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Stand Tall Israel - The Rachmastrivka Rebbe’s Sacrifice That Saved The Life of a Young Child - Rabbi Fischel Schachter

Thumbnail of the video “Stand Tall Israel - The Rachmastrivka Rebbe’s Sacrifice That Saved The Life of a Young Child - Rabbi Fischel Schachter”
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Author: Stand Tall Israel
Categories: History Religion
Tags: history, religion
Views: 2 · Last viewed: 2026-10-16 08:12 UTC

Short Summary

Main recommendation: Give up something you value, even when it is painful, when it can save another life, as a Rav/Rebbe did by giving his sukkah boards to heat water for his own newborn baby who had typhus. The story presents this sacrifice as the sukkah reaching its true purpose, and the speaker suggests that a hard moment can be meaningful and that one can become a conduit of help for others.

Key Points

  • The sukkah was a valued object: seven boards shipped from Europe, decorated with pictures by an artist, and visited by many people who considered it a great mitzvah.
  • The sukkah disappeared one year, and no one knew what had happened to it, leaving the community puzzled for years.
  • Thirteen years later, the Rav explained that during a typhus epidemic his own newborn baby was sick, and a doctor said only hot baths could cure him, but wood for heating water had been confiscated by the Turkish government for soldiers.
  • He gave the seven sukkah boards to be burned so the baby could have a hot bath, and he personally stood by while the boards were cut up and burned.
  • The speaker frames the sacrifice as the purpose of the sukkah being fulfilled, since its greatest mitzvah was in saving a child's life.

Details Worth Noting

  • Concrete instructions: The transcript gives no step-by-step method. The only actionable guidance is the example to copy: when a precious possession can save a life, give it up for that need, and treat hardship as a chance to help others.
  • The sukkah had been hand-decorated by an artist and was rumored to be miraculous, which makes the sacrifice more significant.
  • The baby was the Rav's own newborn son, sick with typhus, and needed hot baths, but hot water was not available from taps in the area at that time, so wood was the only option.
  • The speaker says the Rav himself was crying over his sick baby, and that he secretly gave away the boards to save him.
  • The speaker closes by urging that difficult days be handled correctly, and that faith in being guided, not destroyed, helps a person become a conduit of good for others.

Bottom Line

A valued possession is worth most when it is used to protect a life, and the story urges listeners to meet difficult moments with faith and generosity.