Sacrifice and Salvation

Sacrifice and Salvation Part 1 When the poverty that was the only reality in Eastern Europe became too much for the Sender family to bear, they made the difficult decision to emigrate to America, the land of diamond-studded streets and golden bridges. It was during the nineteen-twenties, and news of

Read More »

The Rebbe’s Mechutan

The Rebbe’s Mechutan The Noam Elimelech, Rav Elimelech of Lizensk, was a tremendous oheiv Yisroel. In fact, his love for his brethren ran so deep that he had the power to turn people toward teshuvah. Under his loving direction, he ensured that people who strayed in certain areas were brought

Read More »

The Police Chief

The Police Chief Our story begins on a Friday night in the year 5536 (1776) in the historical city of Prague. It was Shabbos Shuvah, the Shabbos between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. Fraida sat in the dim candlelight of her one-room apartment, doubled over with agonizing pain of childbirth.

Read More »

Waters of Protection

Waters of Protection Rav Pinchos Koritzer would relay the following story on Purim, since Purim is a time of miracles. Back during the middle ages, when the influence of the religious leaders on the non-Jewish population was tremendous, priests posed a terrible threat to klal Yisroel. Through their fiery sermons,

Read More »

The Ransom

The Ransom Eliezer was one of the Talmidei HaGra, one of the disciples of the great Vilna Gaon, and from the early settlers of Yerushalayim in his generation. He and his wife made the treacherous journey across land and sea, together with a few other of the Gaon’s students, and

Read More »

The Butcher Next Door

The following story is recorded in a sefer written by Rabbeinu Nissim Gaon. R’ Eliyahu was an elevated and noble Jew, an outstanding talmid chacham who devoted his every moment to Torah and mitzvos. He constantly strove to better his service of Hashem, to stretch himself further, to grow closer

Read More »

The Cantonist’s Neilah

The era of the Cantonists is a sad and painful chapter in Jewish history. During the nineteenth century, a governmental edict in Russia forced every Jewish community to supply the Czar’s army with a monthly quota of young conscripts. Being inducted into the army was a spiritual death sentence for

Read More »

The Birds Testimony

Meir was a moneychanger. He operated with both local and foreign currency, exchanging coins for larger bills and foreign money for its fair amount in local tender. He dealt extensively with shopkeepers, who would often come to exchange their money for bills of larger denominations and was the go-to address

Read More »

Dibbuk and Decisions

In the times of the Shevt Mussar, there was a woman who suddenly began experiencing strange and painful symptoms. Previously a healthy woman, the onset of the mysterious malady was quick and sudden. She suffered terribly for eight months as her family took her from doctor to doctor seeking a

Read More »

The Berditchiver Rebbe and the Shochet

The Berditchiver Rebbe was amongst the generals who led klal Yisroel in his generation. A famed rebbe, he was a giant in Torah, in Halacha, in agaddah, and renowned far and wide for his tremendous ahavas Yisroel. He was also a master of the hidden Torah, and his tefillos carried

Read More »