The Letter the Rebbe Wrote on Behalf of the Rebbetzin

The Letter the Rebbe Wrote on Behalf of the Rebbetzin

Welcome to our weekly program, The Inside Story of Chabad in America, through the Mindel Archives.

Next week is Yud Shvat. Yud Shvat is the yahrzeit of the Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, who passed away in the year 1988. So this program is in honor of her.

If we want to describe who the Rebbetzin was, there is a saying: "Kol kevudah bas melech penimah" — all the honor of the daughter of the king is within. And as it says, she was... she was considered like a tzadeikes. She was hidden, very humble, not [seeking publicity], no fuss.

And we know that she came to America in 1941. I mean, there is a picture, a famous picture of her, and that picture was taken at Manya's wedding, as we're going to speak about Manya soon, the nurse. And maybe there's another picture, but otherwise there are no pictures of her, because she was inside — she was an inside person, she was a very, very private person.

Her biggest merit was that she gave the Rebbe over to the tzibur, meaning the Rebbe was hardly home most of the time. The Rebbe was in 770 — first of all three times a week in the early years, then later it was twice a week that the Rebbe had a farbrengen, and we all know that the farbrengens lasted till about two, three, even four in the morning, and then he went home, and he came back right in the morning.

Also the Rebbe's farbrengen on the weekdays — his farbrengen on Purim would last till 2:30, 3 o'clock in the morning. On Shabbos Chazon he also farbrenged — in the summertime he used to farbreng until about 4 o'clock, then he went home and came back after an hour or two. In the winter sometimes the Rebbe farbrenged till 2:00 — I mentioned before, in his whole life he never even went home. So the Rebbe was hardly home.

And of course we know the month of Tishrei, how busy the Rebbe was — even on Yom Kippur he'd stand all day to give lekach, and on Simchas Torah the Rebbe would stand all day, he'd give lekach, he was busy. And how many times did the Rebbe go to the Ohel for hours and hours and hours — he was hardly home. So the Rebbe was always [busy], because the Rebbetzin was alone, but he had permission — in other words, the Rebbetzin saw this and encouraged the Rebbe to go to the tzibur. This is her biggest merit.

Now, other Rebbetzins — for example, Rebbetzin Rivkah [?] — was at home, because the farbrengens of the [earlier] Rebbes were held in the house. [unclear] The Rebbe's mother [?] went to [unclear]... she used to sit [unclear]. Other leaders' [farbrengens] were also a long time; other Rebbetzins' [farbrengens] were an hour — not like the Rebbe's. The earlier farbrengens were also irregular [unclear]. There was a farbrengen on Purim, as I stated, but it was not that many hours. So the Rebbe was always busy with the Chassidim, and this is her biggest merit — that she gave the Rebbe over, she gave the Rebbe to the tzibur.

Now, speaking about yechidus, I want to mention — I heard this, my father-in-law told me — that the Frierdiker Rebbe, after yechidus, his daughter helped him take off his coat, and his shirt and undershirt were wet with sweat. So she asked the Rebbe — the Frierdiker Rebbe — why is it so wet? I mean, when you sit by yechidus, people come in, you're sitting, you don't look excited, why is it wet? So the Frierdiker Rebbe told her that the reason I'm wet, the sweating, is because when a person walks in, I have to dress myself completely in that person — the only thing in the world is that person — then when that person walks out and another person walks in, he has to undress himself from that person and dress himself completely anew for the person who comes in. This is why it's wet. This is what I heard.

Now, going back to the Rebbetzin — she had people who were with her, they were close to her, but what does it mean "close"? For example, I remember once the Rebbetzin called my home and wanted to speak to Mrs. Mindel, and she asked her maybe she can come visit her. This was the last Succos — the last one. She said, "Maybe come visit me, with your daughter, with my wife." So they went to visit her, they sat for an hour. She was close, but is that really close? There were people who were closer — people who maybe spoke to the Rebbetzin a couple of times a week, a few times a week, or maybe they called the Rebbetzin — those were visits, called a visit. But the only one that I think was the closest to the Rebbetzin was Manya, the Rebbe's nurse.

Manya had been a nurse, and the Frierdiker Rebbe's wife — she was like a sister to the Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka. As we spoke in the previous programs, Manya was a nurse, she was married. Then the Frierdiker Rebbe asked her — nine years [before] — the Frierdiker Rebbe asked her to come be a nurse for his mother. Ever since then the story [continued] that she came to America. So she came to America, she lived upstairs in 770 with the family, and the Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka did not live there — she lived a few blocks away, but she came every day to visit her mother and her sister, so she became close to Manya. Manya was like a sister. And when the Frierdiker Rebbe gave presents every Yom Tov to his daughters — before Pesach, before Shavuos, before Succos — he gave a present also to Manya, so that Manya was part of the family. The Frierdiker Rebbe's wife gave her the coat, as we spoke already, and she gave me the present — the coat that the Rebbetzin gave her. In other words, she was part of the family, she was very, very close to Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka.

After the Frierdiker Rebbe passed away, after that she wanted to move to Long Beach, so she lived in Long Beach. She spoke to the Rebbetzin on the phone for many hours every single day, she went to visit, she was in the house very, very often, she sat for hours and hours.

Now I want to [tell] a story about the Rebbetzin and about Manya — Manya living in Long Beach, this was a huge part, this was everything. Two years after I was married, she asked Rabbi Mindel, since you go to the farbrengen on Yud Shvat, "I want to go see the Rebbetzin, so maybe drop me off by the Rebbetzin, and afterwards, after the farbrengen, you pick me up." Fine — he dropped her off by the Rebbetzin. He came to my home, he left the car here, he went to the farbrengen. In those days the Rebbe's farbrengen lasted very late — about 2:00, 2:30 at night. After the farbrengen he comes here, he asks me for a favor — maybe I can take the car, go to the Rebbetzin's house, pick up Manya, bring her here, and you'll take her back to Long Beach.

So I took the car, I went to the Rebbetzin's, I knocked on the door, she opened the door, and I said, "I'm here to pick up Manya." So she [motioned], "just a moment," she went to tell Manya that somebody is here to pick her up. So while Manya was getting ready, she [the Rebbetzin] came to the door, and she was gracious, and she says, "Come in." I was a young man, I was there maybe 24, 25 years old. "Come in," and I spoke with the family — maybe she offered me something — and I was nervous. I had in my pocket an envelope of money, then I saw I lost the envelope, I don't have it anymore, I don't know what happened, so I was nervous. So she said, "You look a little nervous." I said, "I hope I didn't leave anything here." So she smiled at me and said, "Of course you left — you left a very good impression." This is the Rebbetzin.

So Manya — before she went there to visit, the Rebbetzin did not like her to come too often, because she said, "You're like my sister, and you know, [he needs you], you shouldn't come back too often." So Manya, Manya was the very close bond. He [Rabbi Mindel] told us that the Rebbetzin's character and her devotion to the Rebbe was something that we cannot describe. This is what Manya told us — she was very, very close to the Rebbetzin, she was the closest, like a sister.

So, as a side point of interest, we have here letters that the Rebbe wrote on behalf of the Rebbetzin. You know, people don't know — she had issues, she had medical issues for quite a few [years]. There's a lot of letters that the Rebbe wrote to doctors on behalf of the Rebbetzin. Some letters we have in their entirety, but some we don't. So here I found a letter that the Rebbe wrote to a doctor on behalf of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, and I want to read to you this letter, and we can learn a lesson from it. The letter was written to a doctor on Central Park West. This is written: "Greeting and blessing.

"This is, first of all, to convey to you, in behalf of Mrs. Schneerson and myself, our sincere appreciation of your very kind attention in connection with Mrs. Schneerson's recent mishap, responding promptly to a house call at an inconvenient hour. In addition to giving her your professional expertise and skill, there is certainly no need to emphasize to you how much the physician's personal interest and sincere attention means to the patient, especially as it is also a significant factor in the curative process. Indeed, as you rightly observed during our conversation, the human intellect has a controlling influence on the whole organism, and the mental state affects the healing process."

And you know that the Rebbe always, always says that the warmth of a doctor to the patient has to do with the healing process, which the Rebbe wrote many letters about — but maybe another time we'll read the other letters that the Rebbe wrote to different doctors.

"We also thank you in anticipation of your continued interest and help. I hope and pray that Hashem, the healer of all flesh, who works wonders, will bless you with great success in the treatment of all your patients, including the present one.

"I have had occasion to hear from my father-in-law, of saintly memory, and the idea has its place in the Tur, Choshen Mishpat, that in the interest of successful medical treatment, the patient has to meet the physician's professional standing. Indeed, the same principle applies in all professions and services, including community services. Needless to say, my father-in-law practiced that principle, and I wish to do the same."

In other words, when you pay a doctor, that inspires the doctor to be closer, to do a better job with the patient.

This reminds me — and maybe I mentioned it once, but I can always mention it again — we come from Cleveland, my parents lived in Cleveland, I grew up in Cleveland. [In Cleveland there was a practice] that even [those giving tzedakah] used to [do it] Motzei Shabbos, [where] the givers and the receivers did not know [each other]. But late Motzei Shabbos, two or three carloads [of people] wanted to learn — and the givers and receivers did not know, and they didn't want [each other] to know. So they came with taxis to my [father], or rather to my zeide — he was a teacher, a rebbi, when I was a young boy, and he lived also in Cleveland. So they came to learn Motzei Shabbos — from their homes to our home was probably a distance of maybe 40 minutes' drive, pretty expensive, and they didn't have the money. They came over to my father and said, "Please, it's a mitzvah that we do, but we can't pay the taxis."

So Rabbi Raichik [?] was there at home then — [later he was] in Santa Barbara, California. So Rabbi Raichik was saying to my father, maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to raise money to pay for the taxis. My father did not agree with that. Rabbi Raichik said, "You know what, [let's] write to the Rebbe, ask the Rebbe." So my father [wrote to] the Rebbe. A month later the answer came — the Rebbe wrote about the taxis, and he wrote that it's a disgrace that a city [the size of] a metropolis should lower itself so low that we should [raise money for] the taxis. If they want, we'll see, they'll find a way. And the R