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

Photos: Family archives

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!”

It was a magic he never knew existed until Yankel the Yarmulke Man made him believe in it — and that Shmuel Kunda wanted every Jewish child to believe.

Mordy Mehlman was just 12 years old when he first came in contact with that magical spark. Today, Mordy is a proud father, grandfather, publisher, and community leader. Yet even after all these years, a large part of the inspiration he lives with is that of his first and foremost rebbi, Rabbi Shmuel Kunda a”h, who passed away on Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan 2012.

For Mordy, it all began on his first day of seventh grade at Yeshiva Torah Vodaath of Flatbush. Mordy hadn’t forgotten to bring a nickel for that morning’s bus fare, but he was feeling queasy nonetheless. First days of school were always hard, fraught with doubts, concerns, and fears of the unknown. The rebbi he was assigned to this year was a brand new one — a fellow by the name of Kunda — and the fact that Mordy had never heard of him before made his sense of foreboding all the more dominant. Then the door opened with a sudden swish of energy.

“From the moment he walked in,” says Mordy, “we knew that he was radically different from anyone we had ever met before. He was so positive, he was fun, exciting, warm, caring, and much, much more.” Such was Mordy Mehlman’s introduction to the legend that was Shmuel Kunda, the rebbi who would effuse a boundless love for life and instill the confidence to hit every ball over the head of the proverbial Simcha Shtark.

Don’t think of your troubles and they’ll never ever find you

Run ahead of everyone and never look behind you

And never look behind you

You’ll only win and never fail just let the wind go through your sail

And see your spirit fly (The Royal Rescue)