Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Reb Shmuel Schneersohn HY"D

Of Nikolayev. The Rebbe's uncle, his father's brother.


COL asks "מי מכיר מי יודע" and a reader answered it was Reb Shmuel, brother of Reb Levik, the Rebbe's father. I remembered the pic in the SH and scanned it (see below.) Sorry about the quality, that was the best I could do under the circumstances. It is him! The pic was taken by the Soviet authorities and was discovered in his file that was just located.

Reb Shmuel was married to another daughter of Reb Meir Shlayme Yanovsky, sister of Rebbetzin Chana, the Rebbe's mother. Reb Shmuel hesitated, but The Rebbe Rashab OK'd the shidduch as long as they lived in separate cities. He was killed Al Kiddush Hashem by the Nazis during WWII.


In his prime.
(From Sefer HaTzetzo'im)

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Was Reb Shmuel's daughter the poet "Zelda" or did Reb Leivik ZYA have another brother?

Hirshel Tzig - הירשל ציג said...

Zelda was the daughter of a third brother, Reb Sholom Shlomo, son-in-law of the Radatz. He traveled to E Israel and passed away there.

Milhouse said...

The Yanovskis seem to have had a habit of liking their mechutonim so much they made multiple shiduchim with them. R Meir Shlomo Yanovski married R Mendel Kluwgant's sister, and R Mendel married R Meir Shlomo's sister. That made R Mendel's son, R Isser Kluwgant, a double-first-cousin of Rebbetzin Chana. I think Reb Isser was the Rebbe's closest relative among his chassidim.

Hirshel Tzig - הירשל ציג said...

COL confirms it to be Reb Shmuel, the Rebbe's uncle. The picture also includes him holding a poster with his name on it.

Anonymous said...

Where was he killed?

Hirshel Tzig - הירשל ציג said...

well, Zezmir, now that you mention it I see that the article on COL says that he was "Nifter B'golus Khirgizstan, but I could've sworn that the article in Sefer HaTzetzoyim said that he was killed by the Nazis!

I'm confused....

Anonymous said...

On COL someone said that he has an Ur Eynikel named Shmuel, a Chassidisher Yungerman. That's nice to hear.

Anonymous said...

You can see how the life of Reb shmuel was taken from him by the accursed Russians. His eyes, that shone so bright in the other picture, had since lost their luster. His body, too, had been seemingly broken, but his spirit was alive, infused by the Ruach of his holy Zeides.

Yehi Zichray Boruch

Anonymous said...

I never even knew that R' Levik had brothers! How many were there? Where did they live? What did they do?

Hirshel Tzig - הירשל ציג said...

Bocherel

You'd better start reading up on your Lubavitcher history then, instead of wasting your time.

There were 3 brothers, Reb Levik, Reb Shmuel, and Reb Sholom Shlomo. (Their father was Reb Boruch Schneur, whose Reshimos were recently published.) Reb Levik and Reb Shmuel were also married to 2 sisters. Reb Shmuel was Rov in Nikolayev after Reb Levik left, and Reb Sholom Shlomo was a Son-in-law of Reb Dovid Tzvi Chein - The Radatz - . He moved to Eretz Yisroel and was Nifter there shortly after his arrival in the '20's.

Anonymous said...

Wasting my time? Who said I was wasting my time? Unless learning is a waste of time.

But, to continue my question, are there living einiklach?

Hirshel Tzig - הירשל ציג said...

see my comment above.

What about when you read, do you read Chabad history? and you never came across this tidbit of Reb Levik having brothers?

Anonymous said...

anon bochur, shloffen shloffstu? Essen Estu? Don't turn holy on your pals here !

Next time you sit down to eat, take a Toldos Levi Yitzchok with you.

Anonymous said...

Didnt he also have a brother by the name Mendel? I remember seeing a beautiful letter from him describing the Chasuna Seuda in Yeketrenoslov.

Who was the schneerson that the rebbe made hagoas on his sefer on Birchat Hananin?

Hirshel Tzig - הירשל ציג said...

Reb Mendel you speak of was the Rebbe's cousin, son of Reb Shmuel. The Rebbe writes to him on the occassion of his Bar Miitzvah and it's printed in the Reshimos

The Birkas HaNehenin was Reb Schneur Zalmen Mordche Schnnersohn, Rov of Zhitomir, son of Reb Yosef Yitzchok of Ovrutch, and a grandson of the Tzemach Tzedek. He was also a brother of Rebbetzin Shterna Soroh (and a BIL of the Rebbe Rashab)

Anonymous said...

I believe that you are mistaking. In the letter he comes across as an elder guy. Can you please scan the letter. it is a beautiful piece.

Anonymous said...

Brooklyn, NY - Dueling Rabbis Struggle Over Who Gets to Spread the Faith
Brooklyn, NY - A turf war has erupted between two Lubavitch'r rabbis claiming dibs on the rapidly gentrifying brownstone neighborhoods that surrounds the Atlantic Yards area.

In one corner is Rabbi Ari Kirschenbaum, who showed up in Prospect Heights three years ago to revive a decrepit Orthodox synagogue in the neighborhood. His rival is Rabbi Tali Frankel, who is backed by his wife's powerful uncle, Rabbi Shimon Hecht of Park Slope. After arriving eighteen months ago, he began holding events advertised as being sponsored by "Chabad of Prospect Heights"—though Kirschenbaum is the neighborhood's sole officially recognized shaliach.

Lubavitchers usually do not invade each other's area, but now both Kirschenbaum and Frankel are hosting sessions, with Frankel seeming to be trying to appeal to singles, with event listings as "stories, food and booze!"
Tensions flared over Hanukkah, when Hecht commandeered Kirschenbaum's nine-foot-tall menorah in the Atlantic Terminal Mall. Kirschenbaum dealt with the mall and set up the menorah, holding a party (paid for by Atlantic Yards developer Forest City Ratner) on the Sunday of Hanukkah that attracted a few hundred people. And Hecht's group sponsored festivities at Kirschenbaum's menorah on Saturday.

Now the Lubavitch powers that be have had enough. Rabbi Kasriel Kastel, who supervises the New York–area Lubavitch emissaries, filed a lawsuit against Hecht in rabbinical court alleging that he has overstepped his boundaries by bringing his nephew into an area where another Lubavitch rabbi was already holding officially sanctioned activities. Kastel says "There are maybe 100 or 200 guys who trained their whole lives, and are looking for an opportunity to go. Smaller communities which would never be considered before are getting people," and conflicts between rabbis are increasing, he says. "It comes with growth and gentrification."
posted by Shlomah Shamos @ 12/31/

Anonymous said...

you have taynes against harry maryles,you are against him without even knowing the details and where, till that idiot hmm told you.Here we see that TWO Lubab 'rabbis' are tearing each other to bits and this is not the only case......
Chasidus they learn.................................
You are a big shoiteh, any Lubab issue you are immediately on the lubab side, without knowing anything:That is the definition of a shoiteh.Thank gd Lubavitch took you, they can keep you too

Milhouse said...

"anonymous", what has this got to do with the topic?

I know Tali Frankel, he's the nicest possible person, and I can't believe he'd deliberately hurt Ari Kirschenbaum or anyone else. He's not trying to establish himself as a "shliach" - he already has a full time job at Judaica World. He lives where he does, so he's made friends in the area, has guests for Shabbos, and throws the occasional sukkos party or chanukah party, as anybody might. He has a rapport with a certain type of single guy, so he started a weekly shiur for that type; again, this is what anyone might do, and if someone did so in Crown Heights or Borough Park nobody would think he's trying to set himself up as a rabbi or shliach, and hurt anyone else.

But the truth is that he's being used by his uncle-in-law for his own purposes. Rabbi Hecht, the moro de'asro of Park Slope, has long considered Prospect Heights to be part of "his" territory, even though he never did anything there, and was offended when Kirschenbaum moved in. He always had plans to do something there "some day", but when the Jews started moving back in he didn't move fast enough, and someone else saw an opportunity; so he suggested to his nephew-in-law to move there, with the intention that trouble would result.

Meanwhile, if both sides would restrict themselves to positive actions, and not attack each other, then kin'as sofrim tarbeh chochmah, and yagdil torah veya'adir. Let them both do whatever they like, so long as it's adding light and not darkness. As far as I know, both Kirschenbaum and Frankel are doing nothing but good, and it should remain that way.