Story Archives | Anash.org

He Thought He Had Rosh Hashanah All Figured Out

Anash — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 13:33:00 +0000

Having resolved to spend Rosh Hashanah immersed in avodas hatefillah, his plans were suddenly interrupted. “They need you,” he was told, as he faced with a real struggle between his own avodah and what Hashem had planned for him.

Accusing the Satmar Rov of Politics?!

Anash — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 13:05:00 +0000

The respect and esteem with which the Rebbe regarded rabbonim was extraordinary. When someone suggested that a certain psak din of rabbonim was motivated by politics, the Rebbe reacted sharply.

I Thought the Rebbe Would Tell Me That Children Are a Blessing

Anash — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 21:02:57 +0000

Overwhelmed while expecting her fifth child, Mrs. Chana Gurary of Montreal reluctantly went to the Rebbe expecting words about the blessing of children, but what the Rebbe told her was far more practical.

Riga, Brownsville, Crown Heights: Rosh Hashanah with the Frierdiker Rebbe

Anash — Sun, 06 Sep 2026 00:48:00 +0000

As we approach Rosh Hashanah, From the Margins of Chabad History presents contemporary accounts of Rosh Hashanah with the Frierdiker Rebbe in Riga, Brownsville, and Crown Heights. A letter of Rosh Hashanah berachos from the Frierdiker Rebbe to American Jews is also published here, for the first time.

‘If Rabbi Schneersohn Would Behave like All Rabbonim…’

Anash — Sun, 06 Sep 2026 00:12:00 +0000

The Rov of Minsk and later Leningrad, R. Menachem Mendel Gluskin, fought with mesiras nefesh to preserve Yiddishkeit under Soviet rule. During one NKVD interrogation, he asked why the Communists hated the Frierdiker Rebbe so fiercely, and received a revealing answer.

I Wasn’t Excited to Meet the Rebbe, Then Everything Changed

Anash — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 15:07:00 +0000

After losing her father in a shocking, unsolved murder, young Chana Sharfstein reluctantly accompanied her grieving mother to a yechidus with the Rebbe, expecting little from the visit, until the Rebbe suddenly turned to her.

Chinuch Begins at Home

Anash — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 13:03:00 +0000

When Rebbetzin Sima Ashkenazi began telling the Rebbe about a tense meeting between parents and the seminary hanhala, she got only as far as the word “parents” before the Rebbe interrupted her.

He Gave His Life for His Children’s Chinuch, and Succeeded

Anash — Sun, 30 Aug 2026 00:19:00 +0000

Dedicated to his children's chinuch, R. Benche Raskin fought the Haskala in his hometown, moved to another city, and early each morning he recited Tehillim and brachos with tears, pleading for ehrliche children. The result: The large Lubavitcher Raskin family.

Not Everywhere is Kfar Chabad on Simchas Torah

Anash — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 13:05:00 +0000

A grand 'Erev Chabad' in Caesarea featured Chassidim singing nigunim and dancing, with some amusing by dancing on their heads. But in a yechidus that followed, the Rebbe explained that not everything that works on Simchas Torah in Kfar Chabad is suitable for the wider public.

When the Rebbe Wouldn’t Accept Two Medical Opinions

Anash — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 19:43:42 +0000

When two doctors recommended removing his lung for cancer, the Rebbe insisted on yet a third opinion. That advice saved his lung, and saved his life years later.

He Saw What the Tzemach Tzedek Did Behind Closed Doors

Anash — Sun, 23 Aug 2026 00:34:00 +0000

Called into the Tzemach Tzedek’s room to copy a maamar, R. Shmuel der Shreiber was left spellbound by what he witnessed, spending all night watching the Rebbe learn until he was ultimately sent on his way.

The Rebbe Rejected His Offer to Donate a Year of His Life

Anash — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 13:05:00 +0000

When young Shamshi Yunik was moved to donate years to the Rebbe, the Rebbe rejected his offer and redirected him to the proper way for him to give of his life to the Rebbe.

A Home-Cooked L’chaim and a Wedding on Paper Plates

Anash — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 17:45:58 +0000

Mrs. Mariashi Groner recalls how the Rebbe’s call for simpler l’chaims shaped her own engagement, and how her father carried the same message into her wedding with simple invitations, paper plates, and plenty of joy.

Boys Banned from Ball Playing, But the Rebbe Intervened

Anash — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 13:04:00 +0000

When boys at 770 were told to stop playing ball, one boy was ready to leave yeshiva altogether. The Rebbe heard about it, and the next day, balls came rolling out the windows of 770.

The Rebbe’s Answer to My Doubt Before the Wedding

Anash — Thu, 13 Aug 2026 20:46:00 +0000

Before his wedding, Rabbi Zushe Winner asked the Rebbe how he could know that his commitment to establish a home on the foundations of Torah and mitzvos was truly sincere, and received an answer that stayed with him for life.

The Cantonist Chossid Who Became the Rebbe’s Gabbai

Anash — Sun, 09 Aug 2026 00:57:00 +0000

Kidnapped at age seven and freed by 'Chevras Techiyas Hameisim,' R. Yisrael Nachman Mariasin became a devout chossid, a talmid of R. Hillel Paritcher, and ultimately, the Rebbe Rashab's gabbai for yechidus.

‘What Are Bochurim Doing in Such a Place?’

Anash — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 13:03:00 +0000

While strongly encouraging mivtzoim, the Rebbe also cautioned that not every setting was appropriate for every person. When bochurim found an opportunity near a resort, the Rebbe reprimanded them.

The Rebbe Banged on the Bimah with a Message From Above

Anash — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 18:44:35 +0000

As a talmid in 770, R' Yisroel Gordon was sitting in the Zal when the Rebbe walked in and banged on the bimah. He had a message from the Frierdiker Rebbe who received a heavenly message from the Rebbe Rashab.

‘Nu, What Was I Supposed to Do?!’

Anash — Sun, 02 Aug 2026 01:07:00 +0000

As a tomim in Lubavitch and later as a shochet, R. Shamai Vigan was a devout oved Hashem who spent hours each night at krias shema she’al hamita. Crying to the Rebbe Rashab that his sister was in danger, the Rebbe felt compelled to make a miracle for him.

When the Rebbe Opposed the Founding of Touro College

Anash — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 13:05:00 +0000

Before founding Touro College, Dr. Bernard Lander presented his carefully designed plans to the Rebbe in yechidus. But the Rebbe responded with an objection he had not anticipated.

‘Batlonim That You Are!’ He Screamed at the Hanhala

Anash — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 01:15:00 +0000

A talmid of R. Peretz Chein and his son Radatz, R. Dovid Meir Rabinowitz came to Boston in 1896, where he served as rov for 50 years. On a visit to Tomchei Temimim in Otvotzk, he nearly fainted, and then berated the hanhala.

Make L’chaim on Coca Cola

Anash — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 13:04:00 +0000

When a young Yemenite bochur told the Rebbe he disliked mashke, the Rebbe asked him what drink he liked. The boy answered Coca-Cola, and the Rebbe instructed him to recite lchaim on that, and even offered him money to buy it.

She Started Arguing With the Rebbe, and I Had to Translate

Anash — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 20:03:00 +0000

Entering yechidus with a Spanish-speaking woman, Rabbi Noson Grunblatt planned to memorize the Rebbe’s words and translate them afterward. Suddenly the Rebbe told him to translate on the spot, and the woman began questioning the Rebbe.

‘Yoel Iz Azoi Un Yoel Iz Azoi…’

Anash — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 13:02:00 +0000

On numerous occasions, the Rebbe discouraged dwelling on oneself, focusing instead on constructive action. When a young Reb Yoel Kahn wrote the Rebbe a tzetl listing his deficiencies, the Rebbe gently redirected him.

The Beis Hamikdash Model That Earned the Rebbe’s Bracha

Anash — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 19:43:23 +0000

It took Rabbi Yisroel Dov Levanoni three years to build his Beis Hamikdash model, but it took the Rebbe only a moment to notice something no one else had seen.

80 Years From Shanghai: The Epic Journey of the Lubavitcher Bochurim

Anash — Sun, 12 Jul 2026 01:30:00 +0000

Today, 26 Tammuz marks 80 years since the arrival in New York of the Shanghai bochurim, the surviving talmidim of Tomchei Temimim in Poland. In honor of the occasion, From the Margins of Chabad History tells the remarkable story of their survival, their inspiring activities in Shanghai, and their joyous arrival in America.

Learning Until 12:30 in the Summer?

Anash — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 13:02:00 +0000

Calling a cheder a “house of life,” the Rebbe bemoaned the fact that schools closed in the summer. And when one school reported that children learned in the summer until 12:30, the Rebbe had a question for them.

Baby Three Weeks Overdue, But the Rebbe Said to Wait

MM — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 19:04:23 +0000

The operating room was already booked, the baby was nearly three weeks overdue, and the doctor warned that waiting much longer could place both mother and child at risk. After a tense weekend of trying to reach New York, R' Avrohom Procel finally received the Rebbe’s answer to wait.

50 Years Apart, a Smile Opens Doors for Chabad

Mendel — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 16:15:00 +0000

Fifty years after a smile helped a shliach secure a building for Jewish education in Lyon, the same message from the Rebbe opened the door to a new Chabad house on a Greek island.

‘Rebbe! I’m Going to America…’

Anash — Sun, 05 Jul 2026 01:32:00 +0000

One of the first active Chabad Chassidim in America, R. Dovid Shifrin left Lubavitch to live with sons. Though he did not want to ask permission, he could not bring himself to leave without notifying the Rebbe Rashab.