Please pray for Elisheva Machlis

B"H

One of the daughters of Henny and her husband, Rabbi Mordechai Machlis, has become very ill. So far, I don't know all the details but heard that she had a stroke due to giving birth to her sixth child. Elisheva is in hospital and the health situation doesn't seem too good at the moment. Rabbi Machlis is asking everyone to pray for his daughter ELISHEVA BAT HENNY.

Channah Nachenberg and the SBARRO Terrorist Attack

B"H

Its been exactly eleven years today and despite all that time gone by, I find it extremely important to remember. To remember all victims of terror attacks. First you read about them in the Israeli news but, later on, people become forgotten, as there are more and more Arab terror attacks taking place in Israel. Who then is actually asking the question: "Wait a minute. What happened to victim so - and - so and how are they recovering ? How does their lives look today and what has changed after turning into a victim ?

Almost every Israeli knows a terror victim and ten years ago, in Jerusalem we defined places downtown according to the bus exploding there and not by the name of the street.

Here is a personal story I keep on publishing every August, as no one else remembers Channah Nachenberg anymore.

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Every Shabbat anew, people come to join the Machlis - Family for very different reasons.

Rabbi Mordechai Machlis, his wife Henny and his 14 kids are the greatest Shabbat experience you could ever have. They accept everybody and have been doing so for more than 20 years. Mordechai and Henny are originally from Brooklyn and both are children of rabbis. Almost 30 years ago, they made Aliyah and have been living in the Maalot Dafna neighbourhood in Jerusalem since. You could call Rabbi Machlis national religious or Chardalnik (Haredi Leumi). His children, however, are mostly married to Haredim and the two oldest sons are students at the MIR Yeshiva.

The Machlises are famous for their Shabbat food. In other words, for the amount of food. Anyone can come without calling and take as much as he likes. And this is one of the main reasons why people come. Food.

Me and my friends see the Machlis home more as a social meeting. Throughout the week, each of us is busy, so on Shabbat we meet at the Machlises.

In May 2001, I showed up at the Machlis home and met an old acquaintance of mine, David Nachenberg. Some time ago, he had got married and he introduced me to his wife Channah. They also had a two - year - old daughter, Sarah. A happy family with a home in Modi'in. They made jokes about their income but most Israelis have an overdraft. Channah told me that she wants to find a job in order to make things going smoother.

On 9th August 2001, I was on a bus when I heard the news. A suicide bomber had blown himself up at the Sbarro Pizzeria. Corner King George - Jaffa Road. It was at about 2pm when a guy with a guitar entered the Sbarro and exploded himself. Inside the bomb were also nails and screws to injure or kill more people. The streets and the Sbarro were crowded and the suicide bomber had waited for the traffic light turning green. Thus, people were crossing the junction and he could kill even more.

Many people were killed inside the Sbarro. A whole family was wiped out. The Shijveshurder family who had emigrated from Holland. Five family members almost died on the spot.

A few months later, I read the "Jerusalem Post" and suddenly saw a picture of Channah and David Nachenberg. I only got to know then that Channah had been badly injured in the blast. She had gone with her daughter Sarah and a relative to eat pizza. The relative was only slightly injured. Daughter Sarah showed no sign of injury at all.

After the blast, her relative got up and saw that Channah had been falling over the table. She was taken to the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital and the doctors found out that she had a nail in her heart. However, they succeeded in operating her but Channah never woke up again. Until today, she is still unconscious and the doctors don't know why. Laying in the Re'ut rehabilitation center with open eyes but not responding to anything. Her husband David visits her as much as he can. Sarah keeps on drawing pictures for her mother although she grew up. They play music to her.

The Nachenberg Family in happier days

However, they also had further horrible experiences when Christian visitors popped in. They started praying to J. and claimed that if the family converted to Christianity, Channah would wake up.

How horrible and ignorant can people be ? Since the incident occurred, David allows only Jewish visitors in.

After the blast, no more traffic ran through downtown Jerusalem. Only ambulances.

The bus driver opened the doors and we got off the bus. It was in the Ge'ulah haredi neighbourhood and we walked avoiding the nearby scene. I had just walked a few meters when a teenager girl walking not too far away received a phone call. She spoke a few words and then started screaming and crying. She was national religious and just sat down in the middle of the sidewalk and cried. A haredi Mea Shearim woman came up to her and everybody else around just knew why the teenager was crying. Something terrible had happened to a friend or relative. The haredi woman embraced her and said a few encouraging words to the girl.

It was one of the most incredible scenes I have ever witnessed.

All the time we hear about people from Mea Shearim. They hate everybody else and keep themselves separate. And here was, a woman from Mea Shearim, embracing a teenager from the outside world. Unfortunately, the secular press wasn't around to take a picture.

I don't know what exactly happened to the teenager and don't know where she is today. Unfortunately, Channah Nachenberg, the last victim of the Sbarro bombing, seems to be almost forgotten.

After the holiday

Downtown Jerusalem / Agrippas Street at Night

Photo: Miriam Woelke

B"H

Shabbat and Shavuot are over and already yesterday, I underwent a CT - scan regarding my injured meniscus. Next week I am getting the results and obviously all kinds of treatments. Until then I have time moving into a new apartment. Despite some painful moments, I am able to walk around and even travel. I am not that handicapped yet, Baruch Hashem.:-)

After far more than a year, me and a friend went to a Shabbat meal at Rabbi Mordechai Machlis here in Jerusalem. It was agreat event and so different from the Tel Aviv Shabbat atmosphere. If there is any at all.:-) The walk through Mea Shearim was so nice. Warm weather and hundreds of haredi families were going for a walk. The only negative point was that Jews cannot take pictures on Shabbat. Otherwise I could provide some great photos. 

On Shavuot I was basically resting a lot due to my leg. Furthermore I was worried about the scan and injections. So, my holiday wasn't that spiritual at all.:-) 

However, I am going back to Mea Shearim today in order to take some photos. The American haredi congress against the Internet has reached haredi society in Jerusalem. Mea Shearim and the nearby Ge'ulah neighbourhood are full of Pashkevilim against the Internet saying that Haredim would just get lost or even disappear into Facebook or iPhone. Various Rabbis claim to protect Yiddishkeit for the future generations but everyone should mention that the Internet is not only negative but has many positive aspects.

I am going to take pictures of a few Pashkevilim and you can judge yourself.

A kosher Sukkah in Auschwitz

B"H

Every Sukkot, Rabbi Mordechai Machlis keeps on telling the same story about a kosher Sukkah in Auschwitz. He does it for his family and his many many guests.

This story is about his friend and teacher Rabbi Yitzchak Traube. Rabbi Machlis always concludes with the words that he does not know whether anything similar ever happened or whether this story has ever been published before. Listeners are always shocked. I want to share the story with others in remembrance of Rabbi Yitzchak Traube.

Rabbi Yitzchak Traube was imprisoned in the Auschwitz death camp for quite a while. Every morning, he and other prisoners were forced to walk along a certain road within the camp in order to get to work. The festival of Sukkot was approaching, and as Rabbi Traube walked along the road when he saw little branches laying around. He looked aside and saw a building which looked more like a ruin. Only the walls were left but without a roof. From now on, every day he pushed with his feet more and more branches to the side of the road. He had to be very careful because the guards might suspect something.

On Erev Sukkot, he left his barrack and ran to the place where he had pushed the branches. One cannot imagine in what danger he was. Leaving the barrack at night and being caught meant instant death. However, the Rabbi was lucky. He put the branches over the walls, and this way he built a kosher Sukkah. Additionally, he had saved up some bread which he ate.

In the middle of Auschwitz, he fulfilled the Mitzvah of making a blessing on food and sitting in a kosher Sukkah.

Rabbi Mordechai Machlis (Jerusalem) on Rosh Hashana

Rabbi Mordechai Machlis (Jerusalem) on Parashat KI TAVO

Christian Missionary Couple Christine and Peter Darg sneaking into a Jewish Shiur

The Christian Missionary couple Christine and Peter Darg were sneaking into Rabbi Mordechai Machlis' Parasha class (Nov. 2010).

B”H

A friend texted me a message a couple of hours ago and asked me to turn on my computer immediately. She had sent me a few messages and when I read them, I was shocked but not at all surprised. Israel’s anti – missionary site JEWISH ISRAEL mentions, among other Rabbis, Rabbi Mordechai Machlis from Jerusalem in their latest article. 

Rabbi Machlis is a national religious Rabbi, born in New York but has been living in Jerusalem for the past thirty years, who brought tremendous kindness into the holy city. For almost thirty years, the Machlis’ are known for their Shabbat hospitality where everyone is invited to come.

Of course, there are also guests exploiting the Shabbat meals for their own negative purposes. Gentiles and, in particular, Christian missionaries. Many Gentiles just show up in order to have a free meal. They are not interested in seeing a Jewish Shabbat but showing up dressed immodestly, huge crosses on chains hanging down from their necks and pulling out photo cameras. Sometimes a missionary gets up in order to make a vicious speech but the Rabbi usually stops him.

Due to the fact that everyone is invited and free to come, Gentiles also show up at the Rabbi’s weekly Parasha classes every Tuesday. Now it came out that the Christian missionary couple Christine and Peter Darg appear in one of the Machlis videos . They obviously sneaked into one of the Shiurim. Missionaries always want to “learn” from Jews in order to pick up phrases and words. Later on, they use all this for their own evil missionary purposes when they try to convince other Jews believing in Christian idol – worship. The Dargs appear in the video and they can proudly announce this to their donors. It definitely pays off for them and they also attract more Christian missionary followers.

Whether Rabbi Mordechai Machlis had been aware of his missionary guests in the house is still unclear, as the Rabbi hasn’t given a statement yet. However, JEWISH ISRAEL brings some interesting facts about the Dargs and their evil missionary ideologies.

For years, me and some friends have been warning Rabbi Machlis about too many Gentiles and thus missionaries in the house. There were quite a few complaints from Jews who didn’t want to spend their Shabbat sitting at the same table with Christians and their crosses around the neck or ringing cell phones. The Rabbi and his family are not too excited about their Gentile guests but, so far, the Rabbi has been too kind to say anything against them. Now after the article on JEWISH ISRAEL, Rabbi Mordechai Machlis has to watch his reputation. Too much kindness can sometimes cause a great damage.

Rabbi Mordechai Machlis shows the diversity of Jerusalem

Rabbi Mordechai Machlis from Jerusalem is showing us the city's diversity. I just saw that I also appear in that video for about two or three seconds.

Rabbi Mordechai Machlis (Jerusalem) on Parashat EMOR

Rabbi Mordechai Machlis (Jerusalem) about YOM HASHOAH

B"H

Israel is commemorating the six million Jews who were killed in the Holocaust.

Tomorrow morning, at 10am, sirens will be heard for two minutes all over the country !

Rabbi Mordechai Machlis: Malachi & Parashat Kedoshim

B"H

I just wish that someone would finally produce a real professional video of Rabbi Mordechai Machlis' weekly Tuesday classes in his house in Jerusalem. However, so far we have to suffer from those poor quality videos whose "producer" is not even ashamed of charging the Machlis family.

Rabbi Mordechai Machlis on Pessach

Rabbi Mordechai Machlis on Parashat Metzora

Rabbi Mordechai Machlis (Jerusalem) on Parashat Shemini

Rabbi Mordechai Machlis on the Massacre of the Fogel Family

B"H

Rabbi Mordechai Machlis from Jerusalem on the massacre of the Fogel family from Itamar:

Rabbi Mordechai Machlis on Purim 5771 / 2011

Rabbi Mordechai Machlis (Jerusalem) on Purim 5770 / 2010

Rabbi Mordechai Machlis (Jerusalem) on Parashat Pekudei

Rabbi Mordechai Machlis (Jerusalem) on Parashat VAYAKEL

Rabbi Mordechai Machlis on Tu be'Shevat