Rabbi Dovid Lesselbaum, 92, OBM

By COLlive reporter

Rabbi Dovid Avrohom Lesselbaum, a longtime resident of the central Israeli village of Kfar Chabad and a Shliach for French speakers in the Holy Land, passed away.

He was 92.

Rabbi Lesselbaum was born in 1933 in Paris, France; his father had previously been a follower of the Gur Chassidus. His grandmother fought to keep his Jewish identity alive.

In 1947, when he reached Bar Mitzvah age, she desperately sought a rabbi to teach him. At that time, many Chabad Chassidim, including Reb Zalman Sudakevich, Reb Yehuda Chen, and Reb Chaim Schreiber, were in Paris, having left Russia on special transports.

Following the Rebbe‘s instructions before assuming the leadership, they roamed the streets of Paris, trying to engage with fellow Jewish refugees. There, his grandmother encountered them and sought their help in preparing her grandson for his Bar Mitzvah.

In 1950, Rabbi Lesselbaum immigrated to the Holy Land of Israel and studied at the Kol Torah Yeshiva in Jerusalem, where he began connecting with Chabad Chassidus. In 1955, he wrote to the Rebbe, asking if he should start studying immediately at the Tomchei Tmimim Yeshiva in Lod or wait another six months or so.

The Rebbe replied, “It is known regarding Torah study, that while many mitzvot can be fulfilled at a later time if missed earlier, this does not apply to Torah study, as every moment and hour obligate us to fulfill our duty in this constant, essential mitzvah. This is especially true concerning Chassidic teachings—once the desire has arisen to study them, it is regrettable to delay even a few more months. Therefore, if the administration of Yeshivat Tomchei Temimim in Lod agrees to accept you, it is correct and proper to do so now.”

After his marriage, he worked in education at the public school in Beit Dagan and, for several years, managed, alongside Reb Uri Ben Shachar, a school in the Oholei Yosef Yitzchak network in Brosh.

About two weeks before the outbreak of the Six-Day War, Rabbi Lesselbaum was drafted into the 81st Infantry Battalion. Among his comrades were four other Chabad Chassidim: Reb Shalom Feldman, Reb Aharon Tennenbaum, Reb Zusha Gross, and Reb Shlomo Horowitz. While stationed at the base, they heard about the Rebbe’s directive to begin the tefillin campaign, and Reb David immediately initiated mass tefillin gatherings for the soldiers.

About a year after the war, in the month of Tammuz 1968, he visited the Rebbe for the first time and had a Yechidus where they discussed the war, the victory, and the missed opportunity to inspire the Jewish people to “strengthen themselves in the ways of the Miracle Worker.” After this Yechidus, Rabbi Lesselbaum wrote down the contents of their discussion and submitted the pages for review. The Rebbe edited and made slight corrections, but the edited pages were lost over time.

Rabbi Lesselbaum lived in Kfar Chabad, where he would always warmly greet the people that he met. He served as a Shliach for French speakers and published a French edition of the Sichat Hashavua pamphlet, which included articles, stories, and Chassidic sayings.

Baruch Dayan Ha’emes.