At this time we were all preoccupied with leaving Russia. In the winter of 1969, about half a year after our mother’s passing, my father, my sister and her family received permission to leave Russia. They did so, and settled in Kfar Chabad, Israel, while my brother Berel and I remained in Samarkand with our families. My sister would report to us about daily life in the Land of Israel.

One day we were surprised to read in a letter that my father had left my sister’s house in Kfar Chabad and moved further south to a cityMy sister and her family received permission to leave Russia called Kiryat Malachi. We did not understand what had happened with him. After all, he had lived in peace with my sister and her family all these years. In Israel, had been living in a well established Chabad village. What had caused him to leave and live alone in a city we had never even heard of before? The next letter we wrote to my sister, we asked her what had happened.

In her next letter, my sister wrote what had occurred. “Don’t you know our father?” she began, "One fine day he came home from shul and declared, “I must pack my suitcases because I’m moving to Kiryat Malachi.” My sister was stunned and asked him why he was suddenly leaving. He replied that R. Dovid Raskin, a prominent Chabad activist in the United States, had arrived in Eretz Yisrael on a mission from the Rebbe, and spoke in shul that day. He relayed that the Rebbe desired to start a new neighborhood in Kiryat Malachi called Nachalas Har Chabad. He was opening an adult learning institution, a Kollel, in the neighborhood and wanted the Russian immigrants to move there.

My father concluded, “I immediately decided to move to Kiryat Malachi, and I even stopped at the post office to send the Rebbe a telegram with the news.”

My sister and brother-in-law asked him how he would manage on his own without a woman to cook and do laundry for him. He said: “Don’t worry! I’ll manage somehow. The main thing is that the Rebbe should be pleased.”

When we read my sister’s letter, we understood the power of genuine devotion, and a sense of duty to the Rebbe. My father made no conditions; he did not ask questions about how it would work out. He simply packed his bags and left.

The Rebbe did indeed take pleasure in my father’s devotion, and he blessed him that in the merit of his act of dedication, he would settle in his new home easily and merit to see his sons join him from Russia. Indeed, a short while later, we left Russia and arrived in Israel.

While in Nachalas Har Chabad, a fundraiser from Bnei Brak once came to his house and asked for a donation. My father asked him why he had come to a neighborhood of new immigrants who had no money. The man told him that he would be surprised to hear that the immigrants give more than the old-timers in Bnei Brak.

The two men began conversing, and the collector noticed that the house wasn’t very orderly and understood that there was no woman to take care of the house. After inquiring about this, my father told him about my mother’s passing before his emigration from Russia. The man said that he had a wonderful match for him with a virtuous woman from Lod, a city near Tel Aviv,The house wasn't very orderly who served as the caretaker of the local mikvah.

My father was practical and decisive by nature. He lost no time and went to Lod to meet the woman. When he arrived in Lod, he saw a woman walking down the street, and approached her to ask if she knew where this woman lived. Surprised to hear her own name, the woman—who was none other than the very person he was searching for—asked him why he wanted to meet her. Not realizing that this was the lady herself, my father did not answer. It was only after she introduced herself that my father disclosed the reason for his visit.

They conversed for a short while, and after seeing that they were suited to one another, my father proposed. She was shocked at the sudden turn of events. A stranger appears out of nowhere, begins talking to her and already he asks her if she wants to marry him!

She decided to discuss the matter with her rabbi, who advised her to take her time before deciding. Only after finding out more about my father would she give her reply.

After doing some research into my father, and inquiring of people who knew him, and after receiving many positive descriptions of my father, she agreed to the proposal. They received the Rebbe’s blessing and married.

My father lived happily with his second wife for thirteen years. She had great respect for my father and took care of him. She became involved withOur visits made her very happy communal work in Nachalas Har Chabad and the entire community knew and respected her. We of course respected her as well, especially so out of respect for our father. After my father passed away, she moved into a senior citizen home and we would visit her whenever we visited the country. Our visits made her very happy and she was proud to introduce us to her friends as her children.