July 25, 2026; 11 Av, 5786 Sponsored anonymously for the Refuah Shleimah of Yair Nissan Ben Sara
The biography of the Klausenberger Rebbe ZT”L paints a stark picture of the Rebbe's first years in America, when he was laboring to rebuild his shattered institutions from the ashes of Europe. In the early 1950s, his poverty was so crushing that one Purim he did not have even the three half-dollar coins customarily given for Machatzis HaShekel before the Megillah reading. Only after tremendous effort—when an early Shalach Manos arrived which he was able to sell—was he able to fulfill his obligation. That poverty forms the backdrop to the remarkable story that follows.
A wealthy philanthropist, renowned throughout America for his generous support of Yeshivos, was brought before the Rebbe. Those who arranged the meeting hoped—perhaps desperately—that he would extend his largesse to the Rebbe’s She'eiris HaPleitah institutions as well. The Rebbe received him with warmth and dignity, inquiring after his health and affairs. The man, speaking innocently, described how successful his business had become: it now demanded almost nothing of him, leaving his days free for travel, vacations, and playing cards...
