Rabbi Moshe Shneuri
| Rabbi Moshe Shneuri | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1779/1784 |
| Passing | 1871 |
| Occupation | Rabbi in Ulla |
| Spouse | Rebbetzin Shifra |
| Father | The Alter Rebbe |
Rabbi Moshe Shneuri (1779/1784 - before 1870) was the son of the Alter Rebbe and served as Rabbi of the town of Ulla. He was forcibly arrested and attempts were made to convert him to Christianity, but he escaped from his captors and spent the rest of his life wandering from place to place.
Early Life[edit | edit source]
Born to the Alter Rebbe in Tammuz 1779, or according to another opinion in 1784 in Liozna. His bris was performed by a hidden tzaddik named Rabbi Betzalel the Shepherd, and he was named after the Alter Rebbe's grandfather, Reb Moshe Posner. It is said that twelve years before his birth, the Alter Rebbe lived in seclusion.
In his childhood, Rabbi Shlomo of Karlin and Rabbi Baruch of Mezhibuzh came to the Alter Rebbe and told him in a conversation lasting several hours that the Chevra Kadisha had decided to place the Vilna Gaon in cherem. They said they had inquired about this in the upper worlds and were told that one of those imposing the cherem needed to be extremely sharp in nigleh (revealed Torah). Therefore, they came to ask him to join them. The Alter Rebbe refused, saying such an action would disconnect the excommunicated soul from its supernal root, potentially leading the excommunicated person to heresy - which would cause a great chillul Hashem if it happened to the Vilna Gaon. In response, Rabbi Shlomo said about Reb Moshe, who was then a small child playing in the room: "He will cause you a chillul Hashem."
At age eight, Reb Moshe became ill with a nervous system condition and was taken to Petersburg where he was treated by leading doctors. At his bar mitzvah, the Alter Rebbe repeated one of the three maamarim that appear in the Siddur in "Shaar HaTefillin."
Education and Marriage[edit | edit source]
His father hired Reb Eliyahu Reuven as his teacher. He also studied Russian and French with Reb Moshe Meisels. Additionally, he learned with his father.
In Chanukah 1797, he married Rebbetzin Shifra, daughter of Rabbi Tzvi Hirsh of Ulla. A few days before the wedding (on 15 Kislev 1797), Reb Moshe was accepted as one of the Chevra Kadisha in Liozna. At his wedding, the Alter Rebbe delivered the maamar "V'eirastich Li L'olam."
As Rabbi[edit | edit source]
After his marriage, Rabbi Moshe moved to live in his father-in-law's house and was appointed as Rabbi of Ulla. He corresponded with the Tzemach Tzedek about halachic matters.
Rabbi Moshe was blessed with an excellent memory and would review and record the Alter Rebbe's maamarim. These transcriptions later became volumes of the Alter Rebbe's discourses. His father had a special fondness for him and would say: "My son Moshe has exceptional talents, his outstanding memory will never leave him forever." Rabbi Moshe's facial appearance resembled that of his father, the Alter Rebbe.
Rabbi Moshe lived in great wealth. It is told that once Rabbi Moshe came to his father, the Alter Rebbe, with a carriage drawn by three horses. When his father saw this, he said to him: "In whom do you trust? In me? You won't even find the door to my chamber in Gan Eden," and added "I have one piece of advice for you - kiss my tzitzis and engrave its image in your mind, then you can jump from the highest rooftop."
Rabbi Moshe was also a great musician, and among the famous musicians in Chabad.
During the Alter Rebbe's Imprisonment[edit | edit source]
During the Alter Rebbe's first imprisonment, Rabbi Moshe wanted to travel to Petersburg to convince government ministers to release his father, but ultimately was unable to do so. During the Alter Rebbe's second imprisonment, Rabbi Moshe joined his father in prison. During this time, Rabbi Moshe frequently debated with the priests and ministers there.
In 1810, Rabbi Moshe began engaging in communal work together with the Tzemach Tzedek.
He is signed among the Alter Rebbe's sons in the introduction to the Shulchan Aruch that was printed for the first time after the Alter Rebbe's passing. He also signed with them on the introduction and printing of the Tanya that was printed in 1814 with the addition of Igeres Hakodesh.
During Napoleon's War[edit | edit source]
During Napoleon's war and invasion of Russia in 1812, the Alter Rebbe traveled deep into Russia. Rabbi Moshe and his family did not join the journey, and they settled in the city of Druyya where the French army was encamped. Due to his fluency in French, Rabbi Moshe befriended French army leaders and spied against them. When Rabbi Moshe tried to reach Shklov, he was captured by the French army. He was accused of espionage and sentenced to death, but was eventually released.
After the war, Rabbi Moshe returned with his family to the town of Ulla.
Imprisonment and Forced Conversion Attempt[edit | edit source]
Shortly after the Alter Rebbe's passing, Rabbi Moshe accompanied his brother, the Mitteler Rebbe, to an interview with the Russian Czar regarding Jewish settlement in colonies. Rabbi Moshe's open and direct speaking style caught the Czar's interest, who requested him to debate with the chief priest. The Mitteler Rebbe disliked Rabbi Moshe's style, and after the meeting, concerned, told him "You forgot 'Chachamim Hizaharu B'divreichem' (Sages, be careful with your words)."
Rabbi Moshe agreed to the debate with the priests, which lasted more than a year and ended with Rabbi Moshe's victory. The Christians, unable to bear the humiliation, falsely claimed they had won, and forcibly imprisoned Rabbi Moshe in Vyazma, later transferring him to a monastery. They forced him to sign a document requesting to convert.
Rebbetzin Sterna and his brother sent a letter to the Czar stating that he was forced to sign the conversion document, but the Czar refused their request, claiming he had signed of his own free will.
On 19 Kislev 1815, while traveling in a wagon with his captors, they fell asleep and he jumped from the wagon and escaped. However, fearing recapture, he wandered the roads with a concealed identity.
His Wanderings[edit | edit source]
After escaping, Rabbi Moshe wandered through Polish cities, moving from town to town. He would roam the forests and come to cities only to ask for basic necessities, refusing to accept anything more than absolutely necessary. He would sleep in synagogue attics, placing a stone under his head and tying his feet with rope. He sat in the synagogue with his tallis covering his face. Once, when he revealed his face during a conversation with a Jew in the synagogue, the person was struck with awe and fear from his countenance.
He usually stayed in the Kiev and Zhitomir areas, and was also seen several times in Cherkassy at Rabbi Yaakov Yisrael of Cherkassy's place, and in Chernobyl by Rabbi Aharon of Chernobyl.
During the Maharash's leadership, he appeared in Lubavitch for several days and visited the Rebbe and his family. His identity became known to the townspeople only after he left. At that time, he appeared as an elderly Chabad chassid.
During his wanderings, he ate only grain crackers daily, and wheat crackers on Shabbos. Twice a week he would collect charity and use the money to buy firewood for women who had just given birth. He never received an aliyah to the Torah except once on Yom Kippur in the last year of his life. His identity was unknown to anyone except a few individuals who recognized him by his face as the Alter Rebbe's son.
His Passing[edit | edit source]
He passed away during his wanderings and was buried in the city of Rudmisl.
Reb Tzvi Chaikin, in his letter to the Rebbe Maharash on 20 Adar 1877, writes that six years earlier, a Rabbi who was present at Rabbi Moshe's passing had died. Thus, Rabbi Moshe passed away at the latest in the winter of 1871.
Shortly before his passing, when asked what to write on his matzeiva (tombstone), he answered that they should write "P"N Moshe" (Here lies Moshe).
Revelation of His Life Story[edit | edit source]
For many years, Rabbi Moshe's life story was unknown. The sefer Beis Rebbi avoided discussing his imprisonment and focused only on his wanderings afterward. In 1876, the chassid Reb Tzvi Chaikin sent a letter to Reb Levi Yitzchak, grandson of the Tzemach Tzedek, describing Rabbi Moshe's wanderings based on eyewitness accounts. Reb Tzvi sent another letter about Rabbi Moshe to the Rebbe Maharash in 1877.
In 1908, the Frierdiker Rebbe met an elderly chassid who knew Rabbi Moshe from his wandering period and told him several stories about him.
When the Hatmim organization was established, the Frierdiker Rebbe told the Rav of Postov that the time had come to reveal Moshe's story, and showed him eleven volumes of Rabbi Moshe's handwritten Chassidic manuscripts, adding that no one knew anything about them.
It is told that when Rav Shneur Zalman Gourary told the Frierdiker Rebbe that it was accepted that he did teshuva at the end of his life, the Rebbe responded that he had nothing to do teshuva for.
His Family[edit | edit source]
His daughter, Sarah Rivka, wife of Rabbi Nachum Yosef Schneerson. Their sons:
- Rabbi Shneur Zalman (author of 'Nimukei Shzbn"i')
- The Shadar Rabbi Chaim Tzvi Schneerson
- Rabbi Pinchas Eliyahu
His daughter, Rachel Fundaminski, wife of Rabbi Moshe Tzvi Fundaminski.