Monthly Archives: August 2024

Mrs. Esther Sternberg

7 August 2024
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Today, it has become quite prevalent for American girls to study abroad for a year, but in 1961, people rarely flew and nobody went to Israel. But that year, after an early graduation, when I was just sixteen and a half, my father decided to send me to learn in Israel for a few months.

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I was so excited, not just because of everything I’d learned about the Holy Land, but also because this was an opportunity to have a personal audience with the Rebbe. About a week before I was due to travel, I walked into the Rebbe’s room filled with trepidation, together with my parents.
At first, the Rebbe spoke with my father about my accommodations and my course of study. Then he looked at me and asked what my travel route was.
“I’m going through England,” I answered. In those days, there were no direct flights.
“Not through France?” the Rebbe inquired.
I thought the question odd – the Rebbe knew that France and England were different countries. But luckily, I have an older brother who was always trying to teach me about being a proper chasid: “Esther, there’s a reason for every word that the Rebbe says; nothing is accidental.”
“If the Rebbe wants me to go through France, we can change the ticket and I will go to France,” I quickly replied, figuring that there must be something he wanted me to do there.
“Yes,” he said. “I want you to be my emissary.” The Rebbe wanted me to pay a visit on his behalf to a Chabad girl’s school in the city of Yerres, just outside of Paris, where I could tell the girls about what was happening back in New York.
I was very shy in high school – inhibited, unsure of myself, and with a low self-esteem – so I found the idea baffling. What could I say to a group of high school and seminary girls from a different country? (more…)

Rabbi Yosef Minkowitz

1 August 2024
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In 1953, most Lubavitchers in North America lived in Brooklyn; not in Crown Heights, but in Brownsville. That was when my family moved there as well, from Paris, where I was born following the Second World War.

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On Shabbat, we would walk half an hour to be with the Rebbe for the prayers and chasidic gatherings – farbrengens. In those days, the Rebbe’s farbrengens were short, less than two hours, and they took place in what is today the upstairs small synagogue in 770.

The platform that the Rebbe sat on during the farbrengens was a piece of plywood on top of a few milk crates, placed against the southern wall of the room. In front of the Rebbe were two rows of two tables, where a total of forty people sat, with more people standing around; in all, there were maybe one hundred and fifty people squashed into the room.

Directly across from the Rebbe there was a table where all the children under Bar Mitzvah would stand. We didn’t understand much of what the Rebbe was saying, but we could still see the Rebbe and participate in the event.

Unlike adults, who were able to have an audience with the Rebbe in honor of their birthdays, children couldn’t have their own private yechidus, as these audiences are called. But once a year, at the farbrengen preceding an upcoming birthday, we could push through the crowd onto the platform and tell the Rebbe: “This Thursday is my birthday.”

The Rebbe would give the child a blessing and say l’chaim. It didn’t take much time, but every kid was able to have his special moment with the Rebbe. (more…)