"ואת הנפש אשר עשו בחרן"

Hungarian Lubavitcher בעלי תשובה that we can all look up to

It may be hard for non-Hungarians to understand this, but to see this kind of rebirth in Hungary, after decades of Jews hiding their Jewishness, is nothing short of amazing. Little kids with yarmulkes, peyos and tzitzis speaking Hungarian? Holy Toledo!

......אין חב"ד איז אלץ געלט

shabbos Bletel Antwerp #299

See the first story on the "פסוק "זה יתנו. It's a doozy.

Basically, all it took for the Palm Springs שליח to forego his scruples and מנהג המקום was a few dollars. And a Belzer Chossid was the one who made the Bobover Rov so happy. O' those Galitzyaners.ווען מ'דארף, קענען זיי ארבעטן צוזאמען.

Rebbetzin Bassie Azimov ע"ה - an appreciation

(L-R; R' Bentzion Shemtov, Rebbetzin Bassie, o"h and יבלחט"א her husband R' Shmuel (מולע) Azimov

Received via e-mail: "On an August Paris afternoon, a troubled young man rang the bell of  Rebbetzin Bassie Azimov. He had met her two years before in New York, but how things have changed.  They were cousins but he could not recall how. He had fallen in with a hard crowd but had finally willed his way to 28 Rue de Vinaigriers."Who are you?" from the French window on the second floor.  "Ari Brisk," was the answer. "Who are you?" she asked again, looking at me. "What happened to you?" Two minutes later she opened the front door, admonishing him while inviting him upstairs. Rabbi Mulle (Shmuel) Azimov was on the phone but the harsh words did not stop. To Ari's dismay, she had drawn a bath, placed all his clothes from the dirty knapsack to wash, and was cooking a meal fit for a king- all this with harsh words, but softened by the smell of fried shnitzel. Events took a turn for the good.Years later he'd recall this parodox- it stayed with him.

He is not the only one; there are hundreds, perhaps more.

The Jewish revolution of Paris which she spearheaded with her husband was to the curious eye a wonder, yet there were reasons. She lead her life not in the shadow of what her father, the inimitable chosid R' Bentche Shemtov, had gone through, but as the embodiment of mesiras nefesh for the Rebbe's mission with dignity at every moment. Her favorite story of the Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka being the long walk across Paris "in the cold winter" she'd emphasize, describing the trek for milk and butter for the Rebbe in pre-War Paris.From five thirty in the morning until one o'clock the next, every day, she taught, lectured Principal a school, guided couples, suggested shidduchim, cooked, and all this while studying chassidus every day, sichos, one after the other. Long before igros bibliomancy, she'd approach a problem through a sicha, "the sicha always brings a solution." Their house was simply a sanctuary for the light of the Rebbe's chassidusת and that luminescence has lit many. I resided there for several months years ago, always considered her greatly, but her light as a chosid was beyond greatness, her family and the many who knew her now see...

I'd say it was her total bittul to the Rebbe which allowed her to saunter from an elevated perch, and touching others, allowing chassidus to flow through her for there was nothing else.She referred to the Rebbe as "dem Rebben" not der Rebbe, implying a belonging of chosid to Rebbe. The Rebbe was familiar and available but more important was the urgency of the Rebbe's call. There was work to be done, and, arguably, no shluchim have done that work as the Azimovs. I once ate at their Shabbos table when a guest, new to traditional Judaism, began asking questions about feminism and Judaism when Bassie interrupted her with a very strong lecture about the state of women today in light of promiscuity in modern culture. I felt embarrassed for the woman; Bassie was being too strong. To my astonishment the woman became a full ba'alas tshuveh, within a few months. She was persistent and more importantly lived the Rebbe's truth in heroic fashion, all this  with a life threatening illness that she harbored for years.The involvement of the Rebbe during her trying sickness, entailed daily updates and guidance. For years she ate butter and told me that when she was unable to digest food, the Rebbe had recommended butter, and it had been the only food which she had been able to digest the following years. Bassie never for a moment compromised. Perhaps therein is the secret, how one is imbued with that special spirit to be an infinite chosid of "dem Rebben."


Ad kan the email.


HT says: Rebbetzin Bassie Azimov passed away in Paris last week at the age of 67. She was the daughter of the Chossid Reb Bentzion Shemtov of London and the wife of Reb Shmuel (Mulle) Azimov, shliach to Paris. She and her husband were responsible for the tremendous "revolution" of Yiddishkeit in Paris that goes on until today. What has been accomplished in France hasn't happened anywhere else in the world. Hundreds upon hundreds, if not thonsands of families that lead complete Torah lives. Some thrird generation already. All were introduced to Yiddishkeit by Reb Mulle and his Rebbetzin. The love and respect, and even reverence that people who came in contact with the Azimovs have for them is nothing short of amazing. All their mushpoyim and mekurovim are like their own children, and at the levaya they cried as if their own mother had passed away. No matter where you stand on the Chabad politics you respected Mulle and his wife because they demanded respect. Not they demanded it, it was their work and accomplishments that demanded it for them. They themselves asked for nothing. When you saw that she had passed away you were saddened, because you knew that there is nobody that can replace her. You also cried for her husband, a tzubrochene man physically, who suffered a stroke some years ago, and who now suffers so much more upon his mate. May the Eybershter give him lange, gezunte yohren, and may their children know only joy and happiness מכאן ולהבא עד עולם

Cool Aish

Never you mind. They're getting plenty of flack from the black hatters who see this as a terrible affront to Moshe Rabbeinu, Pesach, kabbolas HaTorah and anything Jewish. Most frum people have a hard time swallowing this kind of new-age hip way of communicating an age-old message to the Facebook generation. The fact that Moses used email and used words like "cool" and "awesome" is like fingernails on a chalkboard to lots of people. I include myself in that group, although I understand that it has to be done if you wanna attract young people to services and lectures. In the case of Aish that kind of talk usually stays with the "kiruv" crowd, which is miniscule. Chabad, however, has crossed that line and make one big cholent out of it. Meaning all Chabad literature and media now caters to the "lowest common denominator," (for lack of a better term, no harm intended) and all of us now need to read about "Bereishit", and "Mitzvot" and "Shabbat", even when using a Hebrew siddur with only English-language instructions (not translation) in a place like Monsey. I guess that's so when they go on shlichus (or is it "shlichoot?") they should know how to say Shabbat and not Chas VeSholom - Shabbis. That "galut" talk is too old-fashioned for the Twitterers, I guess. One thing I will say for this ad: It is VERY well done.

Dr. AJ Twerski like you've never heard before...

............התבוננות פאר'ן דאווענען

Click Here and then click "Download"

We had featured the grammen by Rabbi Twerski where he "complains" about being "in Golus in Chabad," but wait till you hear him sing the praises of "Rabbeinu Shlit"a" and living on Shlichus! You'd think he was a Chabadnik MiBetten U'Mileydoh. Both Grammen were sung at the wedding of a grandchild of Rabbi Sholom Posner, shliach to Pittsburgh, Pa.

NOTE: It seems like it has become a little more complicated. Whereas you could once play the file right on the blog page, in its own little player, Now it looks like you need to download a small 1.3MB program, then download the file, and then play it in your media player. I'll try and facilitate things here a bit, But I assure you that the 2 minute process of downloading etc. is well worth it (oh! it also changes your home page to Bing.com, for some reason.)