Yossel’s Story

In honour of the 30th yahrzeit (anniversary of death) of the Lubavitcher Rebbe

This is the story of Yossel, a Torah and mitzvah observant Jew who merited to raise a family and glean from it Jewish pride. In honour of the yahrzeit of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, we publish it here in detail, as Yossel told it.

Yossel’s father went through the horrors of the Holocaust and came to Israel broken and torn. In Hungary, the country of his birth, he lost all his family, friends and all his dreams. Yoseel’s father was a young butcher and that was his livelihood, and when his world was destroyed he found himself poor and lonely, torn by grief and longing and by lack of work and livelihood.

Yossel grew up in a poor home; there was no livelihood and bitter and difficult memories floated in the space of the small house day and night.

Yossel grew up and became a “bachur” (young, yeshiva-aged man), and he then faced two options: either go to study in a yeshiva, like most of his ultra-Orthodox peers, or go to work, bringing money home. His father was inclined to accept the advice of his friends who urged him to send Yossel to work. It was clear that the job opportunities that Yossel faced were not within an ultra-orthodox or even religious framework, and Yossel’s path to a life of (religious) disorder could have been paved and certain.

Yossel’s father was a kosher and believing Jew, but was broken and torn. He no longer had the strength to fight the war of life, and if he imagined in his soul to start working and rehabilitate himself – he couldn’t do that either, because he didn’t even have the money to buy the equipment to work as a butcher.

The father didn’t want to send Yossel to work and debauchery; is that why he survived from all his family? But he was lacking in strength, and Yossel, young and energetic, was perfectly capable of supporting the family.

Yossel’s father thought a lot about the matter and decided, even though he was not his chassid, to send a letter to the Lubavitcher Rebbe. The Rebbe was then a beacon for many thousands of Jews, including many of the Holocaust survivors who would write to him from their hearts and he would answer them and shine light on their hearts and homes.

He sat and wrote, and tears flowed from his eyes. He wrote the disaster that befell him and all the hardships he had been through thus far. He told about the confusion that tormented him and asked for a blessing and advice.

Some time passed, and Yossel’s father received a letter from the postal authority, in which he was informed that a package was waiting for him from overseas.

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, as a young man

Excited and intrigued, the man ran to the post office; when, if ever, did he receive a package, and even more so from overseas?

It was a package sent to him by the Lubavitcher Rebbe. It contained two fancy and valuable butcher knives, and with them were other equipment such as sanding stones and more.

In the letter, the Rebbe spoke about the heart of the Holocaust survivor and showered him with a dew of comfort and soul-restoring words of faith.

The man felt new blood flowing through his veins.

He presented himself the same day for work, and with G-d’s help, was immediately accepted. He was an expert butcher, and began to make a respectable living. The house moved on to an orderly and proper course and Yossel, of course, went to yeshiva, and grew up to be a God-fearing Jew and Torah scholar.

This is one case out of thousands of cases of Holocaust survivors who wrote to the Rebbe, and the Rebbe in his love and compassion answered them and helped them. May the merit of the holy Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Lubavitch z”l, protect us and all of the Jewish People.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe carries with his own hands the packages of requests sent to him from all over the world. He insisted that others would not help him. He would read the requests at the grave of his father-in-law, the Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson, and recite a prayer for each name separately.

Another package in the Rebbe’s hands

(Courtesy of the Yiddishe Velt Forums)