Reb Mendel Futerfas was a legendary mashpiah, known for his incredible self-sacrifice and resilience in the face of Soviet persecution. With incredible resolve and inner strength, Reb Mendel maintained his faith and sense of self throughout fourteen years of brutal incarceration and exile in Siberia. One of the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s most loyal and dedicated soldiers, […]
Reb Zev Wolf Kitzes was the Rav of Tulchin and later became one of the most dedicated disciples of the Baal Shem Tov. When Reb Zev was preparing to embark on a journey to Eretz Yisrael, he stopped in for a blessing from his Master. The Baal Shem Tov blessed him with a safe and […]
The Torah gaon and renowned educator, Reb Mendel Kaplan, zt’l, was a beloved rebbi and mentor at the Yeshiva of Philadelphia and the Hebrew Theological College of Chicago. As a young man in Europe, he learned in Baranovich under Reb Elchonon Wasserman, and filled in as maggid shiur when Reb Elchonon was overseas. For his […]
Professor Elie Wiesel wrote about his lonely and difficult years after arriving in New York as a broken, exhausted refugee. Born and raised in Sighet in the tradition of Viznitzer chasidim, a turning point in his life came when he met the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Wiesel attributed his gaining hope, and redemptive strength to move forward […]
The beautiful compositions, music, and poetry of Naomi Shemer, a’h, Israel’s “first lady of Israeli song” tell the story of a nation’s return to its homeland, replete with emotive metaphor, imagery, and poetic sweetness even with a touch of the sting of the nation’s need to rebuild. Her compositions gave voice to a collective consciousness of […]