Two years ago, Menachem Mendel Krashunsky and his wife left Los Angeles and made Aliyah. They now live in Ashdod with their young children, building a Torah-centered life in Eretz Yisrael. He serves as Head of HR at Chabad Concierge, a company devoted to helping Shluchim around the world grow their impact through skilled virtual assistants. But this mission is more than just professional—it’s personal.
His journey began at 14. One day, he felt a powerful urge to put on Tefillin, although he barely knew what Tefillin were. A family friend introduced him to Rabbi Moshe Levin, a Chabad Shliach in Los Angeles. Rabbi Levin helped him get his first pair and taught how to use them. During one of their conversations, he shared that he had no Hebrew name—only the name Maxim. Rabbi Levin explained the Rebbe’s teaching: when someone is becoming religious, the new name should have some similarity to the name given at birth. “Your name begins and ends with M—how about Menachem?” He then suggested, “Mendel.”
That Shabbat, at Chabad of Tarzana, he quietly received the name Menachem Mendel. He didn’t tell anyone. His family, at the time, was against the path he was beginning. Two weeks later, his great-grandmother casually mentioned that her grandfather—his great-great-great-grandfather—had been a Chassidic Jew named Menachem Mendel. No one knew this when the name was chosen. The connection was unknown, unspoken—and unmistakable. He had been the last observant Jew in the family, and he had always dreamed of moving to Eretz Yisrael. Now, more than 60 years after his passing, his descendant bears his name and lives that very dream—in the land he longed for.
By Menachem Mendel Krashunsky
