What force unites women from four corners of the world? From glittering Los Angeles to ancient Morocco, from the green landscapes of Holland to the bustling streets of Pittsburgh - four women, four stories, one heart. In this special feature, Sima Eisenbach (Hause) unfolds a fascinating journey tracing the profound transformation brought about by the Rebbe's leadership in the lives of her Machon Chana friends, Tzirel, Esther, Ahuva, and Gilda-Gila.
TZIREL
Frankel is the shlucha from Los Angeles who pushed me to go and study in Crown Heights. When I became a baalas teshuva, I was working in masculine professions as a carpenter, painter, etc. I remember driving my truck and saying to myself, "Sima, you can't just go about in masculine places!" I wanted a career change. And who called me just then? Tzirel! She quickly sent me off to study.
Tzirel, tell us a bit about yourself.
I was born and raised in Maitland, Florida, a suburb of Orlando to a Conservative/Reform family, typically American. I was sent to a Jewish school for five or six years, once or twice a week. We went to temple on many Friday nights but what most interested me was only the social aspect. Most of my friends were not Jewish and this was despite living in the most Jewish part of central Florida.
When did you start taking an interest in Judaism?
When I was fourteen, I went to a Jewish summer camp in North Carolina. That was a turning point for me; before that, I had no interest in Judaism. In camp, all the campers and staff were Jewish. For the first time in my life, I felt I really belonged and I connected to other kids in a way I had never felt before.
I learned some Jewish history and realized that our existence is simply miraculous. The Holocaust greatly affected the way I identified as a Jew. I realized that we are a nation apart and we can never fully rely on our generous host nation (the US). After that summer I went home and joined a Jewish youth group in Orlando. I became friends exclusively with Jews and my goal was to find a way to make aliya after I finished high school.
My opportunity to move to Eretz Yisrael came the summer after tenth grade. They offered us a trip to Israel to learn for two months in a program called Tichon b'Yisrael.
The curriculum was in-depth study of Jewish history from the Creation of the world until that year, 1975. This strengthened my resolve to live a Jewish life to the best of my ability. After I finished the program, I went to a kibbutz to volunteer. It was Chanuka and I didn't understand why they didn't say the blessing on the candles. It was a Shomer HaTzair kibbutz; it was a movement that was angry at G-d. I realized I didn't belong to a movement that did not recognize G-d. Logic told me that I had to try something more religious.
How did you find Chabad?
I registered for a religious kibbutz two weeks before the program began. Until then, I spent time in Yerushalayim where I met Rabbi Meir Schuster who arranged a Shabbos for me with a religious family.
The Shabbos experience made me realize that I didn't want to be on a kibbutz and that I wanted to study. They told me about the seminary Neve Yerushalayim where I studied a bit and then I became religiously observant. After other adventures, I returned to America to finish twelfth grade.
When I got home after a year in Israel, I found the nearest Chabad House to Orlando which was in Tampa and run by the Rivkin family. I spent Simchas Torah with them and they suggested I go to New York and finish high school. I went to Crown Heights.
At first, I said I would never be a Lubavitcher and my staying in Crown Heights was because there was nowhere else to study in the US. I have to say that life dorming with thirty girls constantly telling me what to do as a Lubavitcher was a turn-off, but when I heard the Rebbe speak that is what ultimately softened me and helped me feel I belong.
What was your relationship with the Rebbe?
I loved the Rebbe's positivity and joy, the Chassidim and Chassidus. After that year and graduating high school, I was invited to attend Bais Rivka seminary. I was very excited and respected the fact that Mrs. Chana Gurewitz believed in me and invited me to join this high level learning.
After I finished seminary, I was offered a teaching position in Springfield, MA. I had two wonderful, very meaningful years there. I learned a lot from the shluchim with whom I worked, the Deren family. Since I lived in their house, I saw role models and how a Chassidishe home should be. Two years later I met my husband, Simcha. After a year of kollel we went to Los Angeles with the Rebbe's blessing, as his shluchim. I've taught here for nearly forty-two years (children and adults) and we were blessed with terrific children and adorable grandchildren, thank G-d.
The Rebbe's teachings and blessings continue to guide us and sustain everything we do. Thank you, Rebbe! I am grateful that I met the Rebbe on a number of occasions and for receiving dollars many times. The most memorable time was when I asked for "a bracha for children." This was after we lost a day-old baby because of a heart defect. Thank G-d, I became pregnant again but I was very worried. The Rebbe gave me a bracha and said, "Besuros tovos." We recently found this moving video clip.
IN CHARGE ON THE DOLLAR LINE
I lived with Esther Dukes in the basement of Mrs. Sara Labkovsky's house and learned a lot from her about Judaism.
Esther, tell us a bit about yourself.
I was born many years ago in Amsterdam. My parents both came back from World War II alone. They never spoke about the war or what they went through. I grew up shielded from the horror stories they experienced. Unfortunately, my mother died at a young age. The loss of a parent shakes you up and sometimes changes your life from one extreme to another. My father was a good father who tried to fill the void left by my mother but this didn't assuage my great yearning for her.
When did you find out more about Judaism?
After I did well in school, I knew that I wanted to continue in college. Since I had no idea what profession I wanted to pursue, my father directed me to do a masters in business management, which I did. I am grateful to him for that.
One day, in 1982, I was in New York. Sarah Rosenberg (today, Rebbetzin Weinstein) brought me to Rebbetzin Sara Labkovsky's house. We immediately clicked. When I was on a short visit to New York, I decided to return to Amsterdam for my job and Rebbetzin Labkovsky kept in touch with me. She convinced me to return to New York. The time had come to explore what it meant to be a Jew and I decided to take a year's leave of absence from work.
What is your special connection to the Rebbe?
While learning at Machon Chana, I was asked by Mrs. Esther Sternberg to help her while women passed by the Rebbe for dollars on Sundays and other times. I am tall and have presence and I speak many languages. I stood near the Rebbe for hours. Every week, I got a bracha from the Rebbe. When I was in 770, I saw many miracles. I have no doubt that thanks to the brachos and guidance from the Rebbe, I met my husband, I had children, and we were blessed with grandchildren.
Since that year in New York, I haven't gone back to Amsterdam. Crown Heights is very special but since my husband is from Canada and neither of us were legally allowed to remain in the US, we moved to Canada.
THE REBBE GAVE ME ENORMOUS KOCHOS!
Ahuva is my dear neighbor from Yerushalayim. I asked her to tell me a bit about herself and her connection to the Rebbe:
I was born in Morocco. We made aliya in 1963, when I was seventeen. We were a traditional family with three children that 'landed' in Herzliya. Six years later I married and moved to Petach Tikva.
After the birth of our children, we wanted to sell our small apartment. As a result of the economic upheaval in 1972, we lost both the apartment and the money and concluded that everything was for the best.
We rented a shack and bought the half a dunam of land it was on. The neighborhood was one where religious Yemenites lived and we were influenced by them and slowly began to keep Shabbos.
One day, a neighbor knocked at the door and invited me to a shiur. I went and from that day on, our lives changed. It was hard at first to convince the rest of the family but eventually, everyone became religious. The neighbor brought a lecturer from Bnei Brak who was Lubavitch, Mrs. Yona Abraham a"h. She didn't push Chabad; she taught dinim and parsha in a way that deeply affected me.
How did you get to know the Rebbe?
We were one of the first to do teshuva in Herzliya, the city where Rabbi Yisrael Halperin a"h was sent on shlichus. We helped a lot in establishing his Chabad House, even whitewashing the building. I cooked the meal for the chanukas ha'bayis.
The night of the chanukas ha'bayis, I had an interview with Rabbi Ben-Tov regarding one of my sons who vacillated between yeshiva life and enlisting in the army. R' Ben-Tov said to me, "You have a lot of G-d-liness in the house." I remember that I cried a lot.
Mrs. Etty Halperin came to my house to bring me along with the food and we saw that there was a cross within one of the decorations of the house. R' Halperin said we needed to go to the Rebbe and he arranged a raffle for a trip to the Rebbe. Amazingly, I won! R' Halperin was very happy for me and helped me arrange all the details, a flight, and a place to board for a month.
Each time I received a dollar from the Rebbe, I asked in my heart for my son who was torn, but the Rebbe did not answer. This was Tishrei 1986. At the lekach distribution I hesitated. The Rebbe gave me a piece of lekach and I moved on. Suddenly, I was called back and the Rebbe gave me four pieces of lekach and said I should make a big cake out of them, for all of Herzliya! The Rebbe gave me enormous kochos.
When I returned to Eretz Yisrael, it was nighttime and the son in question was on his way home. Suddenly, the police came and said my son had been hurt in a car accident with a van that hit him when he left yeshiva. When I got to the hospital I asked the nurse, "Where is he?" She looked down and said, "He died instantly."
We went to get the children and the funeral was the next day. I felt that the kochos that the Rebbe gave me were what sustained me despite all the complaints leveled against me: Why did you do teshuva? See what happened...
We continued working in Herzliya and three years later, Hashem gave me a sign that my teshuva had been accepted. At age 45 I gave birth to my son, Yisrael.
I am connected to the Rebbe, my children attended Chabad schools, I am active in mivtzaim and in the community and I hope that I give the Rebbe nachas. I've seen many miracles in my life and often the Rebbe answers the many requests I write to him.
FROM TZORFAS TO UFORATZTA
Gilda-Gila Dellin is my friend from Machon Chana. She lives in Pittsburgh.
Gila, tell us a bit about your family and childhood.
We lived in France in Nant (which is on the estuary of the Loire River in the Atlantic Ocean). There was a shul in our city that my parents went to. My father came from Romania to France after World War II and because of what happened to Jews, he did not want to reveal his Jewish identity. This is also the reason why we didn't have Jewish names. My father spoke Yiddish but asked that we only speak French.
How did you get to know Chabad?
I worked as a nurse in Nancy (eastern France) when I met Rabbi Matusof. I was very surprised that although he dressed in a way that was funny to me, he spoke a good French and his home was open. I celebrated my first Seder in his house but didn't quite understand what he was saying. There was a group of young people there and none of them was religious.
When my parents came to visit, they met him and his wife. They told my parents about Machon Chana in New York and suggested I go there to study, but I wasn't interested and my parents didn't like the idea of sending their daughter to America. R' Matusof ran a Gan Israel camp in the summer where I met Bracha Goldberg from Brunoy (today Bracha Wolf of Chicago). Bracha and I became friends and a year later I went to the girls' camp. I said the pasuk of Shema for the first time with her. The following year, I met Shterna Pevsner (today, Kalmanson). Despite my friendship with them, I wasn't ready to change my way of life.
A few years later, I decided to visit America. One of my stops was Los Angeles, where Bracha lived, and she connected me with Mrs. Baila Goldstein in Crown Heights.
When I was in Woodmere, Baila invited me to visit. That was the end of December and they had winter vacation. She took me to some shiurim. Although I didn't understand them, I was very impressed by the women. They sounded intelligent and had their feet on the ground.
Before my flight back to France, Baila suggested that I write to the Rebbe. The next day I flew back to France and Shterna called me to say that the Rebbe said I need to "talk with a rabbi who can make halachic decisions." She said that her father could help me, being a rabbi. He asked me whether I wanted to get married and if I did, I should move to Crown Heights.
What most impressed you?
I got dollars from the Rebbe and I attended farbrengens, but I think that today too, I still don't understand what a tzaddik is.
I enjoy reading the biographies of rabbanim. Today, in hindsight, I can say that the years that I spent in Machon Chana were the best. I enjoyed the classes with excellent teachers, I met girls from all over the world, and I'm still in touch with some friends who learned with me then. Of course, thank you to Rabbi Shloma Majesky, the best mechanech who taught me. I was fortunate to be one of the Machon Chana girls and now, I am the proud grandmother of a dozen grandchildren, kein yirbu.