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The Rebbe Put His Hand on Our Shoulders and Danced with Us

Arriving in 770 as a 12-year-old boy, young Yudel Krinsky was with some friends in the Zal when the Rebbe walked in and asked if they held a Torah. Hearing that they didn’t, the Rebbe did hakafos all over, just for them.

The Last Dance in Leningrad, The First in America

As we approach Simchas Torah, From the Margins of Chabad History presents a series of first-hand accounts of Simchas Torah with the Frierdiker Rebbe. Spanning decades and countries, they take us from the bittersweet farewell to Russia in Leningrad, 5688, to the historic visit to America, 5690, the remarkable celebrations in cosmopolitan Riga, 5693, and finally the iconic scenes at 770 Eastern Parkway.

The Day I Was Asked to Leave 770

Rabbi Hershel Zaklos thought he had finally achieved his dream of learning in 770, but after just one day, he was summoned to the Rebbe and told to leave, with a lesson on what it meant to be close to the Rebbe.

He Waited 60 Years for the Alter Rebbe’s Third Shailah

Before sending him as rov to Vitebsk, the Alter Rebbe told R. Yitzchak Aizik three shailos. For the 60 years he served as rov, he waited for the third shaila, and when it came, he knew his life's mission was complete.

The Rebbe’s Nachas from Chassidim Caring for Each Other

When secretary Reb Binyomin Klein brought the Rebbe a note from a chossid about an act of ahavas Yisroel that he witnessed among chassidim, the Rebbe's face lit up with nachas.

Kol Nidrei with the Rebbe in Liadi: An Eyewitness Account

The latest installment of From the Margins of Chabad History takes us back 150 years to the holy and uplifting atmosphere of Yom Kippur with the Chabad Rebbe of Liadi, Harav Chaim Shneur Zalman Schneerson. A picture of the zal of the Rebbe of Liadi is also uncovered for the first time.

The Tzemach Tzedek’s Trusted Rov Who Fought the Czar’s Chappers

A renowned rov and senior chossid whom the Tzemach Tzedek entrusted with guiding young Chassidim, R. Aharon Belinitcher was sent to influence communities to excommunicate the Czar’s notorious chappers.

‘The Ignorance Is Truly Shocking’

Throughout the early years of the nesius, in correspondence with rabbonim and mechanchim, the Rebbe repeatedly stressed the critical need to incorporate practical halacha in yeshivos and shiurim.

The Rebbe Asked What Nobody Thought To Ask

Veteran mechanech and senior shliach Rabbi Shmuel Lew recalls two personal encounters, decades apart, that revealed the Rebbe’s remarkable attention and care for each chossid.

The Mashpia From Whom Everyone Was in Awe

Childless for many years, they asked for brachos of the Mezritcher Maggid, R. Avrohom Kalisker, and R. Mendel Vitebsker, without success. At last, the Alter Rebbe connected them with R. Mordechai "Hatzadik," and R. Mordechai "Mashpia" was born.

He Thought He Had Rosh Hashanah All Figured Out

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

Accusing the Satmar Rov of Politics?!

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

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

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…’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.