Biographies & Memoirs

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  1. A taste of the Torah, life and legacy of Rav Moshe Shapira through the lens of one talmid Menachem Nissel

    Rav Moshe Shapira zt”l was a giant in Torah and machshavah. He gave thirty to forty shiurim every week, elevating his listeners by revealing the beauty, profundity, and majesty of Torah. He traveled the world over, building communities and teaching countless talmidim. His vast knowledge and ability to penetrate depths in all spheres of Torah was unparalleled in our generation. At the same time, he had extreme love and patience for every Jew, with a singular place in his heart for struggling teens and special needs children. He was a pioneer in the kiruv movement. His greatness was as blinding as the sun.

    In Looking into the Sun, Rabbi Menachem Nissel, renowned educator, culls from Rav Moshe’s shiurim to address the most vital topics of our day. He also shares his thirty-seven years of personal memories, accompanied with stories from Rav Moshe’s life. It is only a glimpse — radiating with the light, the warmth, and power of one of the unique gedolim of our times. Learn More

  2. He started literally with nothing, and built an empire of business – and chesed.
    He was a brilliant businessman whom Rabbi Moshe Sherer called “the malach of shalom.”
    He was a man who blended startling financial acumen with mussar hashkafah – and made it work!
    He was the unique, inimitable Reb Benny Fishoff. And this is his story, his wisdom, in his own words.

    B’Ahavah, Benny – the story of Reb Benny Fishoff -- is not a typical “rags to riches” story. Rather, it’s a “riches to riches” story. The story of a young man, sole survivor of his family after the Holocaust, who took the riches of chassidic devotion, the riches of years of intense yeshivah learning, the riches of memories of his warm and loving family, and who used those riches to build, to listen, to counsel and to enrich others. It is a story of amazing business savvy combined with profound “mentschlichkeit,” a story filled with siyyata dishmaya and ultimate triumph.

    Reb Benny’s story takes us from Lodz to Shanghai to the executive suites of New York City skyscrapers – and to the hearts of countless Jews whom he helped with money, advice, and overflowing love. His wise counsel – and, indeed, his life – will show us how to appreciate the riches of our own lives. Learn More

  3. From the frozen forests of the Soviet Union, under the murderous eyes of the KGB, came a man of miracles, of almost unbelievable mesiras nefesh...

    The Ribnitzer.

    He was a tzaddik. A ba’al mofes, a miracle worker. In time, he became a living legend, the address for thousands seeking berachos, first in Russia, then in Eretz Yisrael and, eventually in America. His intense avodah included fasting, hours and hours of profound tefillah. And, of course, immersion in in the holy waters of the mikveh. Despite the Nazis, who occupied his town during World War Two. Despite the KGB, who was determined to snuff out Yiddishkeit. Despite the desperate cold of a Russian winter: Reb Chaim Zanvil, the Ribnitzer Rebbe, would find a way. A way to serve Hashem through immersion. Through traveling for hours and days, in order to secretly give a Jewish baby a bris in Stalinist Russia.

    Yes, this is a story about miracles. But more: it’s the story of a man who was a miracle himself. Learn More

  4. Where Ahavah and Emes Meet: A Life to Learn From

    “He lived and breathed kevod Shamayim and kevod habriyos and accomplished everything ... quietly, without fanfare.”—Rabbi Eytan Feiner

    “So, doctor, my brother has an especially huge heart … right?” Rabbi Aaron Brafman’s brother, famed attorney Ben Brafman, said to a cardiologist after Rabbi Brafman’s heart surgery “Rabbi Brafman never chose to do what was easy for him. He loved his talmidim with all his heart and looked to do what was best for each one.” – a talmid’s memory

    Rabbi Aaron Brafman was the much-beloved and revered menahel of Yeshiva of Far Rockaway. He was also a respected author and a dedicated askan. But more: He was a man who loved every Jew, who saw potential where others saw failure. In the words of a talmid, he was a man “who lived and breathed Klal Yisrael; whose days were filled with Torah and maasim tovim ... and most of all, who epitomized the term ‘rebbi.’”

    This is the compelling story of a guide and teacher who blended greatness and modesty, piety and humor, a deep aversion to anything not “emes” with an amazing ability to see the good in all. As we read one unique story after another, we’ll see why talmidim adored him, friends revered him, and his entire community felt fortunate to have him in their midst. And we will discover what a difference a great rebbi can make. Learn More

  5. Rav Chaim Kanievsky was the Sar HaTorah, master of every area of Torah knowledge and author of dozens of Torah works on topics ranging from the basic to the arcane. He was a fount of guidance, comfort, and blessing to tens of thousands. His diligence in Torah was legendary, yet he opened his home and his heart to all who sought him.

    But despite all the stories we have heard, there is so much more. And Rabbi Naftali Weinberger is the perfect person to give us the rest of the story.

    Rabbi Weinberger has had a uniquely close relationship with Rav Chaim Kanievsky and his family for nearly thirty years — so much so that Rav Chaim authorized him to write the bestselling biography Rebbetzin Kanievsky.

    His unparalleled access to Rav Chaim and his family enabled him to produce this fascinating biography, giving us an insider’s view of the Sar HaTorah’s remarkable life and achievements, including warm and personal stories heard directly from the family and rare photographs appearing in print for the very first time.

    In these pages, we will come know the Torah aristocracy that was Rav Chaim’s family — the Chazon Ish, the Steipler, Rav Elyashiv, and others — from the family’s unique perspective. We will encounter the Torah giants and “simple” Jews who were part of Rav Chaim’s life, and see how he interacted with them.

    The Prince of Torah gave our People so much in his lifetime, and through this extraordinary volume his memory and example will continue to inspire us. We will aspire to emulate his diligence and love for Torah, his shalom bayis, and the chinuch he instilled in his family. We will learn to care for and welcome every Jew. And we will see how a Torah giant who valued every moment of Torah study freely gave of his time for others. Learn More

  6. In this posthumous memoir, based on extensive interviews and accompanied by hundreds of photos, Rebbetzin Shula Kazen tells of unimaginable hardship in the Soviet Union and the triumph of her life in America. Included are her over five decades in Cleveland, Ohio, where she built a strong Jewish community, prompting the Lubavitcher Rebbe to dub her “Queen of the City.”

    592 pages, color, 309 photos and documents Learn More

  7. With Rebbe Nachman as the master and Reb Noson as the disciple, still, we need a modern-day example of a follower and example of someone who actually lives by the Rebbe’s teachings.

    Enter Rabbi Zvi Aryeh Rosenfeld. A scion of Breslov lineage and an amazing example of someone whose every fiber and being was to live by and spread Rebbe Nachman’s light and teachings.

    He was able to show how anyone can connect to and apply the Rebbe’s teachings, no matter what his background.

    His endless care and love to his students, teaching them to share and do acts of kindness to others, leaves it’s mark even until today.

    His self-sacrifice to get himself and others to reach Rebbe Nachman’s grave in Uman, Ukraine, has undoubtedly opened the door today for the tens of thousands who pilgrimage the Rebbe’s grave.

    His fund-raising efforts on behalf of the Breslov community and institutions in the Holy Land have borne fruit, as is testimony to the flourishing community today.

    His dedication and humbling himself before the Breslover elders taught and showed an example of what it means to have faith in the Tzaddikim.

    And the list goes on and on.

    Includes appendices with background information of family history along with Breslov biographies. Learn More

  8. Rabbi Shimon Yosef Meller, renowned author of The Brisker Rav and Reb Chaim BriskerSoloveichik dynasty. This is a portrait of the life and teachings of Rav Meshulam Dovid HaLevi, zt”l, son of the Brisker Rav, Rav Yitzchok Ze’ev HaLevi Soloveichik, zt”l.

    The book depicts a gadol b’Yisrael whose integrity and brilliance earned him worldwide respect. It illustrates his diligence and greatness as an outstanding talmid chacham, an exemplar of dikduk halachah and yiras Shamayim, and a rosh yeshivah to thousands of talmidim.

    Reading about the life of Reb Dovid will inspire you and transform you into a different person — one who aspires to a higher level of limud haTorah and avodas Hashem.

    This sefer contains hundreds of rare and previously unpublished photos, illuminating the life and times of one of the exalted figures of Torah, whose loss is strongly felt — the last of the of the Brisker dynasty in our generation. Learn More

  9. A Story of Leadership and Courage –
    and the Awesome Power of Torah
    When it Came to Torah and Truth -- He Would Not Bend.
    In Days of Glory and Days of Peril -- He Would Not Surrender.



    Chacham Yom Tob Yedid HaLevi lived an epic life of courage and devotion through his decades as Chief Rabbi of the glorious Halab (Aleppo) community.

    As the community’s leader during its last days, he courageously faced challenges, torture, and threats. Amidst the confusion and turmoil, Hacham Yom Tob had the enormous responsibility of keeping his community devoted to Torah and tradition. And he accomplished the impossible: Halab remained as it had for centuries, a city where everyone kept Shabbat, prayed in the Bet Knesset, and stayed connected to Torah.

    How did he do it? How did a young man, thrown into a role with great responsibility, respond so fearlessly, demonstrating wisdom and leadership well beyond his years?

    In a saga that spans more than a century, For the Sake of Heaven takes us on an epic journey from Halab of old to tree-lined Brooklyn streets. With its fascinating twists and turns, this is a biography that reads almost like a novel, leaving us awed as we see so clearly the impact of one who devotes his life to teaching and studying Torah.

    Read this book to be inspired by this incredible story of heroism, courage and the power granted to one who is totally devoted to Torah. Learn More

  10. Rav Yitzchok Scheiner, The Life & Leadership of the Kamenitzer Rosh Yeshivah
    He was a gadol who lived and breathed Torah learning. A member of Eretz Yisrael’s Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah. A master educator who influenced literally thousands of talmidim, from pre-schoolers to respected mechanchim. He was a close confidante of Rav Elyashiv, and part of a family that included some of the greatest names in pre-war Europe.

    And it all started in a public school in Pittsburgh.

    R’ Yitzchak Scheiner’s journey from a Pittsburgh high school to his simple Yerushalmi home and the hallowed halls of Kamenitz Yeshivah is a story of breathtaking hashgachah pratis. It is a story, also, of the dedicated people who enabled the budding math and Latin scholar to become a gadol b’Torah. His parents, who defied the odds and lived a Torah observant life in a time and place where that was exceptionally rare. The meshulach who visited the Scheiner home and told his astonished parents that yes, there were yeshivahs even in America. His rabbanim: R’ Shraga Feivel Mendelovitch, R’ Shloime Heiman, and R’ Reuven Grozovsky. And the rebbe he never met but learned so much from: Rav Baruch Ber Leibowitz, “der zeide” whose granddaughter he married, and whose illustrious legacy he carried on for almost eighty years.

    Based on dozens of interviews with talmidim, mechanchim, and family members, Rabbi Nachman Seltzer paints a vivid and absorbing portrait of Rav Scheiner as an incomparable mechanech, a loving father to his own children and his talmidim, a man of incredible sensitivity and integrity.

    By his teachings and personal example, Rav Yitzchok Scheiner influenced many thousands. Now, with the publication of this biography, he continues to teach -- and inspire -- all of us with his shining example of gadlus. Learn More

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