Parshah Stories

"It is true," announced R. Lieb, "that according to the law the plaintiff must take his suit to the defendant's locale; but since in this case, 'there is no place devoid of His presence,' we will try the case here in Shpoli..."

That's the profit from the sale of a calf in the marketplace of the White Russian town of Lubavitch

The entire town would be paying attention to the new rabbi's first ruling. Everyone was sure to wonder: Why is the law of the Torah so opposite to common sense? "Why me and why now?" wondered Rabbi Levi Yitzchak

We were all looking away; we had not known that he was severely afflicted with Parkinson's disease. Then we heard this big bang on the table: "Gentlemen, look at me, and look at me right now. Who can tell me what the lesson of the Holocaust is?"

A room full of five-year-olds in a Russian cheder learn a new way to read the Alef Bet

I returned to my compartment in a state of confusion. The last thing I had expected from the Rebbe was a business tip

It was a drastic move, but they felt they had no choice. They fasted and recited Psalms all day. Evoking ancient Kabbalistic formulas, they asked to be given a sign that night in their dreams.

One Friday afternoon, a man knocked on the door of Rabbi Yizchak Eizik, rabbi of Vitebsk. "I have a din-torah (a matter of litigation)," he said. "I request that you hear my case..."

The Rabbi found it hard to believe that Anschel Moses might be a thief. Perhaps Anschel Moses had merely borrowed the money when he went to Sniatyn to get married. Maybe he was already planning to return it...

It was rumored that back in Russia, before the Revolution, the Cigarette Beggar had been a wealthy man, with textile factories in Minsk and philanthropic projects all over the world...

As the procession approached the location for the chupah they were encountered by a solitary Jew in a wagon, a stranger that no one recognized....

Rabbi Shmuel was very careful in keeping the accounts of this fund. He made certain that people repaid their loans as soon as they were due, else there would not be any money available for other people to borrow. He would mark every transaction carefully in his books...

"Under a tree? Very good!" cried out Rabbi Chaim excitedly. "Go and summon that tree as a witness"