25th of Adar - Rebbetzin's Birthday

Chasidishe Maaseh
Rabbi Leib of Shpoli said to the Almighty: "Master of the Universe! The sages of the Talmud pleaded before You to bring the Moshiach. You chose not to do so. The holy Ari begged You to bring Moshiach-again You were unwilling. We have reached the point where it is left to someone of my stature to ask for the redeemer. Still You are holding out.
Mark my words. There will come a generation who will have no interest in You or Your Moshiach. Then You will have no choice but to bring him..."

Question of Day
What did Reb Leib of Shpoli tell Hashem?

Hachlata of Day
Say Tanya when walking in the streets

Quote of Day
Harmony seldom makes a headline.

The Rebbetzin
Below are some pictures of places, documents and events pertaining to the Rebbetzin's life. (courtesy of www.chabad.org)

The Rebbe and Rebbetzin resided in this home in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, N.Y., beginning in the mid-1950s.

When her parents resided in Rostov-on-the-Don, the Rebbetzin met with her future husband in the town of Kislovodsk. She got engaged to the Rebbe before leaving Russia; the couple married in 1928 in Warsaw, Poland. In 1950, after the death of her father, the Rebbetzin convinced her husband to accept the mantle of leadership of Chabad-Lubavitch. Here is a copy of an invitation to the 1928 wedding.

The Rebbetzin accompanied her father during his exile from Leningrad to Kostroma, Russia, in 1927. Weeks earlier, the Russian secret police showed up to their home to arrest the Sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe. The Rebbetzin called out to her cousin and future husband, the Rebbe, “Schneerson! Guests have arrived.” The signal allowed the Rebbe to escape arrest, save priceless manuscripts belonging to the Lubavitch movement, and conduct clandestine efforts to commute his future father-in-law’s death sentence and eventually to secure his release. This passport was issued by the Russian government in the late 1920s.

When the Rebbetzin's father, the Sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, of righteous memory, assumed leadership of Chabad-Lubavitch, he became the target of continuous threats by Russia’s Soviet authorities. With uncertainty hanging over him, he entrusted his middle daughter Chaya Mushka with the power to conduct all legal transactions on his behalf, as reflected in this document.

Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson, of righteous memory, was born in Babinovitch, in present-day Belarus, in 1901. Upon her birth, her grandfather, the Fifth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Sholom Dovber, wrote from abroad, “If she hasn’t been named yet, she should be called Chaya Mushka,” as shown in this letter that now resides in the library of Agudas Chasidei Chabad. In 1920, when the Rebbe was ill, his 19-year-old granddaughter cared for him.