Rabbi Tuvia Peles, 73, OBM

By COLlive reporter

Rabbi Tuvia Peles, a tireless Lubavitcher chossid who lived in the central Israeli city of Kfar Chabad and motivated Jews from around the world to regularly study Torah and Chassidus, passed away on Tuesday, 16 Shevat 5782.

He was 73 and recently suffered from health complications.

Rabbi Peles was born in 5708 and traveled to New York in 5730 to spend a ‘kevutza’ year near the Rebbe at the Central Yeshiva Tomchei Tmimim Lubavitch – 770 Eastern Parkway.

During his service in the Israel Defense Forces, he guarded the Kibbutz Sde Boker in the Negev desert of southern Israel, which was home to Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion.

With his unwavering commitment to halacha, yet with a loving approach of a chossid, Rabbi Peles made many friends there despite their reputation for opposing Judaism and religious practice. In fact, Rabbi Peles served as the accountant of the Kibbutz movement.

“Tuvia was from the greatest Jewish tzadikim of our world,” tweeted Uri Keidar, Director of the pluralistic movement Israel Hofsheet. He said Rabbi Peles “loved every Jew” and was “a good man that few of us have today.”

Over the years, Rabbi Peles received from the Rebbe unique missions to carry out which he did faithfully.

During the War of Attrition, when Israel fought Egypt, Jordan, the Palestine Liberation Organisation between 1967 to 1970, the Rebbe asked Rabbi Peles to personally visit the fronts from the Suez Canal to the Golan Heights.

Rabbi Peles was instructed to take with him 2-3 Chassidim who served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and tell soldiers that the Rebbe is blessing them. The Rebbe also gave a bottle of mashke to hand out l’chaims and subsidized pairs of Tefillin for the soldiers.

Every year, Rabbi Peles would hold a large farbrengen on Motzoei Yom Kippur at his home in Kfar Chabad to celebrate the time he received that mission from the Rebbe. Many would go directly from the farbrengen to the airport to celebrate Sukkos with the Rebbe in New York.

On Shabbos Parshas Veyechi 5751, the Rebbe spoke passionately about speaking positively about fellow Jews and Rabbi Peles decided to distribute a transcript of the sicha to a wide crowd, which wasn’t done until then.

That distribution become a weekly endeavor where Rabbi Peles would print the edited sicha of the Rebbe from the previous week. Its title was Dvar Malchus and the booklets were received with enthusiasm around the world. Issue #12 of Dvar Malchus was distributed by the Rebbe himself to Chassidim.

Rabbi Peles soon added additional Torah material to the booklet, such as Igros Kodesh, additional sichos, Chumash and Tanya from the daily Chitas learning cycle, Rambam, halacha, Mishnayos and Gemara.

Dvar Malchus has since become an international phenomenon as Chassidim of all ages, and non-Lubavitchers as well, such as former Vice President of the Supreme Court of Israel Elyakim Rubinstein keeping the booklet nearby to study throughout the day. Dvar Malchus prints hundreds of thousands of copies each week.

He is survived by his wife Mrs. Rivkah Peles, their children Rabbi Shlomo Peles – Kfar Chabad; Mrs. Esther Faktor – Kfar Chabad; R’ Shmuel Peles – Lauderhill, Florida; R’ Yosef Peles – Kfar Chabad; Leizer Peles – Barcelona, Spain; Mrs. Chana Edelskopf – Montenegro; Rabbi Moshe Peles – Ashkelon; Mrs. Devorah Zigman – Jerusalem; Rabbi Levi Peles – Ashkelon; Rabbi Mendy Peles – Modiin; Mrs. Chaya Marilus – Switzerland; Rabbi Yisrolik Peles – Naharia; grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

The funeral was held on Tuesday, leaving from the Peles home in Kfar Chabad to the Shamgar funeral home in Jerusalem. He was buried on Har Hazeisim.

Baruch Dayan Ha’emes.