Four Saturday Nights with the Machlises ,Moshe Rudner

"Who wants to go to prison?"

Look, we may have been a bit loud, but a bevy of buzzed bochurim bellowing melaveh malkah niggunim around a couple of empty pizza cartons hardly seemed worthy of an invitation for internment.

It wasn't though, and it was a query that hardly raised an eyebrow. In the Machlis home such seemingly strange requests could only be expected.

Rebbetzin Henny Machlis was on the phone this late I while her kids and a few volunteers cleaned up their living room from the hundreds of guests who had been through over the weekend. The Rebbetzin was making arrangements to procure various religious and pedestrian items for a man who'd run afoul of the law and was being housed courtesy of the Israeli government at Ma'asiyahu Prison in Ramleh. The particulars of this fellow's felony happened to have involved an Arab who was suspected of terrorism, but it would hardly have mattered - a Jew was feeling alone and uncared for, stacked away in the dehumanizing environment of prison and he needed some emotional support. Obviously,he called upon the Machlises. Equally obviously, they were ready willing and able to ameliorate his condition as best they could.

Rabbi Mordechai and Henny had already spent countless hours on the phone with this man as well as with his wife and others involved in his case. Now, Erev Sukkos, the guy needed some help - could the Machlises help him obtain a set of the Arbah Minim with the particular hiddurim that were in accordance with his minhag? And could they also possibly get him a few of the toiletries that would make his stay more comfortable? Of course they could and of course they did. Thus it was that I, along with another one of those melaveh malkah bochurim, brought him the Machlis's gift the very next day.

Another motzei Shabbos, this one in the middle of a cold winter, and the rav is recuperating in his living room from the 26-hour Machlisathon that was just then finally winding down. Anyone who's ever been to the Machlises for a Shabbos or yom tov has that moment where the full realization of the enormity of the undertaking by the Machlis family is revealed to them and they can't help but wonder how the good Rabbi and Rebbetzin manage to summon their seemingly limitless supply of effervescent energies for such a massive, massively beautiful and massively successful event each and every Shabbos. The amount of cooking that goes into making a Machlis shabbos is clearly immense, the amount of effort required to physically prepare their home each and every week is obviously substantial. However, all of thisis far surpassed by the sheer huge amounts of human endurance required to pull off the high energy day-and-a-half event when hundreds of every kind of human being imaginable, migadol v'ad katan, make the Machlis's modest apartment their own home and vie with each other for every minute of the Rav and Rebbetzin's time, attention, affection, advice and teachings.

Tables set in the Machlis home

I have no answer. Where Rabbi Mordechai and Rebbetzin Henny get their beatific and blessed koach is a mystery. I can only attest to the fact that this weekly output of energy is the kind that requires some serious rest come the end of Shabbos.

Back to Rabbi Machlis on this cold motzei Shabbos attempting to recuperate on his couch with a couple of open seforim in his arms from which he studies intermittently whenever some visitor leaves the front door open long enough to wake him.

The door swings open.

A man enters the Machlis's living room wearing layers of tattered clothes, unwashed hair, a glazed look in his eyes, the remnants of alcohol on his breath and an idea that he needs to go over with the Rabbi immediately. During his Shabbos nap this fellow was privy to a dream which appeared to suggest to him that he might in fact be a gilgul of Hitler and thus he's been wondering whether he should immediately kill his parents.

The Rav recommends otherwise.

The guy continues talking, asking the rav to consider whether he might just be of the same shoresh neshama as Saddam Hussein. Again the Rav managed to influence his thinking on the subject, suggesting to this particular baal chalomos that he might be better off choosing Rambam or Abravanel as role models.

I sat right there mentally recording this amazing conversation that the Rav was conducting in his sleep. Even at the very edge of energetic depletion the Rav wouldn't pass the buck on a problem that had come before him,and dealt with it brilliantly and effectively. More importantly, the countless prior hours that he and Rebbetzin Machlis spent showing their love and concern for Jerusalem's unfortunate made is so that this man, from the depths of his dangerous delusions, still knew that Rabbi Mordechai Machlis had to be consulted before actuating any of the curious directives of his schizophrenic mind. Thus the Machlises were able, yet again, to avert a potential catastrophe and allay the fears of an unfortunate.

I was party to a similar occurrence on yet a third motzei Shabbos when I was on the phone with Rabbi Machlis as we discussed some potential sources of funding for his cash-strapped chesed organization. Creditors were haranguing the Machlises for money and it was imperative to the Rav that he find a source of funding immediately. Hence this conversation at close to midnight.

As we discussed potential possibilities for alleviating his stressful difficulties, the Rav received another call.

Immediately upon returning to the line with me, the Rav put all thoughts of any resolution to his own problems on hiatus as he turned all of his energies toward relieving the suffering of a weekly guest of his who had just called Rabbi Machlis in order to share the news of his - the caller's - impending Messiahship. This at midnight, on motzei Shabbos, while the Rav had seriously pressing issues of his own to deal with, Kidarko bakodeh, the Rav dealt with and resolved others' difficulties ahead of his own.

It's been some ten years now since that interrupted phone call and to the best of my knowledge this fellow has not had a relapse since that night when the Rav dropped everything in order to intercede in his case. The man received professional help and, thanks to Rabbi Machlis, never had the opportunity in his unhealthy state to have publicly manifested his mental illness as widely as he otherwise would have. One can never know for certain the alternate stream of history that would have occurred had not the tide of events been irrevocably shifted by the decisive will and action of a determined human being, However, it seems likely to me that this currently healthy man would not be alive today had Rabbi Machlis not have been the great man that he is.

Our fourth motzei Shabbos is also heralded by a phone call.

At about 10:00 PM Rabbi Machlis calls to ask me a favor. Could I possibly spare a few minutes to care for a meis mitzvah?

It had been just a few minutes after havdalah when the Rav received a call from the Tel Aviv police. A man had been found dead in a storage unit. He had no identifying papers on him and had apparently died as a result of alcoholism. He had no known relatives or acquaintances and it appeared likely that he wasn't even a native of Israel. All the man did have on him was a piece of paper with the Machlis's phone number on it.

Rabbi and Rebbetzin Machlis were able to identify the man as a fellow who had come from some distant island to Israel and had subsequently converted to Judaism some decades prior. His family had disowned him on account of this and a spate of sad troubles over the course of the ensuing decades caused him to break off all human contact - save with the Machlises whom he joined for Shabbos every few months. As his sole contact with the world of men, it was the Machlis's number - alone - that he kept on him at all times.

Upon learning of the sad conclusion to the life of this lonely man, the Machlises suspended their much-needed motzei Shabbos home cleaning and their even more greatly required motzei Shabbos rest and immediately took it upon themselves to ensure that this man was buried that very night with a minyan along with requisite prayers, in as honorable a fashion as possible. They also took upon themselves to learn Torah l'iluy nishmas this ger from a foreign island and campaigned heavily to get others to learn in his merit as well.

In both this life and the next, this lonely convert without family or friends still had one family that was always there for him - the Machlis family.

On Yom Kippur, the most solemn, somber and dead-serious day of the year we read a Haftorah from Yishayah. G-d tells the prophet to shriek in a throaty, unrelenting yell that rises like a shofar, about the iniquities and transgressions of a hypocritically sanctimonious people.

The people thus addressed in the name of G-d by the screaming prophet are mocked for having claimed to be righteous. They made themselves out to be folk for whom the closeness of God was their sole desire. They fasted, they deprived themselves, they were generous with their outlays of sackcloth and ashes and they kept their bodies bent like reeds. How much more righteous in the eyes of the Lord could a people get?

Then Yishayah ceases his outpouring of bitter sarcasm as he informs the people loud and clear that the sort of "fast day" that G-d desires is the one where the hungry are fed, the unclothed are noticed and provided for and where the most downtrodden are welcomed into your home and offered not only bread but the empathy of your soul. These needy ones aren't simply to be fed and discarded but they're to be relieved of their mental anguish as well and made whole again. Only THEN will G-d provide all of the wonderful blessings that he wants to bestow upon the righteous.

At 137/26 Maalot Dafna in Yerushalayim the lessons from Yishayah 58 come to life in living color.

The poor and downtrodden brought into the Machlis home aren't fed an "adequate" meal sufficient to satisfy their corporeal needs and then turned out, the chiyuv of tzedakah fulfilled. In fact, no one in the Machlis home ever feels that they're even receiving any sort of "charity" at all. Because the Machlises keep their home open to everybody, the poor in body, mind or spirit share company with the healthy, scholarly and wealthy, as equally appreciated guests in the Machlis home. Anyone who has been to the Machlises can attest to the fact that it is in no way uncommon to attend a Shabbos meal where the perennially homeless and the exceedingly well-to-do share the same Shabbos joy, seated side by side. The high school dropout attends and enjoys the same seudah as the Rosh Yeshiva or world renowned scientist. There's an egalitarian magic of Ahavas Yisroel that takes place in the Machlis home that I've never seen rivaled anywhere else.

It's an unrivaled experience which you should not miss.

Moshe Rudner is a professional speaker who lectures internationally on a diverse range of subjects. To learn more about The Machlis Experience including how to join their Shabbos celebrations or to partner with them through a contribution, please visit www.themachliscampaign.com or call 760-880-1584.

Read Comments (3)

Beautiful and so accurately descriptive!
Date 04:02, 02-2, 10

Thank you Moshe for that beautiful and heart warming article about the wonderful Machlises. I can attest to a whole bunch of similar stories that I witnessed around them as well. They're amazing and an eternal inspiration. You did the world a big favor by sharing your experiences. Halevai we should all be inspired to be more like them.

The website you put up for them is also wonderful and will hopefully succeed in raising contributions for their tzedaka organization so that they can do so much more and continue to change the world through their example. I can't think of any organization that accomplishes so much chesed for the money. I feel so lucky to know them and to be able to occasionally be a part of their chesed and tikun olam.

Yup, I'm impressed
Date 01:03, 03-4, 10

Quite by accident I ended up meeting the Machlises while visiting Israel a few years ago for some work I was doing at the Technion. I was accosted by the friendliest man I'd ever met at the Wailing Wall who invited me to join him for a meal. I wasn't inclined (nor am I now) to accept invitations from strangers but he was so overwhelmingly exuberant that I decided I would go for the cultural experience of seeing how such a person lived. And I have to say that I wasn't disappointed.

I'm lucky enough in my personal and professional life to be surrounded by kind, generous and loving people but what Mordechai and Henny are truly in a category all of their own.

I found this article just now by searching for information about them as I'm contemplating another trip to Israel this summer. I hope they're doing well and I absolutely loved reading this piece. I'm an atheist and am usually skeptical of stories that are told about the righteousness of some hidden "wise man" but, I have to tell you, I spent the whole afternoon that Saturday, from 1 to 10, experiencing the love and generosity of the Machlises and seeing their impact on their community and I have no difficulty picturing the events of this article in my mind's eye. I wish there were more people in the world like Mordechai and thank you Jewish Press and Moshe Rudner for bringing back those excellent memories

About the Rabbi and Rabbanit
Date 03:04, 04-29, 10

I am Israeli and my writing in English is no so good but I am reading it perfect.

I want to say that the Rabbi and Rabbanit are MY Rabbi and Rabbanit. I already know them for many years and they are the best example of Jew I know in the world.

They help me personally with advice and also they are helping ANYBODY who is needing anything. They have Olam Habah more than anyone I can think.

I love them and their whole family and I hope that every Jew - including me - can possibly be even ONE PERCENT the tzaddikim that they have been always.

I love this essay and will show it to many people I tell about the Rabbi.