Congregation Ohel Rachel Degel Israel, led by Rav Dovid Z. and Reb. Rochel Sheinfeld, held a melaveh malkah – its first in four years - in its beis hamedrash this past Motza’ei Shabbos. The evening was an exquisite display of friendship befitting the long standing mosad founded in 1958 by Rav Shaul Dovid Margulies and his Rebbetzin Zissel, in which they infused Kew Gardens Hills with their signature Eastern European flare. Rav Margulies, Av Beis Din of Prushkov, a town near Warsaw, Poland, and the examiner for Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin, was among the first disciples of HaGaon Rav Meir Shapiro zt”l, the originator of the Daf Yomi cycle.
Rav Sheinfeld opened his remarks discussing the elevated status of the melaveh malkah meal and its internal message: “We are very holy.” The rav explained that Shabbos, our shuls, and Yidden in general are sacred, but a melaveh malkah encompasses the holiness of Shabbos in a final meal that is designed to usher us into the week ahead. “The extension of the kedushas haShabbos continues when we go to work and are involved in business.” A festive environment was brought by the niggunim of Elimelech Stahler, a mispallel of the kehillah since birth. The rav praised his mispallelim as a “choshuv” group who are each involved in “Torah, chesed, and g’milas chasadim,” adding, “We have t’zadikim in this shul, everybody in their own way.” The rav gave personal shoutouts to the various members who have recently taken upon chesed missions in Eretz Yisrael as the war against Hamas rages on. Next, the rav surprised Reb Chaim Goldberg with a beautiful kos shel brachah for his organizational efforts to make the evening a success, stating, “Behind the scenes, you never know how much he does; he is constantly busy with our shul.”
The keynote address was presented by Reb Yosef Lieberman, a longtime member, co-organizer of the shul’s Avos U’Banim program, as well as one of the evening’s organizers. He connected his remarks to the parshah, noting that even in a Yid’s worst situation, he can always connect to Hashem at his center and obtain Olam Habah. “Baruch Hashem, we have in this beis hamedrash a rav who is constantly reminding us of what our shorashim are, what our mission is in life, where we come from, and the myriad of Jewish and Yiddishe ideas at our disposal that connect us with the shorash as we continue through this bitter galus.” Lieberman added, “In this shul, there is a tremendous sense of achdus and of being moseir nefesh for another Jew doing all types of chasadim for each other.”
“It is obvious when you walk into this beis hamedrash, there is a feeling of achdus that permeates the atmosphere of the shul,” commented Liberman’s chavrusah, Dr. Prof. Hershkowitz.
The Torah learning, and the avodah are all part of what it means to be part of the shul,” commented the rav, adding, “But, the socializing aspect at the melaveh malkah, the bein adam la’chaveiro, is very important.”
Rav Sheinfeld concluded with a thought on melaveh malkah, explaining that there is a bone in our necks that serves no purpose during our lifetime, but eating at a melaveh malkah seudah will cause this bone to bring forth t’chiyas ha’meisim. A shul melaveh malkah inculcates achdus amongst Yidden. As if on cue, the guests erupted in a beautiful rendition of Shema Hashem that felt like it was sung by Mordechai Ben David himself.
By Shabsie Saphirstein, member
