Posted to Mivtzoim on
From the Inbox
Melbourne, Australia — I want to share a story with you that just happened.

On Shmini Atzeres after Mincha, I walked down to a small suburb called Elwood together with my good friend Eli G. Elwood was once a large Jewish epicenter. It has a beautiful Shul with over 1400 seats, but people have long moved out to other suburbs, and aside for Rosh Hashanah Yom Kippur, its usually pretty empty expect for a few old men and woman. That being said, we were eager to follow the Chabad custom to go on Tahalucha and bring some life and joy to the few remaining people there.

As Shabbos finished and Yom Tov came in, Eli was craving for a cigarette. Not that I condone smoking, but he asked me to help him look for an existing flame to light his cigarette off, and we looked all over, but couldn't find one. We also looked for the non-Jewish caretaker to help us out, but we couldn't find him either. By this point Eli was getting a bit desperate so he went out to the street to see if he could find a passer by to light his cigarette.

A Tahalucha Story!

From the Inbox

Melbourne, Australia — I want to share a story with you that just happened.

On Shmini Atzeres after Mincha, I walked down to a small suburb called Elwood together with my good friend Eli G. Elwood was once a large Jewish epicenter. It has a beautiful Shul with over 1400 seats, but people have long moved out to other suburbs, and aside for Rosh Hashanah Yom Kippur, its usually pretty empty expect for a few old men and woman. That being said, we were eager to follow the Chabad custom to go on Tahalucha and bring some life and joy to the few remaining people there.

As Shabbos finished and Yom Tov came in, Eli was craving for a cigarette. Not that I condone smoking, but he asked me to help him look for an existing flame to light his cigarette off, and we looked all over, but couldn’t find one. We also looked for the non-Jewish caretaker to help us out, but we couldn’t find him either. By this point Eli was getting a bit desperate so he went out to the street to see if he could find a passer by to light his cigarette.

After a few minutes a young guy walks past, and Eli asked for a light, the guy gave it to him, and was about to walk off when Eli thought to ask him if he was Jewish. Well, it turned out he was, his name was Michael – “Michoel Moshe”. Eli invited him in for a dance and a L’chaim. Michoel Moshe, who had never had a Simchas Torah in his life, was thrilled to join in the Hakofos, and from the second he walked into Shul danced his feet off!

But the story doesn’t end there…

At about 11:00pm things were dying down at Elwood, and it was time for us to make our trek back into the Jewish hub of St Kilda. We were eager to join up with the rest of our friends at Yeshivah Shul (the Lubavitch headquarters of Melbourne). We didn’t want to miss the 12:00am ”Street Hakofos“ when the Shul is emptied and the Chassidim claim the Streets of St Kilda by doing Hakofos on the road (much to the dismay of the local security company).

I looked at our newly found Yid – Michoel Moshe, he was having such a great time, so I decided to ask him if he wanted to join Eli and I back to St Kilda to continue celebrating Simchas Torah. He didn’t even wait a second to give me his answer: ”For sure!“.

On the walk back into St Kilda, I told Michoel Moshe about the Baal Shem Tov, and Hashgocha Protis. I explained to him that there is no such thing as coincidence. He happened to be walking past the Shul when Eli needed a light, so that their two souls could meet and he could celebrate a festival that he never new existed…

We brought him to Yeshiva Shul, gave him a Sefer Torah and let him dance the night away. At about 2:30am I decided to go home. Before I left, I mentioned to him that he could come back at 10:00am the next morning for more dancing and Davening.

But the story doesn’t end there…

At 10:30am, guess who walks into Shul? Michoel Moshe! He sat down next to me and I gave him an English Siddur to read at his own pace. As we were getting up to Krias HaTorah it occurred to me that there is a chance that Michoel Moshe never had a Bar mitzvah. I asked him, and he told me that because his family moved to Australia around the time of his 13th birthday, he never had a Bar Mitzvah! I informed the Rabbi of the Shul, who in tern made an announcement to the entire Shul, informing them that we have a special guest who is going to celebrate his Bar Mitzvah!

Immediately the Shul burst into a dancing circle, singing at the top of their lungs ”Siman Tov Umazal Tov”.

And so, in the year 5767 – for the first time in his life, twenty five year old Michoel Moshe, had his Bar Mitzvah.

Before the end of the day I let Michoel Moshe know that this kind of thing occurs every Saturday morning at 10:00am, and we would be so happy if he joined us again.

Saying that, I’m pretty sure, that the story hasn’t ended just yet.

Related Articles

27 Comments

  • miracle

    in reply i would like to tell you a story that happnd exactly one year ago in toronto,
    i s.d. and my fraeind s.s. whent on mivtzoim the first day of sucoss to a old age home and we bencht lulav and esrog with the people in the lobby, but then when time was running shurt and we had to go for mincha i sayd to my fraind
    lets go up to at least one person up stairs(who i know from befor)so we went and bencht with him, on are way to the stares as we we are leeving tow girls volonters in that home came to us and told us that if we can come for just a second to this one person, but we told them it was late and we are running past shkia so we must go pray, in reply thay sayd that he will only take a second b/c he cant talk so he will just look at the lulav and esrog to at least get to see it,
    we could not say no, so we whent and i let him hold the lulav then he put out his hand as if saying pass the esrog, so i did, then we had to go but he did not whant to leev go of the lulav and esrog, so i disidid to say the brocho and be motzi him, and as i started to say boruch…the man continud to say the rest aftter me,
    the place was in shock, the man started to talk, we davind mincha over thar b/c it was late but the next day we whnt back and he was are firt stop, i gave him a kipa, and he askd for the "arba minim"and sayd the hole brocho him self
    that day we got the hole place with the staff to bench b/c thay saw the mirical of hashem
    with hope for the oltimit good news of the coming of moshiach
    s.d.

  • MEE

    WOW!!!!!!!!KUL HAKAVOD!!!!!!! IM REALLY IMPRESSED!!! DIDNT KNOW A CIG CAN GET U THIS FAR ….BUT WAY TO GO!!

  • Dvorah

    Illustrates just how ready the world is for some ruchnius! If each of us commits to lighting a Jewish neshoma (even if by lighting a cigarette first!) we could literally "Kern a velt", and help Moshiach decide it’s high time to come!

  • a bochur who hates smoke

    This story is amazing!! I am so proud to be in the same part of a religion as the bochrim of this story !! But why, why the smoking dose every good thing must have a stupid smoking tied to it. I hate smoking with every bone in my body and many of my friends smoke and i try to convince them out so far I have only conviced one friend. One is better the nothing
    May all bochrim and people in general stop smoking
    trust me I am a bochur

  • VIVI

    WOW!!!

    THAT IS SUCH A MOVING STORY!!!!

    SO BEAUTIFUL!!

    YOU NEVER KNOW, HE MIGHT EVEN BECOME FRUM!!!!!

  • Another Good Story!!

    Maybe i should start smoking again!!

    Just kidding on a serious note… I think cigarette or not, its important to be outside at some point during hakafos because you never know who you will bump into. During the first night hakafos i was in our Chabad House sukkah and my brother and i were saying lchaim, when suddenly a guy came walking in saying "you think i can share sukkot with you guys?". Of course we immediatly agreed, gave him a kippa, he said kiddush and came inside and danced and sang with as much chayos and simcha as everyone else there. he then came to our home for shabbos/yontif dinner and was very amazed and thrilled at the hospitality and fun. He turns out to be a young man who had moved to the area a few monts earlier, lived in a totally different neighborhood, but for some reason that night decided to walk by our Chabad House. We now kknow what that reason was.

    Another quick one. When i was in the mall the other day with a lulav and esrog i was not very happy when i had walked the entire place and found noone. so i decided to leave, but i walked towards the wrong exit and decided to continue even though my sukkah mobile was parked all the way around the building. On the way out i spotted a shoe maker and just happened to be that i needed the sole of my left shoe fixed. i stopped and asked if he could fix my shoe when i hear his wife whisper my name under her breath (I had no idea who these people were, nor did they even look familiar)… so i looked up to her and asked "do you know me?" she said "yes, i think so". as it turned out they were jewish and my siblings and me used to go to day school with their children. They both shook lulav and esrog, gave us some tzedakah, and offered to fix my shoes for free!

    MOSHIACH NOW!

  • Moshe Hendel Feiglin

    Thanks for all the comments, I wrote this story down after yomtov and emailed to a few friends. It seems to be making rounds around the lubavitch cyber circuit. It is an amazing true story. If you want the full unedited version of the story you can check out http://www.gonzonic.blogspo…

  • guess which toronto student

    shmuel dovid and shmuly????
    what’s up?? nice story with the man in the hospital!!!

  • true stories.

    of course these stories happen… who has the time to think up stories like this?!

    For what its worth, i believe them.

  • Montrealer

    wow amazing story here’s mine:
    this simchas torah, on the second night of hackafos, my father went out side of the shul, and he saw a young man pass by, the man asked my father “is there a bar mitzva going on in there?” and my father told him that it was simchas torah. The man, who turned out to be a non religious jew, told my father that he was jewish, but he never heard of simchas torah. my father invited him inside, to dance. he danced the night away with all the other men, and when my father handed him the torah to dance with he started to cry. it turned out that this man had never been in a shul, and he was so touched that my father let him hold something so holy. when the night was over, my father invited him to come for the next day, but he never showed up. However, i think that this man was brought closer to yiddishkiet. who knows, he might show up for next shobbos davening.