Episode 207 - The Family of Our Holy Rebbe

00:01 We continue the story of the Alter Rebbe, focusing for now on his family and his students. We know that the Alter Rebbe’s father was Reb Baruch, about whom we have told many stories, a friend of Yitzchak Shaul the blacksmith from Dobromysl [?]. Reb Baruch married Rivkah, the daughter of Reb Avraham the gardener, and their son, the Alter Rebbe, was born. Now, to continue the story of Reb Baruch and his final years: Reb Baruch lived in Liozna together with his son, the Alter Rebbe. But Reb Baruch could not bear having his son stand up for him and show him such great honor. Reb Baruch said, “How can it be that a man through whose throat the Shechinah speaks should stand up for me?” So Reb Baruch decided to leave Liozna. He wandered from city to city, and wherever he went, he would enter the shul, and everyone could see that he was no ordinary man. People at the shuls would invite him to eat at their tables. In this way he wandered from city to city until he reached Hungary, to the city of Solish [?]. As usual, he entered the shul, and a wealthy man invited him to eat at his table. He ate with him that day and that night. This man’s business was making liquor—vodka. On the day Reb Baruch stayed with him, the man saw great blessing in his work. He was very surprised and thought that perhaps it was because of his guest, so he asked Reb Baruch to stay the next day as well. The following day, too, he saw great blessing in his work. Then the man understood clearly that Hashem had sent him His blessing because of this guest. The wealthy man said to Reb Baruch, “I see that you aren’t wandering in order to accumulate money. So I ask you to stay with me permanently. I will provide everything you need.” Reb Baruch agreed. The man gave him a room of his own and provided for all his needs. Reb Baruch stayed there for several years, until the time came for his passing. Then

02:53 the leading and prominent men of the city gathered around him, for they held him in high regard. They asked whether he had sons and where they lived, so they could notify them. Reb Baruch told them that he had four sons in Russia, all of them rabbis. He added that two of them needed to be notified, one needed only a hint, and the fourth did not need to be told at all, because he would know on his own. After Reb Baruch passed away, they buried him with great honor and gave him a prominent burial place, and the chevra kadisha erected a headstone on his grave. When the Alter Rebbe learned of his father’s passing, he sent a special emissary to Hungary with a large sum of money to give to the wealthy man for supporting his father, and to the chevra kadisha for the burial place and the headstone. But neither the wealthy man nor the chevra kadisha would accept the money under any circumstances. The emissary said to them, “The Alter Rebbe is a G-dly man, and he is particular about such matters. His displeasure could cause harm. So please see to it that his wishes are carried out.” They decided to bring the matter before a beis din. The ruling was as follows: the chevra kadisha was obligated to accept the money, but the wealthy man was not obligated to accept payment for supporting Reb Baruch. We have already told you that the Alter Rebbe’s mother was Rivkah, the daughter of Reb Avraham the gardener. The Alter Rebbe’s father-in-law, his wife’s father, was the wealthy Reb Yehudah Leib Segal of Vitebsk. As we have already related, he was a respected and well-known man who took the Alter Rebbe into his home and supported him. But because the Alter Rebbe’s manner of davening and learning seemed strange to him, both the Alter Rebbe and his wife, Shterna, Reb Yehudah Leib’s daughter, suffered much distress because of him. Reb Yehudah Leib wanted to force his daughter to divorce the Alter Rebbe. Of course, he did not succeed. Toward the end of his life, when the Alter Rebbe returned from Mezritch, Reb Yehudah Leib lost his wealth, and around that time he also passed away.

05:43 His mother-in-law, Mrs. Bella, was then left behind. Mrs. Bella saw the Alter Rebbe’s greatness and splendor during the years of his leadership, and she deeply regretted the distress they had caused him. She also became wealthy afterward, so she asked the Alter Rebbe to return to Vitebsk and take up residence in her home. She would provide for all his needs and help the chassidim as well. The Alter Rebbe declined and said to her jokingly: “When a baby is in its mother’s womb, things are very good for it there. A candle burns above its head. It learns the entire Torah and eats what its mother eats. Then, when it comes into the world, an angel strikes it and it forgets the Torah. Even so, if you tell it to go back into its mother’s womb, it will not go back under any circumstances, for two reasons. First, the place has become too small. Second, the person has grown.” The Alter Rebbe’s wife, Rebbetzin Shterna, was a great, modest and distinguished woman, with wisdom and strong understanding. Words of wisdom were heard from her mouth. She was devoted to the Alter Rebbe with mesirus nefesh. The Alter Rebbe held her in the highest regard. It is told that when the Alter Rebbe came to Liozna, apparently from Mezritch, and chassidim began traveling to him, he looked through the window and saw crowds and crowds coming to him. He fell to the ground, rolled about and cried out, “What do they want from me? Why are they traveling to me? What do they see in me?” His wife, Rebbetzin Shterna, came in and said to him, “They aren’t traveling to see you. Since you were with the Maggid of Mezritch, they want you to tell them what you heard from him.” The Alter Rebbe said to her, “If that is what they are asking for, I will grant their request. I will tell them, and tell them more.” One of the Alter Rebbe’s grandchildren related that when Rebbetzin Shterna once teased the Alter Rebbe, she had a fever for three days. Once she said to the Alter Rebbe, “Surely

08:29 it isn’t right to punish a tzaddik.” The Alter Rebbe jokingly replied, “Heaven forbid, I am not punishing you. If I were punishing you, you would have had a fever for nine days, not three.” After the Alter Rebbe’s passing, Rebbetzin Shterna settled in Lubavitch with her son, the Mitteler Rebbe, and also lived with her grandson, the Tzemach Tzedek. Once she expressed displeasure with her son, the Mitteler Rebbe, and he went to make peace with her. She rebuked him with some pointed words, saying, “You have spirituality? I know more about spirituality. I was with the Alter Rebbe for fifty years, and I can also debate better than you.” She is buried in Lubavitch. The Alter Rebbe’s brother, Reb Yehudah Leib of Yanovitch, was also known as Uncle Maharil. He authored a book called She’eiris Yehudah on the laws of salting meat, with questions and answers at the end. It contains many explanations of the words of his brother, the Alter Rebbe, as well as many things he heard from him personally. He managed the Alter Rebbe’s household, and most of the Alter Rebbe’s affairs were decided on his word. Reb Yehudah Leib transcribed the discourses in Torah Or in the Alter Rebbe’s own eloquent language. The Alter Rebbe himself reviewed them and remarked that his brother’s notes were very accurate, exactly as the discourses had been delivered. When the Alter Rebbe printed his siddur, Reb Yehudah Leib added several things to it. There were additions to which the Alter Rebbe objected. One of the Alter Rebbe’s grandchildren related that the passage in the siddur concerning Sefiras HaOmer, which says that those who are privy to Hashem’s secrets should count according to this order, was one of Reb Yehudah Leib’s additions. The Alter Rebbe objected to it and punished him by not allowing him to hear Chassidus on the second night of Pesach. But after the Alter Rebbe’s passing, Reb Yehudah Leib edited the Shulchan

11:15 Aruch written by the Alter Rebbe. Rabbi Yehuda Leib gave his approbation to the siddur printed in 5582 by the printer Rabbi Yisroel Yaffe in Kapust. The Tzemach Tzedek cites many teachings from Rabbi Yehuda Leib in his responsa. Rabbi Yehuda Leib is buried in Yanovitch, and the townspeople held his name and memory in awe. A second brother, Rabbi Mordechai Posner, was the rabbi of Orsha. He also helped proofread the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch. After the Alter Rebbe’s passing, his face bore a striking resemblance to the Alter Rebbe’s. He passed away on 11 Adar 5583. The third brother, Rabbi Moshe, was a rabbi in Bi-Biov or Bib[unclear], and also in the town of Lepli[unclear]. Later he served in Rudnya, near Lubavitch. He passed away during the Alter Rebbe’s lifetime. Among the Alter Rebbe’s brothers-in-law was Rabbi Yisroel Kazik[unclear], a son-in-law of Rabbi Boruch, the Alter Rebbe’s father. He showed mesiras nefesh for the Alter Rebbe when the Alter Rebbe was taken to Petersburg. As we recall, the Alter Rebbe told him to travel to Petersburg immediately, and he was the one who managed to find him. Through him, people learned that the Alter Rebbe was alive and what was happening to him. There was another son-in-law, the wealthy Rabbi Akiva Fradkin of Shklov. He was a son-in-law of Rabbi Yehuda Leib, the Alter Rebbe’s father-in-law. His wife recognized the Alter Rebbe’s holiness when he was living in his father-in-law’s home, and warned her sister, the Alter Rebbe’s wife, not to listen to those whispering that she should divorce him. In secret, she did everything she could to improve the Alter Rebbe’s situation there and obtain everything he needed, without her father’s household knowing. The Alter Rebbe remained grateful to her for this all his life. In other words, she was the sister of the Alter Rebbe’s wife, and her husband was the wealthy Rabbi Akiva Fradkin of Shklov. The Alter Rebbe’s sons: Rabbi Dov Ber Schneuri, the Mitteler Rebbe, was born on 9 Kislev and passed away on 9 Kislev.

14:20 He was born on 9 Kislev 5534, 1774, and passed away on 9 Kislev 5588, 1828. The Mitteler Rebbe succeeded his father, the Alter Rebbe, after his passing, and the whole land was illuminated by the light of his Torah. The second son, Rabbi Chaim Avraham, was born after 5537 and was named for Rabbi Avraham the Malach, the son of the Maggid of Mezritch. Rabbi Chaim Avraham was great in Torah, Chassidus, good character, and extraordinary wisdom. He was humble and unassuming—extremely, extremely humble. He was a man of truth who hated falsehood. No one would lie in his presence. One of the Alter Rebbe’s grandchildren related that he knew a man in Lubavitch who was a notorious liar, yet even he would not lie in Rabbi Chaim Avraham’s presence. Rabbi Chaim Avraham did not deliver teachings of Chassidus. He would say, “I have stored Your word in my heart.” His face resembled his father’s, the Alter Rebbe’s. During the eleven years the Alter Rebbe lived in Liadi—as we recall, the Alter Rebbe moved to Liadi after his second imprisonment—Rabbi Chaim Avraham would stand before him and, at his side, give sound answers and advice to anyone who came with a question about worldly matters. After his father the Alter Rebbe passed away, he settled in Lubavitch. His brother, the Mitteler Rebbe, charged him with overseeing the affairs of Anash, making sure they had everything they needed. When his brother the Mitteler Rebbe passed away and people wanted to appoint his son-in-law, the Tzemach Tzedek, as the leader of Chabad, the Tzemach Tzedek turned them away and told them to appoint his uncle, Rabbi Chaim Avraham. But Rabbi Chaim Avraham would not agree under any circumstances. He himself went to the Tzemach Tzedek to persuade him to accept the responsibility of leading Chabad. Rabbi Chaim Avraham was a chossid of the Tzemach Tzedek. Rabbi

17:08 Chaim Avraham’s signature appears on the introduction to the first edition of his father the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch. In 5607, that is, 1847, his sons and grandsons printed the Shulchan Aruch with additions found in the Alter Rebbe’s holy manuscripts, along with his responsa. Rabbi Chaim Avraham then added a second introduction. Rabbi Chaim Avraham also signed the edition of Tanya printed in 5574, the first to include the Alter Rebbe’s Igeres Hakodesh. He passed away in 5608 in Lubavitch, where he is buried. The third son, Rabbi Moshe, was the son-in-law of the renowned chossid Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch of Ulla and the brother-in-law of the chossid Rabbi Yitzchak of Ulla and Reb Leib of Ulla. We have many stories about Rabbi Moshe, some of which we have already told. He was an exceptionally clever man who debated with priests, and unfortunately, those debates ultimately forced him to flee from them.