Historical Accounts

It was a politically chaotic time in Israel. Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin, a member of the Labor Party, resigned, bringing on new general elections. The elections brought dramatic change to the small country. On May 17, 1977, the right-wing Likud Party came to power, ending a twenty-nine year period in which the Left had governed Israel.

Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitch rabbi, reached the Biblical age of 70 yesterday, but he has been living in the age of the Bible every one of those years.

The author of "My Encounter with the Rebbe" describes highlights of the events that he took part in with the Rebbe, including eating the holiday meals with the Rebbe and a private audience.

One sunny morning found quite a large group of chassidim gathered outside Lubavitch World Headquarters. There were more than the usual few spectators on that day, for word had spread that the Rebbe would for the first time be using a new stretch Cadillac that had been purchased for his use.

It was 1966, and Zalman Shazar was on his first visit to the United States as the President of Israel. All the ceremonial events and official visits would be at the Manhattan hotel where the President was staying. Except for one...

Rabbi Eliezer Zusia Portugal, the Rebbe of Skulen, had connections that would enable him to arrange the escape from Romania, at the cost of $2,000 per family

For five weeks in 1977, people the world over anxiously prayed for the recovery of the Rebbe after he suffered a sudden massive heart attack that left the doctors wondering whether he would pull through.

The Rebbe then drew his prayer shawl up over his head, enveloping the podium and its contents as well. He lowered his head onto the podium, meditated, prayed, and wept—appealing to the Almighty to bless all the Jewish people everywhere with a good and happy new year...

Our problem – and it is a common one these days – was that although we owned extremely valuable property, we suffered from an acute cash flow shortage, mainly because we were heavily overdrawn in the bank, with interest at over 20%!

Throughout the time we spent at 770, there were strong arguments and counterarguments continuously going on. The subject matter was the health of our Rebbe...

We chose to have the audience on the first night. Five hundred people were expected that evening; one of the Rebbe's aides predicted that our appointment would be very late—maybe around 3 a.m...

It was one of the Rebbe's aides calling from 770. He informed me that the Rebbe was very worried because he had not heard from me...

In 1989, someone suggested that I visit Poland, my birthplace, where sixty members of my family were murdered.

As millions prayed in synagogues, the Egyptian and Syrian armies surprised the Israelis with attacks on two fronts. But one person in Brooklyn was preparing for months already...

Seven decades ago the center of world Jewry in Europe was in the midst of being destroyed. Mass murder by the Germans was the norm, targeted against Jews of all backgrounds and nationalities, who were executed on the streets and gassed in concentration camps.

As we walked home for the festive holiday meal, the young man exclaimed, “This Rosh Hashanah has changed my life!”