Weekly Chasidic Story#1453 (5786-04) 20 Tishrei 5786 (Oct 12, 2025) (This Week)

"The Devout French-Catholic Girl at 770"

She was a devout Catholic. It was unthinkable that she would marry out. It meant eternal damnation! Her parents would never agree. Unless, Sam would convert.

Why this Week? Tomorrow night, Monday, starts the Simchat Torah festival in Israel. Outside of Israel it starts on Tuesday night

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The Devout French-Catholic Girl at 770

Sam (fictitious name) was a Jew. True he wasn't very careful about the Jewish commandments but he knew he was a Jew, did some commandments and it was important to him at least subconsciously.

Being a young upcoming businessman he met a lot of attractive young women but he didn't give them much notice. Until, when he had a project that lasted several months in the same town, he met one that was different. At first their only connection was business, but eventually they discovered they had a lot in common. Except religion.

She was a devout Catholic. It was unthinkable that she would marry out. It meant eternal damnation! Her parents would never agree. Unless, he would convert.

But Sam wouldn't hear of it. He was a proud Jew. For sure he would never think about denying that. And marrying a gentile would mean the children wouldn't be Jewish, the house wouldn't be Jewish and his parents would be heartbroken. So they agreed to part and blessed one another that G-d would provide them with proper partners.

But because they were in the same general line of work, as 'fate' would have it, a year later they again met. But this time things were different. First of all it was in New York, Sam's home ground, and second, Sam was much more focused and to the point. He told her firmly and finally that, despite his positive feelings only if she were to convert could they have any connection. If not, this would be their last conversation.

The girl was torn, she really liked him but conversion was out of the question. She explained her dilemma but he was final and blunt. They exchanged phone numbers and again parted.

A few weeks later her phone rang. It was Sam. He had thought it over and decided that it was unfair for him to expect her to convert when she knew nothing about Judaism. Therefore, he will make her an offer.

In another few days there would be a festive Jewish holiday called Simchat Torah. If she wanted, she could experience it. He had spoken to a religious family in the Crown Heights area of Brooklyn who agreed to take her as a guest. Then she could ask questions, learn, see what real Judaism was and decide for herself.

She agreed, went and from the moment she arrived she enjoyed it. The two days of the Holiday were wonderful: the family, the chasidim and, of course, the joy. However, what was really something out of the ordinary and the true highlight for her, was seeing the Lubavitcher Rebbe. As soon as she looked down from the women's section and saw him, she was certain that if anyone could solve her dilemma it was he. She told this to the family that was
hosting her.

A week later, after the holiday they a made few phone calls, arranged her an appointment for a private audience with the Rebbe (called 'Yechidut') and a few days after that she entered the Rebbe's office and poured out her heart. She explained how she was born and bred a Catholic, Sam was Jewish. He wanted her to convert. But her parents would never agree to her converting and she also had big doubts. She had been taught that it was a sin to leave the Church, but she didn't want to lose him. She was really confused. Should she leave him? Or should she convert with such doubts plaguing her?

The Rebbe answered matter-of-factly, "You can get married without converting. There is no need for you to convert."

She was startled and blurted out, "A Jew can marry a gentile? Really? But everyone told me... "

The Rebbe replied "You are not a gentile. You are a Jew."

She couldn't believe her ears, this was crazy. She? A Jew?
"But you don't know me." She blurted out again. "I've been in this room only two minutes. I'm Catholic! I was born baptized and raised a Catholic. My parents are Catholics I go to church with them every Sunday. I'm not adopted or anything, I'm sure. Rebbe, for SURE I am not Jewish!"

The Rebbe just looked at her, smiled and said. "Go to your mother and ask her if you're Jewish or not."

She backed out of the Rebbe's office, returned to the house where she was a guest and called her mother long distance and asked

"Mother, am I Jewish?" She figured that her mother would simply answer 'certainly not', or 'that's silly' and that would be the end of it, but to her surprise, her mother slammed the phone down without saying a word, and didn't pick up when she called again.

"Strange" she thought to herself. Two days later she flew home and at the first opportunity took her mother aside and again asked.

"Shhhhh" Her mother whispered. "Don't talk about this when your father is at home. Tomorrow we will take a walk in the park and I'll explain."

The next day after her father left for work, they went for a walk in the park and when her mother was sure no one was around, she turned to her and said. "My dear daughter, it's true. You are Jewish. And so is your father, and so am I and so were our parents and their parents before them.

"But the Nazis changed all that. We met after the war. In the war we both spent years in the extermination camps. Death and suffering were everywhere. Our families and friends were all killed, some of them before our eyes. Maybe you read the stories but it's nothing like living it. And it was all because we were Jews.

"Well, before we married your father said he didn't want his children to suffer as he suffered and I agreed. So we changed our religion, we became Catholics, moved to France and thought that would be the end of it. We would be like everyone else. That's why we never told you."

The next day the girl returned to the Rebbe to give him the good news and the Rebbe replied. "Because you entered a Church you must immerse yourself in a mikvah, not for conversion but to remove the defilement of idolatry. Then you must learn the laws of Judaism."

Today she and Sam are married, live in Haifa and have a chasidic family with children and grandchildren, and share helping to make the world a better place.

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Source: Modified by Yerachmiel Tilles from the translation-adaptation by Rabbi Tuva Bolton in a 2019 email from the book, "Sipurim M'Cheder HaRebbe: as told by his attendants" (page 128).

Why this Week? Tomorrow night, Monday, starts the Simchat Torah festival in Israel. Outside of Israel it starts on Tuesday night.

Biographical note:
Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe (11 Nissan 1902 - 3 Tammuz 1994), became the seventh Rebbe of the Chabad dynasty after his father-in-law, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, passed away in Brooklyn on 10 Shvat 1950. He is widely acknowledged as the greatest Jewish leader of the second half of the 20th century. Although a dominant scholar in both the revealed and hidden aspects of Torah and fluent in many languages and scientific subjects, the Rebbe is best known for his extraordinary love and concern for every Jew on the planet. His emissaries around the globe dedicated to strengthening Judaism number in the thousands. Many hundreds of volumes of his teachings have been printed, and hundreds of English renditions too.

Yerachmiel Tilles is co-founder and associate director of Ascent-of-Safed, and chief editor of this website (and of KabbalaOnline.org). He has hundreds of published stories to his credit, and many have been translated into other languages. He tells them live at Ascent nearly every Saturday night.

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