22 of Shvat - In 5788 2/10/1988 Yahrtzeit of the righteous Rebbetzin Chaya Mushkah, wife of the Rebbe

00:00 Speaker 1 A, uh, special, um, Yom HaChabad, which is the 22nd day of Shevat in the taf shin mem chet. The, uh, that's the yahrtzeit of the Rebbetzin, the righteous Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka. She was the daughter of the previous Rebbe and the wife of the Rebbe. So, uh, this is, uh, her yahrtzeit is the 22nd day of Shevat in the year 5788, so that's February 10th, 1988. Um, now, this is, um, as you know, uh, fairly recent. Talk about recent, I mean, we, uh, lived through this. This was a, um, a real, uh, I guess, shocker for the Hasidim of the Rebbe. Um, being the wife of the Rebbe placed her in that special, uh, position in which she was revered and looked upon, uh, up-- people looked up to her as a wife of the Rebbe. But, uh, being the, um, uh, she was the second daughter of the, the, the previous Rebbe, and she was exceptionally learned. She was, uh, exceptionally learned, and she was a very wise person, and, uh, she conducted herself... She had a royal, a royalty about her. She was like a, um, very, um, s-s-special in the way she conducted herself, and she was, uh-- had a very good humor, uh, being able to, um, uh, say the right thing in a humorous way and, uh, also, um, very warmly, uh, she would, uh, every detail she would pay attention to. Um, people, uh, you know, loved her for that. It endeared her by people, and it's indescribable really how

02:03 Speaker 1 she carried the role of being a wife of the Rebbe with such humility and with such simplicity that it's, um, it's just kinda hard to imagine, um, that a person would, uh, s- be so much, um, running away from any, uh, recognition or any, uh, from the limelight, the spotlight. She never, uh, wanted anything for herself. She wanted to stay, you know, private and, uh, just do her things for the Rebbe, and that was, that was her mission in life, and she didn't- Was her mother like that too? Um, we learned about her mother. It seems like her mother, the Rebbetzin Stirna Sorov, uh, that was the, um... I'm sorry. Um, the Rebbetzin Nechama Dina, we're talking about the wife of the previous Rebbe, um, we learned was more involved maybe with the, uh, students of the yeshiva at the time. We learned a little bit, um, and, um... I'm not sure, but she was exceptionally, I think, more, um... It's hard to tell these things, you know, exactly, but it seems like the Rebbe generally was a little bit more removed from the Hasidim even than the pre- predecessors, which automatically makes also the Rebbe's family more removed from the, uh, Hasidim. Um, is it because the Hasidim were on a lower level now so that we weren't sort of, uh, in on the Rebbe's, uh, greatness? Was it because of the Rebbe's greatness that it was beyond even having, uh, a connection? But is it because the Rebbe unfortunately didn't have any physical

04:08 Speaker 1 children? Uh, maybe that in itself, you know, made them people as private people without having to sort of engage in some of the other things when you have to engage in the world when you have physical children, and, you know, there's teachers, there's schooling, there's maybe others. The children sometimes bring others in, you know, who they associate with. I'm not sure exactly what the reason is, but the Rebbe himself was always in, in, in, in public, but we knew very little of the Rebbe's personal life. And, uh, the Rebbe, uh, somebody once said, was a hidden tzadik, was like one of the disguised tzadikim. And somebody says, "What do you mean? The Rebbe is not an open tzadik. Everybody knows the Lubavitcher Rebbe, uh, that he's a righteous..." But they say what you know of him is just a fraction. He's really so much more there than what you really know. So it's-- it ends up being that the Rebbe was like on a totally level by himself, even relative to the Hasidim. So the Rebbe would teach, he would instruct, he would delegate, he would-- he led the whole community with, uh, with, uh, great success, but he didn't engage them like in a, uh... The Rebbe didn't ever consult anybody, didn't, uh, advise or take-- get input or, you know, had like a council of elders next to him like, uh, uh, that wasn't, that wasn't the regular, uh, that wasn't the regular style. I don't know if, uh, um... No, of course,

05:50 Speaker 1 the Rebbe gave great respect to the rabbis, to the, uh, elders, uh, to the Hasidim there, but, um, it didn't seem like, uh, there was that, um... A few times the-- later, the Rebbe, uh, made, uh, appointments like, uh, for after Uh, when the time comes, the Rebbe wrote like a will, then it wasn't signed, and he-- there was like a few rabbis that were sort of the, um... that the Rebbe sort of trusted their, uh, I guess, their, their opinion or that. Again, it's hard. This is not a really a subject that I, I know or I wanna get because it's, it's something really which is beyond. But anyways, talking about the Rebbetzin now. Um, the Rebbe made a point one time in one of his talks that something very interesting, that the month of Shevat, um, is sort of a month which is associated with, uh, the passing, first of all, of the previous Lubavitch Rebbe, which is on the tenth day of Shevat. His grandmother, the Rebbetzin Rivkah, which is the wife of the Rebbe Maharash, she passed away on, uh, in the month of, uh, of Shevat. She passed away on the tenth day of Shevat. Uh, his mother, uh, the previous Rebbe's mother, the wife of the Rebbe Rashab, Sterna Sara, she passed away on the thirteenth day of Shevat. So you have... And the previous Rebbe himself passed away on the tenth of Shevat. So you have tenth, him and his grandmother, and then his mother on the thirteenth

07:27 Speaker 1 of Shevat, and then his daughter on the twenty-second day of Shevat. Uh, and there's another connection, as the Rebbe said, that, uh, between these three Rebbetzins, you know, we're talking about, uh, uh, they were, they were all wives of Rebbes. I mean, they were all wives of Rebbe. Rebbetzin Rivkah was the wife of Rebbe Maharash, and the Rebbetzin Sterna Sara was the wife of the Rebbe Rashab, and then, um, the Rebbe himself. We're, we're not talking about the Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, which was-- that was the Rebbe himself. And then the Rebbetzin, uh, Chaya Mushka was the wife of a Rebbe. So either a Rebbe or a wife of a Rebbe, were all in, in, in this Shevat. So the Rebbe expressed... Thank you. The Rebbe expressed another, uh, one time that all these three Rebbetzins, just inst- an instant before their passing, an instant before their passing, they asked for a cup of water. Something about a cup of water. Uh, the Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka also expressed, uh, a similar request, um, uh... So, um, um, she, uh, she requested, um, that before she, uh, before she passes on, she wanted to have a cup of water. And it happened actually that before, before she-- a short while before she passed away, she asked for a, for a cup of water. I mean, that's even to know that you're going to be passing away to ask a cup of water for them. Uh, it's related that, uh, one time the, the women in the Chabad,

09:08 Speaker 1 uh, Chabad women, they sent the Rebbetzin, in honor of her birthday, uh, they sent her a bouquet of flowers. Now, it's interesting that the, um, uh... This was also in the later years. In, in, in the earlier years, meaning what I remember, right, they didn't even do that, you know, for the Rebbetzin. Uh, later on, people became more, uh, sort of, uh, a little more pushy and a little more, uh, trying to do something for the Rebbetzin in the later years, trying to get... So they sent her a bouquet of flowers on her birthday. Uh, and, uh, they, um, added, uh, to the bouquet, they had a list of names of those that are, uh, need a blessing. So they, they had a list of names for a blessing. So, uh, the, uh, person who attended that was in the Rebbe's home, he was, uh, attending to, he, he, he, he, he took the, the, the bouquet. So he took the note and he, uh, and he passed it to the Rebbe because it was obvious to him that who's gonna bless? It's the Rebbe gonna do his-- The Rebbe's gonna do the blessing. The bouquet of flowers is for her, and the names are for the Rebbe. So when the Rebbe... So he gave the Rebbe, he gives the Rebbe the envelope with the names, he gives to the Rebbe. So when the Rebbe looks on the envelope, he says that it says the Rebbetzin's name over there. On the envelope, it says the

10:48 Speaker 1 Rebbetzin's name. So he asks the attendant, he says, "Well, go give the, uh, the letter. This belongs to-- It was the Rebbetzin's name. It belongs to her." So the attendant said that in the envelope is a, uh, list of people that require a blessing. So the Rebbe said to him, "Nu, she can bless them." She can bless as well. Um, and as we already mentioned, you know, there was that-- the-- when there came the, uh, uh, court case about the books, which of course she was the other heir. I mean, it was basically between her and her sister who was, uh... So, uh, they send her to depose the Rebbetzin. So they send somebody from the court, uh, with the questions. So the, uh, lawyer of the other side was, uh, questioning her, and he says to her, "What is your opinion? To whom though the books, the books of your father belong? Do they belong to your father or to the Hasidim? Who owns those books?" And the Rebbetzin answers that, "Both. The f-- My father and his books belong to the Hasidim." So it's not a question either or. He says, "My father also, also belong to the Hasidim." Uh, these, uh, word made a tremendous impact on the judge, and these were some of the reasons that Uh, swayed sort of the judge to the end of victory of these words that the rebbetzin said. Um, that, um, uh, this is what-- The rebbe related this story, um, on the first Shabbos,

12:33 Speaker 1 the Parshat Terumah in that year, in nineteen eighty-eight, 5748. This was the first Shabbos after Shiva, the rebbe related this story that the-- about the rebbetzin. Um, the rebbetzin passed away. This was on, uh, Wednesday in the portion of Mishpatim, the twenty-second day of Shevat in 5748, and she was sick for a short while. Uh, the, uh, funeral took place just a couple hours after she passed away, and, uh, there were more than fifteen thousand people in attendance. And, um, she is interned, um, next to the, um, well, place, next to the resting place of her grandmother, Sterner Sarah, uh, and, um, opposite the ohel of the, uh- Of the- -of the previous rebbe. And, um- Her mother too. And also, and also her mother. I know it doesn't say here though, but it's also- Right ... her mother's right there too, yeah. Um, maybe I forgot which side. She may be on just on the other side, and maybe I think her mother could be on the other side. Yeah, it's what I have the picture in here. Yeah, the vision. And now they have, uh, on the twenty-second day of Shevat, uh, of course, we have all the Chaya Mushkas, uh, which are named, uh, every family has a Chaya Mushka, basically. It almost gives away the age. Mm-hmm. I mean, whoever is, uh, was born, uh, even though people give away later on. Um, it was-- it to such an extent that sometimes, you know, girls, um, uh, they had to cheat

14:17 Speaker 1 a little bit on their age because let's say they wanna be a counselor in camp, uh, maybe a year before they're there. Oh, of course. So they can't say their name was Chaya Mushka because everybody knew, so they, they made up names. Chaya this, that, you know, there could be other than that. But if you said you were Chaya Mushka, you gave it away, so Yeah, I don't have them all together. Uh, yeah. Separate. Separate. Uh, so maybe it's not, maybe it's just not right next to it. Um, the other thing is now they have the International Women's Convention. So they have this international convention in which, uh, women shluchos from all over the, uh, world get together- Mm-hmm ... similar to the Shluchim convention which takes place on the Rosh Chodesh Kislev. Uh, this takes place on the twenty-second day of Shevat. All the women get together, very similar- They do it in one venue ... very similar venue and a similar, um, uh, type of, uh, inspiration, and there's always, uh- I don't think they do the pushka ... always a good deal of what? I don't think they do the pushing of the shofar. Yeah. Right. Oh, uh- There's a sale. Yeah, exactly.

15:24 Speaker 2 Get in there and-

15:25 Speaker 1 Yeah, right. Yeah. Um- Do they get that many women to come like they do the men? Not quite, but, uh, yes, there is a lot, a lot. I mean, a lot. It's not as, uh, not as full, but, you know, it's, um, it's, it's, it's-- it has the same sort of a style, I guess, and the same sort of, uh, goals to, uh, uh, guess to rejuvenate and to get the inspiration. And, um, it's, it's obvious, it goes without saying that, uh, in many or most, uh, successful, uh, shlichas is the w- woman. The woman is the, uh, main part of what goes on. So they're no less, uh, important. Matter of fact, the rebbe in all of his talks, he would always have very high praise for the women, and he would always, uh, put a lot of-- give a lot of the credit, and also a lot of responsibility, uh, to the, uh, woman and their role. Notwithstanding that, um, the common, you know, some of the common ideas are that women are, are placed in the secondary roles to the rebbe. They were actually the main role, that they have the main, uh, the most important roles and the greatest responsibility. Uh, not, uh, that they're in any, um, in any shape or form looked down as, uh, being secondary or not as important. And, uh, the rebbe points out that e- even when the Torah was given, there's a-- in the verse you see that first God spoke to the women,

17:08 Speaker 1 and only after to the men. They came first there too. There were several occasions in the year, not very many, in which the men and the women would swap in where they were in the place in the shul. So, like, the men's shul was, of course, where the men were, and the women were in the balcony. That was the main, uh, place. But several times a year, the women would go downstairs, and the rebbe would give a special talk just for the women, and the men weren't allowed. I mean, they were, uh, they were upstairs, and then it was just especially, uh, for, for the women. So the rebbe gave, um, uh, put a, a lot of, um, I guess, a lot of trust in the women, and he gave them a lot of the mission. So their gathering is of no less importance and maybe more important than, than the men. And, uh, we know that, uh, Mitzrayim and throughout the exiles, we know that it was the Jewish women that at the end of the day, uh, it's their merits, it's their, um, it's their emunah, it's their belief that carried us out of Galus. And we know that same thing will happen now, so it's the, is the, is the, is the Jewish woman. That was the, um... So Chabad Shevat is, is special in that, uh, in that, in that aspect.