Yartzeit of the Rebbe’s Mother

Tishrei 6 is the yartzeit of Rebbetzin Chana Schneerson, wife of the renowned kabbalist, talmudic scholar and leader Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson and known for her erudition, kindness and extraordinary accessibility.

As the child of an esteemed rabbinic family, young Chana became known for her scholarship. When her husband Levi Yitzchak became the Rabbi of Yekaterinoslav, Ukraine, she took a pivotal role in Jewish affairs in the city. After he was exiled by the Soviets for spreading Judaism, she stood by his side, enduring unfathomable suffering with dignity.

Her courage and ingenuity became legend when during her husband’s exile by the Soviets to a remote village in Asian Russia she labored to make inks from herbs she gathered in the fields — so that Rabbi Levi Yitzchak could continue writing his commentary on kabbalah and other Torah-subjects.

Ultimately, she made her way to the New York, where she would spend the last years of her life beside her son, the Rebbe, who doted on her — as if to make up for the years of separation.

Despite her own shining personality, she would come to be identified affectionately by the gift she gave the world, with the simple title, ‘The Rebbe’s Mother.’

On Shabbat, the 6th day of Tishrei 1964, Rebbetzin Chana passed away. She was 85 years old.

The funeral took place on Sunday morning. Approximately 5,000 people, headed by her son, the Rebbe, accompanied Rebbetzin Chana to her resting place at the Chabad cemetery in Queens, New York. Participants remember the Rebbe weeping profusely at her burial.

Each year, on the 6th of Tishrei, the Rebbe held a farbrengen to commemorate Rebbetzin Chana’s yahrzeit. The Rebbe often stressed that the initial letters of the three mitzvot especially entrusted to women—challah, niddah, and hadlakat nerot—correspond to the letters of his mother’s name “Chana,” and encourage all women and girls to strengthen their commitment to Torah and Mitzvot.