1 of Sivan - Day of passing of Rebbitzin Devorah Leah, daughter of Mittleler Rebbi - יום פטירת הרבנית דבורה לאה בת אדמו"ר האמצעי

00:00 Speaker 1 So now we'll do the first day of Sivan in the year Taf Resh Lamed Vav, that's six hundred and thirty-six. May twenty-four, eighteen seventy-six was the passing of the Rebbetzin Devorah Leah, the daughter of the Mitteler Rebbe. Uh, and we know already that the Mitteler Rebbe's daughter married all into great families. Of course, the Tzemach Tzedek. Uh, Rebbe Menachem Mendel became later on the, uh, third Lubavitch Rebbe, as we'll read later on in the next, uh, the next entry, we'll read about that. But on that-- She was the wife, the, um, Devorah Leah was the wife of Yaakov Yisroel of Cherkass, if you remember. That was the Chernobyler, uh, the Rebbe Nachum Chernobyler's son, Rebbe Mordechai Chernobyler's son, had a son named Yaakov Yisroel of Cherkass, and that was the mechutan that became a mechutan with the, uh, with the Alter Rebbe. I mean, they were old friends. He was also a student of the Maggid of Mezritch, together with the Alter Rebbe. He was an older-- Rebbe Nachum Chernobyler was the older, the Alter Rebbe was the youngest, or one of the youngest, he was the youngest there. And then they, uh, the daughter of the Mitteler Rebbe married Rebbe Yaakov Yisroel of, uh, of Cherkass. And another-- We also learned another daughter married another grandson of, uh, that was of Rebbe Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev, and then it was the Mitteler Rebbe, and it was Yaakov Chaim Slonim. And, you know, we learned all these, uh, great Rebbe, and that was, um, uh,

01:33 Speaker 1 the fifth daughter, I forget right now. Uh, but they, um-- There's a story going around about the passing of the Devorah Leah, the daughter of the Mitteler Rebbe, who was the wife of Rebbe Yaakov Yisroel of Cherkass. Uh, they had a grandson who was, uh, known as a great rabbi, uh, and he also was a Rebbe. Of course, that wasn't the Chabad dynasty that, uh-

01:59 Speaker 2 Chernobyl, right?

02:00 Speaker 1 That was the Chernobyl or a branch of the Chernobyl. The Chernobyl itself so-- it went off in different directions of various different children. But his grandson of Yaakov Yisroel of Cherkass was Rebbe Mordechai Dov Mehoran Steipel. That was the Mordechai Dov. He was a great Rebbe even during the lifetime of his grandfather. While the Rebbe Yaakov Yisroel was still alive, he already was a Rebbe, and he had many thousands of Hasidim. These were really very popular great Rebbes, and they attracted many, many, uh, Hasidim to them. So that was even during the life of his grandfather. And this was a, a very, um, I guess, uh, story that is, uh, related, um, that, uh, Rebbe Yaakov Yisroel, the grandfather, invited his grandson to come to him. And when he came, uh, the, the Rav from the-- his grandson from Mehoran Steipel came to Cherkass, uh, the grandfather, Rebbe Yaakov Yisroel, asked him to, uh, go in together with him to his grandmother. So that is the Rebbetzin Devorah Leah. So his grandfather says to his grandson, "Come with me and let's go into the room of our-- of your grandmother." And he says-- The grandfather says to his grandson, he says, "I have a dispute with your grandmother." And he says, "I want you to be-- Uh, we decided both that we're going to present our cases in front of you, and whatever you rule, that's going to be the, uh, ruling."

03:48 Speaker 3 Quite an honor.

03:49 Speaker 1 And this is the matter. What's the matter that is, uh, that we're, what we're disagreement is? He says, "Grandmother says that she must leave this world before me." In other words, she has to pass away first. Why? Because if God forbid, if she remains, uh, a widow without, uh, her husband, um, so Hasidim will no longer come because it's just a woman over there. And I will remain lonely, and I will-- she will not be able to get used to a life of, of, of loneliness, and therefore she says that she has to go first. That's what she said. He said, uh, says the grandfather, he says, he says that I have to be the one that's going first. Why? Because if I remain, you know, a widow and a half a body, there's no way that I can, I can manage. So now this grandfather says to the grandson, "You rule, we rely on you what is rule." So Rebbe Mordechai Dov says like this. He says, "In essence," he says, "Grandmother is right." Because for her to live as... Again, they're not old, they can both live to hundred and fifty, but it's not talking about when. We're just talking about when the time comes, who has to go first. So he says she's right that her life as a single person without her husband is going to be impossible, very difficult. However, he says, "Since my-- your opinion is different," he says, "I'm not going to go against your opinion." He says,

05:30 Speaker 1 "I respect your opinion." So I said to-- Therefore, he says, "It's my view that when the time will come that you have to depart from this world, you should both part-- leave this world the same year."

05:44 Speaker 2 Same year.

05:44 Speaker 1 Same year.

05:45 Speaker 3 Interesting.

05:45 Speaker 1 And that actually took place.

05:47 Speaker 3 Wow.

05:48 Speaker 1 That on the first day of Sivan in the year Taf Resh Lamed Vav, the Rebbetzin passed away. And on the thirtieth day of Elul, which was just three months later, uh, the same year, her husband, Rebbe Yaakov Yisroel of Cherkass, passed away. Very interesting that, uh, my, uh, mother, Allah, of blessed memory, used to tell us about her parents, that they were like the most loving couple, and they were-- the-then their only prayer was similar, that they shouldn't be left one without the other. You know, that when the time, they, they pa-

06:23 Speaker 2 Should become one.

06:23 Speaker 1 And they passed away the same time, actually. I'm not sure that knows. My mother used to tell me exactly the same story about, about her parents and, uh-

06:31 Speaker 2 My aunt and uncle died a month apart from each other.

06:33 Speaker 1 But you know what? But, uh, you know, I say it's Halavai, you know, forget about parting from each other. Halavai they should-- while they're alive. Today, we wish that people would treat each other with a little bit more-

06:45 Speaker 3 Nice

06:45 Speaker 1 ... more respect and more consideration.

06:47 Speaker 2 But you know what it is with-

06:47 Speaker 1 With more, but these people didn't even

06:50 Speaker 2 One dies of a broken heart.

06:51 Speaker 1 Ah.

06:52 Speaker 3 Yes.

06:52 Speaker 2 That's what they say.

06:53 Speaker 3 Absolutely.

06:53 Speaker 2 They say the other person dies of a broken heart. You lived with somebody for so many years that you can't live. You're one.

06:59 Speaker 3 Yeah.

07:00 Speaker 2 Can't live without the other person.

07:00 Speaker 1 But it's, um, it's um, it's interesting how, you know... So it's, it's, it's everything together out there.

07:05 Speaker 2 They-- Here's what they say. Donald Sterling had been married sixty years.