The Story of the Rebbe Maharash’s Birth
Today, Bais Iyar, marks the 182nd birthday of the Rebbe Maharash, who was born in the town of Lubavitch in 1834, the youngest son of the Temach Tzedek. In honor of this day, we present to our readers the first chapter of the long awaited biography of the Rebbe Maharash by the noted Chabad author, Rabbi Sholom DovBer Avtzon.
The author released this excerpt with the request that our readers please help out the United Lubavitch Yeshiva Ocean Parkway, (where he is the melamed of the 7th grade) by participating in their annual Chinese Auction at www.ulyauction.com.
His Birth and Bris
The year was 5593 (1833), and the sun of Lubavitch was shining brightly.
After the histalkus of the Mitteler Rebbe, the Alter Rebbe’s oldest son, in 5588 (1827), the chassidim were faced with uncertainty. Who would succeed him as Rebbe? Some chassidim approached his brother Reb Chaim Avrohom, but he refused to entertain the thought. The other brother, Reb Moshe, would not consider it either. In fact, he had moved away from Lubavitch, choosing to lead a life of solitude.
So they approached the Mitteler Rebbe’s sons, Reb Menachem Nochum and Reb Boruch (Shmuel), but they also refused, saying, “Choose our uncle, HaRav Chaim Avrohom, or our brother-in-law, HaRav Menachem Mendel.” However, when Reb Menachem Mendel was asked, he replied, “Return to those who sent you, or approach my brother-in-law Reb Aharon.”[i]
This state of nerve-wracking confusion continued for six months. Finally, at a meeting of the elder chassidim with Reb Menachem Mendel, the chossid Reb Peretz Chein got up and declared:
“There is an explicit saying of our Sages according to which you, and only you, are the rightful heir of your grandfather, [the Alter Rebbe.] You should therefore become Rebbe and continue explaining and spreading his teachings of Chassidus.”
“One cannot take a saying of our Sages lightly,” replied Reb Menachem Mendel. “Say what you have to say, and I will listen.”
Reb Peretz began:
“The possuk says, ‘When a woman will produce seed and give birth to a male.’[ii] Our Sages explain,[iii] ‘When the male produces seed first, a daughter is born.’ This refers to your mother [i.e., this demonstrates the unique connection of your mother to her father, the Alter Rebbe]. [Our Sages continue,] ‘When the female produces seed first, a son is born.’ Thus, your saintly mother, who received the essence of her father the Alter Rebbe, transmitted all of her father’s qualities to you, making you his true successor! Therefore, the Rebbe [referring to HaRav Menachem Mendel] must fulfill the wishes of the chassidim and become Rebbe.”
HaRav Menachem Mendel was quiet. He recalled how his beloved grandfather had repeated this exact saying to him fourteen years earlier. Its implication to him was so clear and evident.
Finally he spoke. “I agree,” he replied. “However, my acceptance is on condition that chassidim don’t burden me with questions for guidance in material matters.”
Although the chassidim were thrilled that he had agreed to become Rebbe, at first they were concerned about his stipulation. However, as time progressed they realized that their fears were unfounded, as they clearly saw the depth of his concern for their material wellbeing. He established a vaad (committee) of five prominent Rabbonim to whom any chossid was able to address his problems. Additionally, he conducted personal visits to many communities to observe the spiritual and material state of his chassidim for himself.[iv]
Indeed, it was a relatively good time for the chassidim. Over the past years, the colonies established by the Rebbe’s father-in-law, the Mitteler Rebbe, began blossoming, and thousands of additional Jewish families now inhabited these settlements. This proved beneficial both materially and spiritually: the farming and similar occupations they engaged in provided them with an adequate livelihood, and they had Jewish neighbors with whom their children could learn and play.[v]
The fact that many families had moved to these colonies was advantageous for the general Jewish community as well. This change alleviated two of the major problems at that time: the chronic overcrowding in the restricted areas they were allowed to inhabit, and the fierce competition caused by the limited types of livelihood they were permitted to engage in.
The reach of the Tzemach Tzedek’s influence continued to spread, and thousands upon thousands of Jews became his chassidim. Even those who didn’t become his chassidim or weren’t chassidim at all were influenced by his actions, and they developed a positive attitude toward Chassidus and chassidim. Peace and harmony finally reigned among the religious Jews. No longer did the chassidim and misnagdim battle each other; to the contrary, they even began working together. Rabbonim from all over Russia would send their difficult halachic questions to the Tzemach Tzedek, and harmony resided within Russian Jewry.
As the Tzemach Tzedek’s sons grew up and married,[vi] the spirit of the chassidim rose even more. The Rebbe’s sons would publically review the Chassidus said by their father and make themselves available to explain it to them. Additionally, upon their father’s instructions, they ensured that any guest who came to Lubavitch would receive some money to help him pay for food and lodging, bolstering the camaraderie among chassidim even further.
Thus passed the first five years of the Tzemach Tzedek’s leadership. In 5593 (1833) yet another fire broke out in Lubavitch.[vii] Although the Rebbe’s house and beis hamidrash were not damaged, the Rebbe used the opportunity to buy some property to build a new house[viii] and a larger beis hamidrash. The chassidim set out to build the new house and beis hamidrash with enthusiasm and alacrity. Yes, the Rebbe had insisted that merely a simple dwelling should be constructed, but what greater zechus could there be than to build the Rebbe’s house?
Around Shavuos of that year, chassidim came from near and far to begin building the new beis hamidrash for the Rebbe. To their great joy, the Rebbe himself participated in the event marking the laying of the cornerstone for the new beis hamidrash. Grabbing the opportunity, the chassidim requested that he say a maamar.
“Why should I say a maamar in honor of this occasion?” the Tzemach Tzedek asked.
“The Rebbe teaches us to derive everything from the Torah,” they replied. “Even the order of the parshiyos contains lessons for us.
“Parshas Terumah, the parshah that speaks about the building of the Mishkan, is preceded by the laws discussed in Parshas Mishpatim. We can infer from this that before building a Mishkan—in our case, the Rebbe’s house and beis hamidrash—we must learn Torah [i.e., a maamar Chassidus should be repeated].”
The Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek accepted their argument. “What would you prefer, a maamar or a story?” he asked.
The chassidim understood that if the Rebbe was offering to share a story, it was undoubtedly one of great importance. Eagerly, they replied that they wished to hear the story.[ix]
The Rebbe then related the story of a chossid of the Ruzhiner known as Reb Yaakov “Ish Tam.” This Reb Yaakov was being judged in the Heavenly court for evicting a Jewish tenant who hadn’t paid him rent for three years. The supernal judges listened to Reb Yaakov’s explanation justifying his actions, and they were split in their decision. Was Reb Yaakov indeed righteous and correct in the way he handled the situation?[x]
As he concluded the story, the Tzemach Tzedek turned to the chassidim and asked them for their opinion. Before they had a chance to respond, he declared, “I say that Reb Yaakov is right! What do you say?”
Sensing the uniqueness of the moment, the chassidim exclaimed: “Zakai! Zakai! Zakai!” (“He is righteous! He is righteous! He is righteous!”)
The Tzemach Tzedek then said, “In the merit of establishing the virtue of a righteous person, may Hashem bless me with a righteous son.”
The buildings were scheduled to be completed by the following Shavuos, after which a chanukas habayis (home dedication) would be celebrated. A month before Shavuos, on Sunday, the second of Iyar, 5594 (1834), the Rebbe’s wife, Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, felt that she was about to give birth. She informed the midwife of her intention to give birth in the new house, although it was not yet completely ready.[xi]
The Tzemach Tzedek instructed the midwife to purify herself before delivering the baby, and he gave her a special cloth made of white linen with which to swaddle the child.[xii] He then instructed his three older sons, Reb Boruch Sholom, Reb Yehudah Leib, and Reb Chaim Schneur Zalman,[xiii] to recite specific chapters of Tehillim.[xiv] He himself proceeded to the new house to recite Tehillim (and daven) in an adjacent room. With Hashem’s help, a short time later Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka gave birth to a healthy baby boy.
The Tzemach Tzedek let it be known that the bris would take place on the eighth day, Sunday, the ninth of Iyar, at ten o’clock in the morning.
The chassidim who heard the news rejoiced over the latest simchah in the Rebbe’s household. This wasn’t just another simchah; a child had been born to the Rebbe himself! And this son was special: unlike his brothers, he was born when his father was Rebbe.[xv] Many chassidim from the nearby towns and villages (who were able to make it in time for the bris) arrived in Lubavitch to participate in the joyous occasion.
Sunday morning arrived, and all the guests davened early and assembled before the designated time of ten o’clock. However, to their surprise, the Rebbe remained in his room.
Initially the chassidim utilized the occasion as an impromptu chassidishe gathering. They conversed with one another, reviewing the latest maamar the Rebbe had said or other Torah thoughts and repeating stories of chassidim. However, as the minutes turned into hours, some of the guests started feeling somewhat restless. If for some reason the bris must be postponed, they thought, at least let the Rebbe announce when it will take place, so we can leave and return later!
At two o’clock in the afternoon, after waiting for four hours and not knowing how much longer they would need to wait, the Rebbe’s uncle, Reb Chaim Avrohom, noticed the perplexed expressions on their faces and realized what was going through their minds. “In all probability,” he said, putting everything into perspective, “the Rebbe is occupied with more important guests.”
Reb Chaim Avrohom’s message was immediately understood. Yes, a mitzvah should be performed at the earliest opportunity. True, a group of people should not be made to wait. But the Rebbe knows these halachos, and indeed as a rule he is always punctual. So there must be a valid reason why he is late today, and we should be patient despite the inconvenience of not having been informed.
Around half an hour later, the Tzemach Tzedek emerged from his room. Seeing his countenance made the chassidim shiver. His face shone radiantly and his eyes were red from tears, and the Rebbe was dabbing them with a handkerchief that was already moist from tears. Addressing all the assembled, he announced: “The bris will take place today. Just wait a bit longer.” He then returned to his study.
Another half hour passed, and the Rebbe came out of his room a second time. The change on his face was immediately apparent; this time it displayed joy and good spirits. Turning to the chassidim, he said, “Rejoice; the bris will be today.” He then returned once again to his room.
At four o’clock in the afternoon the Tzemach Tzedek came out of his room a third time. He instructed the guests to wait before davening Minchah, as the bris would take place momentarily. He then approached his wife, Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, and discussed with her the naming of the child.
A few moments later, the newborn child was brought to the room and the bris was performed.[xvi] The Tzemach Tzedek himself served as the sandek. As commonly occurs at a bris, the baby began to cry. The Tzemach Tzedek lifted his left hand from under the pillow and placed it on the child’s head. Immediately the crying ceased and was replaced with a content cooing sound.[xvii]
The child was given the name Shmuel.
Immediately after the bris the Rebbe began saying Ashrei, and he asked his brother-in-law HaRav Menachem Nochum to be the shliach tzibbur for Minchah. After Minchah the chassidim sat down for a festive meal, during which the Tzemach Tzedek said a maamar.
During the meal, Reb Yehudah Leib (the Maharil) asked his father after whom the child was named, as no family ancestor carried the name Shmuel. “Was he perhaps named after Shmuel HaNavi?” he mused quietly, as if to himself.
“The child was named after a certain water carrier from the city of Polotzk,[xviii]” his father answered. “And a wise man is greater than a Navi.[xix]”
Everyone present understood that the water carrier must have been a tzaddik nistar, and if it was befitting to name a child after Shmuel HaNavi, it was certainly suitable to name this child after him.[xx]
The Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek continued:
“It says in Tehillim,[xxi] ‘The days of our life in them [bahem in Hebrew] are seventy years, and if [a person is blessed] with strength, [they can extend to] eighty years.’ The amount of years Hashem grants each individual varies. Most people live an average lifespan, while some are blessed with additional years. However”—and here the Rebbe sighed deeply—“there are those who are only given bahem with its letters.”
(The numerical value of בהם is forty-seven. When the number three is added, corresponding to the amount of letters in the word בהם, a total of fifty is reached.)
The chassidim were puzzled by this cryptic message. Almost fifty years later, in the summer of 5642 (1882), a month or two before his histalkus, the Rebbe Maharash commented to his son the [Rebbe] Rashab: “I now understand the sigh.”[xxii]
It is likely that during the seudah the Tzemach Tzedek said some additional remarks and stories, and he may have made reference to the fact that the present year was one hundred years since the Baal Shem Tov revealed himself and began teaching Chassidus openly.[xxiii] However, the guests wouldn’t have had a clue to the profound significance of these words. How were they to know that the child born during this auspicious year would grow up to be known as the Baal Shem’ske Rebbe, performing miracles of such extraordinary caliber that if we wouldn’t know otherwise, in all likelihood we would attribute them to the Baal Shem Tov himself!
***
[i] Reb Aharon was married to HaRabonnis Chaya Sarah, the Mitteler Rebbe’s youngest daughter.
[ii] Vayikra 12:2.
[iii] Berachos 60a; Niddah 31a.
[iv] For a complete account of this period, see The Rebbeim Biography Series: The Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek, pp. 141–154.
[v] The benefit of this became apparent eighty years later, at the turn of the century: the level of assimilation there was significantly less than in Russia proper.
[vi] At the time the Tzemach Tzedek became Rebbe, only his two oldest sons, Reb Boruch Sholom and Reb Yehudah Leib, were married.
[vii] Since during that era houses were commonly built out of wood, Lubavitch was commonly plagued by fire (as were many other towns and villages).
[viii] Author’s note: At that time some of his children had yet to get married, and the families of his married children were growing larger. Therefore, new houses had to be built anyway to accommodate the growing family. Once the Tzemach Tzedek moved into the new house, he gave his previous residence to his second son, HaRav Yehudah Leib.
[ix] Additionally, it is known that chassidim give geat importance to stories, considering them to be a foundation of the chassidic way of life. They point to the fact that the entire Chumash Bereishis contains only three mitzvos, the rest of it devoted to relating the stories of our ancestors.
[x] For the complete story of Reb Yaakov Ish Tam, see below, Section Three: Stories, “A Unique Din Torah.”
[xi] Years later, Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka was once proudly discussing her son’s qualities with his wife, Rebbetzin Rivkah. One of the praises she said was, “Your husband was born on a sifter that had never been in contact with chometz!” [Author’s note: Although this was an actual fact, Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka probably also meant to say that the Rebbe Maharash was completely pure, as he had no connection whatsoever with“chometz” (i.e., evil).]
[xii] This cloth originally belonged to the Baal Shem Tov and was given to the Alter Rebbe by the Maggid of Mezeritch. The Alter Rebbe used it to swaddle the Mitteler Rebbe and the Tzemach Tzedek at their brissim, and he did not use it for any other son or grandson. Now the Tzemach Tzedek, who had inherited it from his grandfather, was using it to swaddle this child, something he hadn’t done with any of his other sons.
[xiii] Author’s note: I don’t know why he instructed these particular sons to recite Tehillim for their mother and imminent sibling and not the others. The reason cannot be because they were already married, because the next brother, Reb Yisroel Noach, was also married at the time.
[xiv] The chapters he instructed them to say were as follows: Chapters 1–4, 20–24, 33, 47, 72, 86, 90–91, (92–93,) 104, and 112–150.
Author’s note: Chapters 92–93 are only mentioned in the original edition of Sefer HaToldos written by the Rebbe in 5707 (1947).
[xv] The only other Lubavitcher Rebbeim who had sons when they were Rebbeim were the Alter Rebbe and the Rebbe Maharash. Two of the Alter Rebbe’s sons, Reb Chaim Avrohom and Reb Moshe, were born after 5537 (1977), the year Reb Menachem Mendel Horodoker moved to Eretz Yisroel and the Alter Rebbe assumed leadership of the chassidim. The Rebbe Maharash’s son Reb Menachem Mendel was born after the Tzemach Tzedek’s histalkus and was named after him. (His daughter Chaya Mushka Horenstein was born after his father’s histalkus as well.)
[xvi] The mohel was Reb Yosef, the Rov of Lubavitch.
[xvii] In fact, as noted in the Introduction, he did not cry from pain at all throughout his life.
[xviii] Some say that this was the reason for the delay in performing the bris. On that day, this tzaddik passed away (which explains why the Tzemach Tzedek was crying). However, the burial society in Polotzk did not realize his greatness, and subsequently they did not rush to bury him. (Some add that they first buried another well-known and respected individual, and only then did they attend to the burial of this unknown water carrier.) Since we don’t name a child after a deceased individual until after he is buried, the Tzemach Tzedek delayed the bris until the hidden tzaddik was finally laid to rest. This explains why he couldn’t inform them when the bris would take place.
(While this seems to imply that he was not named after Shmuel HaNavi, there was certainly a connection between the Rebbe Maharash and this prophet, as you will read later in the biography.)
[xix] Bava Basra 12a.
[xx] Chassidim relate that Reb Nechemia of Dubrovna, who learned with the Tzemach Tzedek in their youth and later became his relative through marriage, was not present at the bris. When he later wished the Rebbe mazal tov, he asked, “After whom was the child named?”
The Rebbe replied by quoting the words of Chana, the mother of Shmuel HaNavi, when she explained the reason behind her son’s name: “For I requested him from Hashem” (I Shmuel 1:20). (The two words שאל מא-ל—“[I] requested [him] from Hashem”—when combined form the name שמואל.)
[xxi] 90:10.
[xxii] See below, “His Histalkus.”
[xxiii] The Baal Shem Tov was born on Chai Elul 5458 (1698), and he first revealed his greatness on his thirty-sixth birthday, on Chai Elul 5494 (1734).
