Rabbi Lipszyc's Story of the Week #61
Still looking for a sponsor. To Sponsor the story of the week, Contact Mendy at 513-456-7595 The Center of Chabad activities in Michigan was in Oak Park, a suburb of Detroit. The shul was called Mishkan Israel – Nusach H’Ari. Although it was built before I arrived in Michigan, I had heard the general story of how it came to be. Rabbi Shemtov helped organize the merger of two struggling shuls, with the agreement of both that Chabad would maintain the continuance of the merged congregations in exchange for Chabad taking over ownership of the building. The non-Chabad Rabbi would continue in his position for a number of years, after which Chabad would have the right to bring in a Chabad Rabbi to take over. The women’s section of that shul was two elevated sections or balconies on either side of the sanctuary. Although the women were quite visible from the waist up, especially when they stood, it was technically a kosher mechitzah, since its elevated state made it a separate domain. The actual combined Chabad community, both those who were shluchim and those who were not shluchim, made up only a small minority of the membership of the shul. Although uncomfortable to actually pray on Shabbos with that minyan, all of the Chabadniks understood that this was a community shul and it would not be right to alienate the bulk of worshipers, so for the sake of achdus we all attended the Shabbos services, hearing and responding to all the communal prayers, and the reading of the Torah. Only after the weekly kiddush, when all the other members left, would each of us who remained go off in separate corners and pray b’avodah. [During the week days, there was no problem, since there was a separate weekday sanctuary, and in the rare event that a woman or two would attend, there was a totally separate section for them.] Thus a warm and friendly relationship existed between the Chabad and non-Chabad worshipers throughout the years, well into the late 1970’s. However, during the latter years of the 1970’s the makeup of the type of shul attendees began to shift. Most of the non-Chabad worshipers moved away, and a larger influx of Chabad worshipers changed the face of the membership. Even the president of the shul voted in, was one of Anash (the Chassidic brotherhood.) At this point, most of Anash felt that it was time to fix the mechitzah so that it would be more appropriate for a Chabad shul. Rabbi Shemtov agreed, but insisted that the cost of the renovated mechitzah had to be covered by Anash and not the shul treasury. Although many of Anash felt that since the shul’s congregation was now mainly made of Anash, it was the shul’s obligation to accommodate their needs, nevertheless, they were willing to pay for installing nice curtains, which would only carry a nominal cost. At this Rabbi Shemtov took a harsh stand and argued that the mechitzah had to be a fancy, expensive one that would enhance the beauty of the shul so that it would still attract non-Chabad worshippers. To this Anash countered, that the difference in cost (under $200 vs 3,000) is the obligation of the shul treasury. Neither side would yield. So, no rectification of the mechitzah occurred and a conflagration between the two positions broke out that caused a real division in the Chabad community, the likes of which hadn’t been seen before. Suddenly, three terrible disasters struck. The shlucha, Rabbi Stein’s wife, became quite ill. Then Yehudis, a teenage baalas teshuva, (see last week’s story,) became very ill. And my own four-year-old daughter contracted a rare disease known as Sydenham’s chorea (also known as St. Vitas’ dance,) a disease that had already become virtually extinct many years earlier. Three meshunidiker (unnatural) diseases that hit all three categories of females in the community – a young married woman; a teenage girl; and a young girl. I couldn’t believe that no one else saw the connection between the war of the mechitzah, (which was already raging for more than a year,) and these terrible tragic unnatural diseases that hit our community. Perhaps because two of the three victims hit, were closely connected to me (my four-year-old physical daughter and my teenaged spiritual daughter.) Hashem in His kindness opened my eyes and I saw the relationship between these events. Perhaps it was also because it was the beginning of the miraculous Hebrew month of Nisan (when G-d took us out of Egypt) that I merited to clearly see the connection. In any case, several days earlier, I had just borrowed $3,000 to pay off some personal debts. I immediately ran over to Rabbi Hershel Cukier, the president of the shul and told him that if the $3,000 mechitzah that Rabbi Shemtov wants would put up in time for the Rebbe’s birthday, the 11th of Nisan, I would pay for it. B”H the mechitzah was up in time, I paid for it, the raging war and division in the community stopped, and just as suddenly as the three diseases struck, they disappeared. All three females totally recovered. Both of my daughters’ recoveries were openly pronounced miraculous by their respective doctors. I suspect that Mrs. Stein’s recovery was no less miraculous. Support Rabbi Lipszyc's work by Donating at https://chabadcrimeaorg.clhosting.org/templates/articlecco_cdo/aid/2511910/jewish/Crisis-Relief/lang/en or sending checks to: Chabad of Crimea World Friends, 1601 Union St, Brooklyn, NY 11213
Still looking for a sponsor. To Sponsor the story of the week, Contact Mendy at 513-456-7595 The Center of Chabad activities in Michigan was in Oak Park, a suburb of Detroit. The shul was called Mishkan Israel – Nusach H’Ari. Although it was built before I arrived in Michigan, I had heard the general story of how it came to be. Rabbi Shemtov helped organize the merger of two struggling shuls, with the agreement of both that Chabad would maintain the continuance of the merged congregations in exchange for Chabad taking over ownership of the building. The non-Chabad Rabbi would continue in his position for a number of years, after which Chabad would have the right to bring in a Chabad Rabbi to take over. The women’s section of that shul was two elevated sections or balconies on either side of the sanctuary. Although the women were quite visible from the waist up, especially when they stood, it was technically a kosher mechitzah, since its elevated state made it a separate domain. The actual combined Chabad community, both those who were shluchim and those who were not shluchim, made up only a small minority of the membership of the shul. Although uncomfortable to actually pray on Shabbos with that minyan, all of the Chabadniks understood that this was a community shul and it would not be right to alienate the bulk of worshipers, so for the sake of achdus we all attended the Shabbos services, hearing and responding to all the communal prayers, and the reading of the Torah. Only after the weekly kiddush, when all the other members left, would each of us who remained go off in separate corners and pray b’avodah. [During the week days, there was no problem, since there was a separate weekday sanctuary, and in the rare event that a woman or two would attend, there was a totally separate section for them.] Thus a warm and friendly relationship existed between the Chabad and non-Chabad worshipers throughout the years, well into the late 1970’s. However, during the latter years of the 1970’s the makeup of the type of shul attendees began to shift. Most of the non-Chabad worshipers moved away, and a larger influx of Chabad worshipers changed the face of the membership. Even the president of the shul voted in, was one of Anash (the Chassidic brotherhood.) At this point, most of Anash felt that it was time to fix the mechitzah so that it would be more appropriate for a Chabad shul. Rabbi Shemtov agreed, but insisted that the cost of the renovated mechitzah had to be covered by Anash and not the shul treasury. Although many of Anash felt that since the shul’s congregation was now mainly made of Anash, it was the shul’s obligation to accommodate their needs, nevertheless, they were willing to pay for installing nice curtains, which would only carry a nominal cost. At this Rabbi Shemtov took a harsh stand and argued that the mechitzah had to be a fancy, expensive one that would enhance the beauty of the shul so that it would still attract non-Chabad worshippers. To this Anash countered, that the difference in cost (under $200 vs 3,000) is the obligation of the shul treasury. Neither side would yield. So, no rectification of the mechitzah occurred and a conflagration between the two positions broke out that caused a real division in the Chabad community, the likes of which hadn’t been seen before. Suddenly, three terrible disasters struck. The shlucha, Rabbi Stein’s wife, became quite ill. Then Yehudis, a teenage baalas teshuva, (see last week’s story,) became very ill. And my own four-year-old daughter contracted a rare disease known as Sydenham’s chorea (also known as St. Vitas’ dance,) a disease that had already become virtually extinct many years earlier. Three meshunidiker (unnatural) diseases that hit all three categories of females in the community – a young married woman; a teenage girl; and a young girl. I couldn’t believe that no one else saw the connection between the war of the mechitzah, (which was already raging for more than a year,) and these terrible tragic unnatural diseases that hit our community. Perhaps because two of the three victims hit, were closely connected to me (my four-year-old physical daughter and my teenaged spiritual daughter.) Hashem in His kindness opened my eyes and I saw the relationship between these events. Perhaps it was also because it was the beginning of the miraculous Hebrew month of Nisan (when G-d took us out of Egypt) that I merited to clearly see the connection. In any case, several days earlier, I had just borrowed $3,000 to pay off some personal debts. I immediately ran over to Rabbi Hershel Cukier, the president of the shul and told him that if the $3,000 mechitzah that Rabbi Shemtov wants would put up in time for the Rebbe’s birthday, the 11th of Nisan, I would pay for it. B”H the mechitzah was up in time, I paid for it, the raging war and division in the community stopped, and just as suddenly as the three diseases struck, they disappeared. All three females totally recovered. Both of my daughters’ recoveries were openly pronounced miraculous by their respective doctors. I suspect that Mrs. Stein’s recovery was no less miraculous. Support Rabbi Lipszyc's work by Donating at https://chabadcrimeaorg.clhosting.org/templates/articlecco_cdo/aid/2511910/jewish/Crisis-Relief/lang/en or sending checks to: Chabad of Crimea World Friends, 1601 Union St, Brooklyn, NY 11213
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