Rabbi Dovid Lesselbaum, 92, AH

Rabbi Dovid Lesselbaum, one of Kfar Chabad’s early residents, who served as a mashpia for the French-speaking community and editor of the French Sichat HaShavua publication, passed away on Wednesday, 5 Cheshvan.

By Anash.org Reporter

Rabbi Dovid Lesselbaum, one of Kfar Chabad’s early residents, who served as a mashpia for the French-speaking community and editor of the French Sichat HaShavua publication, passed away on Wednesday, 5 Cheshvan.

He was 92 years old.

Rabbi David Leselbaum was born in Paris, France in 5693 (1933), to a non-religious family. He was first introduced to Yiddishkiet through an incredible story involving the Rebbe.

During the Rebbe’s stay in Paris during the war in 1947, the Rebbe once gave an unusual instruction to the chassidim there: To walk through the streets of Paris for the city’s Yidden to see an authentic Yid living a Torah life with the looks of a beard, peyos, and chassidishe dress.

One day, his grandmother was looking out the window and saw visibly dressed chassidim striding through the street below. She called out to them and explained to them how she had a grandchild nearing Bar Mitzva, but lacked any Jewish education and she wanted him to have Bar Mitzva lessons. They directed her to send him to the local Rashi Shul and from there, Rabbi Lesselbaum’s transformation into a full-fledged chassid began.

He began his formal yeshiva education at the yeshiva Kol Torah in Yerushalayim, but then transferred to the Lubavitch yeshiva in Lod with the Rebbe’s bracha.

During Simchas Torah 5719 (1958), not long after getting married and settling in Kfar Chabad, Rabbi Leselbaum made acquaintance with an important left-wing Israeli politician, Mr. Yaakov Zerubavel, amid the dancing in shul. After Simchas Torah, he wrote to the Rebbe and mentioned his encounter with Mr. Zerubavel in his report.

The Rebbe replied in a letter shortly afterward, “Certainly, he has had doubts [about his path in life] for quite a while, but he has tried to silence them, and when they come into his mind, he immediately pushes them away, as is human nature. In general, people are afraid to reevaluate whether their way of life is correct, for this requires extraordinary strength of character. But because he has an influence on many others, he must do so – for any improvement in himself will be doubled many times over by his followers.”

The Rebbe concluded the letter “A sign that the time has come for him to review and evaluate his past behavior will be the dream he had just before your conversation with him.” It took three months for Rabbi Leselbaum to muster the courage needed to contact Mr. Zerubavel. When he notified him by phone that he had an important message for him from the Rebbe, Mr. Zerubavel immediately invited him to his office in Tel Aviv.

Rabbi Leselbaum read directly the Rebbe’s letter word-to-word as Mr. Zerubavel stood and listened respectively. Mr. Zerubavel then requested a copy of the letter, which Rabbi Leselbaum ultimately gave him. Rabbi Leselbaum later related, that while he does know what happened afterward, we do know that he has religious descendants who keep Torah and Mitzvos.

During the Six-Day War, he served in the Infantry Battalion and together with other chassidim initiated a large-scale mivtza tefillin.

In recent years, he served as a mashpia for French speakers in Eretz Yisroel and editor of the French-language Sichat HaShavua.

His levaya took place today, Wednesday from his home in Kfar Chabad and passed by Beis Menachem, 770, on the way to Kevura.

He leaves behind generations of Chabad chassidim.

Boruch Dayan Ha’Emes