09/21/2023
Today, on the 6th of Tishrei, right in the middle of the 10 days of repentance, Jews around the world take time to honor the Yartziet, the anniversary of passing of a remarkable figure in modern Jewish history, Rebbetizin Chana Schneerson.
Rebbetizin Chana was born in 1880, into the illustrious Yanovsky Rabbinic family in Ukraine. She was remarkable even as a child & by the time she was a teen was tasked with transcribing the talks of the Lubavitcher Rebbe Rabbi Sholom Dov Ber Shneersohn, known as the Rebbe Rashab.
She also had an exceptional ear for music, serving a key role teaching Niggunim to her town.
As she gained renown, she was suggested by the Rebbe Rashab as an excellent match for Rabbi Levi Yitzchok Schneerson, one of the most brilliant young scholars in all of European Jewery.She and her husband built a home together, overflowing with scholarly discourse, and remarkable kindness.
When war and violence drove Jews fleeing across Russia, Rebbetizin Chana opened her home, welcoming in refugees, providing them with physical and spiritual sustenance.
During this time Rebbetizin Chana raised 3 sons, yet she never rested. She was constantly involved in communal affairs & started the first Jewish student center on campus, working with and teaching the local university students who had little outward connection to their faith.The life Rebbetizin Chana chose was not an easy one, especially in Bolshevik Russia and under Stalin.
The Schneerson's were constantly harassed and threatened by the antisemitic communist government, yet they stood firm, shoulder to shoulder, providing for their communities.Committed to their faith & their people, They refuse to compromise no matter what the authorities threatened or punish them with. Their home was confiscated, and they were forbidden to attend their beloved eldest son's wedding.
During all this Rebbetizin Chana continued her work.She provided for orphans and widows and the poor, even to the point of going hungry herself. She also started a network women under the guise of a cooking club to report on the spiritual needs of the local Jewish community. She also served as a nurse when a pandemic hit her city.
Eventually her husband Rabbi Levi Yitzchok was arrested and sentenced in a sham trial to exile in a remote unlivable local. Even then,Rebbetizin Chana could not be deterred. She made several mutli-day long trips to remote Kazakhstan, bringing her husband provisions he needed.She even found ingenious ways to produce ink and paper so that her husband continue to write.
After her husband's tragic passing in exile, she made her way across Europe often not being able to sleep in the same place two nights in a row. She miraculously made it to America.In the US, she was reunited with her eldest son. Even then at her advanced age she did not rest. She published frequent articles in a Jewish monthly, completed a book, and remained heavily invested in the financial and spiritual needs of her community & was close with her son.
I'm incredibly blessed that my great-grandmother would visit with Rebbetizin Chana every single day. Years later my grandmother was still awed by the Rebbetzin's regal grace, and her incredible optimism despite the pain she had suffered in her life.
Rebbetizin Chana was an incredible mother, who cared endlessly for her three sons. Her youngest son, Reb Yisroel Aryeh Leib, became a renowned mathematician and educator. Tragically her middle son, Reb Dov Ber was brutally murdered as a young man by the N**i Regime Yemach Shemo.
Her eldest son, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Shneerson, became internationally known as the Rebbe, and as the formost leader of Judaism in the modern era.
On the sixth of Tishrei at 84, after davening Rosh Hashanah in 770, Rebbetzin Chana passed away, leaving a community orphaned.Over 5,000 people attended her funeral, and within the next few days the entire Mishnah, a central book of Judaism was completed in her honor and the foundation was set for a charity in her name to care for the physical needs of the local community.
The ripples are still felt.
Today countless initiatives and educational centers bear her name, along with thousands of young Jewish women all over the world.
Rebbetzin Chana was a remarkable figure, whose legacy is firmly established still today.
She's yet another example of true Jewish women leadership.The Rebbe would often remark that The first letters in the Hebrew words of Challah, marital purity, and Shabbos candles, three key commandments unique to women, would spell his mother's name, and he began extraordinary educational efforts in her memory.
These effort continue.If you are looking for an appropriate action to take in her righteous memory, consider lighting Shabbat candles at the appropriate time this coming week to welcome in the Shabbos. If you are interested in getting a free pair of candles please contact your local Chabad.
As we enter a new year, may we all take a lesson from the life and legacy of this incredible leader, and may we be blessed this year with the ultimate blessing, the immediate redemption, when we will be united with all those whose memories we mourn.
