Rebbetzin Freida Kluzker

Rebbetzin Freida Kluzker
Born	1764
	Vitebsk
Passing	1813
	Haditch
Burial place	The Ohel of the Alter Rebbe

Rebbetzin Freida Kluzker was the eldest daughter of the Alter Rebbe. She was a wise and learned woman, well-versed in Chassidus, and especially beloved by her father. Her greatness and understanding of Torah and Chassidus surpassed that of her brother - the Mitteler Rebbe. She merited to be buried next to her father in the Alter Rebbe's ohel.

She was related through marriage to R' Binyamin Kletzker and Rabbi Nachman of Breslov.

Early Life

Born in Vitebsk in 1764 to her father the Alter Rebbe and her mother Rebbetzin Sterna. The name Freida was given to her after her father's aunt, the sister of R' Shneur Zalman, the Alter Rebbe's grandfather.

Rebbetzin Freida was very beloved by her father, the Alter Rebbe, and he would say Chassidic discourses to her every Shabbos after davening - things he wouldn't say to the Mitteler Rebbe. When her brother - the Mitteler Rebbe - wanted to clarify a concept in Chassidus, he would ask her to question their father, and he would hide and listen to the words, though the Alter Rebbe understood that his son had requested this clarification.

The belt story

Once, her brother, the Mitteler Rebbe, asked her to request from their father an explanation of the four priestly garments. When the Alter Rebbe came, she made the request and he agreed, speaking about three of the garments but not mentioning the avnet (belt). The Mitteler Rebbe, sensing his father would soon leave without discussing the avnet, removed his gartel and threw it at his sister's feet to remind her to ask about it. When Rebbetzin Freida saw the edge of the belt, she turned to her father to ask about it. The Alter Rebbe said to her: "It seems your brother Ber is hiding under your bed listening to the Torah and Chassidus that I tell you. Come out Berel! Come out!" and he did not continue further.

After Marriage

She married Rabbi Eliyahu Kluzker, son of Rabbi Mordechai and Mirel Kluzker.

Once, the Alter Rebbe went to his daughter Rebbetzin Freida's house to deliver a Chassidic discourse, as was his custom. He walked to her house because she was weak. Because of this, there were small trees around her house. His chassidim, wanting to hear the discourse, climbed the trees. When her father, the Alter Rebbe, noticed this, he said to his son the Mitteler Rebbe, who was also present: "Newspapers they want, newspapers? Why don't they learn Tanya? Why don't they learn Tanya?" - and concluded - "I tell you, from the Tanya one can become a chassid like Avraham Avinu."

Being learned, she once wrote a letter to her brother the Mitteler Rebbe regarding the revelation of the end of days.

After the Alter Rebbe's Passing

After her father the Alter Rebbe passed away on the 24th of Teves 1813, her health deteriorated further and they had to move her to a resort area. Shortly after, her brother, the Mitteler Rebbe, approached R' Isaac of Homil and told him that his sister Freida had dreamed about the Alter Rebbe. The Alter Rebbe asked her what she was so amazed about, and she answered that she saw him wearing a luminous garment. The Alter Rebbe responded that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai's garment shines even more.

Her Passing

She passed away about five months after her father's passing, on Monday of Parshas Behaaloscha, on the 16th of Sivan 1813, at age 49. She was buried, as per her request, right next to her father the Alter Rebbe's resting place.

It is told that when she felt her days were numbered, she called several chassidim and requested that after her passing, they should bury her near her father, the Alter Rebbe, in the ohel in Haditch. The chassidim, who were embarrassed to tell the Rebbetzin that it wasn't customary to bury a woman next to a tzaddik, left the room without making any promises. In her final moments before passing, she asked several chassidim to stand by her bed and began reciting: "My G-d, the soul You gave me is pure, You created it..." When she reached the words "and You will eventually take it from me," she raised her hands, extended her ten fingers upward and called out: "Father, wait here, I'm coming..." and immediately her soul departed.

The chassidim who witnessed this understood that a woman who merits such a passing deserves to be buried next to the Alter Rebbe. On the way to the cemetery, the wagon carrying her came to a crossroads between Haditch and Kremenchug, and the chassidim decided to let the horses choose which way to turn. Miraculously, the horses turned toward Haditch, where the Alter Rebbe's resting place was, and there she was buried, next to her father, as per her final request.

She was deeply connected to her father. On her tombstone it was written: "In their lives and in their deaths they were not parted."

After Her Passing

In Haditch, there was a caretaker who watched over the ohel, named R' Chaim Meir. It is told that once he received an urgent pidyon nefesh (prayer request), and he rushed to bring it into the ohel, but in his haste forgot to knock first. Suddenly he found himself outside the ohel, lying on the ground. That night, R' Chaim Meir saw Rebbetzin Freida in a dream, who said to him: "Chaim Meir, how can one enter without knocking? Don't you know that souls come here!" And she concluded: "Since chassidim don't believe in dreams, you'll have a sign." Immediately upon waking, a bee stung him in his ear, and from then on he remained deaf in that ear.

Her Spiritual Level

The Alter Rebbe said about her that her soul was from alma d'dichura (the masculine realm) (and was meant to be male), but for a certain reason her soul was clothed in a female body.

The Tzemach Tzedek said: Rebbetzin Devorah Leah, the Alter Rebbe's aunt, was scholarly. The Alter Rebbe called her a "lamdan" and she studied Rambam, Gemara, and more. That's why the Alter Rebbe named his daughter Devorah Leah after this aunt. Rebbetzin Freida operated through revelation from above. The matter of names is in the realm of drawing down. Rebbetzin Freida was also named after the Alter Rebbe's great-aunt, Freida, but she wasn't like the aforementioned Devorah Leah, though she too had a good temperament and excelled in good middos. Rather, Rebbetzin Freida (the Alter Rebbe's daughter) operated through revelation and gift from above.

Her Sayings

Rabbi Aharon, the Mitteler Rebbe's son-in-law, related: Rebbetzin Freida would say in the name of her father, the Alter Rebbe:

"To see Atzmus Ohr Ein Sof (the Essence of the Infinite Light) is only possible after davening."

Rabbi Aharon added that this is why he extends his prayers - he waits in prayer to see Ohr Ein Sof.

Her Family

• Her son R' Baruch Kluzker - son-in-law of R' Binyamin Kletzker and father-in-law to the son of Rabbi Yaakov Schneerson, son of the Tzemach Tzedek.
• Her son R' Aharon Zaslavsky of Kremenchug, was an extraordinary scholar and greatly humble, son-in-law in second marriage to Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, and in third marriage to his uncle the Mitteler Rebbe.
• She had another daughter, at whose wedding her uncle the Mitteler Rebbe announced: "The father (Alter Rebbe) and Freidke are coming."