If you go through the Boro Park section of Brooklyn, you’ll find many shuls named for European towns or chassidic courts: Bobov, Gur, Munkatch, Belz, and many others. One of the smaller shuls on 49th Street is named Foltichen, after a Rumanian city that was home to the chassidim of the Foltichener Rebbe.

Today, his grandson, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Twersky, continues the family tradition. From morning to night, the young Foltichener Rebbe is involved in helping others.

One day, a young Lubavitcher family visited from Providence, RI. The Foltichener Rebbe had met them several years earlier when he had visited New England. Now they stopped in after visiting Crown Heights.

As is customary with some chassidic Rebbeim, the guests do most of the talking. In this case, one of the children mentioned that they had just stood in line for hours to receive a berachah and a dollar from the Lubavitcher Rebbe.

The Foltichener smiled and said proudly: “I too received a blessing and a dollar from the Rebbe. Only I didn’t stand in line. In fact, I didn’t even ask for it!”

He was immediately pressed for the story. “A poor widow approached me for tzedakah. Rather than just give her a donation, I helped her set up a business. She purchased some items to resell, and I let her use the women’s section of our shul as her store. Every day, people from around the neighborhood would come and buy things.

“Once, she decided to go to the Lubavitcher Rebbe for a berachah for parnosah. After standing in line, the Rebbe gave his berachah and a dollar. Then he gave her another dollar. Before the young woman could ask for an explanation, the Rebbe smiled and said: ‘Give this to the one who helps you!’