The Tosher Rebbe

by Besser, Yisroel

Rav Meshulam Feish Halevi Lowy, the Tosher Rebbe, was known as a person whose blessings could work miracles. But the greatest miracle of the Tosher Rebbe wasn't the flow of salvation that came from his room. It was the constant miracle of how he viewed every single person, the way he was ready to give all of himself for a Jew in need. A survivor of a glorious chain of Rebbes, he remained nearly alone after the Holocaust, and in Montreal of the 1950's, he worked to rebuild the dynasty. When he finally succeeded, he started to build yet again, determined to create a "shtetl," a village built on foundations of purity and holiness. For the next fifty years the Tosher Rebbe would stand as a pillar of prayer, a fountain of inspiration and encouragement for his talmidim and chassidim and to Jews all over the globe. He conducted a global network of chessed, raising millions of dollars for those in need, all the while acting in near-seclusion. The Tosher Rebbe spawned healing and hope, but most of all, in his proximity, the people felt the reality of Hakadosh Boruch Hu's presence. The stream of visitors -- at times, hundreds in a single day- could sense the Divine current that hovered over the small room as they gazed at the holy glow that radiated from the Rebbe's face and heard the cry of faith that laced his every word. They would come into the room weighed down by heartache and leave with spirits restored, touched by the tzaddik's delight, enthused by his blessing, uplifted by the clarity of his emunah. In this book the reader can feel the intensity, the passion, the perfect joy one felt near the Rebbe, the tzaddik of in this book, the ahavas Yisroel, the sacrifice, the Torah and tefillah of the Rebbe come alive once again, a ray of light showing us the way forward.

326 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2019

Reviews

[Gershon Booth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Out of the hundreds of books that I've read, and so many about our great Rebbes, this is one of the sweetest, most heart-warming stories that I've read yet. It's a book that I didn't want to end.

[Shai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Besser's book shows how the Tosher Rebbe managed to rebuild his shtetl from Hungary in Canada after the war. For the many who visited the Rebbe in his lifetime, like me, this book reveals the humble life that the Rebbe led was only the surface of the work he did.