Marking the First Yartzeit of Mrs. Esther Freundlich

Mrs. Esther Freundlich was born on April 28, 1948/ 19 Nissan 5708 to HaChover R’ Eliezer and Toba (nee Kahn) Levy. The Levys were a prominent family in the tight-knit Machzikei Hadass kehilla of German Jews in Copenhagen, Denmark. Esther’s father was awarded the title “HaChover” (the friend) for his service and dedication to the community. On Rosh Hashanah night 1943, the Danish resistance organized an escape route for the Jewish community to Sweden on fishing boats under the cover of darkness. Esther’s older sister, Rosa (Raizel), was nearly four-years-old and recounts the journey vividly. She remembers going on the fishing boat with her parents and older brother, Shloime. The children were given injections to fall asleep so they would not make noise and draw attention to the escaping Jews. However, the injection failed and Rosa remained awake for the entire journey.

Unfortunately, the family had to leave two babies behind with gentile caregivers since they were too young for the secret journey. Once the family was settled in Sweden, R’ Eliezer wrote a letter to the children’s doctor in Denmark, who they were friendly with, explaining that he forgot two small seforim (holy books) in Denmark and asked if she could please send them to Sweden. Rosa recounts that one day they heard an announcement that two children were coming on a boat from Denmark. All the mothers went running to the pier because they didn’t know which children would be coming. Thankfully, the two children were Rosa’s sisters, Hanni and Rus who were rescued by the doctor friend. The little girls were severely malnourished due to lack of proper nutrition but B”H recovered under their mother’s loving care. While in Sweden, Eliezer organized all the food and supplies for the community during the years that they were on the run from the Nazis. A baby girl, Miriam, was born while the family was living in Sweden. B”H, after nearly two years of living in Sweden they received the exciting news that the war had ended and the family was able to return to their home in Denmark. Esther and her older brother, Aryeh Leib, were born after the war and the family had returned to Denmark.

Esther’s father, R’ Eliezer served as the Ba’al Koreh in the Machzikei Hadass shul in Copenhagen and had a permanent seat at the front of the shul next to the rov. He read from the Torah every Shabbos and yom tov and read the megilla on Purim. He had such a beautiful voice that people would come from Norway and Sweden for the High Holidays to hear him read the Torah and on Purim to hear his megilla reading. The Levys would instruct the women guests to cover their heads with sheitels or scarves before coming in to the synagogue. The Levy family lived next door to the Machzikei Hadass Shul on Ole Suhrs Gade (street). They had an open home and many traveling mishulochim and notables, including the famed chossid HaRav Bentzion Shemtov, stayed at their home. Rabbi Shemtov was instructed by the Previous Lubavitch Rebbe to travel across Europe to help strengthen Yiddishkeit in the Jewish communities that he visited. He trusted the Levy’s high standards of kashrus and preferred to stay with them on all his visits to Copenhagen.

HaRav Azriel Chaikin sheyichye, who was the rov of the community, recounts that in the years after World War II Yidishkeit was not very strong in Denmark. However, there was a small group of families who joined together to form the Machzikei Hadass community and kept all the stringencies of Yiddishkeit. When people would ask Rabbi Chaikin how many congregants he had in his synagogue he would answer that he had the same number of people every Shabbos that he had on Yom Kippur. In his shul everyone who came on Yom Kippur came every Shabbos, as well. Rav Chaikin remembers that R’ Eliezer would bring his daughters to visit him before every yom tov and the shalosh regalim; Pesach, Shavuous, and Sukkos. R’ Eliezer explained that it states in the gemara, “Chayuv adom liros penei rabo b’regel” that one is obligated to see their rav on the holidays. Since Rabbi Chaikin was the rav of the community they felt an obligation to visit him. Rav Chaikin recounted that the Levy girls had a lot of mesiras nefesh to keep Yiddishkeit in Copenhagen. Rosa recounts that her father was very strict about Jewish law and he instructed the girls to daven shacharis, mincha, and maariv every day. He told them that once they get married and have to take care of their children they only have to daven mincha as long as the children are alright and don’t need assistance.

Life in Denmark was not easy for religious Jews. There were no religious Jewish schools and the children had to attend public school. Kosher food was limited and hard to obtain. They had a shochet who went to Germany to slaughter the animals and bring back the meat. However, for a long time the government forbade shechita and the family could only eat fish. There were no kosher bakeries either. Twice a week, two boys would kosher the oven in the local bakery and they would bake bread for the Jewish community. They marked the bread with a “K” to distinguish the kosher bread. Since they were unable to obtain cholov yisroel milk only the children drank milk until their bar or bas mitzvahs. In addition, the family didn’t have any refrigeration. Instead, they put all the food in a cold room in the house. Esther was an accomplished student and always received top grades in school. After high school, she traveled to London to study at the Beis Yaakov Seminary run by Rabbi Yosef Dunner.

As a young girl living in Denmark, Esther came into contact with the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s Shluchim, HaRav Azriel Chaikin and HaRav Avrohom Osdoba. They both encouraged her to write to the Rebbe after her father’s sudden and tragic death on April 3, 1966/ 13 Nissan 5726 when Esther was just seventeen-years-old. The Rebbe wrote back with words of consolation and encouraged Esther to have emunah in Hashem. In one letter that she received in Denmark on the 16th of Tammuz 5728, the Rebbe instructed Esther “to reflect deeply on the fact of G-d’s benevolent providence which extends to each and every individual and that G-d is the essence of goodness. Also, there is no basis for fear or anxiety when one is in the benevolent care of G-d. It is only necessary to make channels and “vessels” to receive and hold G-d’s blessings by the daily conduct in accordance with the Jewish way of life following the Shulchan Aruch.” The Rebbe also gave Esther a bracha to find her “zivug” shidduch. Thus began her correspondence with the Rebbe which lasted a lifetime. Esther received numerous letters from the Rebbe in which he instructed her to increase in her bitachon in Hashem to help her through life’s challenges and to receive Hashem’s blessings for everything she needs. Although Esther never met the Rebbe in person, she wrote to the Rebbe frequently and asked for brachos for her family and friends. Any time there was suffering in the family she would say, “I will fax a letter to the Rebbe and everything will be OK.” She really believed in the advice the Rebbe had given her as a young girl that her emunah itself would bring about the yeshua (salvation.)

On June 13, 1971/ 18 Iyar 5731, Esther married Reb Moshe Freundlich in Denmark and had the first outdoor chupa in Copenhagen, according to minhag Chabad. The Lubavitcher Rebbe was very involved in the wedding plans. The couple debated whether they should have a quick wedding before Pesach or wait until after Shavuos. They decided that it was too hard to prepare the wedding before Pesach since all the food had to be homemade and the wedding would take place in the home. On the other hand, waiting until after Shavuos would delay the wedding for a long time. With the Rebbe’s bracha, they scheduled the wedding for Lag B’Omer although it wasn’t common to have weddings on that day at the time. The couple settled in the Lubavitch community in Stamford Hill, London, and had five children, Shloime, Eliezer Chaim, Yaakov Daniel, Rus Brocha, and Benyomin Mordechai. Esther was passionate about maintaining the highest standards of halacha and tznius, influencing friends and family alike. She was always dressed elegantly and tzniusdik and set a good example for everyone who knew her. She was also very studious and made sure to learn the parsha every week. She would often read the parsha in the evenings when the children were sleeping.

Esther had tremendous yiras shamayim and was very stringent about following halacha. She made sure to daven in shul every Shabbos day and many Friday nights even though she was the only woman there. She followed along in the Chumash as the bal koreh read each word of the parsha and haftorah every week. She also learned shmiras haloshon every day with her sister-in-law. She was scrupulous about kashrus and only used the most reliable hechsherim. She had three sinks in her kitchen for fleishig, milchig, and pareve, as well as separate counters and cabinets for each. In addition, she had separate shelves in the refrigerator and freezer for milchig, fleishig and pareve.

Esther made each Shabbos and yom tov special for her children. She would get dressed up and wear a sheitel, jewelry, and makeup to the Friday night meals even when they had no guests. When her young son once asked her who she was dressing up for she replied, “The Shabbos queen.” Esther baked challahs every Shabbos and made special challahs for the different yomim tovim. For Simchas Torah, she made challahs in the shape of Torahs. For Purim, she made a challah in the shape of a gallows with Haman hanging on it. She also made hamantashen out of challah dough and put different fillings and sprinkles on them. For Shavuos, she made a challah in the shape of Har Sinai with flower candies adorning it. She was also famous for her apple donuts for Chanukah and delicious cheese cakes for Shavuous. She had a pear and an apple tree in her backyard and she would pick them and use the fruits in her baking. She was generous in sharing the extra fruits with her neighbors. When it came to Pesach cleaning, she took her job seriously and started cleaning the house and preparing the rooms right after Chanukah ended. She cleaned under every bed and in every closet and drawer in the house. She scrubbed and cleaned for Pesach even in her last year when she was sick and going through painful treatments.

Esther was very close to her extended family and neighbors. She often helped elderly neighbors and those in need. She always had a good word to greet people with and a smile on her face. Whenever a simcha, or chas v’shalom the opposite occurred, she was often the first one to arrive with words of encouragement and a tray of chicken and her famous challahs and cakes for dessert. Esther had a love for music which she passed on to her children. She always had music playing in her house when she was cooking and getting ready for Shabbos. She took great pride in her children being chazzanim for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur in various shuls across Europe.

Although at times the family struggled financially, Esther always made sure to cook wholesome, healthy food for her children. Several of her nieces recounted that they have fond memories of sleeping over at “Aunty” Esther’s house as young children and how she took care of them and even made sure to give them their vitamins. She also saved up money to buy the children new suits and shoes for yom tov. Esther showed unbelievable chessed towards others. Even when her family did not have a lot of money she still made sure to help others. She had a warm, open home for guests. She invited people to stay over who had nowhere to go. She even washed the clothes of some of the unfortunate people who stayed over. They enjoyed her delicious food and amazing challahs. She always had a listening ear, patience, and a warm heart for anyone who wanted to discuss their problems. She gave them tremendous chizzuk and would talk to them on the phone for hours.

Despite many nisyonos and a difficult life, Esther was always satisfied with what she had. She had deep emunah in Hashem and always stood up for the kovod of rabbanim and followed their advice. Tragically, her husband, Moshe, passed away from an illness on Shabbos Hagodol, April 4, 2009/ 10 Nissan 5769. Although her husband had just passed away, on motzei Shabbos Esther and her children koshered the kitchen for Pesach and she cooked all the food for Pesach. After her husband passed away, her neighbors and extended family returned her kindness by inviting her over for Shabbos and Yom Tov meals.

She raised a beautiful family of frum, chassidishe children and grandchildren. Esther took pride in her grandchildren and had much nachas from them. Lovingly referred to by the Danish term, “Farmor,” she doted on her grandchildren from afar and kept up with their antics and milestones. She always had helpful advice and suggestions for any ailments or dilemmas the children were going through. She looked forward to her grandchildren’s visits and bought special foods and treats for them to enjoy. Tragically, she lost her eldest son, Shloime, on the first night of Pesach, 5780. Although she was devastated by this loss, Esther continued showing a brave face and a positive attitude to all around her.

She was diagnosed with a terrible illness a year before her passing. Even though she herself wasn’t feeling well, she never complained and she tried to comfort others who were unwell. In fact, just a few days before she went into the hospital for her final treatment she was seen on the phone comforting a friend whose husband was sick. Although she fought bravely and tried every treatment available, she succumbed to her illness on 4 Teves 5782/ December 7, 2021.

The family would like to thank the volunteers from Bikur Cholim D’Satmar, MARS Refuah, and Lev Echod for all their tireless efforts on behalf of our mother and for the day to day help they provided. In addition, they are overwhelmed with gratitude towards the friends, family members, Anash and close neighbors who went above and beyond to help the family. A special thank you to the Kahn, Freidlander, and Levy families for being a shoulder to lean on during this difficult time and for all their help over the years. The family is also very appreciative of the Tehillim group that was formed and for all the chapters of Tehillim that were recited around the clock during the last few weeks when Esther was in the hospital.

The family is compiling a book of memories, anecdotes, and lessons from our mother. Please send your personal contribution to help comfort the family to [email protected] or mail to 26 Elm Park Avenue, London N15 6AT, United Kingdom.