We are at the twenty-second lesson in the Shalshelet HaYachas, in the eighth section, which deals with the life of the Rebbe the 'Tzemach Tzedek'. We are learning about his sons and grandsons, and now we will discuss the descendants of his third son.
"3. His Holiness the Rebbe, Rabbi Chaim Schneur Zalman, Liadi" - as we already related earlier, after his father's passing he served as Rebbe in Liadi. Now we will consider his descendants.
He had one son: "his son: His Holiness the Rebbe, Rabbi Yitzchak Dovber of Liadi", who was born in 5577 and passed away on 20 Nissan 5670. He was very connected to his grandfather, the Rebbe the 'Tzemach Tzedek', and after his grandfather's passing he moved with his father to live in Liadi. His father, as mentioned, served there as Rebbe, and after his passing he filled his place and served as Rebbe in Liadi for thirty years.
During that same period his brother-in-law also served as Rebbe, having taken a portion of the chassidim after their father-in-law's passing - as we will mention shortly. After their passing there was no further continuation of Chabad-Liadi, and this dynasty came to its end.
Rabbi Yitzchak Dovber had three sons: "his sons"
The Rabbi, the chassid, Rabbi Shalom Shachna, Liadi", who also lived in Liadi with his father and grandfather.
"The Rabbi, the gaon, Rabbi Yehuda Leib", who was head of the beis din in "Homel, Siratin and Vitebsk".
"Rabbi Baruch", who was a "merchant [in] Smolensk".
"His son-in-law" of Rabbi Chaim Schneur Zalman was "the holy Rabbi, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Siratin", who was a descendant of the Rebbes of Radzimin. As mentioned, he filled his father-in-law's place for twenty-five years, and served as Rebbe together with his brother-in-law, Rabbi Yitzchak Dovber. In 5642 he moved to the city of Siratin, and therefore "Siratin" is noted under his name - the place to which he later moved.
The last thing noted here is "his seforim". Simply understood, this refers to the seforim of Rabbi Yitzchak Dovber; and although it is stated under the name of Rabbi Chaim Schneur Zalman, as we will see from the content of the sefer, it was the Rebbe Rabbi Yitzchak Dovber who wrote them - but based on his father's words. The sefer is "Siddur Maharid", and the initials Maharid stand for his name: Moreinu HaRav Yitzchak Dovber. The sefer is a siddur with an explanation of the words according to chassidus, and its contents were gathered from the writings of the Alter Rebbe and the Mitteler Rebbe, and from what he heard from his father, the son of the 'Tzemach Tzedek'. The siddur was printed in 5673 in Berditchev, and from then on it was unobtainable until 5751, when it was printed a second time.
"4. His Holiness the Rebbe, Rabbi Yisrael Noach, Niezhin" - the fourth son of the 'Tzemach Tzedek', known by the initials "Maharin". His sons are mentioned here in sequence - five sons - but in fact he was married twice, and his descendants are from a first marriage and from a second marriage, and here they all appear together.
In his first marriage the Maharin married the Rebbetzin Freida, a granddaughter of the Mitteler Rebbe, and these are his sons from this marriage: "his sons:
a) His Holiness the Rabbi, the chassid, Rabbi Avraham" Schneersohn of Kishinev - he was born on 11 Sivan 5588 in Lubavitch, and passed away in Kishinev on 9 Cheshvan 5638. His special distinction, in addition to being the son of the Maharin and a grandson of the 'Tzemach Tzedek', was that he was the father-in-law of the Rebbe Rayatz - the Rebbetzin of the Rebbe Rayatz was his daughter.
The Rebbe Rashab, who was his cousin, said of Rabbi Avraham that "one can learn the trait of humility from him". When his father, the Maharin, the Rebbe of Niezhin, passed away, he did not want to accept the leadership upon himself nor to fill his father's place; officially he was engaged in business, but his nights were dedicated to Torah and avodah.
He is mentioned in one of the Rebbe's maamarim - in the famous maamar "Lecha Dodi" 5714. In a note the Rebbe brings a story that the Rebbe Rayatz once traveled to his father-in-law, Rabbi Avraham of Kishinev, and asked him to repeat the words of his father, the words of the Rebbe Rashab, and he said to him in these words: "Open the tap and it will begin to pour out". And there is a continuation there, that he repeated before him a maamar he had heard from his father, and although his father had said about a certain matter "in a possible way", he said it straightforwardly; and afterwards he said to his father: "What by you is 'in a possible way', by me is straightforward".
"b) The Rabbi, the chassid, Rabbi Schneur Dovber" - who lived in Surazh.
It is not mentioned here that the Maharin also had three daughters from the first marriage: the Rebbetzin Sheina, the second daughter Perel Devorah, and a third daughter.
In his second marriage he too married another granddaughter of the Mitteler Rebbe, the Rebbetzin Chava Risha, and from them three sons were born:
"c) The Rabbi, the chassid, Rabbi Moshe.
d) Rabbi Nachum.
e) Rabbi Yaakov".
They also had a daughter, who is not mentioned here, named Sterna, who also married her cousin - the brother of the Rebbe Rashab. That is, the brother of the Rebbe Rashab was married to the daughter of the Maharin, Rabbi Yisrael Noach. We see many times that cousins married one another.
"5. His Holiness the Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak of Avrutch" - the fifth son of the 'Tzemach Tzedek', about whom we have also already related earlier. And these are his three "sons:
a) The Rabbi, the gaon, the Rabbi, the chassid, Rabbi Schneur Zalman Mordechai, Zhitomir" - it is written about him that he was a great prodigy, and he served as rav in Zhitomir. He passed away on 24 Nissan 5626, in the very prime of his youth.
"b) The Rabbi, the chassid, Rabbi Aharon, Avrutch", who lived together with his father in that same city.
"c) The Rabbi, the tzaddik, the Rabbi, the chassid, Rabbi Nachum Dovber of Avrutch", who also lived in that same place, and passed away on the eve of Pesach 5654.
It is worth noting the change of title: about the first two it says "the Rabbi, the gaon, the Rabbi, the chassid", whereas about the third it says "the Rabbi, the tzaddik" - because he filled his father's place in the leadership in Avrutch.
And these are the "daughters" of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak:
"a) The Rebbetzin Sheina Bracha", who was married to the gaon, our teacher Rabbi Naftali Hirsch of Dlitovka.
"b) The Rebbetzin Sterna Sarah" - the famous Rebbetzin, the wife of the Rebbe Rashab. And again, cousins.
"6. The Rabbi, the chassid, Rabbi Yaakov, Arsha" - the sixth son of the 'Tzemach Tzedek', about whom we already explained that he passed away during the lifetime of his father, the 'Tzemach Tzedek'. He had one son - "his son, the Rabbi, the chassid, Rabbi Schneur".
These are the six sons of the Rebbe the 'Tzemach Tzedek' mentioned here. There is a seventh son - the Rebbe Maharash - about whom we will speak, God willing, in the continuation of the Shalshelet HaYachas.