Lesson thirteen in the chain of lineage, on the biography of the Mitteler Rebbe, the third part. Let us begin with the wife of the Mitteler Rebbe, the Rebbetzin Sheina. About her it is told that she was the daughter of one of the chassidim of the Alter Rebbe, who was a melamed and had five daughters. Once the Alter Rebbe asked him: "Why do you not marry off your daughters?" The melamed said: "No one wants to make a match with me. Because of my great poverty, no one wants a shidduch with me." The Alter Rebbe answered him: "I will make a match with you, and then many others will also jump at the chance to make a match with you." The Mitteler Rebbe was his chosson. The Alter Rebbe took his daughter as a bride for the Mitteler Rebbe.
Now to the sons of the Mitteler Rebbe. First: the holy rabbi, the pious rabbi, Rabbi Menachem Nachum. The first son of the Mitteler Rebbe was born several months after the passing of the righteous rabbi, Rabbi Menachem Nachum of Chernobyl, and he was named after the Chernobyler. It is told about him that he engaged with self-sacrifice in the burial of the Alter Rebbe in Haditch. He was present at the passing. He himself, Menachem Nachum, passed away in the year 5636. The Rebbe wrote about his character, that he was a man of good temperament, with a radiant face, and even when he was eighty years old he was light of movement, as though he were not that age at all. When he would tell stories, everything was in precise detail about every particular, and the entire story of the redemption of the 19th of Kislev passed through him. He transmitted it by tradition to the coming generations, and from this we have the whole story. This is the first son of the Mitteler Rebbe.
The second son: the Rav, the Chassid, Rav Baruch. Here only one of his names is mentioned, but when you look in the sefer Beis Rebbi, they note that he had an additional name, that he was called Baruch Shmuel. Here only the first name is mentioned. He married his cousin. The wife of Rav Baruch was the Rebbetzin Beila Reiza. She was the daughter of Rabbi Chaim Avraham, the son of the Alter Rebbe, meaning his cousin. These are the two sons of the Mitteler Rebbe.
Now for the daughters. Who were the daughters of the Mitteler Rebbe? The first was the Rebbetzin Sarah. About her only one sentence is written: "she passed away in her youth," she died young, apparently not long after the wedding. She was married to a grandson of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, to the son of the son of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev.
The second daughter: the Rebbetzin Beila. Her husband, the chassid Rabbi Yekutiel Zalman, was also a grandson of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev. That is to say, the Mitteler Rebbe had marriage ties with Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev twice. Namely, the mother of Rabbi Yekutiel Zalman was a daughter of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev. The wedding of the Rebbetzin Beila with Rabbi Yekutiel Zalman was in Sivan 5567, in Zhlobin, and it is famous that it was called "the great wedding in Zhlobin." The Alter Rebbe and Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev participated in this wedding, and there are many stories about the events that took place surrounding this special wedding, the great wedding of this couple. In one place it is written that the wedding was a year later, in the hall in Liadi, but essentially it is accepted that their wedding was in Zhlobin, and this is the famous wedding.
Afterwards we have the third daughter, the Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, and her husband, the holy Rebbe, author of the "Tzemach Tzedek." Of course, we will speak about them when we reach, with God's help, the stories of the "Tzemach Tzedek."
The fourth daughter, the Rebbetzin Devorah Leah. The husband of the Rebbetzin Devorah Leah was the righteous rabbi, the holy rabbi, Rabbi Yaakov Yisrael. Rabbi Yaakov Yisrael was the son of Rabbi Mordechai of Chernobyl. Rabbi Mordechai was the son of Rabbi Nachum of Chernobyl, and his mother too was of distinguished lineage. His mother was the daughter of Rabbi Aharon of Karlin. That is to say, Rabbi Yaakov Yisrael was a Jew of very, very distinguished lineage. He is called Rabbi Yaakov Yisrael of Cherkassy. His wedding to the Rebbetzin Devorah Leah took place in 5571 (1811) in the presence of the Alter Rebbe.
There are two interesting stories, one connected to his match with the daughter of the Mitteler Rebbe, and one connected to their passing, of Devorah Leah with Rabbi Yaakov Yisrael. The story concerning their match is a story with details, but we will touch only upon the point relevant here: the Alter Rebbe was once at the home of Rabbi Menachem of Chernobyl, and there was a discussion about the topic of from where Mashiach would come, between the senior disciples of the Maggid and the younger disciples of the Maggid. Then the Alter Rebbe said: "Now let us make a match between us, that it should be the senior one with the younger one." And the Alter Rebbe went into the room where the grandsons and granddaughters of Rabbi Menachem of Chernobyl were, the infants were in the room in cradles. The Alter Rebbe passed by and touched the head of each one, until he reached this infant, Rabbi Yaakov Yisrael, touched his head and said: "He is for my granddaughter, Devorah Leah." That is, still when he was an infant in the cradle, the Alter Rebbe already established the match that he would marry the fourth daughter, Devorah Leah, when both of them were still literally infants. This is an interesting story concerning how this match came about.
And another very interesting story, even a startling story, connected to their passing. Once, Rabbi Yaakov Yisrael invited his grandson, who was called Mordechai Dov of Hornosteipel. He himself later became the Rebbe. He invited his grandson and said to him: "I need you, come to my house." When the grandson arrived, he brought him into a room where the Rebbetzin Devorah Leah was also present. Both of them were in the room. And then the grandfather says to the grandson: "I have a dispute with your grandmother, and we have decided that you will decide. Come, I will tell you about what we are debating, what the dispute is, and we will see how you decide." What was the dispute? "Grandmother says that she needs to pass from this world first, because otherwise, if the husband passes first, then she will remain a lonely widow, and she will not be able to manage. Therefore she thinks that she needs to pass first." "And I say," so says the grandfather, "I say the opposite, I need to pass first, because I as a widower will not be able to manage. So we decided that you, the grandson, will decide what should be."
So the grandson said this: "Actually, the grandmother is right, she makes a good argument. The truth is with the grandfather's opinion, and I do not wish to disagree with the grandfather. Therefore my solution is that both of you should pass away in the same year." And indeed, so it was. She passed away on Rosh Chodesh Sivan 5636, and three months and two weeks later, on the 13th of Elul 5636, Rabbi Yisrael Yaakov passed away. Both of them passed away at the same time, just as the grandson had determined the time of their passing. Astonishing stories about very great people. These, up to here, are the first four sons-in-law of the daughters of the Mitteler Rebbe.