“the talmid of avraham avinu” · “the talmid of avraham avinu” tables prepared for hundreds...

28 IYAR 5767 Community MAY 16, 2007 HAMODIAC4

By Braha Bender

They received the letterthree months later. “If ithadn’t been for you, I

wouldn’t be keeping Torah andmitzvos today.” The letter wenton to explain that the writer, ayoung woman from America,had been a student at a well-known seminary for baalosteshuvah for several weeks, buthad somehow come to the con-clusion that, despite all she hadlearned, Torah Judaism wasn’tfor her. “One Shabbos more,”wrote the young woman, “and Iwas going to leave Israel, gohome to the city I grew up inand completely return to mysecular way of life.”

But something changed forthat young woman during whatwas to be her final Shabbos. HerFriday night meal took her tothe home of Rabbi Mordechaiand Rebbetzin Henny Machlis.

Rebbetzin Machlis remem-bers that Shabbos well. It hadbeen the Shabbos before Pesachand the Seder night was going tobe on Motzaei Shabbos. Theentire house had been cleanedfor Pesach and the food for theSeder had all been carefully pre-pared and stored away. “ThatShabbos, we only had enoughfood for a certain number ofguests,” the Rebbetzin explains.

However, when over sixdozen more unexpected visitorsarrived for the meal that Fridaynight, the Machlis family spranginto action. Borrowing extrafood from neighbors and empty-ing their own kitchen, servingevery last morsel they hadplanned to eat for their ownSeder the following night, Rabbiand Rebbetzin Machlis greetedevery one of the newcomerswith sincere smiles, warm wordsof welcome and a good meal.

“I was one of those unexpect-ed guests,” wrote the youngwoman months later. “Thanksto you, I decided to stay in sem-inary and continue to changemy life.”

This wasn’t the first and sure-ly won’t be the last of letterslike this received by Rabbi andRebbetzin Machlis. From theirmodest home in the MaalotDafna neighborhood ofYerushalayim, this dynamiccouple hosts Shabbos meals forover 100 guests, for eachShabbos meal, all year long.Since their marriage in 1979,their commitment to the mitz-vah of kiruv and the size oftheir Shabbos table has onlygrown.

“We feel limited that we canonly fit in about 150 peopleeach meal,” the Rabbi tells me,pulling maseches Brachos (58b)from a nearby bookshelf. “RabiChana bar Chanilai had 60 bak-ing by day and 60 baking bynight for anyone in need. Withmillions of people in KlalYisrael, we’ve only had thezechus of sharing Shabbos witha few tens of thousands.”

The Machlises really don’tthink they’re anything special.“We’d like to be able to shareShabbos with every single Jewin the world.”

Besides running Shabbostables filled with zemiros anddivrei Torah for hundreds, RabbiMachlis also teaches at bothYeshivas Lev HaTorah in RamatBet Shemesh and at Bar Ilan

University in Tel Aviv. Thefamously joyful Machlis minyantakes place at the Kosel everyShabbos morning. Torah classesare taught by Rabbi Machlisthroughout Yerushalayim sever-al evenings a week.

Rebbetzin Machlis’ uniqueability to empathize and under-stand every Jewish womanbrings women of all ages andstages to call her when theyneed advice, insight and a lis-tening ear. The Rebbetzin, whohas a B.S. in education as wellas degrees in Hebrew teachingand dietetics, works full-timecaring for the Machlises’ 14children.

“I once spoke with one of theGedolim about whether bigShabbosos get in the way of rais-ing our children properly,” addsthe Rebbetzin.

“You have from MotzaeiShabbos to Friday afternoon,”the Gadol had replied.

Every day, at least one of themeals is spent with the entirefamily alone, includingShabbos. After bringing in anearly Shabbos, the doors are

locked for an early family mealbefore the guests arrive. TheSeder night is also spent withoutguests, in order to best practicethe mitzvah of “v’higadeta l’vin-cha.”

“There’s a passuk in Tehillim(37:3) that says, ‘Trust inHashem and do good,’Rebbetzin Machlis says. “Onceyou trust in Hashem and com-mit to doing what He wants youto do, a special siyattadiShmaya comes into your lifeto make it possible, in a way younever could have imaginedbefore. What looks impossiblesuddenly becomes possible. Butyou first have to decide to doit.”

Rabbi Machlis tells me thathe decided to live his life thisway before he was married.Three months after their cha-sunah, the couple made aliyahfrom Brooklyn, where both wereraised. “We came from homeswith tremendous role-modelsand wanted to do kiruv by shar-ing Shabbos with everyone wecould. After all, Klal Yisrael islike a sefer Torah. Everyneshamah is a letter. If some-thing is wrong with one letter,the entire sefer Torah is pasul.”

With guests from around theglobe, the Machlises sometimeswelcome members of KlalYisrael from surprising places.Guests at a Machlis Shabbosmeal a few years ago wereshocked to see a fellow visitorstand up to introduce herselfand break down crying. “I’m apracticing Mormon, but mymother is Jewish,” the womantold the crowd. “This is the firstJewish experience I have everhad in my whole life.”

“Usually guests leave afterthe third meal, but one Shabbosa few years ago, a young manwas still in our living room longafter Havdalah,” shares RabbiMachlis. “He had spent all three

meals with us, but as Shabbosended, I approached the youngman, hoping to find a way to saygoodnight. Suddenly, during thecourse of our conversationtogether, the young man burstinto tears. He confessed to methat, although both of his par-ents were Jewish, he had cometo Israel with a group of mis-sionaries from Long Island,intending to convert as manyJews as he could.”

“But now I’m confused,” theyoung man told Rabbi Machlis.“The warmth, the joy and thedepth I’ve experienced here inyour home isn’t at all what Ithought Judaism was like!” Asthe conversation continued,Rabbi Machlis and the youngman came to an agreementtogether. The very next morn-ing, the young man would bringhis entire missionary group tothe Machlis home where thegroup’s leader and Rabbi

Machlis would debate theauthenticity of Torah Judaism.If Rabbi Machlis won thedebate, the young man wouldenroll in yeshivah.

A few weeks later, theMachlises received a surprisingvisit from the young man’smother, angrily accusing themof involving her son in a cult.

“He says he won’t eat in mykitchen any more!” With thehelp of Rabbi Machlis, thenewly-observant young managreed to return to America andstudy in a yeshivah closer tohome, while his mother agreedto kasher her kitchen.

Rebbetzin Machlis tells meabout a young man from Brazilwho became a regular guest.

“He used to have long hairand wear jeans. When he sawthe framed picture on the wallquoting the commandment toserve Hashem with joy, thisyoung man exclaimed, ‘That’sthe mitzvah for me! I do that!I’ve always made sure to have agood time on Shabbat...’”

This young man had neverbeen exposed to Torah before,but since he had grown upknowing that Friday night andShabbos were special times forthe Jews, he had made sure to“celebrate” every week bygoing out with his friends forentertainment. With theMachlis family’s help, he slowlybut surely learned new, betterways of celebrating Shabbos,continuing on to YeshivasBinyan Olam, and inspiring hisentire family to become reli-gious. “We were sorry when hehad to stop coming. We dancedat his wedding a few yearslater,” the Rebbetzin says with asmile.

The Machlises’ hopes for thefuture include a full-serviceHospitality Center, but finan-cial limitations make thatimpossible for now, since theexpense of each Shabbos aloneexceeds $2,000. The Machlisfamily has covered costs inde-pendently with the help ofloans and the recent opening ofa U.S. tax-deductible fundcalled American Friends ofChesed L’Orchim.

Despite financial con-straints, however, the siyattadiShmaya Rebbetzin Machlisdescribes makes its way into theMachlis home every week. Forone thing, the Machlis childrenof all ages are the kind ofsecure, content, productive chil-dren one might not expect froma home so dynamically focusedon taking care of other people.“Tehillim 37:26 says, ‘All dayhaving compassion and lendingto others and his children arefor a blessing,’” Rabbi Machlistells me. “A person who isinvolved with giving to otherssees blessing for his own chil-dren, b’ezras Hashem.”

Rabbi and RebbetzinMachlis’ caring, patient parent-ing certainly goes a long waytowards ensuring their chil-dren’s good middos, as well.Rebbetzin Machlis relates thisstory. “Years ago, when the chil-dren were much younger, aShabbos came along when theyall seemed to be having fits.They were all running aroundfighting, and I told my husbandthat this was going to be the lastof our big Shabbos meals. I

The World of Kiruv

“The Talmid of Avraham Avinu”

Tables prepared for hundreds of Shabbos guests at the Machlis home.

This dynamic couplehosts Shabbos mealsfor over one hundredguests all year long.

“Klal Yisrael is likea sefer Torah. Everyneshamah is a letter.If something iswrong with oneletter, the entiresefer Torah ispasul.”

28 IYAR 5767 Community MAY 16, 2007HAMODIA C5

thought that no one would get agood impression of Yiddishkeitwith my children behaving likethis! When the meal was over,though, a secular coupleapproached me to offer thanksfor the Shabbos dinner and tellme how impressed they werethat I had handled my children’sbehavior so calmly!”

“In another home, this situa-tion would have had parentsscreaming and hitting their chil-dren, but you stayed patient andloving the entire night! We wantour home to be like this,” theyoung couple exclaimed eager-ly.

“People always seem to showup at the right time,” RebbetzinMachlis continues. “SometimesI’m unable to begin cooking forShabbos until Friday afternoon.A group of seminary girls want-ing to do chessed arrive rightthen. One Shabbos, when myolder children were going awayfrom Thursday evening untilafter Shabbos, I really didn’tknow how I would get every-thing together. Just then, thephone rang with a call from agroup of eight Americantourists who wanted to partici-pate in preparing Shabbos withme that very week. Hashemalways makes sure it all gets

done.”Later, one of Rebbetzin

Machlis’ long-time studentsasks whether I had noticed theoven. “They had been preparingShabbos for hundreds of peoplewith a regular-sized oven andjust four burners for years.Eventually, they called a friendin America who owned an elec-tronics store to inquire aboutthe price of a new oven. He wasso impressed by their chessedactivity that he offered them anexpensive, industrial-sized ovenat half-price!

“Then, at his own initiative,the store owner called theoven’s manufacturers, told themall about the Machlises, andthey decided to cover the addi-tional cost! Someone who wasarranging a lift to Israel fromAmerica decided to donatesome free space for the oven tobe imported overseas, and theMachlises ended up getting abrand new industrial-sized ovenfor free. They’re looking for anew one now, since, after adecade of use, the oven hasn’tbeen working lately. But haveyou seen their kitchen? Twosmall Israeli sinks and a fewinches of counter space is wherethey prepare Shabbos for hun-dreds of people!”

The truth is, though, that themost striking thing about Rabbiand Rebbetzin Machlis is nei-ther the number of guests theywelcome each week, nor theabounding stories of Jewishneshamos brought back into thefold thanks to their warmth,positive outlook and sincerecaring for every Jew.

In spite of, or perhapsbecause of, how striking thesefacts are, they do not inspire asmuch as the Machlises’ ownhumility. They simply take nocredit for the great deeds theydo. Their entire focus is on car-ing for anyone who enters theirhome. I had never spoken withthem before, but they treatedme like family. It’s easy tounderstand why Rabbi Machlis’unofficial title at weddings, sim-chahs, and events around theworld is “the talmid of AvrahamAvinu.”

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