Rebbe's Letter on Colel Chabad — "The Alter Rebbe's Organization"

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 463-464, no. 74

In a letter of 5 Av 5722 (1962) the Rebbe set out the importance of Colel Chabad and the benefits of supporting it, and the letter became the basis of R. Zalman Duchman's fundraising: he would simply learn and discuss its points and the listener would be inspired to give. Not long after receiving it, R. Zalman read the letter at a bris and, reporting everything to the Rebbe as a devout chossid, mentioned the talk; the Rebbe commented on that point, "With the sources?" Chof-Daled Teves of the following year, 5723 (1963), marked 150 years since the Alter Rebbe's histalkus, which the Rebbe emphasized greatly in many letters and sichos, and in one pointed letter that year he asked whether the Colel Chabad letter was being used to its utmost for the organization, since it was "the Alter Rebbe's organization."

2 min to tellvery good to tell 207 wordsR. Zalman Duchman story_000630

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The Only Home Open on Erev Pesach

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 491-492, no. 12

R. Eliyahu kept an open house for anyone who needed a place to stay. In 5715 (1955), some years after he arrived in Toronto, his own family still lived in a small dwelling where all five of his children slept in one small room. When a large Moroccan family arrived in Toronto on the eve of Pesach and the shul's rov urged the community to take them in, nobody responded; R. Eliyahu alone took the family of seven into his home for the entire festival and made sure they lacked nothing.

2 min to tellvery good to tell 201 wordsR. Eliyahu Akiva Lipskar story_000671

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The Rubashkins of Nevel and the Megillah the Rebbe Bought for Eighteen Dollars

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 468-469, no. 3

The Rubashkin family of Nevel were known for exceptional hachnosas orchim; Shalom Rubashkin would buy a whole cow before Pesach and distribute the meat to yeshivah students, and his son R. Getzel and his wife Rosa continued that tradition. R. Getzel, deeply bonded to the Rebbe, stood through entire farbrengens even at an advanced age; when the sofer who wrote his new megillah remarked that it was nicer than the Rebbe's, R. Getzel brought it to the Rebbe as a gift, and the Rebbe insisted on paying a token eighteen dollars and used that megillah every year afterward. Separately, R. Yisroel, whose parents had moved to New York, joined a group of Lubavitcher shochtim in Ireland preparing meat for sale in Europe and Eretz Yisroel, and his first child, Sholom, was born there.

1 min to tellvery good to tell 169 wordsR. Yisroel Duchman story_000637

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"The Piece of Bread That I Have Is Yours"

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 475-476, no. 19

R. Yisroel Duchman's care for others extended to those close at hand: he organized collections that enabled countless young brides and grooms to set up their homes, and recipients could feel that he was genuinely glad to be helping them. Giving was a natural, ongoing part of his life, in the spirit of the chassidic adage that "the piece of bread that I have is yours just as much as it is mine." All year round his Shabbos table was surrounded by guests from all over the world, an effort in which his wife Rochel was his tireless partner, and for which he showed her the utmost appreciation and respect.

1 min to tellvery good to tell 152 wordsR. Yisroel Duchman story_000653

score 0.95 · person_role=0.00 topic_theme_strength=0.00 occasion_strength=0.00 keyword_fts=0.00 semantic=0.00 farbrengen_value=0.80 length_suitability=0.30

A Petack Is Not Money, But Suffering Is Precious

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, p. 346, no. 46

The narrator's zeide related that Rebbe Michel of Zlotchov gave his students their Shabbos expenses every Friday morning. When they asked him to give the money on Thursday instead, he said he would ask, and afterwards reported the answer he received from Above: "A petack is not money, but suffering is precious." A footnote explains that although he could have arranged the money a day earlier, their distress and humility over their circumstances was treasured in Heaven.

1 min to tellvery good to tell 139 wordsRebbe Rayatz story_000463

score 0.94 · person_role=0.00 topic_theme_strength=0.00 occasion_strength=0.00 keyword_fts=0.00 semantic=0.00 farbrengen_value=0.80 length_suitability=0.28

An Open Home in Leningrad and in New York

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 450-451, no. 51

The open home R. Zalman Duchman had kept in Leningrad came with him to New York: every Shabbos he and his wife hosted guests for meals, for lodging or both, sharing their minimal provisions. Long before there was any organized hospitality, he made a special effort to look after the visitors in 770, supplying them with hot drinks to warm their frigid bones — even early on Simchas Torah morning at the end of the midnight farbrengen. Each month, when his government stipend arrived, he would deposit the money with a local grocer who had a large family and needed the cash, and collect from him only what he himself needed, when he needed it.

1 min to tellvery good to tell 134 wordsR. Zalman Duchman story_000607

score 0.93 · person_role=0.00 topic_theme_strength=0.00 occasion_strength=0.00 keyword_fts=0.00 semantic=0.00 farbrengen_value=0.80 length_suitability=0.25

"One Can Write HaTzaddik": A Title Added Above the Line

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, p. 320, no. 4

The narrator's zeide related that the Tzemach Tzedek's children told him the Rebbe had said that regarding Reb Hillel one may write the title "HaTzaddik." The zeide himself saw the meshulach's letter — the Tzemach Tzedek's letter asking for contributions toward Reb Hillel's debts — and there, above the line and evidently added later, was written HaTzaddik.

1 min to tellvery good to tell 112 wordsRebbe Rayatz story_000421

score 0.91 · person_role=0.00 topic_theme_strength=0.00 occasion_strength=0.00 keyword_fts=0.00 semantic=0.00 farbrengen_value=0.80 length_suitability=0.22

Reb Hillel and the Innkeeper's Ten Rubles

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 374-375, no. 12

Reb Hillel Paritcher visited a farming community near Nikolayev, where money was collected for him as was the custom. One of the local Jews, an 'innkeeper' who maintained a house of ill repute, contributed a ten-ruble coin; when the collection was brought to Reb Hillel he took that coin and tossed it away. The Rebbe Shlita commented on the difficulty in this — bal tashchis, and that every Jew is obligated in tzedakah, 'with tzedakah you will remove your sin' — suggesting either that Reb Hillel knew the coin came from forbidden benefit, or that the story is imprecise and he in fact returned the money.

2 min to tellgood to tell 319 wordsRebbe Rayatz story_000496

score 0.91 · person_role=0.00 topic_theme_strength=0.00 occasion_strength=0.00 keyword_fts=0.00 semantic=0.00 farbrengen_value=0.60 length_suitability=0.62

Reb Hillel's Debts: He Borrowed in Order to Give

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, p. 320, no. 3

When Reb Hillel Paritcher passed away he left behind substantial debts, because he would borrow money in order to distribute it as tzedakah; he collected funds in the Ukraine. The Tzemach Tzedek wrote a note beginning, "Since HaRav Reb Hillel has passed away…", asking the chassidim to help pay off the debts.

1 min to tellvery good to tell 99 wordsRebbe Rayatz story_000420

score 0.90 · person_role=0.00 topic_theme_strength=0.00 occasion_strength=0.00 keyword_fts=0.00 semantic=0.00 farbrengen_value=0.80 length_suitability=0.20

Tzedakah Before Yechidus

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, p. 190, no. 82

The Rebbe said that he did not like people stopping him to ask for advice. He explained that before yechidus he gives tzedakah and asks the Eibershter that his advice should be effective.

0 min to tellvery good to tell 70 wordsRebbe Rashab story_000221

score 0.86 · person_role=0.00 topic_theme_strength=0.00 occasion_strength=0.00 keyword_fts=0.00 semantic=0.00 farbrengen_value=0.80 length_suitability=0.12

When We Give, One Must Take

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, p. 218, no. 34

The Rebbe once wanted to give money to someone, but the person declined to accept it. The Rebbe told him: when we give, one must take.

0 min to tellvery good to tell 48 wordsRebbe Rayatz story_000265

score 0.86 · person_role=0.00 topic_theme_strength=0.00 occasion_strength=0.00 keyword_fts=0.00 semantic=0.00 farbrengen_value=0.80 length_suitability=0.12

Matching His Income Tax to the Yeshivos

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, p. 483, no. 2

In Russia R. Eliyahu Akiva Lipskar worked tirelessly for the underground Yeshivas Tomchei Temimim alongside R. Avraham Mayor, R. Nissan Nemanov, R. Bentzion Shemtov and others. He raised large sums for the yeshivos and chadarim, and whenever he paid income tax he would donate an equal amount to the yeshivos. He used his connections with high-ranking government officials to help yeshiva bochurim imprisoned for their work in preserving Yiddishkeit, and hid R. Nissan Nemanov in his home for a long period when the authorities sought his arrest. Years later R. Nissan stayed at R. Eliyahu's Toronto home while visiting on behalf of Tomchei Temimim of Brunoy.

1 min to tellgood to tell 150 wordsR. Eliyahu Akiva Lipskar story_000661

score 0.75 · person_role=0.00 topic_theme_strength=0.00 occasion_strength=0.00 keyword_fts=0.00 semantic=0.00 farbrengen_value=0.60 length_suitability=0.30

"The Way Our Fathers Learned"

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, p. 212, no. 22

At the cemetery during the levayah of R. Shmuel Michel Treinin, baalei batim from Leningrad approached the Rebbe asking for financial support for their chadarim. The Rebbe answered that in our cities boys like these would be learning Chumash with Rashi, but since we are in Petersburg, he wanted them at least to learn the way our fathers and our grandfathers learned.

1 min to tellgood to tell 148 wordsRebbe Rayatz story_000253

score 0.74 · person_role=0.00 topic_theme_strength=0.00 occasion_strength=0.00 keyword_fts=0.00 semantic=0.00 farbrengen_value=0.60 length_suitability=0.28

"Quite the Contrary" — The Rich and the Poor of the Half-Shekel

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, pp. 401-402, no. 30

In Leningrad, the Rebbe Rayatz commented on the posuk "The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less" (Shemos 30:15): it is not at all the case that the rich give more and the poor give less — quite the contrary. The remark is recorded without further elaboration.

1 min to tellgood to tell 96 wordsRebbe Rayatz story_000529

score 0.69 · person_role=0.00 topic_theme_strength=0.00 occasion_strength=0.00 keyword_fts=0.00 semantic=0.00 farbrengen_value=0.60 length_suitability=0.18

"It Is the Alter Rebbe Who Is Speaking to You"

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, p. 243, no. 72

When the narrator's uncle, R. Leib (Shub) Meisel, came to Moscow to request funds from the Joint Distribution Committee, the Rebbe told him lightly, "You should fear me; it is the Alter Rebbe who is speaking to you." The remark is recorded as having been said as a quip.

1 min to tellgood to tell 72 wordsRebbe Rayatz story_000303

score 0.68 · person_role=0.00 topic_theme_strength=0.00 occasion_strength=0.00 keyword_fts=0.00 semantic=0.00 farbrengen_value=0.60 length_suitability=0.15

The Rebbe Rashab's Letter: "My Dear Friend, the Venerable Chossid"

As I Heard Them, Vol. 1, p. 334, no. 27

In a letter the Rebbe Rashab wrote to the narrator's zeide concerning Rabbi Meir Baal HaNess tzedakah funds, he addressed him as "My dear friend, the venerable chossid." The blessing the Rebbe Rashab gave him in that letter was for ruchnius and gashmius.

1 min to telltells with work 91 wordsRebbe Rayatz story_000444

score 0.49 · person_role=0.00 topic_theme_strength=0.00 occasion_strength=0.00 keyword_fts=0.00 semantic=0.00 farbrengen_value=0.40 length_suitability=0.18