Today, on the 22nd of Shevat, Jewish communities worldwide mark the 38th anniversary of the passing of the righteous Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, the wife of the leader of our generation, the Seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, and the daughter of the Previous Rebbe, Yosef Yitzchak.
The roots of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka’s family trace back to the Alter Rebbe. She took pride in being from the Schneerson family on both her father’s and mother’s sides. She was born on the 25th of Adar (March 16), 1901, in the small Polish town of Babinovitch (later part of the Russian Empire, now in Belarus), not far from Lubavitch (now in the Russian Federation). Her father was Rebbe Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson (the Rebbe Rayatz) – the Sixth in the dynasty of Lubavitcher Rebbes. Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka was the second daughter of the Rebbe Rayatz.
When she was born, her grandfather, the Fifth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Sholom Dov-Ber, sent a telegram to her father, who was abroad, writing: “Congratulations on the birth of a daughter, mazel tov! If you have not yet named her, give her the name Chaya Mushka, in honor of the wife of the Tzemach Tzedek.”
Exceptional talents, steadfast principles, a sharp mind, and a brilliant education were traits of her character from early youth. To these must be added her remarkable intellectual flexibility and fluent command of several European languages. Besides her native Yiddish and the language of Torah, Hebrew, she spoke, read, and wrote German, French, Russian, and English effortlessly and with ease (though she never boasted about it, considering languages merely a means of communication, not something defining personal identity).
The people with whom she grew up were not just Jewish leaders; they were people of great intellect with a profound connection to the Jewish people. All her abilities, Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka directed towards serving Hashem. She sought to help both those close and distant, was very sensitive towards people, and knew how to find the right words for everyone.
She had known her future husband (who later became the Seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe) since childhood. Moreover, they shared a common ancestor four generations back: the Tzemach Tzedek, the Third Lubavitcher Rebbe. Together, they assisted Rebbe Yosef Yitzchak in his heroic struggle with the Soviet authorities, and together, the communists forced them to leave the USSR in the late 1920s.
In the year 5689 (1929), Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka became the wife of Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the future Seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe. For her husband, Chaya Mushka became a devoted friend and a source of spiritual strength. She was always by his side, tirelessly helping her husband bring the light of Torah to Jews.
Together with her great husband, Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka endured all the hardships and wanderings of the pre-war era. Together, carrying out many of the most important missions of the Rebbe Rayatz, they helped Jewish communities in war-torn Europe. Then began the American period of their lives after the center of the Lubavitch Movement moved to New York, and the famous “770” synagogue was established.
After the passing of the Rebbe Rayatz, Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson, in 1950, his natural successor recognized by the chassidim was his son-in-law Menachem Mendel, Chaya Mushka’s husband. However, it is known that for a year he refused this position. But after the Rebbetzin’s words: “I don’t believe that everything my father did for these 30 years was in vain, that all his sacrifices were unnecessary!” Menachem Mendel Schneerson agreed to accept the title of Rebbe and became the Seventh Head of Chabad.
Chaya Mushka was for millions of people a living example of what a Jewish wife should be. She was the perfect helper in her husband’s titanic spiritual work and a particle of the Rebbe’s soul (just as he was an important part of her soul). Never, not for a moment, was the invisible thread of mutual understanding, devotion, and love between him and the Rebbetzin broken—the most real and living thread. And Chaya Mushka herself was, in essence, one of the threads that connected the spiritual leader of our generation with the most important and profound aspects of the Jewish spiritual tradition.
Chaya Mushka, together with her husband, the Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson, served their cause with the utmost seriousness and responsibility. She never publicized the true scale of her kindness and devotion to the cause she served all her life. An intelligent and wise woman, the esteemed Rebbetzin was always very modest. Throughout her life, she embodied the ideal sung in the Psalms of David: “The glory of a king’s daughter is within.” Even on the day of her death, the 22nd of Shevat, on the way to the hospital, she kept changing the subject, preferring to discuss not so much her health but helping a young couple whose wedding was soon but nothing was ready yet.
Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson passed away on the 22nd of Shevat 5748 (February 10, 1988), on a Wednesday of the weekly Torah portion Mishpatim, after a brief illness. Over 15,000 people participated in the funeral, which took place a few hours after her passing. These were the chassidim whom she always called her children, just like the Rebbe; she knew each personally, was aware of all their affairs, and cared for everyone as for family.
The Rebbetzin is buried next to the grave of her grandmother, Rebbetzin Sterna Sarah, the wife of the Fifth Rebbe, Dov-Ber, opposite the grave of the Rebbe Rayatz, the Sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe.
The day after her funeral, the Rebbe summoned his secretary and, among other important matters, ordered the establishment and registration of the charitable fund “Keren Achosainu” (an acronym for “Rabbanit Chaya Mushka Schneerson”) as soon as possible to aid Jewish women worldwide.
In a speech delivered by the Rebbe at the end of the seven-day mourning period for the Rebbetzin, noting her exceptional virtues, he paid special attention to her surname – Schneerson. He said that Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka was a “daughter of Schneur,” a full-fledged successor to the teachings and spiritual heritage of her forebear, Rebbe Schneur Zalman, the founder of the Chabad chassidic movement. She not only received a vast spiritual inheritance by birthright but, as the Rebbe added, “she embodied the greatness of her father”; it was Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka who became the highest embodiment of the meaning and essence of all seven generations of Chabad leadership.
And on the 24th of Adar of that same year, the Rebbe unexpectedly for everyone attended the ceremony laying the cornerstone for the future school “Campus Chomesh” – in memory of the Rebbetzin, on the eve of her birthday. The Rebbe gave his tzedakah – exactly 470 dollars, as the gematria (numerical value) of the letters totaled the name Chaya Mushka, and explained that this was both his and her modest contribution, which he deemed necessary to invest in the new great endeavor. Today, “Campus Chomesh” is a world-famous Jewish school for girls.
This and how the Rebbe honored the memory of his righteous wife and instructed his followers to act in her memory are described in a short video created by JEM.
Today, thousands of Jewish girls worldwide are named in honor of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka. The Rebbe said that when parents name a newborn girl after the Rebbetzin, they make her, as it were, a little daughter of this great woman. And for life, this new person will have an example to emulate and a kind of spiritual standard raised to the proper height, a true guiding star for development, growth, and aspirations, a true measure within the soul that will always allow distinguishing false values from true ones.
