When Rebbi Was Young

Ten years after Rabbi Shmuel Kunda’s passing, his magic lives on 

Over the years, Rabbi Shmuel Kunda’s brilliance, humor, and unparalleled storytelling skills brightened the lives of a generation of children, but it all started out within the four walls of his classroom. One of those early-day talmidim was Mordy Mehlman, today a grandfather, publisher of the Flatbush Jewish Journal and president of Citicom marketing company. Although he was only a kid then, he forever views Rabbi Kunda as his rebbi, happy to share the memories that have continued to make him laugh and keep him inspired ten years after Rabbi Kunda’s passing

Which child doesn’t feel like best friends with Chananya Yom Tov Lipa Katznelenbogentstein?

The protagonist in The Magic Yarmulke, Shmuel Kunda depicts young Chananya as a hapless young boy for whom little seems to go his way. One day, he sits down at the side of the road, bemoaning his very unfortunate lot in life. He’s then approached by a strange-looking fellow named Yankel the Yarmulke Man, who gives him a multi-colored yarmulke which will supposedly do wonders. Chananya places the yarmulke gingerly upon his head and, the next thing you know, his life takes a wild turn for the better. He begins to accomplish amazing things, including the Olympian feat of punching the ball out of the park — over the head of Simcha Shtark! That’s until one day when a gust of wind blows the yarmulke right off of poor Chananya Yom Tov Lipa’s head and he’s engulfed in a wave of despair.

Suddenly, old Yankel reappears. A conversation ensues in which Yankel reveals that the magical yarmulke was actually not magical at all. “Ayaya, no, no, the magic won’t stop… You see, that yarmulke that made you feel ten feet tall, really had no magic in it at all.” Chananya begins to catch on. It was never the yarmulke — that was just Yankel’s way of forcing the young boy to believe in himself. Realizing this, Chananya is ecstatic. “That means I can still be as good as I want to be!… Oh, is that ever great news, Yippee!

And then he concludes, “The magic is not in a kippah, it’s in me, Chananya Yom Tov Lipa!”