Our last interview in Montreal
1 February 2011
Although we are sad to admit it, all good things must come to an end at some point. The trip to Montreal was so full of
Rabbi and Mrs. Minkowitz share with us their courageous acts of holding their Yiddishkeit strong in pre-war Soviet Russia.
exciting people and fascinating stories that it was hard to leave. So hard, in fact that we spent the last night there in a midnight interview with Rabbi and Mrs. Chaim Meyer and Feigel Minkowitz! We weren’t able to tear ourselves away from this holy work, and we had to make sure that we documented every last encounter that they had with the Rebbe.
They also gave us a glimpse of what it was like to live in pre-war (and war-torn) soviet Russia. They both just barely escaped the battle front with their lives, and spent the war years deep in Russia on the cities of Tashkent and Samarkand. On the way out of Russia, Mrs. Minkowitz went on the train loads of Polish citizens who were allowed to exit out of the iron curtain. Many Jews posed as Polish citizens, so as to be able to leave Russia, and to finally be done with the terrible persecution that they were suffering from because of their religion.
One moving story they shared was that when they finally arrived in Montreal in 1952, Mrs. Mionkowitz was pregnant with their third child. She was having complications with the labor and birth that lasted for 4 days (!). They finally called 770 late one night to ask for a blessing, and to their utter surprise it was the Rebbe who had answered the phone. He gave them an interesting directive and a beautiful blessing. Stay tuned for details… but as you can guess the baby was born shortly afterwards.
Notice the tight shot that the camera takes of this multi-faceted background
This concludes our Montreal interview marathon. There was a total of 28 interviews and more than 40 hours of footage all together. Many thanks to our devoted camera man Zalmy Glassner for his tireless work in keeping up with our very tiring schedule!
It is sad to say goodbye, but our comfort is that there is lots of work to do on our home turf – NY, and we must hurry back to work! And hey, soon we will be on our next trip, G-d willing, to another city which has a wealth of people who had encounters with the Rebbe.
Mrs. Minkowitz shared with us the blessing she received when struggling through the birth of one of her children, and some other interesting discussions she had with the Rebbe. She has a vivid memory and great personality.
Some fascinating letters that Rabbi Minkowitz received from both the Rebbe and the Previous Rebbe
The beautiful home of the Minkowitz's gave us plenty to work with.
Although we are sad to admit it, all good things must come to an end at some point. The trip to Montreal was so full of
Rabbi and Mrs. Minkowitz share with us their courageous acts of holding their Yiddishkeit strong in pre-war Soviet Russia.
exciting people and fascinating stories that it was hard to leave. So hard, in fact that we spent the last night there in a midnight interview with Rabbi and Mrs. Chaim Meyer and Feigel Minkowitz! We weren’t able to tear ourselves away from this holy work, and we had to make sure that we documented every last encounter that they had with the Rebbe.
They also gave us a glimpse of what it was like to live in pre-war (and war-torn) soviet Russia. They both just barely escaped the battle front with their lives, and spent the war years deep in Russia on the cities of Tashkent and Samarkand. On the way out of Russia, Mrs. Minkowitz went on the train loads of Polish citizens who were allowed to exit out of the iron curtain. Many Jews posed as Polish citizens, so as to be able to leave Russia, and to finally be done with the terrible persecution that they were suffering from because of their religion.
One moving story they shared was that when they finally arrived in Montreal in 1952, Mrs. Mionkowitz was pregnant with their third child. She was having complications with the labor and birth that lasted for 4 days (!). They finally called 770 late one night to ask for a blessing, and to their utter surprise it was the Rebbe who had answered the phone. He gave them an interesting directive and a beautiful blessing. Stay tuned for details… but as you can guess the baby was born shortly afterwards.
Notice the tight shot that the camera takes of this multi-faceted background
This concludes our Montreal interview marathon. There was a total of 28 interviews and more than 40 hours of footage all together. Many thanks to our devoted camera man Zalmy Glassner for his tireless work in keeping up with our very tiring schedule!
It is sad to say goodbye, but our comfort is that there is lots of work to do on our home turf – NY, and we must hurry back to work! And hey, soon we will be on our next trip, G-d willing, to another city which has a wealth of people who had encounters with the Rebbe.
Mrs. Minkowitz shared with us the blessing she received when struggling through the birth of one of her children, and some other interesting discussions she had with the Rebbe. She has a vivid memory and great personality.
Some fascinating letters that Rabbi Minkowitz received from both the Rebbe and the Previous Rebbe
The beautiful home of the Minkowitz's gave us plenty to work with.
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