Menachem Mendel Schneerson (Son of The Rebbe Maharash)

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (6 Adar 5627/1867 – 23 Tishrei 5702/1941) was the son of the Rebbe Maharash. He lived in Russia and France. He passed away and was buried on the island of Corsica, his body was later brought to Eretz Yisroel and buried in the ancient cemetery in the city of Tzfat.

Biography edit

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson was born to the Rebbe Maharash and his mother Rebbetzin Rivka on 6 Adar 5627/1867. Rabbi Menachem Mendel was born during the year of mourning for the Tzemach Tzedek and was named after him. In 5633/1873, he was registered together with his brother R' Avraham Sender Schneerson in the "Malbish Arumim" ledger.

Once as a child, he asked his father where Hashem is located, and the Rebbe Maharash answered him that "His glory fills the entire earth." The Rebbe notes in his writings in the name of the Frierdiker Rebbe that despite being a child, he accepted this answer.

On 6 Adar 5640/1880, his bar mitzvah celebration was held, and his father the Rebbe Maharash recited a maamar beginning with "Let us make man, etc., in our image, after our likeness." At his bar mitzvah age, he wrote a long poem in Aramaic known among chassidim as "Masa HaHiskashrus" (The Discourse on Connection), in which he greatly praises his father with extraordinary praise.

On 14 Sivan 5642/1882, he married in his first marriage to Mrs. Sarah, daughter of Rabbi Akiva Kornitzer from Krakow - son-in-law of Rabbi Shimon Sofer, author of "Michtav Sofer," and grandson of the "Chasam Sofer." At the wedding, which took place in Lubavitch, the Rebbe Maharash recited several chassidic discourses. That same year, he was accepted into the Mitzvos society in Lubavitch. After several months, he divorced his wife. In the winter of 5646/1886, he began to engage in business.

He assisted his brother, the Rebbe Rashab, in communal work and was sent by him on many missions.

In 5648/1888, he married in his second marriage to Rebbetzin Batya, daughter of Rabbi Nachum Dov Ber of Ovruch (son of Rebbe Yosef Yitzchak of Ovruch), sister of Rebbetzin Shterna Sarah (wife of the Rebbe Rashab).

In 5662/1902, he was already living in Vitebsk and was in partnership with his brother-in-law R' Moshe Aryeh Leib Ginzburg in business. After the Frierdiker Rebbe was arrested that year, RaMaM helped secure his release.

His Renovated Tombstone in Tzfat (Iyar 5771/May 2011)

The Rebbe related in one of his talks:

"My father-in-law, the Rebbe, told that his uncle (the younger brother of the Rebbe Rashab) once translated a concept from Chassidus into Russian, in order to influence one of the dignitaries and influential figures in Russian society at that time. But this was a one-time event, and it was not known or publicized (nor was it known what kind of effect it had), and not in an organized manner, obviously." — Sicha of Parshas Vayeshev, 5748/1988

Due to his economic situation, he was forced to leave Russia, and in 5664/1904 moved to live in Paris, France, leaving his family in Lubavitch.

Later, he moved to the French territory of Corsica, where he established a mechanical wood-chopping factory in the city of Bastia. (In Corsica, there was a Jewish community established at the end of the 19th century with the first Jewish immigration to it. The Jews who came to the island settled in the city of Bastia where Rabbi Menachem Mendel lived.)

He passed away on 23 Tishrei 5702/1941 in the city of Bastia, and was buried there.

Death Certificate of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson.

Transfer of His Grave to the Land of Israel edit

This chapter requires rewriting. You are invited to contribute to Chabadpedia and rewrite it.

In Corsica, there is a law that every grave is destined to be plowed twenty years after its establishment. This was expected to happen with the grave of Rabbi Mendel. In 5715 (1955), the Rebbe instructed Rabbi Binyamin Eliyahu Gorodetsky to transfer Rabbi Mendel's body from the island of Corsica in France to the Holy Land, Rabbi Gorodetsky fulfilled the instruction and sent the coffin on a ship that made its way to Haifa. At the same time, Rabbi Efraim Wolf received instructions to photograph the body before it was lowered for burial and to send the photograph to the Rebbe. The ship arrived at the port of Haifa on a cold and rainy winter night of 5716 (1956), and the burial was conducted at a late hour at the ancient cemetery in Tzfat. Under the prevailing conditions, Rabbi Wolf could not find a photographer who would be willing to come in the middle of the night and take the requested photograph. However, Rabbi Efraim himself examined the condition of the body and noticed that the body remained intact despite the fact that about fifteen years had passed since Rabbi Mendel's passing! Shortly afterwards, Rabbi Wolf traveled to 770, and upon entering 'yechidus' (private audience), the Rebbe asked to hear the details about the burial and the condition of Rabbi Menachem Mendel's body.

The continuation of the story is in 5739 (1979). Shortly after Rabbi Levi Bistritzky was appointed as the Rabbi of Kfar Chabad in the holy city of Tzfat, two elders of Chabad chassidim in the Holy Land asked to speak with him about a most confidential matter. When they met, they told him that now that a Chabad rabbi had been appointed in the city, they could reveal a secret they had kept for many years; Rabbi Mendel Schneersohn, the brother of the Rebbe Rashab, was buried in the old cemetery in Tzfat, and they warned him that according to the Rebbe's instructions, this matter must be kept confidential. After they went down to the cemetery and pointed out the location, they told him the sequence of events: about his passing in 5702 (1942) in France, about the law of plowing graves, and about the transfer of the body in 5716 (1956) to the holy city of Tzfat. However, since Rabbi Menachem Mendel's daughter was living in France and did not lead a religious lifestyle, and it was known that she would oppose his transfer to the Holy Land, the transfer was carried out with absolute secrecy and confidentiality. In order to prevent any suspicion that the daughter might sense something, the tombstone was returned to its previous place, and instructions were also given that in Tzfat he should be buried without a tombstone so that no one would realize at all that he was buried there. At the place of burial near the ground, there was concrete, and whoever came to the place would find what appeared to be a sidewalk in the middle of the cemetery.

Erection of a Tombstone edit

The existing situation bothered Rabbi Bistritzky, and he asked the Rebbe: a. Whether to leave the current situation - a grave without a tombstone, or perhaps the situation had already changed, and a tombstone could be erected? b. If the answer would be to make a tombstone, what title should be written on it. On that very day, an answer was received from the Rebbe: To the question of whether to leave the situation as it is, he answered: "This is contrary to the ruling of the Shulchan Aruch." And he added to make a tombstone promptly. Regarding the title - "As written in 'Hakriah V'hakedusha' (?) and in the talk of my father-in-law, the Rebbe."

After receiving the answer, they went through all the issues of "Hakriah V'hakedushah" and nothing was found about Rabbi Menachem Mendel. But in one of the talks of the Rebbe Rayatz, the desired title was found. It is understood and obvious that a tombstone was immediately ordered, and after it was built, Rabbi Bistritzky asked the Rebbe whether to conduct a tombstone unveiling ceremony as is customary, or to do it without publicity. The answer received was to conduct a tombstone unveiling ceremony.

For this purpose, Anash (members of the Chabad community) went together to the cemetery. Rabbi Bistritzky made sure that the event was documented. And since he was about to travel to Beis Chayeinu (770), he took the pictures with a detailed report. In the report, it was written among other things that the cost of the tombstone would be paid by Anash of the holy city of Tzfat. And he submitted the report to the secretariat.

On that very day, Erev Shabbat Kodesh, he received a phone call with an urgent summons from Rabbi Chaim Mordechai Aizik Hodakov. Rabbi Hodakov related that the Rebbe had expressed his desire to pay for the tombstone, and added that the Rebbe had asked to make contact immediately, even before the onset of Shabbat in Tzfat, to inform that there was no need to collect money from the young married men. On Sunday, Rabbi Hodakov called Rabbi Bistritzky once again and showed him a personal check from the Rebbe for five hundred dollars made out to Machne Israel. Rabbi Hodakov explained that the Rebbe did not write the check in his name (Rabbi Bistritzky's own) knowing that he would not use the check but would keep it for himself and pay the cost of the tombstone from his own pocket, therefore he wrote the check in the name of Machne Israel and asked to show him the check and exchange it for cash.

After the passing of Rabbi Menachem Mendel's daughter - she too was buried in the new cemetery in the holy city of Tzfat.

On the 13th of Iyar 5771 (2011), his tombstone was renovated through the efforts of the Chassidim's Union for Greeting Moshiach.

His Death Certificate edit

In the summer of 5771 (2011), two young men went on a central mission to the island of Corsica. They knew that Rabbi Mendel lived his last years here on the island and decided to try to clarify this at the local government offices. They approached the local Ministry of Interior, and after investigation and inquiry, they received a copy of the local death certificate, according to which the date of death is the 23rd of Tishrei 5702 (1942). (Despite the discovery of the certificate, it is not clear whether this is indeed the exact date of death, since one of the Jews on the island told those young men that he knows that a cleaning worker found Rabbi Menachem Mendel in his house after he had passed away, and it is not known whether he died on that day or at a certain time before, and the date on the death certificate is the date on which he was found in his house).

His Journey to the United States edit

In the month of Sivan 5772 (2012), another previously unknown episode was revealed. It turns out that after he left for France, he traveled to the United States for business purposes. There, he was mistakenly suspected of being another Schneersohn who had been Lenin's secretary, and was therefore called for questioning by the FBI. Eventually, the mistake was clarified and he was released. Many documents on this matter appear in the organization's archives.

His Family edit

In his second marriage:

His son Yisrael Dov Ber.
His daughter Mrs. Musia passed away in her youth.
His daughter Mrs. Chana (Uzerman).

In his third marriage:

His son Binyamin - passed away while still a youth.
His daughter Mrs. Sarah. Also known as Mendele (Edma). Edmee-Minette Schneersohn (born in 1907) lived most of her years in Paris. In her later years, she married a Chasid and moved to live with her husband Yisrael Greenberg in Bnei Brak, but was not blessed with children. She was buried in Tzfat and on her headstone it is written: "Here lies the woman Sarah of the Schneersohn family, daughter of the Chasidic Rabbi R' Menachem Mendel son of the holy honor of our master and teacher the Maharash. Passed away on the 8th of Kislev 5746 (1985). May her soul be bound in the bond of eternal life."