Julie Kuperstein’s oldest child, Avraham Bar, was abducted by Hamas on October 7 and is still in their hands. But not really. As Julie told the terrorist who called her on the phone, “My son is not in the hands of Hamas; my son is in the Hands of Hashem.” Her bitachon and her mitzvah initiatives are both humbling and inspiring, heartbreaking and heartwarming.

Dear Loyal N’shei Chabad Newsletter Reader,

Good news! The Tishrei issue has gone to print and will be mailed shortly. To renew your subscription, kindly visit nsheichabadnewsletter.com/subscribe/. Or pick one up in Crown Heights stores before Rosh Hashanah.

Rochel Goldman from Johannesburg describes her experience when she was being carjacked—and her baby was in the car. Okay, we won’t make you suffer… instead of handing the gunman her car key, she threw it over a fence… and then? Well, the story is waiting for you in the Tishrei issue.

Julie Kuperstein’s oldest child, her son Avraham Bar, was abducted by Hamas on October 7 and is still in their hands. But not really. As Julie told the terrorist who called her on the phone, “My son is not in the hands of Hamas. My son is in the Hands of Hashem.” Her bitachon and her attitude towards helping her son through providing tefillin for soldiers and other mitzvah initiatives is both humbling and inspiring, heartbreaking and heartwarming, at the same time. She is a true heroine. May Hashem bring her son home right now. We would love to show the reunion on the next cover, bli neder!

Chana Kornfeld, author of the NCN’s very popular Esther Etiquette column, recently lost her grandfather, Rabbi Shmuel Spalter, a”h. In the Tishrei issue, she has chosen to uplift and educate us—not through questions to Esther Etiquette, but—through true stories from her grandfather’s unusual life. For example:

…Zaidy would say that the real miracle was not that he was saved from death and survived the war; the real miracle was that the only chassidishe yeshivah in Europe at the time was Lubavitch! There, he was greatly influenced by the great chossid Reb Nissan Nemenov. Many decades later, on Pesach, a few days before he passed away, as he watched all different cuts of meats being unpacked for a meal, Zaidy remarked, “What would Reb Nissan say to this?”

…The newcomer walked around 770 asking people if they had a room to rent with no success until he stopped Zaidy. Zaidy said of course he had a room to rent and led them to his home to a well-appointed “guest room” where he and his son stayed for over a month. Only later did he realize that the “guest room” was in fact Babi and Zaidy’s own bedroom and they had moved into their children’s room.

…In 42 years, I never heard a negative word come out of Zaidy’s mouth. As a teenager, I once complained about a certain person; Zaidy listened and then sort of shrugged his shoulders and said (in Yiddish, of course), “Nu, Hashem made him that way.” 

…During shivah, my dear Babi said, “I have no ta’anos to the Aibershter. I shared a beautiful life with my husband for almost 70 years!”

Ksivah vachasimah tovah to every one of our readers and advertisers. Thank you for your friendship and loyalty. We love you right back!

Warmly,

NCN Staff