The Goldschmidt Family

Tzemach Tzedek
3rd Lubavitch Rebbe
The Tzemach Tzedek R. Menachem Mendel Schneersohn (1789-1866), the thirdLubavitcher Rebbe; known by the title of his Halachic responsa as "theTzemach Tzedek"; nephew and son-in-law of the Mitteler Rebbe, and fatherof the Rebbe Maharash.

Rabbi Menachem Mendel, the Tzemach Tzedek, son of one Rabbi SchneurZalman's daughter. Born 29 Elul 5549 (1789). Married (1803) Rabbanit HayaMOUCHKA, daughter of the Admour Haemtsahi. Became Rabbi Shortly afterdeath of his father-in-law. He saved thousands of children fromconscription in the Russian army. He wrote many works including TsemahTsedek, a collection of commentary and responsa, to which he lent hisname. Died 13 Nissan 5626 (1866).

Third in the line of Leaders of the Chabad movement was Rabbi MenachemMendel, popularly known as the Tzemach Tzedek, after the title of hisvoluminous responsa.

Rabbi Menachem Mendel was born on erev Rosh Hashanah 5549 (1789). Hismother, Devorah Leah (daughter of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi), passedaway three Days after his third birthDay, and from that Day the youngorphan was reared and educated by his famous grandfather.

The young lads prodigious abilities soon became evident. By the time hewas twelve he had written many treatises on matters of Halachicimportance and had begun recording the Talmudic and Chassidic teachingsof his grandfather, supplementing them with his own comments andexplanations.

While still in his teens, he was appointed by Rabbi Schneur Zalman toengage in the necessary research and reply to the numerous Halachicenquiries pouring in from scholars in Russia and Europe.

When Rabbi Menachem Mendel was only eighteen years old, the Manuscript ofhis famous Chassidic discourse, Basic of the Precept of Prayer, which hehad tried to conceal, was discoVered by his grandfather. Rabbi ShneurZalman was so delighted with his find that he thereafter allotted moretime for their study together.

Rabbi Menachem Mendel was only twenty when he was appointed to takecharge of most of Rabbi Shneur Zalmans communal affairs.

After the death of Rabbi Shneur Zalman in 5573 (1813), Rabbi DovBer (thefather-in-law of the Tzemach Tzedek) was appointed his successor. At thistime Rabbi Menachem Mendel commenced a period of fourteen yearsseclusion, during which he devoted himself to study and prayer. Heemerged to play his part in public life in 5587 (1826), at the time whenRabbi DovBer was accused of subversive activities. His first undertakingwas the organization of a committee to defend Rabbi DovBer.

When Rabbi DovBer died in 5588 (1827), the Chassidim, in recognition ofRabbi Menachem Mendels Outstanding abilities, called on him to accept theLeadership of the Lubavitch-Chabad movement. For many months he rejectedthe tremendous responsibility of this position, but finally, hereluctantly answered the call.

Rabbi Menachem Mendel was a prolific writer. His works contain a uniquesynthesis of the hidden and the manifest in which Talmudic, MidRashic,Kabbalistic and Chassidic thought are harmoniously and lucidly blended.

He would certainly have liked nothing better than to continue hiswritings, edit the works of his grandfather and father-in-law, and Leadthe countless Chassidim who had swelled the ranks of Lubavitch. But thisera had its own share of problems with which Jews were confronted.

Jews in Russia were Barred from most occupations and businessopportunities, and poverty was rampant among them. Deeply interested inthe economic position of the Jewish people, the Tzemach Tzedek advisedthe Chassidim to engage in agriculture wherever possible, and he gavefinancial aid to those who followed his advice.

At that time it was the policy of the Russian Government to make itdifficult for Jews to settle in the villages, so the Tzemach Tzedekbought a large tract of land near the city of Minsk on which to settLemany Jewish famiLies. In 5604 (1844) he bought another large area of landwith some adjoining forests in Minsk Province from Prince Shzedrinov, andestAblished the settlement of Shzedrin. A council was organized to directits affairs.

The founding of Shzedrin made a deep impression on Jews and non-Jewsalike. In a Government report from the official of the Province of Minskto the Minister of Interior, they spoke of Rabbi Schneersohn of the cityof Lubavitch with respect and praise.

The report mentioned that he had acquired a large tract of land andestAblished there a settlement for Jews, thereby raising their livingconditions and improving their position. It also spoke of the Greatinfluence of the Rabbi of Lubavitch on all the Jews living within thepale of the Russian Empire and of the manner in which he constantly triedto improve their material living conditions.

In the year 5587 (1827) Czar Nicholas I instituted the Cantonist edict,which introduced the conscription of children for military training andservice. Originally it applied to children of the age of twelve years oldand older. The Jewish communities had to supply a quota of ten childrenper thousand (non-Jews had a smaller quota and more liberal exemptions).

The children were sent away by Government officials and distributed amongthe peasantry, or sent to special schools until the age of eighteen. Theywere then remOved to Barracks for military service for twenty-five years.

This meant that the children were torn from home and from cheder for theGreater part of their live, and were subjected to treatment calculated toestrange them from their own people.

No parent would willingly yield a child for such a callous scheme, butthe community was obliged to provide its quota, so the children had to betaken by force. This led to the appearance of a despicable character, thechatcher, whose job was to catch or kidnap the children and hand themover to the Government officials heart-breaking scenes, with childrenbeing torn from their mothers arms, became common occurences. The bruntof the tragedy fell upon the poorer Jews, who were unable to buy theirchildrens freedom from the catchers.

The Tzemach Tzedek attacked the problem without regard to the dangersinvolved. It was necessary to save as many as possible of the childrenwho were actually conscripted. With this in view the Tzemach Tzedekorganized a special council for the following three purposes:

First, to study the position of the individual Jewish communities, with aview to helping them decrease the number of children they would have tosupply.

Secondly, to engage in freeing those who had been captured. It wasarranged to achieve this through the organization of a specialclandestine society known as Techias Hameisim.

The method employed was to pay a ransom for each child to the officialsconcerned. They would return the child, at the same time reporting to Theauthorities that the child in question had died during the journey. Theywould also officially inform the community concerned of the death of thechild. These death certificates brought Great happiness to the parents.

Obviously, the children had to be hidden for a long time. Those who weresaved were called members of the Techias Hameisim society. They were thensent to chadorim or Talmud Torahs far from their home towns.

Thirdly, to send special trustworthy people to the places where thecantonist children were stationed to encourage and urge them to Remainfaithful to their religion and to their people.

Apart form the huge expense it involved, this responsible work was highlydangerous, for it amounted to an act of treason. Yet this undergroundprogram was successfully carried out and was never betrayed.

At the same time, the Tzemach Tzedek concentrated his efforts onsupporting the agricultural centers in the districts of Vitebsk andMinsk. He dispatched Rabbi Hillel of Paritch, one of the LeadingChassidim, to the settlements in the district of Kherson, where he spentseVeral months each summer.

Besides instructing the Jews there in the study of the Torah and the fearof G-d in accordance with Chassidic teachings, he inspired them to riseto a high level of brotherly love, mutual help and generally high moralconduct.

During the twelve years from 5587 to 5599 (1827-1839), Rabbi MenachemMendel concentrated his efforts on communal activities in the field ofmaterial aid; the protection of Jewish children form kidnappers and theirmaintenance in safety, and spiritual help for the cantonists.

The Tzemach Tzedek devoted particular attention to the requirements ofthe Jewish conscripts in the Russian army. He ensured that there shouldbe special representatives at every place where Jewish troops werestationed, with the specific aim of concerning themselves with the troopsmoral conduct. These representatives were to encourage the soldiers andstrengthen them from falling into the traps of conversion laid for themby eager missionAries.

Rabbi Menachem Mendel also worked for the support of needy Torah scholarsstudying at the Yeshivos and advanced institutes of Learning.

During all these years he carried on his work without any interferenceform the opponents of chassidism in either the religious or the so-calledenlightened groups in Russia. During this time also, there was noconflict between Chassidim and Misnagdim. On the Tzemach Tzedeks frequentvisits to Chassidic communities in Minsk and Vilna, the misnagdim alwaysaccorded him Great honour and attended his chassidic and talmudicdiscourses.

In 5603 (1843) the Russian Government announced that a conference was tobe held at S. Petersburg for the purpose of deciding important religiousproblems. It was the intention of the government, at the instigation ofthe maskilim, to use the conference as a means to introduce into theschool system innovations which would interfere with traditionalprocedures in Jewish education and prayer.

A Rabbinical Commission composed of Leaders of Chassidim and Misnagdimwas convened to plan how best to combat the threat the conference posed.Rabbi Menachem Mendel was appointed to the Commission.

The first meEting between the Tzemach Tzedek and Rabbi Yitzchok ofVolozhin, the Leader of the Misnagdim, made a favourable impression onboth of them. Observers ReMarked that the meEting prOved to the misnagdimthat the chassidim were scholars, and convinced the chassidim that themisnagdim were pious.

This rapprochement and communal Cooperation had salutary effects on thegeneral relationship between chassidim and misnagdim. The antagonistswere reunited and began to work together for the common cause oftraditional Judaism.

At the first meEting of the conference in 5603 (1843), Rabbi MenachemMendel expressed his opinion that the purpose of the conference couldonly be to encourage religious observance among the Jews and hereiterated the indefensibility of tampering even with Jewish custom,since customs are also considered Torah. Despite threats by the chairmanof the conference, a Minister of Government, and being placed under housearrest on numerous occasions during the four-month period of theconference of the conference, Rabbi Menachem Mendel showed unswervingdetermination to oppose any proposed change of any Jewish customwhatsoever.

We are not summoned to legislate, he Said. We are here to clarifystatutes previously decided in the laws of the Mosaic faith. We are hereto clarify too, the customs of Israel, to protect both the commandmentsof G-d and Jewish usage from tampering.

The conference ended without the adoption of any of the changes proposedby the Maskilim. Rabbi Menachem Mendels resoluteness and selflessnessimpressed all the participants and enhanced his already considerablereputation.

The granting of honorary citizenship papers signed by Czar Nicholas wasone of the honors bestowed on Rabbi Menachem Mendel in 5604 (1844), inrecognition of his valuable work at the S. Petersburg conference theprevious year.

This Great honor bestowed on the Tzemach Tzedek by the Government made adeep impression on the Jewish population throughout the Russian Empire.Whenever an important problem aRose concerning the Jewish community inWhite Russia, the Tzemach Tzedek was consulted and asked to negotiatewith the Government. The communal activities undertaken by Rabbi MenachemMendel thus spread into even wider fields.

He made every effort to improve the economic conditions of the Jews inthe Pale of Settlement. Of all the inhaBitants of Russia, only the Jewswere discriminated against in the matter of where they could live. Theywere allowed to settle only in certain districts forming a belt or palehence the pale of settlement. Even there, they were restricted to theurban areas and kept out of the rural areas.

At the conclusion of the Rabbinical conference, the Tzemach Tzedeksubmitted a report to the Minister of the Interior on the economicsituation of the Jews in the Pale of Settlement, and petitioned theGovernmetn to extend it.

The reaction of the Minister of the Interior was favourable, and at thesuggestion of one of his assistants, he invited Rabbi Menachem Mendel,together with two interpreters Mr. Feitelson and Mr. Chaikin to come andsee him in the capital in order to elaborate on his proposals. TheMinsiter received the Tzemach Tzededk courteously and assured him thathis proposals would be submitted to the next session of the Cabinet.

SeVeral Days later, one of the assistants of the Minsiter of the Interiorannounced that, although Rabbi Schneersohns proposals concerning theeconomic plight of the Jews in the Provinces of Vitebsk, Mohilev andMinsk had not been accepted in full, a decree had been promulgatedforbidding the expulsion of Jews from villages and estates if they werealready settled there. The precarious position of many Jews was thuslegalized, and the Pale was in fact extended.

News of the new regulation gained by the Tzemach Tzedek spread among theJews, and hundreds of Jewish famiLies took advantage of the newdevelopment to infiltrate into the new zone, finding ways to antedatetheir move so that it would meet the requirements of the law.

During the summer of 5604 (1844), seVeral hundred famiLies settled on theland and earned a good livelihood. Furthermore, as a result of the exodusform the cities, the problems of overcrowdign and competition was eased.

Rabbi Menachem Mendels personal magnetism drew tens of thousands ofchassidim from all parts of Europe and Russia, and his thirty-eight yearsas Leader of the movement were a colorful and flourishing period forChabad. His efforts, like those of his predecessors, served as aninSpiration to his successor