Dear Alumni Sheyichyu!
Sholom U’Brocho!
Mazel Tov to Yisroel Labkowski on the occasion of his engagement! Mazel Tov to Dovid Leib Halon on the occasion of his engagement. Mazel Tov to Yossi Bisk on the occasion of his engagement. Mazel Tov to Shmully Posner on the occasion of his engagement. Mazel Tov to Avromi Cohen on the occasion of his engagement. Mazel Tov to Levi Dansinger on the occasion of his engagement. May they use out the special period of Yokor Mikol yokor to its’ utmost! (If anyone is aware of any mazeltov’s that I omitted please let me know).
Thank you as always for the feedback, it is much appreciated.
Near the Yeshiva in Toronto, just a few blocks away, is a mikva frequented by many of the bochurim, known as the shif shul mikva or the boat shul mikva. Once, some years ago, some bochurim who were using the mikva Friday afternoon noticed a new face there. The guest, a distinguished looking elderly man, greeted them, and – upon learning that they were Lubavitcher bochurim – remarked casually that he himself had in fact experienced a yechidus with the Rebbe. The bochurim became very interested, and immediately began pressing him to share something from his yechidus (in fact, they asked him to come to farbreng in Yeshiva, but he said that he was not that mobile and that it wouldn’t be possible).
The guest shared the following tidbit: ‘The Rebbe asked me what I do, and I told him that I am a melamed. The Rebbe asked whether I tell the children in my class stories and sipurei Tzaddikim. When I replied that I did not, the Rebbe asked why not. I said “ess iz doch bitul Torah”. The Rebbe disagreed, and said that this would in fact strengthen their Torah’.
This was all that the guest to the city shared on that occasion, but the bochurim were intrigued, and tried to find out more about this individual. Through their inquiries they learned that Rabbi Kaufman was one of the respected long-term melamdim in the beis Yehuda cheder in Detroit, and that for years he had earned the nickname ‘the storyteller’ because of his frequent practice to tell his students’ stories. They also learned the rest of his story, which follows:
