27 of Tamuz - Day of passing of Rabbi Yehuda Leib Slonim

00:00 This is the Yemei Chabad for the, um, the twenty-seventh day of Tammuz. Uh, that is the day of passing of, uh, Rebbe Yehuda Leib Slonim. Um, he was the son, um, of, uh, the Rebbetzin Menuchah Rochel who was the daughter of the Mitler Rebbe. This is something that is connected to the Chabad history. Um, the Chabad Rebbes were always, uh, big supporters of the Jewish community in, uh, Israel. Matter of fact, this got them into trouble with the government because they would raise money, uh, from their people back home in Russia and Lithuania where they li- where they lived, and they, um, and they would raise money because the people in Israel just didn't have means to sustain themselves, and they used to collect money. And, uh, sometimes the Russian government, uh, was at odds with, uh, with the governments of, of, of-- that were ruling Israel at the time, and that's why they were got into trouble, you know. So the Alter Rebbe, that's the first Rebbe, and then the Mitler Rebbe, that's the second Rebbe. First one is Tzemach Tzedek, and then one Dov Ber. And they would support. It was part of their, you know, a whole group of Hasidim moved to Israel. And it's other history. But his own family, which means they mostly stayed back in, in, in, in, in Russia or in, uh, all those areas. Uh, but his daughter, who's the daughter of the Mitler Rebbe, of the second Rebbe. Okay, the first Rebbe, Tzemach Tzedek, and the

01:52 second one is Dov Ber. The daughter of the second Rebbe, Dov Ber's daughter-- He had several children, many children, but one of his chil- children, one of his, his daughter, her name was Menuchah Rochel. She married, um, somebody with last name was Slonim. That was actually the first representative of his family in Israel, and they actually settled in Hebron. Her son, in other words, the Menuchah Rochel, who was the daughter of the Mitler Rebbe, her son, his name was-- the name of the family, her husband's name was Slonim. Her son, whose name was Yehuda Leib, and his yahrtzeit is the twenty-seventh day of Tammuz. Now, he was born in the city, city of Lubavitch. That's why we get the name Lubavitch because there was a city of Lubavitch. In the year tav kuf tzadik beis, uh, he was the first oldest son of the Rebbetzin Menuchah Rochel, who was the daughter of the Mitler Rebbe, and that began the Lubavitch physical presence of the children of the Alter Rebbe within Israel. Um, he actually went up to Israel, this Yehuda Leib, uh, with his parents to Israel, and he had his bar mitzvah on the boat on the way to Israel. That's where he had his bar mitzvah, this Yehuda Leib. He wouldn't wait to the Kotel? Uh, well, the-- I don't think that the Kotel was accessible at the time. I'm not sure exactly. We didn't-- But, uh, it was a different time. Israel was at the time, uh, it was in a whole

03:33 different era, era over there. Um, when he was eighteen years old, he went back to Lubavitch, to the city, to the Tzemach Tzedek. The Tzemach Tzedek was already the third Lubavitch Rebbe. Now, the Tzemach Tzedek, uh, was married to another daughter of the Mitler Rebbe. The Tzemach Tzedek was married to Chaya Mushka. She was another daughter of the Tzemach Tzedek. His mother, uh, this Yehuda Leib's mother was Menuchah Rochel, who was ano- another daughter. So he went basically, he went to his uncle. That's his, um, um... And he went for-- to Lubavitch because he, he, he-- Tzemach Tzedek became the Rebbe after the Mitler Rebbe passed, passed away. So then the Tzemach Tzedek, Rabbi Menachem Mendel, he became the Rebbe. So when he was eighteen years old, so for the high holidays, he came to Lubavitch, to the Tzemach Tzedek, and he had a beautiful voice. He was all of eighteen years old, but he had a real beautiful voice. The Tzemach Tzedek asked him to lead the services, uh, for Musaf on Rosh Hashanah, which is, uh... So, uh, Rebbe Yehuda Leib was, like, very hesitant and, uh, he, he, he didn't feel that he had the, you know, audacity to be a chazan and by the Rebbe on, uh, Rosh Hashanah, on the day of judgment. It was just beyond what he said. But the Tzemach Tzedek insisted. He gave him a kittel. That's the, uh, white, uh, what he davens. And he so told him that-- he says, he says in Yiddish,

05:22 "Du vest zayn undzer chazen." You are going to be our chazen. So he says that Rebbe Yehuda Leib, he went over to the, um, lead the services. He davened with such sweetness that everybody was, like, amazed, uh, those who listened. And from that time and on, anytime he came for Rosh Hashanah in Lubavitch, he used to lead the services. Already he got that-- he got the job. Um, he lived in the city of Hebron. That's where they lived together with his mother, with the Rebbetzin Menuchah Rochel. They lived in the city of Hebron. That's West Bank today? That's what they call the West Bank. But in Hebron, they actually- Have, uh, they ra-- they put up a shul, um, in, uh, for his mother and a mikvah in h-in her honor. Uh, they, they put up the shul and a, and a mikvah. And his home, Yudaleib's home was sort of the main center for Chabad in the city of Hebron. Uh, he was appointed by the Chabad Rebbes as one of the, uh, people in charge of the Kollel Chabad. The Kollel Chabad was the central charity, um, uh, ha-arm that supported, and he, he, he served in this, um, in this, uh, this job till the end of his life. Uh, towards the end of his life, he actually moved to Tiberias, to Tiberias, to the city of Tiberias. And before he passed on, he asked the Chabad Hasidim in Tiberias to enter into him that he, he felt that it was his

07:06 last, um, last moments of his life. And when they came into his room, he requested them to sing a melody of, uh, with deep emotional attachment, you know. Uh, and while they were singing, he passed away, and he returned his soul to create while they were singing. And based on his request, they immersed his body after he passed away in the, uh, in the Kinneret, in the river. That's the river there in, in Tiberias. And he's actually buried in, in, in Tiberias. And, uh, and that started an illustrious Slonim family, which was, uh, uh, many of the descendants later on, and they were very active. And there's a whole lot of, um, descendants, you know, till today, uh, from that family that's made their way to, uh, Israel at, at that point with the Rebbetsin Menuchah Rochel, that's the daughter of the Mitler Rebbe