We are in the twenty-first lesson of Shalsheles HaYachas, in the life story of the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek, in its seventh part. We finished with the family - the sons, the daughters and the seforim - and now, in the final part, we will deal with what is written in the heading "his sons", meaning the sons and grandsons of the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek.
"a) His honor the Rav HaChassid Rav Boruch Shalom" - we already spoke about each of the sons earlier, when we mentioned the two sons; but here we come to speak mainly about the continuation - about their sons. The first son of the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek, Rabbi Boruch Shalom, had two sons, and here the grandchildren are brought as well - of the second son, at any rate.
"His sons" - the first son: "the Rav HaGaon Rav Mordechai, rav of Vitebsk". It is told about him that he passed away at the age of seventy-two, on 5 Tishrei 5698. He was a rav in Vitebsk, as appears here, and was appointed to the rabbinate while still very young, and it is told of the strength of his conduct in the rabbinate. At the beginning of his rabbinate he noticed one of the shochtim in the city who was not fit for shechitah and was feeding people forbidden things; however, that shochet was a veteran and a man of great power in the city. Rabbi Mordechai decided to stop his shechitah without any hesitation, and issued a ruling that he was forbidden to shecht - but it did not help, since the shochet was brazen and had many supporters, and he refused to accept the ruling.
In those days there were still shuls of particular groups, among them the shul of the butchers, where that shochet prayed. On Shabbos, Rabbi Mordechai decided to come and pray in the butchers' shul. The butchers were angry with him for having come out against the great shochet, and nevertheless they honored him and decided to give him an aliyah to the Torah. When he approached the Torah scroll he took hold of the "eitz chaim", and before he made the blessing he cried out: "By the power of the Torah and by the power of my holy forebears, I forbid the shochet to shecht". He finished, went out and left the shul. The uproar was effective, and the shochet was forced to leave his position and accepted the rav's authority. A Jew of great force and very strong. This is Rabbi Mordechai, the first son of Rabbi Boruch Shalom.
"b) The Rav HaGaon Rav Levi Yitzchak, rav in Podobranka" - in the sefer "Toldos Levi Yitzchak" it is told about him that he had a daughter named Rivkah, and her husband was Rabbi Shalom Shilem Reich, of the lineage of the tzaddikim of Poland - even though this is not mentioned here.
After mentioning the two sons of Rabbi Boruch Shalom, he brings, regarding the second son, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak, also his son and his grandson. The "son" of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak - the grandson of Rabbi Boruch Shalom and the great-grandson of the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek - is "the Rav HaChassid Rav Boruch Schneur". Rabbi Boruch Schneur himself was one of the chassidim of the Rebbe Maharash, an immense talmid chacham, with Shas by heart, possessing an immense and wondrous memory. He was married to the Rebbetzin Zelda Rachel, daughter of Rav Zalman Chaikin, a chassid of the Tzemach Tzedek and the Rebbe Maharash.
And the "son" of Rabbi Boruch Schneur - "the Rav HaGaon HaRav HaChassid Rabbi Levi Yitzchak" - is the father of the Rebbe. About the Rebbe's father, seforim have been published, and there are many things one could tell about him; so we will bring in brief an interesting point that the Rebbe wrote about him. There is a note that the Rebbe wrote about him after his passing, of a few short pages, in which he described who he was. At the time nobody knew at all who wrote it, since it was written as if in third person and without a signature, and only afterwards did it become clear that the Rebbe wrote it about him.
And this is what he wrote: an immense gaon in nigleh, a wondrous expert in Kabbalah, a deep maskil in Chabad chassidus, outstandingly G-d fearing and possessing fine character traits, one of the renowned chassidim of the Rebbe Rashab, who brought him very close. This can be seen at length in the sefer "Toldos Levi Yitzchak". And his wife, the Rebbe's mother, Rebbetzin Chana, was the daughter of the rav of Nikolayev, Rav Meir Shlomo Yanovsky; seforim have been published about her as well, and much is brought about her in the sefer "Toldos Levi Yitzchak", and her diaries were published, and so on. This concludes the first son of the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek, Rabbi Boruch Shalom, and his descendants.
"b. His honor the Rebbe Rabbi Yehuda Leib of Kopust"
With the second son one can notice that a different title is already written: not "the Rav HaChassid" as with the first son, but "his honor the Rebbe". It is known that the sons of the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek - except for the first son and the sixth son, who as we already related passed away in his father's lifetime - all conducted themselves as Rebbes after the passing of the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek. The first of them, who is the second son, is his honor the Rebbe Rav Yehuda Leib of Kopust. About him himself we already related earlier, when we spoke about the sons of the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek, and now his descendants are brought. He had three sons, and here the sons and grandsons are noted.
The first son, "a) his honor the Rebbe Rav Shlomo Zalman of Kopust", he too filled his father's place as Rebbe. Rabbi Shlomo Zalman was born in the year 5590, and his sandak was the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek. Until the age of twelve he learned only nigleh, with great diligence, and from the age of twelve his father, Rabbi Yehuda Leib, began to educate him in the study of the teachings of chassidus.
It is told about him that he married on 19 Teves - apparently on Motzaei Shabbos - in the year 5616, in Lubavitch, and the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek was present at his wedding. After the wedding he lived for a certain period at his father-in-law's, and learned Torah there diligently, for ten years. After ten years he returned to Lubavitch, roughly in the year 5617, while the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek was still in this world, since he passed away in the year 5626; and he lived in Lubavitch with the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek.
After the passing, as we related, his father left Lubavitch and moved to Kopust, and he moved along with him. About his father we already related that he did not live long, and passed away in Kopust half a year after the Tzemach Tzedek; and then Rabbi Shlomo Zalman filled his father's place, and served thirty-four years as rav in Kopust. He passed away on 27 Iyar 5660.
"His seforim: Magen Avos", on the chassidus maamarim of the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek, which Rabbi Shlomo Zalman wrote in Kopust during his tenure in the rabbinate, and they are founded upon the teachings of the Tzemach Tzedek. And why is the sefer called "Magen Avos"? Because "Magen Avos" in gematria equals "Shlomo Zalman"; and as is known, the rabbanim had the custom of hinting at the gematria of their name in the name of their sefer.
The "son" of Rabbi Shlomo Zalman, "Rav Yehuda Leib" Schneersohn, lived in Moscow, and he is the one who printed the sefer "Magen Avos": his father, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman, wrote the sefer, while the publisher who dealt with its printing was Rabbi Yehuda Leib. Rabbi Shlomo Zalman also had three daughters, but they are not mentioned here.
The second son - "b) his honor the Rebbe Rav Shalom DovBer of Retzitza". As long as the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek was in this world he lived in Lubavitch, and after his passing he too moved to Kopust - at first together with his father and with his brother Rabbi Shlomo Zalman - and he was among those bound to his brother Rabbi Shlomo Zalman in Kopust. Afterwards he was accepted as rav in the city of Retzitza, and apparently he conducted himself there as a Rebbe as well, and therefore he is called "Rebbe". He passed away on 16 Tishrei 5669.
And these are the "sons" of Rabbi Shalom DovBer, as brought here:
"The Rav HaChassid etc. R' Zalman of Starodub", and his full name was Rav Shmuel Zalman of Starodub. He served in the rabbinate in a number of places, and Starodub is only one of them; he was rav in Homil and in Revka, and passed away on 23 Adar 5688.
"The Rav HaChassid etc. R' Chaim", and his full name was R' Chaim Yeshaya. He was rav in Parichi and in Romanov, and passed away on 15 Kislev 5681. Here only Romanov is mentioned, one of the places, but he served in Parichi as well.
"Rav Moshe" - not much is told about him; it is only mentioned about him that his father-in-law was Rav Zalman Chodorov of Berditchev.
"Rav Yehuda Leib", who was also a rav in Retzitza, and apparently filled the place of his father, Rabbi Shalom DovBer, who served there in the rabbinate.
The third son, "c) his honor the Rebbe Rav Shmarya Noach of Bobruisk". He was the youngest son of his father, Rabbi Yehuda Leib, and his father was very fond of him, and he even merited to hear chassidus from the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek. The Rebbe Maharash sent him at the age of twenty-three to serve as rav in Bobruisk, and at first the chassidim did not want to accept him as rav, thinking he was too young, and they asked that a different rav be sent to them. The Rebbe Maharash demanded sharply that they accept him, and said to the balebatim there: "If you do not accept him as rav, I will make it so that you will not be balebatim". He forcefully pressed them to accept him, and indeed in the end he was accepted as rav, and all the people of the city came to ask his advice. He even established a magnificent yeshivah and a beis midrash there, and he had many students.
And the "son" of Rabbi Shmarya Noach of Bobruisk - "the Rav HaChassid etc. Rabbi Menachem Mendel", who was killed al kiddush Hashem on 15 Menachem Av 5679, in Slinkova, during the civil war; some place in Ukraine. He also had a sister, named Musya. This is the son of Rabbi Shmarya Noach.