BDE: Mrs. Hadassah Carlebach, 99, OBM
by CrownHeights.info
With great sadness we report the passing of Mrs. Hadassah Miriam Carlebach OBM, a matriarch of a large Lubavitch family and a woman whose life was intertwined with the history of Chabad-Lubavitch and the Rebbe’s family. She passed away on Sunday, 24 Elul, 5786.
She was 99 years old.
Mrs. Carlebach was born on Yud Shevat, 5687 (1927), in the Soviet Union, to Rabbi Zalman Schneerson and his wife, a first cousin of the Rebbe’s father, Harav Levi Yitzchak Schneerson.
Her childhood was marked by the mesirus nefesh of her father, who was deeply involved in the underground yeshivos established by the Frierdiker Rebbe during the years of Soviet persecution. The family moved frequently, and young Hadassah often accompanied her father as he distributed funds to melamdim and supported Jewish education under the watchful eye of the Soviet authorities.
In 1935, at the age of eight, the family managed to escape the Soviet Union and eventually settled in France. There, Rabbi Zalman Schneerson established kosher homes and Talmud Torahs for Jewish refugees, while the family’s home became a refuge for Jews fleeing the Nazis.
Hadassah, still a young teenager, became an active participant in her father’s rescue efforts. At just 14 years old, she helped transport groups of Jewish children through Vichy France to Marseille, assisting in getting them to safety in Switzerland or placing them in hiding. She personally accompanied children on trains and helped maintain Jewish life even under the most dangerous circumstances.
During the war years, the family also hid Jewish refugees, while Hadassah helped ensure that Yom Tov and Jewish observance continued. She recalled helping arrange the baking of matzah for Pesach, reading the Megillah on Purim and assisting with the blowing of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah.
Following the war, the family continued its work supporting Jewish survivors in France. In 1947, they moved to Brooklyn to be near their cousin, the Rebbe. It was there that Hadassah met Reb Eliyahu Chaim Carlebach, a Tomim and twin brother of the famed Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach. The couple married in 1949 and initially lived in Crown Heights before settling in New Jersey.
Mrs. Carlebach maintained a particularly close relationship with Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson. She was a frequent visitor at the Rebbetzin’s home on President Street, where the two would sit together and speak about current events and everyday matters. On one occasion, she was invited to dinner at the home of the Rebbe and Rebbetzin on New York Avenue.
She was also close with Rebbetzin Chana, the Rebbe’s mother, with whom she would often sit and sing niggunim.
In a 2018 interview with The Jewish Press, Mrs. Carlebach spoke about her childhood, her family’s connection to the Rebbe, and her years married to Reb Eliyahu Chaim Carlebach. She recalled that growing up in the Schneerson home never meant relying on yichus, but rather understanding that it carried an obligation to do more for Yiddishkeit.
Over the decades, Mrs. Carlebach became the matriarch of a large Lubavitch family, raising children and meriting to see grandchildren and great-grandchildren continue in the ways of Torah, Chassidus and the Rebbe’s shlichus.
Remarkably, even in her final years, she remained active and engaged with the younger generation. Just one month ago, she farbrenged with a group of bochurim from Yeshivas Tomchei Temimim Lubavitch in Queens, sharing memories and stories from her extraordinary life.
Mrs. Carlebach is survived by her children; Mrs. Shterna Citron (Los Angeles, CA), Mrs. Sheina Berkowitz, Mrs. Beila Dayan, Mrs. Freida Laufer and Mrs. Esther Kugel (Brooklyn,NY), as well as grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
The levaya will pass by 770 Eastern Parkway on Monday, the 25 Elul, at approximately 9:00am.
Shiva details to be announced.
Boruch Dayan Hoemes
