Jul 26, 2026 · 1 hr 35 min · 16 segments
Rabbi Mendy Katz grew up in Miami Beach as part of what was then a very small Chabad community and lives today in Surfside where he works as a director of programs at The Aleph Institute.In this…
Mendy KatzGuest
Bentzi AvtzonHost
It's just very interesting to me, um, like I don't know how much there is, how, how, how much, h-how much road there is here to travel, but just to go a little bit down this, uh, down this direction, um, this idea of like a Lubavitcher moving, he had to make a parnassa, right? The, the, the narrative that we have is Lubavitchers would, you know, they're in Karn Heights, and then they went on shlichas to Eckvelt, right? 'Cause, you know, the same, similar, similar idea.
They went somewhere where there wasn't much Yiddishkeit, but they were going on shlichas.
Your father didn't have shlichas per se as, as the reason why he was moving to Florida.
It was parnassa, which is, you know, more old school, you know, regular concerns, which is what motivated him throughout.
I mean, why were there krechmas in middle of nowhere with a husband and wife, you know, serving meals to people in the forests of Russia? It's 'cause they had to make a parnassa, right?
And just th-that story of like, you know, Lubavitcher moves to Florida 'cause he has to make a living, and he feels like this is where he's gonna make a living, and he's just fighting that his kids have a connection and this family has a connection, and it's just very interesting.
Like it's, you know, uh, it's, it's, it's, it's a real, it's a real story that hasn't been discussed that much.
It's kind of taken a back seat to shlichas and that narrative of going to a town and conqueror.
But I think there's something else about, you know, people that, you know, th-they're there for business, but they're still...
But a lot of business people basically were very involved with whatever wanted them to do.
And, um, [clears throat] say Mendel Shem Tov was always, you know, they've always had a shlichasim from, uh, Nemet.
He was living in the city, so he was able to actually work with the shlichim and, and work with-- And he had, he had a lot of people, let's say, that he taught chasidas to, or that he, you know, made a misheh chasidah for, you know, we-- There was no Lubavitcher shul there when we grew up in Miami Beach, so he's the dominant Beth Israel and-
It's just very interesting to me, um, like I don't know how much there is, how, how, how much, h-how much road there is here to travel, but just to go a little bit down this, uh, down this direction, um, this idea of like a Lubavitcher moving, he had to make a parnassa, right? The, the, the narrative that we have is Lubavitchers would, you know, they're in Karn Heights, and then they went on shlichas to Eckvelt, right? 'Cause, you know, the same, similar, similar idea.
They went somewhere where there wasn't much Yiddishkeit, but they were going on shlichas.
Your father didn't have shlichas per se as, as the reason why he was moving to Florida.
It was parnassa, which is, you know, more old school, you know, regular concerns, which is what motivated him throughout.
I mean, why were there krechmas in middle of nowhere with a husband and wife, you know, serving meals to people in the forests of Russia? It's 'cause they had to make a parnassa, right?
And just th-that story of like, you know, Lubavitcher moves to Florida 'cause he has to make a living, and he feels like this is where he's gonna make a living, and he's just fighting that his kids have a connection and this family has a connection, and it's just very interesting.
Like it's, you know, uh, it's, it's, it's, it's a real, it's a real story that hasn't been discussed that much.
It's kind of taken a back seat to shlichas and that narrative of going to a town and conqueror.
But I think there's something else about, you know, people that, you know, th-they're there for business, but they're still...
But a lot of business people basically were very involved with whatever wanted them to do.
And, um, [clears throat] say Mendel Shem Tov was always, you know, they've always had a shlichasim from, uh, Nemet.
He was living in the city, so he was able to actually work with the shlichim and, and work with-- And he had, he had a lot of people, let's say, that he taught chasidas to, or that he, you know, made a misheh chasidah for, you know, we-- There was no Lubavitcher shul there when we grew up in Miami Beach, so he's the dominant Beth Israel and-
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