Weekly Moment with the Rebbe

Price Above Rubies

Fifty years ago, as doctors worked frantically inside the hospital and Chassidim waited anxiously outside, the Rebbe wept and prayed for his mother’s life. ccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc
in loving memory of Hadassah Bas Schneur Zalman

“Her Legendary Courtesy”

Mrs. Slonim relates:

It was 1960. To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Rebbe’s leadership, I traveled to New York. Upon my arrival, Rabbi Chaim Mordechai Eizik Hodakov, the Rebbe’s secretary, asked me to address the annual N’shei Chabad [Chabad women’s] convention, which coincided with my visit.

Upon entering the convention hall, I immediately noticed Rebbetzin Chana, the Rebbe’s revered mother, who knew me from previous visits, motioning toward me with her hand to approach her.

“You’ve been here for a while,” she exclaimed, “and you still haven’t called to say hello? Please get in touch with me, so we can make a date to meet.”

A date was decided: Wednesday, at four. My husband and I were to visit the Rebbetzin at her home.

When we arrived at her Brooklyn apartment, the Rebbetzin immediately tried to put us at ease.

“Please sit down,” she said, graciously.

Despite her legendary courtesy, we felt uncomfortable, knowing that her son could walk in any time while we were there.

The Rebbetzin seemed to read our minds. “Don’t worry,” she chuckled. “My son was already informed you were coming, and he promised to keep away.”

As we finally relaxed, she told us several fascinating episodes from the Rebbe’s childhood. I remember one:

Once, when the Rebbe was a small child, people came to his mother’s home to partake in seudah shlishit, the third and final meal of Shabbos. When the participants, wondering if Shabbos had ended, asked about the time, the Rebbe simply glanced through the window at the stars above, and told the time.

This was just one of the stories she told us. She also confided in us her worries over her son’s health, since the Rebbe was always so busy and tired.

“Her Final Days”

Watching his mother’s life ebb away, the Rebbe wept and prayed. He pleaded to Heaven that her soul remain on earth, while around him doctors fought to save her life. After a two-decade separation, one filled with bitter exile in Soviet Russia, the Rebbetzin had at last managed to spend happy years with her son in their new home in America. Now their time together was coming to an end.

Rabbi Yosef Levin, then a yeshiva student at 770, recorded those sad, final days of the Rebbetzin’s life, the Rebbe’s grief, and his devotion that he carried to her grave.

Shabbos Shuva, 6 Tishrei 5765/1964

10 a.m. The Rebbe entered 770 for morning service. After the prayers began, the Rebbe kept looking to the side, as if waiting for someone or something.

Rabbi Leibel Groner approached and spoke to him for a minute, then went to Rabbi Hadakov and back to the Rebbe. As of now, no one knows what exactly is happening, but it does seem as if something is wrong.

1:30 p.m. The Rebbe entered the shul for a farbrengen, during which Dr. [Avrohom Abba] Seligson, the Rebbe’s physician, spoke to him for a few minutes. After asking the Rebbe for his mother’s name, Dr. Seligson called out, “Chana bas Rochel, le’refuah shaleimah – Chana, daughter of Rochel, for a speedy recovery.”

It was then that the crowd understood.

As the farbrengen continued, the Rebbe quoted the Ba’al Shem Tov, that the concealment of G-dliness in the time of Exile is itself hidden and not noticeable. Suddenly the Rebbe sobbed, leaning his head on his hands – a frightening sight to behold. Then the Rebbe crossed his hand over his forehead, and the cries immediately ceased. Later, while discussing the non-Jews’ inability to construct G-d’s mitzvoth, the Rebbe began to cry again.

4:00 p.m. The farbrengen over, Reb Beryl Junik ran to Rebbetzin Chana’s house and found the Rebbetzin breathing heavily. When he approached her she seized his arm, crying, “Help me!”

It seemed that she wanted to continue, but couldn’t. Reb Beryl hurried to 770 and told Dr. Seligson that Rebbetzin Chana’s condition had worsened. The doctor sped off.

After mincha, Reb Beryl told the Rebbe that his mother had asked to see him. The Rebbe rushed to his room, dropping off the handkerchiefs from his pocket, and then continued to his mother’s house.

He arrived to find her critical condition, lying in pain and breathing with difficulty. The Rebbe approached her bedside.

“Call two more doctors,” he called, over his shoulder, to Reb Beryl. Meanwhile Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, the Rebbe’s wife, arrived.

When the two doctors arrived, in addition to Dr. Seligson, they discussed sending Rebbetzin Chana to the hospital. But the Rebbe refused. Finally, however, he said, “Since this is the opinion of three doctors, I give in.” She was immediately placed in an ambulance, the Rebbe at her side.

As soon as the news reached 770, everyone there sat down and chanted Tehillim, the Book of Psalms. Many people walked to the hospital, along with a “Shabbos goy” who carried a meal for the Rebbe.

At the hospital the Rebbe’s mother lay in critical condition. In spite of the doctors’ attempts, they finally had to tell the Rebbe that it was too late.

“But I heard of several methods,” the Rebbe suggested, desperately. “Could you perhaps try them? They might save my mother’s life.”

The doctors acquiesced. But, shortly later, they returned and said their efforts were to no avail. Once more, the Rebbe proposed several ideas, but nothing helped.

At approximately six p.m., Rebbetzin Chana’s soul ascended in the presence of the Rebbe, who stood facing the window, eyes heavenward. All was quite; every so often, the Rebbe let out a cry. Some of the people there, realizing he had not yet eaten, offered him the meal brought to him.

But the Rebbe refused. “Is there a Rav present who could rule if eating a meal at this time is possible?” he asked.

Rabbi Groner approached. “I am a Rav,” he said, insisting that the Rebbe eat.

But the Rebbe refused. “Is there a Code of Jewish Law around?” In the end, he did not eat the meal.

The Rebbe then asked if anyone from the Chevra Kadisha, the burial society, was present, in particular Rabbi Yisroel Jacobson. Seeing all the pushing, he exclaimed, “No one should push! This is not a farbrengen! Only those who have been in the mikvah today should enter the room to say Tehillim. The yeshiva students here are totally unnecessary.”

When Rabbi Yosef Wineberg, noted Chabad scholar, asked if he announce the news of the passing on the radio, the Rebbe answered affirmatively. Just then, Rabbi Jacobson and Rabbi Eliyahu Simpson, also from the burial society, arrived and asked everyone to leave the room, except for some of the elder Chassidim.

At the end of the Sabbath, the Rebbe asked, “Does anyone here have a prayer book?”

But no one did. After ma’ariv, the Rebbe recited Mourner’s Kaddish. An hour later, Rebbetzin Chana was brought to her home. Before leaving the house, the Rebbe asked that a quorum of ten Jews remain there for the night.

7 Tishrei

8:00 a.m. The Rebbe emerged from his house. The funeral procession was promptly called for at eleven. At 9:15 a.m., the Rebbe left his room and joined the minyan for Kaddish after Shir shel Yom. During the recitation, the Rebbe wept slightly.

11:05 a.m. The Rebbe, bag full of holy books in hand, was driven to his mother’s house. The funeral began straightaway, the Rebbe following closely behind the coffin. Noticing a photographer filming the scene, he angrily motioned with his hand to stop.

The Rebbe gazed at the coffin until it was placed into the hearse, then asked if anyone knew where the plastic mat was (seemingly, the one onto which some blood had spilled) and a certain piece of wood.

“It has all been arranged,” answered those nearby, and the Rebbe appeared quite satisfied.

The procession continued by foot through Kingston Avenue onto 770, and from there to the cemetery. On the way, the Rebbe asked repeatedly, “Why are the students here?” He also asked that the women not follow after the coffin.

During the burial, the Rebbe asked, “Where is the plastic?” Everyone searched, but to no avail.

The Rebbe apparently found this disturbing. “Leave me alone! Why all the pushing? I see that I am forced to keep order for myself. There is no mitzvah to push.” He tried to make his way back to the car to see if the plastic was possibly there, but could not, due to all the commotion. In the end, however, the plastic was found.

After covering the grave, the Rebbe recited some Tehillim and the Kaddish, but wept so much that he could not finish. The entire crowd, including rabbis and leaders, felt his mourning.

Lines then formed. The Rebbe removed his shoes and asked that students not participate. While passing by the Ohel, he walked inside for two minutes, and after exiting, he entered the car to be driven to his mother’s house.

Throughout the shiva, the formal week of mourning, a lottery was arranged to determine who would participate in the Rebbe’s minyan. After the first afternoon service, the congregation passed by the Rebbe to offer condolences.

The Rebbe, noticing students among them, darted them a startled glance, as if to ask, “What are they doing here?”

8 Tishrei

10:00 a.m. Morning service began. Throughout the prayers, the Rebbe wept occasionally. Rabbi Z. Katzman, who was called to the Torah for the birth of a daughter, asked the Rebbe if she could be named after the Rebbe’s mother. The Rebbe agreed and blessed her with a long life (later sending sixty-three dollars, the numeric equivalent of “Chana.”)

Throughout the day, many distinguished individuals came to visit the Rebbe. After evening service, Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka came to the house.

Erev Yom Kippur

The Rebbe did not distribute the traditional honey cake. However, it was rumored that he would do so on Hoshana Rabba. Following the afternoon service, the Rebbe rose and asked that a minyan take place in the house for each service throughout Yom Kippur.

6:00 p.m. The Rebbe went to the mikvah, then entered his room for a bit. As he left, face covered with his prayer shawl, he blessed the students standing there.

The Rebbe approached the main sanctuary, stood up on a table, and chanted a blessing to all present. The relatively small crowd could not hear the Rebbe very well, since he spoke with closed eyes and many tears. When Rabbi Hodakov told this to the Rebbe, the Rebbe climbed onto the table a second time and repeated the blessing, word for word.

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