PART I
The Friday before Shabbos Parshas Tzav, Shabbos HaGadol 5775/1915, the streets of Yekaterinoslav were bustling as usual, filled with people hurrying to work. It was only among the Jewish populace that a holiday atmosphere prevailed, in the form of an inner celebration with no formal means of expression as on a traditional Jewish holiday.
Today! Today the eldest son of the Rav, Reb Levi Yitzchok Schneersohn, turned thirteen years old. He, the precious young lad who had long stopped being just “the son of,” and had become known as a world-class Torah genius in his own right. This is the day that he officially entered into manhood, despite the fact that all who knew him or knew of him could testify that long before, at a very young age, he was already a man of maturity, seriousness, inward focus and quiet, who toiled constantly in Torah and divine service.
Not very many of the Jews in the city were capable of reaching a true appreciation of the greatness of the day, but the entire community certainly was moved by the joyous occasion in the life of the Rav, as his firstborn son entered into the “yoke of mitzvos.” The word spread that the main celebration of the bar mitzva would be held in the house of the Rav on the upcoming Shabbos.
On Friday, the furniture was removed from the home and tables and benches were added, in order to host the crowds of community members who wished to share in the celebration of the Rav and his wife, Rebbetzin Chana, and their son.
More than a hundred years have passed since that Friday and Shabbos, when the bar mitzva celebration was held for that youngster, who in the future would light up the world with his Torah, his holiness and his leadership. In those days, the joy was real, authentic and deeply felt, which is perhaps why there is practically no existing description of that celebration, except for the memoirs of his mother, Rebbetzin Chana. Despite the lack of data about the actual festivities, from the brief descriptions that she wrote down over the years, a bit here and a bit there, a clear picture emerges of a young and holy man, head and shoulders above the rest, who despite his conduct in the manner of “and walk modestly with Hashem, your G-d,” those who were close to him knew full well that he was destined for greatness.
Among the dignitaries who graced the affair with their presence, was the paternal grandfather, Reb Boruch Schneur Schneersohn, who came especially for the bar mitzva. He arrived directly from Lubavitch, where he had requested a blessing for his precious grandson on the occasion of his becoming fully obligated in the mitzvos, as well as for his son, the father of the bar mitzva boy. The fifth Rebbe in the chain of Chabad leaders, the Rebbe Rashab, did indeed send his blessings to the one that would eventually become the seventh in the chain, “Hashem Yisborach should help him, Mendel, that he should be a complete Jew, and that he [his father, R’ Levi Yitzchok] should have nachas from him and also from his other sons.”
Armed with the Rebbe’s blessing, the proud grandfather went off to join the bar mitzva celebration in Yekaterinoslav.
PART II
A glimpse of the events that transpired at the actual celebration can be gleaned from the diary of the mother, Rebbetzin Chana, who wrote about it on various occasions:
“All of the bar mitzva celebrations of our children were nice, but his, that was something different, extraordinary, an event of great spiritual elevation,” is how she begins her description in one of the entries, and it is almost possible to feel her excitement at the time, despite the decades that passed from the actual event to the recording of her memories.
Practically speaking, this was the first family celebration in the house of the rav of the city, Reb Levi Yitzchok, after he had come to serve as the spiritual leader of the major city of Yekaterinoslav. No small amount of opposition was mounted upon his appointment to this honored position, on the part of the Misnagdim and the Zionists, who opposed the choosing of a Chassidic rav. At this point however, seven years had already passed since the arrival of the Schneersohn family to the city, and everyone had already accepted the leadership of the young rav. The bar mitzva celebration was “an opportunity for both sides to express their feelings,” in the words of the Rebbetzin. “For our close friends, this was a true celebration, pleasurable brotherhood of friends, life invigorating flavor.”
The large apartment of the rav was emptied of furniture and after Musaf in the shul all the rooms filled up with the Jews of the city who came to wish a personal “mazel tov” to the rav and his son. The tables were set up bountifully, and the drinks flowed in abundance. From time to time, some of those in the large living room left, in order to make place for the new arrivals, and the joy only grew.
In the dining room as well, a number of women sat, some of them young women, who came to share in the joy of the Rebbetzin.
At a certain point in the large farbrengen, silence was called for, and everyone turned their attention to the bar mitzva boy. Deep seriousness was reflected in the eyes of the youngster, and his pure and refined face testified to the pure soul of the lad, who was already known as a Torah scholar who had surpassed his teachers. He stood up and began his talk, his bar mitzva drasha, with his clear voice spouting forth enlightening words of Torah, clearly and firmly. “It seems to me that he gave two drashos, in Nigleh and in Nistar,” recalls the Rebbetzin. “Personally, I was not in the room where the drashos were held, but everybody was in amazement over their content, an amazement that defies description.”
One of those who was particularly taken by the speech of the bar mitzva boy, despite not being a regular presence in the study halls, was Shmaryahu (Shmerel Feitel’s), or as he was known officially, Sergei Pavlovitch Palei. He was one of the wealthy men of the Jewish community of Yekaterinoslav, a very talented Jew, who was one of the leaders of the Zionist Histadrut.
In his childhood, he received a traditional Jewish education, and even had the merit to learn from the renowned Chassid, Reb Hillel of Paritch. After he married and had two children, he strayed from the traditions of his forbears, and began to devote himself to the study of secular subjects, acquiring professional credentials as an engineer. After he got his degree, he was feeling full of himself, and he changed his name to Sergei Pavlovitch. Tragically, his children were fully distanced from Torah and its ways and did not even know how to read Hebrew.
He did not forget his Torah knowledge, absorbed in his youth, and since he knew how to debate in learning, he followed the talk given by the young genius with great interest. He was unable to contain his excitement, and before he left the Schneersohn home to let the next wave of guests come in, he went to the room where the Rebbetzin was sitting, and said with amazement, “Mazel tov, Rebbetzin! I can’t hold back from telling you that this is the first time I am hearing such words from a lad of this age.” As if that was not enough, he added excitedly, “Ach! I feel myself fortunate in that I had a part in bringing such a rav to our city, and thus also such a young and brilliant son as this.”
PART III
One of the moving moments at the event was, when the esteemed father turned to his son and asked him a brief but deeply penetrating question, “Do you know what you are becoming today?”
The young bar mitzva boy did not answer; his only response was two streams of tears that poured forth from his eyes.
It turns out that there were a lot of tears at this celebration, some from intense emotion and some not. To this day, the cause of these tears remains a mystery.
When the young lad concluded his talk, which made a profound impression on all of his listeners, he suddenly burst into terrible crying. Many of the guests, upon seeing this, joined him and began crying as well. Not a man among them had any idea why he was crying on his day of celebration, but they understood that it was not for naught. Prior to that, the guests could see that the father had demanded from his son a certain promise.
The son, despite his great love and admiration for his father, did not agree to promise. For many hours, the issue remained unresolved between them, and could be felt hanging in the air of the room. Not one person there could possibly miss the feeling of tension in the room. Already at 3-4 in the afternoon, people young and old could be seen leaving the room, and every one of them had tearful faces.
Rebbetzin Chana, the esteemed mother, was sitting in the dining room with her companions. Slowly, she began to discern that something was not quite right. The faces of the departing guests, red from crying, made her realize that something was afoot. She got up from her place and approached the end of the large room where the celebration was being held, trying to get a glimpse so as to understand the reason for the tumult and the pain of the guests. However, the room was so packed that she could not see what was happening at the table where her husband and son were seated.
The Rebbetzin inquired of one of the guests present as to what was going on. The man shrugged his shoulders and said, “Your husband, the rav, requested something from the bar mitzva boy, but he refuses to agree.” The fellow did not hide how impressed he was by the inner fortitude of the son, and his maturity, in that despite his young years he was calculated and careful in his response and was in no hurry to make a promise to his father.
As the Rebbetzin writes in her memoir, “There are no words in my mouth capable of describing the atmosphere that prevailed there.”
This story dragged on for many hours, and only towards the close of Shabbos, “At six or seven, when outside it was no longer full light,” the son gave his positive response to his father. In response, the father and son, joined by all of those present, began a round of spirited dancing. “Those teary faces that I had seen previously became filled with great joy, and from the hall could be heard sounds of dance and song… the joy became so great that it impacted even those who were not present,” concludes the Rebbetzin.
* * *
The joyful dancing and the great celebration continued for many more hours after the conclusion of Shabbos, extending into the day of 13 Nissan, the yahrtzait of the Rebbe, the Tzemach Tzedek, after whom the bar mitzva boy was named, and would eventually join in the chain of Chabad Rebbes.
Some of the events at the bar mitzva were recounted by the Rebbetzin, in an interview that she gave to the Chassidic writer, Rabbi Nissan Gordon. At the conclusion of his written account, he added his own observations tinged with Chassidic sensibilities, “Who knows? Perhaps even then, there was secret talk between the father and his son in matters that stand in the heights of the world, the world of the House of Lubavitch.”