Lesson twenty-three in the chain of lineage. Today we begin the life story of the Rebbe Maharash: "4. Hod Kvod Kedushas Admur Marana v'Rabana Shmuel".
It is related that at the seudas habris of the Rebbe Maharash, one of his older brothers, the Maharil, asked his father, the Rebbe Tzemach Tzedek: after whom is the child Shmuel named - perhaps after Shmuel the prophet? The Tzemach Tzedek answered him: no, rather after a water carrier who lived in the city of Polotsk whose name was Shmuel. And regarding the suggestion "perhaps after Shmuel the prophet", the Tzemach Tzedek said: "a sage is preferable to a prophet". Who exactly that water carrier was - we have no description of him, but that is the source of the Rebbe Maharash's name.
"Born in Lubavitch, 2 Iyar", which as is known falls in the middle of Sefiras HaOmer, on the sefirah of tiferes shebetiferes. As related in Hayom Yom in the saying for 2 Iyar, when the tutor was greatly impressed by the knowledge of the Rebbe Maharash in his childhood, the Tzemach Tzedek responded and said to him: "What is the wonder that tiferes shebetiferes does so well?"
The year of birth accepted by us is "5594", but there are places - and interestingly, in Hayom Yom itself, on 2 Iyar - where 5593 is written. In one place the Rebbe notes the two versions and suggests that perhaps the difference is between the conception and the birth: that the conception was in 5593 and the birth in 5594. In any case, it is interesting that within Hayom Yom itself there is a difference between what appears here and what appears on the date of 2 Iyar.
"He married, in his first marriage" the Rebbe Maharash married "the daughter of his brother, Admur Moreinu HaRav Chaim Schneur Zalman" - that is, his niece - in "5608" (and there are places where 5607 is written). His first marriage was to Rebbetzin Sterna. The wedding was large and magnificent, and thousands of chassidim came to take part in it, but during the seven days of feasting the bride fell ill, and three months later she passed away. In order to ease his sorrow over her passing, his father the Tzemach Tzedek instructed that a room be set aside for the Rebbe Maharash adjoining his own room, so that he could enter it at any time, and he would show him manuscripts and the like - things he did not show to any of his other sons - in order to draw him close and to ease his grief over the tragedy.
"And in his second marriage, Rebbetzin Rivkah - 5609" a year later, in 5609, he married Rebbetzin Rivkah, a granddaughter of the Mitteler Rebbe - her mother, Rebbetzin Sarah, was a daughter of the Mitteler Rebbe. About her the famous story is told: when she was eighteen years old, already after the wedding (for they married at the age of fourteen or fifteen), she fell ill, and the doctor instructed her to eat in the morning immediately upon arising. She did not want to eat before praying, and therefore she would rise even earlier. When her father-in-law, the Rebbe Tzemach Tzedek, learned of this, he said to her - as appears in Hayom Yom in the saying for 16 Shevat - that it is better to eat in order to pray than to pray in order to eat, and he blessed her with long life. She passed away on 10 Shevat 5674, at around the age of eighty, and her burial place is in Lubavitch.
"5615 - began his work for the community" there are places where additional events that occurred during the intervening years are related, but here the Rebbe chose to note only certain matters, and immediately moves on to 5615. In that year his father, the Tzemach Tzedek, instructed him to begin occupying himself with matters concerning the Jewish people at large, and appointed a secretary for him - Reb Shmuel Berish. Thus, for example, it is related that in the month of Kislev of that year, 5615, an order arrived from the minister of Vitebsk regarding an assembly on the subject of the printing of books, that the Tzemach Tzedek should participate in it. The Tzemach Tzedek did not wish to go, and sent the Rebbe Maharash in his place as his representative.
"5617 - travels to Petersburg on communal matters" there was a well-known Jewish town called Bilinitz, and its rav, Rav Aharon, also traveled many times on the mission of the Tzemach Tzedek to Petersburg on public matters. The Rebbe Maharash was in constant contact with him, and he too traveled to Petersburg to act on behalf of the community.
"5619 - travels to Germany" he traveled to Germany, with the aim of "meeting with the communal activists". There were communal activists who lived in Europe in various places outside of Russia, and the Rebbe Maharash traveled to act on behalf of the Jewish people in various matters.
"5623 - travels to Kiev, and saves hundreds of families who were about to be expelled from the villages in Volhynia" regarding this journey it is not spelled out exactly what happened in that year. Here it is written that it was in 5623, and there are places where an earlier year is written, 5618, when he traveled to act on this matter and to save families from expulsion; and it is possible that it is the same story. In one of the talks of the previous Rebbe it is related that he met with the high-ranking general who was in charge of the decree to expel the Jews, and he found great favor in his eyes. The general asked him: are you the leader of the Jews? He replied: "No, the leader of the Jews is someone else" - meaning his father - "but I am his servant". And he began to explain to him the virtue of a servant, and gave him the example of Yehoshua bin Nun, of whom the Torah says that he was the servant of Moshe. He won the general's heart, and the general said to him: "I do not have the authority to annul the decree, but I will give a recommendation"; and he sent a letter to Petersburg that they should postpone the decree for at least ten or fifteen years. In any event, at the very least, this is that same story in which he traveled and saved hundreds of families who were about to be expelled.
"5625 - travels to Petersburg and overturns the decree that had been introduced into the Senate with restrictive laws for the Jews of Lithuania and Zhamut" it is known that there were many decrees in which the Russians restricted the Jews in all sorts of areas: where they were permitted to live, what occupations they were permitted to engage in, and which institutions - including educational institutions - they were permitted to attend; and simply put, they restricted the freedom of the Jews. The Russians created the concept known as the "Pale of Settlement", and caused many problems. As Russia expanded and reached places that had not been under its control and in which Jews lived, they found themselves with a great many Jews running various places on their own, and they made their lives miserable.
Here one of these situations is related: in 5625 the Rebbe Maharash traveled to Petersburg, and succeeded in annulling a decree consisting of restrictive laws for the Jews of Lithuania and Zhamut - regions that Russia had taken over, and in which many laws were legislated to constrain the Jews. The Rebbe Maharash merited to succeed in annulling the decree, and he was involved in world-encompassing communal activity to act for the saving of Jews, part of which is related here in brief.