Tag Archives: Brooklyn

Jew of the Week: Rebbetzin Henny Machlis

Rebbetzin Henny Machlis (Photo Credit: Joan Roth)

Henny Machlis (1957-2015) was born and raised in Brooklyn, the daughter of an Orthodox rabbi. She studied genetics, dietetics, and education at both Brooklyn College and Yeshiva University. Shortly after marrying Rabbi Mordechai Machlis, the two opened up their home to host people for Sabbath meals. Their inspiring words of wisdom and delicious cooking brought more and more guests. Soon, the Machlis family was hosting between 200 and 300 guests for Shabbat meals each week! Among their guests were students, immigrants, and tourists, widows and orphans, the impoverished, homeless, and mentally ill. Many of these slept over for days or weeks, on their couches, tables, and even in their van. Rebbetzin Machlis would cook for 8 hours straight to prepare for each Shabbat, with the help of her 13 kids. Cleaning up would often take until Tuesday. Each Shabbat cost the family $2500, some of which was covered by donations, but most came from their own modest funds, together with many loans, and even the sale of their personal belongings. Amazingly, the family only took off one week a year, during the holiday of Passover. Their door was never locked, and people regularly came in for a safe place to stay. At the same time, the Rebbetzin taught a regular women’s class on Jewish philosophy, while mentoring and advising countless others. Despite her hard work, Machlis was famous for always being cheerful, calm, warm, and modest. Over the past 36 years, her family has hosted over 400,000 people. Sadly, Rebbetzin Machlis passed away last month after a battle with cancer. Many visited her in the hospital, and even there, the Rebbetzin continued her kindness, giving up her own hospital bed to give homeless people a place to rest. At her funeral, a stranger pushed aside her son to draw nearer, saying “I have to get closer. She’s my mother.” Indeed, many consider Henny Machlis their spiritual mother. One person said of her: “When I was with her, I felt embraced by God.” Click here to read more about Henny Machlis’s story.

Words of the Week

Wisdom from Rebbetzin Machlis:

“All giving is a little bit of imitating God. Giving builds one’s character, and makes one more God-like.”

“Rebbe Nachman of Breslov says that when you cook, the energy that you cook with goes into the food. So if you cook with a lot of anger, you can give people food poisoning. But if you cook with joy, you can give them good health.”

“We are living in the midst of a spiritual holocaust. Most Jews today have no idea of the beauty and depth of Judaism. How can we not do everything in our power, including going into debt, to reach out to our fellow Jews?”

Jew of the Week: Janet Yellen

Janet Yellen

Janet Louise Yellen (b. 1946) was born to a Jewish family of Polish descent in Brooklyn. Though initially interested in studying math, science, and philosophy, she ended up majoring in economics, and eventually earned a Ph.D in economics from Yale. She went on to teach economics at Harvard, The London School of Economics and Political Science, and UC Berkeley. In 1997, Yellen chaired President Clinton’s Council of Economics Advisers. Between 2004 and 2010 she was president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, and following that, the vice-chair of the US Federal Reserve. Last year, she became the Fed’s chairwoman, the first woman in history to hold that position. Yellen has been described as a “dove” in economics, focusing on relieving unemployment and keeping inflation in check. She has been hailed for redefining the Federal Reserve, and has stated her objective as helping “Main Street, not Wall Street”. In 2014, Forbes ranked her the second most powerful woman in the world, and more recently the 6th most powerful person on the planet.

Words of the Week

In this world there is no beauty without ugliness, no joy without sorrow, no pleasure without pain. You cannot invent a thing that will provide benefit without threat of harm. Neither is there a human on this earth who does only good without fault… Therefore, do not reject any thing for the harm it may render, nor despise any man for the ugliness you find within him. Rather, use each thing towards the purpose for which God conceived it, and learn from each person all the good they have to offer.
– Tzvi Freeman, based on the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe

Jew of the Week: Bernie Sanders

Bernie Sanders

Bernard Sanders (b. 1941) was born in Brooklyn. He studied political science at the University of Chicago in the 1960s, and was a leader of the Civil Rights Movement on campus, for which he was once arrested. After graduating, he spent some time in a kibbutz in Israel. In 1971, Sanders joined the socialist, anti-war Liberty Union Party. He ran for governor and senator many times, but never won. In 1981, he was elected mayor of Burlington, the largest city in Vermont. Sanders brought Burlington back to life, balancing the city’s budget, rebuilding its downtown area, and making Burlington the first city in US history to finance community housing. Sanders was an extremely popular mayor, and was re-elected for four terms. He then briefly taught political science at Harvard before finally winning a Congressional seat in 1990. This made him the first independent to be elected to the House of Representatives in 40 years. He served as a Representative until 2007, and as a Senator since then. That makes him the longest-serving independent Congressman in American history, as well as the only Congressman to openly identify as a socialist. Sanders opposed both wars in Iraq, the bailout of banks in 2008, the NSA, and the unpopular Patriot Act, along with many other bills aimed at expanding government powers. As a member of the Senate Budget Committee, he has focused on “rebuilding the middle class” and is working towards raising minimum wages and social security. He has also been voted the top senator with regards to environmental action, and won an award for his support of war veterans. Not surprisingly, Sanders has won essentially all of his elections by huge landslides, and holds a very high approval rating, making him among the most popular senators in the US. In 2010, following his incredible 8.5 hour speech to Congress that focused on helping the disadvantaged, many began urging Sanders to run for president. On April 30, 2015, he finally announced his candidacy. True to his beliefs, he rejected large “Super PAC” donations, and said he will finance his campaign through small individual contributions. Within 24 hours of this announcement, he raised $1.5 million through small donations averaging $43. By July 2nd, his campaign already raised $15 million through 400,000 donors (nearly triple the number that Obama had, and in less time). The day before, his speech in Wisconsin was attended by over 10,000 people, making it the largest turnout thus far for any presidential candidate. Among other issues, Sanders’ platform is focused on wealth inequality, “getting big money out of politics”, free university education, Wall Street reform, media reform, and investing in more renewable energy sources. He is now considered a top candidate for winning the presidency, which would make him the first Jewish president in American history.

Words of the Week

A guy named Adolf Hitler won an election in 1932. He won an election, and 50 million people died as a result of that election in World War II, including 6 million Jews. So what I learned as a little kid is that politics is, in fact, very important.
– Bernie Sanders