Known as “Baruch Polisher,” Reb Baruch Friedman, who had come from distant Poland to learn in Tomchei Tmimim in Lubavitch, was known for his exceptional devotion to Chassidus. Even with three children climbed all around him, he would not get distracted.

Rabbi Gershon Avtzon, Rabbi Levi Jacobson, and Rabbi Levi Hendel share their personal memories of the Rebbe’s surprise farbrengen on Shabbos Parshas Naso 5751, recalling the unforgettable moments through the eyes of a 10, 16, and 20-year-old.

Rabbonim and shluchim from across Russia and the former Soviet Union are gathering this weekend in S. Petersburg for a major regional convention featuring farbrengens, professional workshops, and discussions on the challenges facing Jewish communities, as the centennial year of the Frierdiker Rebbe’s geulah from imprisonment begins.

35 years ago, in the late afternoon of Shabbos Parshas Naso 5751, the Rebbe made a surprise entry to the 770 shul and began a farbrengen, followed by the distribution of Kos Shel Bracha.

Invited to open a Chabad House in a town 13 hours north of Buenos Aires, Rabbi Nochum Freedman faced a difficult dilemma. Inspired by his late father, Rabbi Moshe Freedman a”h, who had devoted his life to serving a distant community, he followed in his footsteps.

From Crown Heights to neighborhoods throughout Queens and beyond, Released Time worked together with local shluchim and community shuls ensuring that Jewish children in public schools could participate in the Yom Tov experience and hear the Aseres Hadibros.

Born to a Karliner family, R’ Avrohom Blesofsky would daven in 770 in a loud, booming voice. When some chassidim complained to the Rebbe about his loud davening, the Rebbe highlighted the lesson everyone should apply.

After an El Al flight made an emergency landing in Rome for a New Jersey woman to have a baby, local shluchim quickly mobilized the Jewish community to provide everything the stranded family needed.