Boruch Sholom Schneersohn

The resting place of Rabbi Boruch Shalom Schneersohn

Rabbi Boruch Shalom Schneersohn (the Raba"sh; 22nd of Cheshvan, 1805 – 16th of Shevat, 1869) was the probable firstborn son of the Rebbe Tzemach Tzedek, the third Rebbe of Chabad-Lubavitch.

Life

Rabbi Boruch Shalom was born on the 22nd of Cheshvan, 1805. He was named after Rabbi Boruch (father of the Alter Rebbe) and Rabbi Shalom Shachna Altschuler, the father of the Rebbe Tzemach Tzedek.

Rabbi Boruch Shalom was missing fingers on his right hand. His father, the Rebbe Tzemach Tzedek, addressed in his halachic writings the question of which hand he should use for his tefillin — his left hand, the one he wrote with, or his stronger right hand.

The Alter Rebbe (Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, the first Rebbe of Chabad) was very fond of him. Every day the young Boruch Shalom would come to be tested by the Alter Rebbe on all that he had learned in cheder (Torah school) that day. At age six the Alter Rebbe taught him grammar; at age seven, the cantillation notes of the Tanach.

From the day the Alter Rebbe departed Liadi during the Napoleonic Wars until the Alter Rebbe's passing on the 24th of Teves, 1812, Rabbi Boruch Shalom was with him constantly — riding in his carriage and sleeping in his room. He later recounted that he had merited to be in the Alter Rebbe's presence for one hundred and forty-two days and nights.

He subsequently grew close to the Mitteler Rebbe (the second Rebbe of Chabad) and to the Rebbe Tzemach Tzedek. He traveled throughout Russia on his father's behalf, had many devoted followers, and regularly delivered maamarim (Chassidic discourses).

After the passing of the Rebbe Tzemach Tzedek in 1866, Rabbi Boruch Shalom — unlike his brothers, who each established their own courts — remained in Lubavitch and became a chossid (devoted follower) of his youngest brother, the Rebbe Maharash, the fourth Rebbe of Chabad.

He passed away on the 16th of Shevat, 1869, after a brief illness, and is buried with honor in the ohel (burial enclosure) of the Rebbe Tzemach Tzedek and the Rebbe Maharash in Lubavitch.

Family

The following are his children, listed in order of birth:

• Rebbetzin Beila. Born 1832.
• Rabbi Levi Yitzchak. Born 1834.
• Rebbetzin Zlata. Born approximately 1835. She married, and while pregnant passed away on the 6th of Kislev, 1851; she is buried with honor in Lubavitch. Her gravestone was discovered in recent years.
• Rebbetzin Golda. Her husband, Rabbi Schneur Schneersohn, was a son-in-law of the Tzemach Tzedek through a second marriage.
• Rabbi Mordechai. Born 1838.
• Rebbetzin Leah Sara. Born 1839.
• Rabbi Yehuda Leib of Kremenchug. Born 1843. His son Boruch Shalom married Taitena (Toyba-Leah) daughter of Rabbi Yaakov. Their children: Raisa (b. 3 October 1903, Kiev); Yaakov Lev (b. 9 August 1909, Kiev).
• Rebbetzin Tzipa Rochel.
• Rebbetzin Rivka — wife of Rabbi Meshulam (Shilem) Reich, who passed away around 1909. Their son: Rabbi Chaim Moshe Dovber (Berel).

His Relationship to the Rebbe

• Son: Rabbi Levi Yitzchak
• Grandson: Rabbi Boruch Schneour Zalman
• Great-grandson: Rabbi Levi Yitzchak (father of the Rebbe)
• Great-great-grandson: the Rebbe (Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the seventh Rebbe of Chabad-Lubavitch)

Further Reading

• Naftali Tzvi Gutlib, Toldos Levi Yitzchak, chapter 2: Rabbi Boruch Shalom (the Raba"sh).

External Links

• Rabbi Yehoshua Mondshine, A Chassidic Discourse and Biographical Collection, Pardes Chabad, issue 8, Tishrei 5763 (2002).
• Dov Levanon, A Chossid of Wonders: A Portrait of the Rebbe's Great-Great-Grandfather, Beis Moshiach, 13 February 2012.