A Shul Was Born Out of a Disability

“There’s always one story that stays in my mind the most, that I keep retelling, as I work on a new issue of the N’shei Chabad Newsletter,” the publication’s editor Rishe Deitsch says. “With this [Tammuz/July] issue about to come out, it’s the story of Penina and Menashe Ben Chaim in the Delving Deeper column.”

Get to know a Torah-observant couple who established a home in what many considered the most anti-chareidi neighborhood in Jerusalem. Disabilities sustained from the Yom Kippur War had left Ben Chaim a wheelchair-user, requiring special access to his home and shul. Except there was no shul in that neighborhood.

Follow the events that lead to an unlikely minyan and eventually a real shul, in the very neighborhood that was previously unwelcoming to Torah observance. It’s a unique tale of dedication to tefillah b’tzibur, resilience, and the kind of determination to help a fellow Jew that lets nothing stand in its way.

“I’m grateful to Yonit Tanenbaum, curator of the column Delving Deeper, who always magically comes up with the most interesting people to write about,” Deitsch said.

“When she started this column almost a year ago she told me that one of her goals was to highlight people who are not writers, are not well known, quiet people whose stories wouldn’t otherwise be told. With Penina Ben Chaim she has surely accomplished that and more.”

RARE YECHIDUS

The Tammuz issue will also include the eagerly awaited Part II of the memoirs of Rabbi Leibel Posner, including a yechidus that his mother, Mrs. Chaya Posner a”h, had with the Frierdiker Rebbe in 1930.

“In 1930, on his visit to the U.S., the Frierdiker Rebbe agreed to see women in yechidus. My mother, Mrs. Chaya Posner, took her children, Zalman, then 3, and me, then 2, to the yechidus,” he told.

“Things were very difficult at the time, parnassah was very tough, and yet when she was in yechidus for a brief moment, knowing she had to zero in on her most important issue, she simply asked, “Voss vet zein mit di kinder?” What kind of Yidden will these children grow up to be?”

“As my mother used to tell it, “The Rebbe leaned his holy head on his holy arms, then he lifted his holy head and said, ‘Zei vellen gantz zein’”—they will be “whole” – complete. He reassured her about our future as Yidden.

RIVKA SILVERMAN

Also in the Tammuz/July issue of the N’shei, Rivka Silverman writes:

It would be easier for me not to write this article. I’m not the type of person to put my life on display for all to see, especially when there are risks involved. However, I’m choosing to do so today in order to bring awareness to a widespread issue that is too often swept under the rug, that of child abuse. …

I grew up in Montreal, Canada, in a non-observant family. When I was around eight years old, I was molested by a young teenager who lived next door to me. I remember feeling very confused about what was being done to me because my abuser would always molest me under the pretense of “playing a game.” Since I truly did not know if this “game” was okay to play or not, I disclosed the abuse to a family member. In response, I was told that since the family’s house was for sale and they would likely be moving away soon, there would be no point in confronting my abuser’s parents about this and “causing problems.” I was also told that I should “not let it happen again.”

Read the shocking true story of how Rivka grew up and eventually realized why she was having symptoms of having been traumatized. You will love hearing how she has utilized her past experiences to help others today.

RASHI MINKOWICZ

Two years ago, on 10 Adar (March 11, 2014), Rashi Minkowicz née Lieberman passed away suddenly in the midst of working, together with ybl”ch her husband, Rabbi Hirshy Minkowicz, to raise their eight children and to serve their community in Alpharetta, GA, where they were on Shlichus. Rabbi Minkowicz and his children continue that work today.

There is much for us to learn from Rashi’s life and we invite you to read the article about her by Dvora Lakein in this issue.

Our cover photo shows a scene in 770 from Vov Tishrei (the Rebbetzin Chana’s yahrzeit) in the year 5750 (1989), when 13-year-old Rashi Lieberman went to 770 like everyone else who could, to receive from the Rebbe’s holy hand a package consisting of the ma’amar Ush’avtem Mayim b’Sasson by the Tzemach Tzedek; a piece of honey cake (lekach), customary to give before Yom Kippur; and a dollar bill for tzedakah.

EXCITING NEW CHINUCH INITIATIVES

Also featured in the magazine are 2 new exciting chinuch initiatives and tips for raising a family with simchah and hatzlachah from Minnesota Shlucha Mrs. Chanie Friedman, a mother of 14 and wife of renowned teacher Rabbi Manis Friedman.

Subscribe now at nsheichabadnewsletter.com