Ester Miriam (daughter of the Mitteler Rebbe)
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Ester Miriam was a daughter of the Mitteler Rebbe who passed away during her father's lifetime, on 4 Tammuz 5579 (July 1819). She is buried in Lubavitch.
Life
For many years, no daughter by this name was known to have belonged to the Mitteler Rebbe, and she is not mentioned in the genealogical record printed at the opening of the Hayom Yom.
Discovery of Her Grave
In 1990 (5750),[1] as part of a confidential mission from the Rebbe to restore and renovate the burial sites of the Chabad Rebbes, Rabbi Dovid Nachshon and Rabbi Avi Taub discovered, in the women's section of the Lubavitch cemetery, the grave marker of Ester Miriam. At the time, the marker was a simple tin plaque bearing the following inscription:
Here lies buried
the modest and distinguished woman Ester Miriam, of blessed memory, daughter of the rabbi, the great Gaon, Admur Dovber, may he live who passed away on the first day, the 4th of the month of Tammuz of the year 5579
May her soul be bound up in the bond of eternal life
Identity of Her Husband
Rabbi Shalom Dovber Levin proposed that Ester Miriam's husband was Rabbi Aharon of Kremenchug, noting that several sources suggest he was a son-in-law of the Mitteler Rebbe. The wording of her grave marker — "the modest and distinguished woman Ester Miriam" — suggests she was already married at the time of her passing in 5579. Under this theory, she would have been his second wife, and after her death in Tammuz 5579, he went on to marry Chaya, daughter of the holy Rabbi of Breslov, sometime between 5579 and 5582 (1819–1822).[2]
However, it was subsequently established that Rabbi Aharon of Kremenchug was in fact the second husband of Ester Miriam's sister, Rebbetzin Chaya Sara.
It has also been noted that the first word used to describe her on the grave marker is "the modest one" (hatzenu'ah) — suggesting that her very modesty was the reason she remained unknown for so long.
External Links
- Photo of her grave marker as discovered in Lubavitch (MyLubavitch)