Why did the Rebbe, at age 15, stand silently near his mother when it was suggested that he go to Lubavitch? When did the Rebbe walk with his mother in Crown Heights? Why did the Rebbe say that his mother’s slippers should be placed on his desk? * A compilation of stories about the mitzva of honoring parents as exemplified by the Rebbe. * Presented for 28 Teives, Rebbetzin Chana’s birthday.
Rebbetzin Chana Schneersohn, the Rebbe’s mother, said that from the time her son was bar mitzva he was particular about not turning his back to her. Since he did not want people to realize this, he would walk from one side of the table to the other as though he wanted to straighten out the chairs. This enabled him to leave the room while facing her.
R’ Shmuel Grossman was very close with the Rebbe’s family. In Elul 5677/1916 he traveled to the Rebbe Rashab in Lubavitch for Tishrei 5678. On his way to Lubavitch he passed through Yekaterinoslav and spent Shabbos with R’ Levi Yitzchok, the Rebbe’s father.
On Friday night, R’ Levi Yitzchok said a drasha. Each time he quoted maamarei Chazal, he would pause and ask his son, the Rebbe, to cite the sources. The Rebbe cited many sources in the Talmud Bavli and Yerushalmi, Zohar, sifrei Kabbala and Chassidus.
Afterward, R’ Shmuel asked R’ Levi Yitzchok: Why did you ask this son (when he had two other sons, R’ Yisroel Aryeh Leib and R’ Dovber). R’ Levi Yitzchok answered: He is a great baki (he has wide-ranging knowledge). He added that whenever he heard his son cite new sources that he, the father, had not thought of, he saw the fulfillment of “and from my students [I learned] most of all.”
On Sunday, R’ Shmuel wanted to continue on to Lubavitch and he thought of taking the Rebbe to the Rebbe Rashab. The Rebbe stood quietly near his mother. The Rebbetzin said: He yearns to go but his father does not let.
(Perhaps this was like the Baal Shem Tov saying that the Alter Rebbe should not be brought to him because he “belonged” to his disciple, the Rav HaMaggid of Mezritch).
R’ Shmuel was very impressed. The Rebbe was 15 years old and greatly desired to go to the Rebbe Rashab, but since his father did not consent, he accepted this. R’ Shmuel was also impressed that the Rebbe himself did not say a word when he so greatly desired going. He was standing near his mother, not his father, and could have said something about wanting to go, but he kept quiet out of respect for his father.
R’ Yaakov Kaplan related:
Before Pesach, when I asked Rebbetzin Chana what she planned on doing about the four cups of wine, she told me that they had sent her raisins from America. She planned on making wine out of them for the four cups. She refrained from saying that her oldest son, who lived in New York, sent it to her. Rather, she said obliquely, “May the Jews of America live long.”
R’ Herschel Slavin describes the day the Rebbe arrived in Paris in 1947:
I remember that we met early in the morning at the home of Rabbi Zalman Schneersohn in order to go and welcome the Rebbe. We were told that the flight had been delayed three hours. Each of us went our separate ways and agreed to meet at a certain time before the plane’s arrival.
Rebbetzin Chana was all keyed up in anticipation of her son’s arrival. R’ Zalman’s wife took her shopping to buy a hat. The Rebbetzin had wanted to do this earlier but had been unable to. When she heard about the flight’s delay and her tension increased, R’ Zalman’s wife wanted to distract her.
When we left the house, my brother and I saw a taxi stop next to the building. A young, handsome man quickly came out. My brother immediately realized that this was the Rebbe and he went over and held out his hand in greeting.
The Rebbe immediately asked, “Where is my mother?” We said she went to buy a hat. The Rebbe said that in the meantime, he would go up to the place that served as a shul. He stood there and davened. He also asked that when his mother arrived, they should not immediately inform her that he was there, but should do so gradually. When the Rebbe came down to the room where his mother was, other people were present. The Rebbe paused in the doorway. He looked at his mother and she looked at him for a long time. For many minutes not a sound was uttered. Then they went to a side room where they spoke for the first time in fifteen years. Fifteen minutes later they came back out and the Rebbe farbrenged with the people present.
The Rebbe cried a lot as he said that he had not had the opportunity in so long to honor his parents. He mentioned the Chazal (Megilla 17a) that Yosef was separated from his father for 22 years and could not honor him. Although it was impossible for him, it was still something lacking.