By NCN Staff

We admit it; we are EXTREMELY proud of this issue! In it, we interview Mrs. Bassie Garelik zol gezunt zein, who has memories like this…

I can’t help but laugh when people talk about the romantic “shanah rishonah,” the first year of marriage. Shanah rishonah? My husband sent me alone to Pittsburgh for three weeks while he stayed in Crown Heights with the Rebbe.  We spoke often by phone and one day he said, “Rabbi Hodakov told me we’re being sent to Europe.” Rabbi Chaim Mordechai Aizik Hodakov was one of the Rebbe’s closest secretaries. “Really?” I replied, my excitement growing. “Where in Europe?” I could sense his shrug over the phone. “What difference does it make? We’re being sent to Italy.”

And Rabbi Yossi Groner, who, together with his wife Mariashi, had a school, but no location:

… the Rebbe’s reply to Mariashi’s letter: “Hashem will provide everything that is needed. And may you always report good news.” We were both overjoyed, and we immediately called all the parents of our students and told them, “Mazel Tov, we have a place!” Naturally, they asked, “Where?” And we said, “We don’t know yet, but we know we have a place. If the Rebbe said that Hashem will provide everything that is needed, there will be a place.”

Read the impact this had on a school employee who didn’t understand where the Groners got that kind of confidence from.

We interviewed Bais Rivkah teacher Mrs. Ella Lerman about her teaching career (43 years and counting).

Thirty-four years ago, during the summer, I wasn’t feeling well and asked the Rebbe if I could take a year off from teaching. The Rebbe underlined one year.

Lazer Raksin has described his mivtza tefillin experiences for us numerous times over the years, but it’s never enough! Lazer, we always want more! In the upcoming Chof Beis Shvat issue of N’shei Chabad Newsletter, we get another article with Lazer’s signature wit and humor and strong focus on simply getting his fellow Jews to do a mitzvah. Here’s an excerpt:

When I tell them I will not be in for a few weeks because I have to travel overseas, I ask them if I can send a replacement to cover for me. Their response is a solid NO. Don’t ask me why. But then they pipe up, “If Hashem will ask us why we didn’t put on tefillin today, we will tell Him that you didn’t show up.” Look how much pressure they put on me.

Dr. Ira Weiss shares some memories of unforgettable conversations he had with Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka. But this is our favorite part; it illustrates that even when the Rebbe was dealing with serious health issues of his own, he always had his wife’s wellbeing in mind:

The Rebbe, after he saw that his hypotension and cardiogenic shock from the heart attack had come under control, asked me to listen for a minute to the Rebbetzin’s heart. I readily agreed.

These and many more good stories await you in the next NCN. Don’t find yourself out of the loop! Be able to join the conversations around you! Pick up the new issue in Crown Heights stores before Shabbos, or subscribe at https://nsheichabadnewsletter.com/subscribe/