Living Torah Archives

Mrs. Chana Popack and her husband served as Chabad emissaries in Philadelphia for three decades. She was born in Soviet Russia during Stalinist times, and her father was at a loss about where to send her to school. He couldn’t communicate directly with the Rebbe, for fear of being intercepted by the Soviet authorities. But through various maneuvers, he managed to get advice from the Rebbe, and somehow, the Rebbe’s unlikely idea worked. (1930s)

How did newlyweds of yesteryear get their new home ready prior to marriage?

When the Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson, the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, miraculously arrived on the safe shores of America in 1940, he declared: “America is not different”.

In 1927, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, was arrested for his efforts to save Judaism from being stamped out in the face of Soviet repression.

I see that my father-in-law, the Rebbe’s, blessing succeeded. May it continue to succeed for many healthy years.

Long before his bar mitzvah, the Previous Rebbe was already preoccupied with doing acts of kindness. At age eleven he established a free-loan fund, allowing him to help the needy in a dignified manner.

An excerpt from a new JEM film featuring the films of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, the sixth Rebbe, with original commentary and first-hand interviews.

He spoke about the imperative to provide Jewish children with an authentic Torah education, even under communist rule.

The funeral of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Scheersohn, the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, took place outside his residence and synagogue, 770 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn.

One time, my father-in-law, the Rebbe, was scheduled to travel from Leningrad to Moscow on secret business concerning his underground network. Such a journey was fraught with peril, especially because his movements were closely monitored by the communist authorities.

The Bible relates that King David coronated his son, Solomon, during his own lifetime. King David, however, continued to rule until his own passing. How can two kings rule simultaneously, especially in light of Torah’s teaching: “There is only one leader to a generation, not two”?

Reb Chonye Morosow served as a personal secretary to the fifth and sixth Lubavitcher Rebbes in Russia. His son, Reb Mendel, was born in 1916, and recalls two episodes in the Rebbes’ homes.

The Previous Rebbe’s lifelong tireless efforts for Jewish youth are well-known. First in Eastern Europe, then in America, he succeeded in drawing the hearts of the younger generation back to their age-old Jewish heritage.

Rachel named her son ‘Joseph,’ as a prayer: “May G-d add to me a different son.” The Tzemach Tzedek explains: Rachel prayed that Joseph have the ability to transform someone “different” – someone far from G-dliness, into a “son” – someone righteous, like himself.

In 1941, Yehudah Leib Posner, age 13, and his brother Zalman, age 14, were students at the Yeshiva in 770.

The Stalinist regime that imprisoned my father-in-law, the Rebbe, in 1927, was then a superpower. Despite that, he defied his oppressors. He did not budge an inch in anything that jeopardized his principles. Even at the train station, about to be exiled, he declared publicly: “Only our bodies, not our souls, were sent into exile.” And indeed, his defiance led to his release.