In a recent podcast interview, Rabbi Leibel Korf, shliach in Los Feliz, Los Angeles, reflects on a childhood spent in Crown Heights, growing up quite literally in the shadow of the Rebbe and the world of 770.

He describes what it meant to be a child in Crown Heights during those years, especially after the Rebbe started Tzivos Hashem. “There was a strong sense that we mattered so much,” he recalls. “Nobody could chase us away from next to the Rebbe.”

More specifically, he describes what it was like to grow up in the home of his father, the famed late chossid Reb Pinye Korf AH, known for his absolute bittul and dedication to the Rebbe and his sincere yiras Shomayim and avodas Hashem.

He describes how his father gave up everything to learn and spread Chassidus, and how he had a rule that whenever anyone wanted to learn with him, they would study – whether it was 6 a.m. or late at night.

“People loved coming to him”, he says. “It wasn’t just about his understanding of Chassidus, which of course he had a lot of, but he spoke with such ‘hartzikeit’ and such emes that people loved just coming to hear his shiurim.”

He also shares the pure chinuch his father instilled in his children, the stories he shared walking from their home near Utica Ave to 770 on Shabbos morning, and the daily family suppers when his father would read from the Frierdiker Rebbe’s zichronos.

He speaks of the immense respect he had for their father, even when he wasn’t on the same page. Reb Pinyeh, from his side, would not impose on him or tell him off, except on occasion, when he encouraged him to do better.

The episode is part of Homesick for Lubavitch, hosted by Bentzi Avtzon, a podcast dedicated to preserving personal memories of the Rebbe, Crown Heights, and the lived experience of Chassidus.

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