Picture of the Day! The Rebbe in Paris, circa 1932

As reported by CrownHeights.info several days ago, a new film from JEM has been released called The Early Years Volume 3.

This week’s Kfar Chabad Magazine features an in-depth article with many new revelations about the Rebbe and Rebbetzin’s life during this period.

Full size picture and more information in the Extended Article!

Included in the film, and featured in the article, is also a never-before seen photo of the Rebbe, courtesy of Rabbi Shalom Ber Levine, Librarian of the Library Agudas Chassidei Chabad. The photo shown the Rebbe, apparently contemplating deeply, with his eyes closed. The park is not far from the area where the Rebbe and the Rebbetzin lived in Paris during the 1930’s.

In the book “Yemei Melech” which documents the Rebbe in his early years before assuming leadrship and after he became Rebbe, there is a story that on a certain occasion during a private audience with the Rebbe of a French journalist who became observant of Yiddishkeit, the Rebbe showed him a picture of himself when he was standing on Le Opera Square in Paris.

The Rebbe told him that the picture was taken following a poor man who approached him and asked him for a donation. The Rebbe added, “it is brought down in the holy books that when you come to a new place and you meet a poor man it awakens in you the feeling that the Shechina is in exile and of the Final Redemption.

The Rebbe stopped for a moment to meditate on this and a photgrapher recorded the moment.

For more about the film, see here.