Chana Schneerson

Chana Schneerson
Born Chana Yanovsky
1880
Died 1964
Nationality Ukrainian
Known for Wife of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson, a Chabad Hasidic rabbi in Yekatrinoslav, Ukraine, mother of the seventh Chabad-Lubavitch Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson

Chana Schneerson (1880-1964) was the wife of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson, a Chabad Hasidic rabbi in Yekatrinoslav, Ukraine and the mother of the seventh Chabad-Lubavitch Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson.

She was born Chana Yanovsky in 1880, on the 28th of Tevet, in Nikolayev, Ukraine, to Rabbi Meir Shlomo and Rachel Yanovsky.[1] She was the eldest of four children: two sisters, Gittel and Ettel, and a younger brother, Yisrael Leib, who died as a youth. Rabbi Meir Shlomo was chief rabbi of Nikolayev.[2]

As a teenager, she was educated by her father,[1] and when a maamar (Chasidic discourse) would arrive from Lubavitch, she would meticulously and faithfully transcribe it, making it available for other Chasidim.

In 1900, she married Levi Yitzchak, a great grandson of the third Rebbe of Lubavitch, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, also known as the Tzemach Tzedek. The wedding took place on the 13th of Sivan, in Nikolayev. The couple gave birth to three sons, Menachem Mendel, Dovber, and Yisroel Aryeh Leib. Their eldest son, Menachem Mendel was later to become the seventh Rebbe of Lubavitch.

Levi Yitzchak was arrested in 1939 and exiled in 1940 for his religious practice. Schneerson joined him in exile. Levi Yitzchak died in 1944. Widowed, Schneerson left the Soviet Union in 1947. She illegally transported Levi Yitzchak's religious writings, focused around the Kabbalah, upon moving. That year she went to Paris, France where she met with her son, Menachem Mendel. They both immigrated to the United States.[1]

She lived near her son Menachem Mendel until her death in 1964. During those years, she held extensive interviews with journalist Nissan Gordon, which have been published in Di yiddishe Heim. [3]

In 2012, her memories, which she penned during the years 1947 until 1963, were published by Kehot Publication Society.

Schneersohn family tree

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Rebbetzin Chana Schneerson, obm". Bais Chana of California Women's Yeshiva. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
  2. ↑ Rebbetzin Chana Schneerson - A brief biography - Chassidism
  3. ↑ Memoirs of Rebbetzin Chana - Part 1 - Memoirs of Rebbetzin Chana

Further reading

External links