Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson

Early years

Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson a"h, known to many as Moussia, was born on Shabbos, 25 Adar 5661 (March 16, 1901), in Babinovitch, not far from the town of Lubavitch in Russia. She was the second of the three daughters of Rav Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, later the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe.

At the request of her grandfather, Rav Sholom Dovber Schneersohn, the fifth Lubavitcher Rebbe, she was given the name Chaya Mushka, after the wife of the Tzemach Tzedek, the third Lubavitcher Rebbe.

The family lived in Lubavitch until the fall of 1915, when the First World War forced them to flee to Rostov. When her grandfather passed away in 1920, her father became Rebbe. In the spring of 1924, as Rostov grew more dangerous for Jews, the family moved to Leningrad.

Her father was imprisoned in the autumn of 1927 for spreading Torah observance. She joined in the efforts to free him, and they succeeded in the end. His harsh sentence was first changed to exile, and she went with him to Kostroma. Once he was released, the family left the Soviet Union for Riga, Latvia.

Marriage

On 14 Kislev 5689 (December 1928), in Warsaw, she married her distant cousin, Rav Menachem Mendel Schneerson (5662–5754), who would later become the Rebbe. The wedding was attended by many Chassidic Rebbes and leading Torah scholars of the generation.

The couple made their home in Berlin, where her husband studied at the university. When the Nazis took power in 1933, they escaped to Paris. After Germany invaded France in 1940, they got away on the Serpa Pinto, the final passenger ship to make the Atlantic crossing before the German submarine blockade took hold. They settled in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, where many Lubavitcher chassidim were already living.

Her younger sister Shaina and Shaina's husband, Rav Menachem Mendel Horenstein, could not escape Poland. The Germans killed them in the gas chambers of Treblinka.

Later years and passing

Her father passed away in 1950. At first her husband did not want to accept the leadership. The Rebbetzin, together with many of her father's chassidim, kept urging him to reconsider, and in 1951 he formally became the seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe.

She devoted herself completely to supporting her husband in his role as a leader of world Jewry, and she was known in her own right for her modesty, her learning and her many good deeds.

The Rebbetzin saw her own role as entirely in service of her husband's work. In public she always called him "the Rebbe." When she passed on his answer to someone who had asked for his guidance, she gave his exact words, made sure the person knew they were his words, and would never explain or add to them. She turned away the chassidim's attempts to give her public honor.

The Rebbetzin had no children. Once, when a child visiting her home asked where her children were, she answered, "The Chassidim are my children."

When a court case was brought against her husband over who owned the Chabad library, she gave testimony in federal court, saying, "My father, along with all his books, belong to the Chassidim."

After a short illness, the Rebbetzin passed away on 22 Shevat 5748 (February 10, 1988). She was laid to rest in Queens, New York, in the Old Montefiore Cemetery, beside her mother, Rebbetzin Nechama Dina, and her grandmother, Rebbetzin Shterna Sarah, and close to her father.

Legacy

Soon after her passing, the Rebbe set up a charitable fund in her name, Keren HaChomesh. Chomesh is formed from the initials of Chaya Mushka Schneerson. The fund supports a range of causes, mostly religious, social and educational programs for women. Campus Chomesh, one of the campuses of the Bais Rivka school for girls, also bears her name, as do many other institutions.

When the Rebbe was later asked how great the Rebbetzin was, he answered, "Only Hashem knows."