By Dovid Zaklikowski for COLlive and Hasidic Archives
In 1934, at the age of thirteen, Moshe Ashkenazi traveled to Palestine with his grandparents. His father, Rabbi Meir Ashkenazi, was the de facto chief rabbi of Shanghai, China. It was a difficult post for Rabbi Ashkenazi, as there were scarcely any religious Jews in Shanghai. He made every effort to extend himself to his diverse community, including those who did not share his religious ethos.
It was hard for the rabbi to separate from his son, but he felt it was imperative that his son receive a Chassidic education in an established yeshivah. Moshe studied in Jerusalem, and later married Devorah Karasik at the age of twenty-two.
During WWII, there was little communication between Palestine and China. In 1946, Rabbi Ashkenazi traveled to Palestine to visit his son whom he had not seen for over a decade.
He was reunited with his ailing parents, son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren. One day, he heard a child crying in the courtyard of his son’s home. Devorah went to check what was happening, and reported back to the concerned grandfather, “Don’t worry, they are someone else’s children.”
Rabbi Ashkenazi responded, “Does the fact that they are not your children make it okay that they are crying?”
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