From Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, OBM, and Hey Teves — to Serach bat Asher and Yocheved, who was born between the walls: how the very existence of a single child completes the Jewish people.
“Mushkie” is a very popular name in Chabad. It was given in honor of the righteous Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, of blessed memory.
The Rebbetzin grew up her entire life in the home of the leaders of Chabad. She was the granddaughter of the Rebbe Rashab, of blessed memory, and was raised in his home. After his passing, her father — the previous Rebbe — became the leader of Chabad. Her husband, of course, was the Rebbe. Throughout her life, she was surrounded by the leaders of Chabad and lived in an atmosphere of mission, devotion, and self-sacrifice.
Yet beyond all of this, Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka was a unique and remarkable person in her own right — a figure of modesty, deep inner strength, wisdom, and sensitivity. Countless stories have been told about her character.
Today, I would like to share with you one small story — a story that connects to a special Chassidic day that falls this week: Hey Teves.
The Trial of the Books
The Previous Rebbe possessed an enormous, precious, and highly significant library. It included Chassidic manuscripts and ancient, rare books that he had inherited from his holy forebears, generation after generation, as well as books that he himself had deliberately acquired for the library. The library was housed at 770.
A little over forty years ago, it was discovered that a member of the family—someone who had already left Chabad—had been stealing books from the library and selling them on the rare-book market, making a great deal of money in the process. When this became known, it caused the Rebbe tremendous pain, because the library was not the private property of any individual. It was a library that belonged to the Chabad movement.
Just as gifts given to a President of the United States do not belong to him personally, and when he leaves the White House he is not permitted to take them with him, because they belong to the White House, so too, the Rebbe’s library was not anyone’s private property.
Attempts were made to stop this individual and persuade him to desist, but nothing helped. Eventually, there was no choice but to turn to the courts, and the matter developed into what became known as the “Trial of the Books,” which took place exactly forty years ago, around this very time.
Among those who came to testify about Chabad and about the library and to affirm that the books of a Rebbe are not private family property, was Holocaust survivor and writer Mr. Elie Wiesel, OBM. As someone who came from a Chassidic family and who had written extensively about the Chassidic movement, he testified and explained what Chassidus is, how it functions, and to whom the books truly belong. His testimony had a significant impact on the judge and on the course of the trial.
The opposing side insisted on calling the Rebbetzin for a deposition. They wanted to hear what she knew, what life was like in the home, and how the library was truly regarded—was it private or was it public? The lawyers came to her home and interviewed her at length. They sat with her for several hours, asking many difficult questions, and she answered all of them with wisdom and remarkable clarity.
Finally, after all the questions, the last one was asked:
“Mrs. Schneerson, Tell us—what do you think? To whom do the books belong? To the Rebbe or to the Chassidim?”
The Rebbetzin answered simply:
“My father, the Rebbe, and the books belong to the Chassidim.”
When the lawyers for the other side heard her response, they were deeply disappointed. In court, when this testimony was presented to the federal judge and he heard that statement, he remarked, “Incredible,” and said, “I don’t need to hear anything more.”
These were the words of the Rebbe’s wife—a woman who had been married to the Rebbe for nearly sixty years, and who knew that the Rebbe’s entire life was devoted to the Chassidim, to Chassidus, and to the Jewish people.
Hey Teves was the day that the positive ruling was given that the library belongs to the Chabad movement.
Serach Revealed the Secret!
We are coming straight from the holiday of Chanukah, when we celebrate the miracle of the cruse of oil that took place in the Holy Temple. The Menorah in the Temple had seven lamps, seven branches. That immediately raises a question: why seven? Why not five? Why not nine? What is so special about the number seven?
One of the explanations can be found in this week’s Torah portion. In Parshat Vayigash, we read for the first time how Jacob and his family went down to Egypt. The Torah tells us: “All the souls of the house of Jacob who came to Egypt were seventy” (Vayigash 46:27).
Within the list of names recorded in the Torah—among those seventy souls—there is one daughter mentioned: Serach bat Asher.
Behind that name lies a remarkable story.
Our parsha tells how the brothers returned from Egypt with astonishing news: “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” They needed to tell this to Jacob, but they were deeply afraid. An elderly man, who had sat grieving and longing for his son for twenty-two years—what would happen to him if he suddenly heard that Joseph was alive? They feared that the shock and excitement could endanger his health.
So they decided to turn to Serach bat Asher, Jacob’s beloved granddaughter, and asked her to be the one to deliver the news. As our sages tell us, she was the one who revealed to Jacob that “Joseph is still alive.”
This is brought in the Midrash HaGadol (Bereishit 45:26):
“They told him, saying: Joseph is still alive. The Sages say: They said, if we tell him first that Joseph is alive, perhaps his soul will depart from him. What did they do? They said to Serach bat Asher: Go and tell our father Jacob that Joseph is alive and in Egypt. What did she do? She waited until he was standing in prayer, and she said it in a tone of wonder: ‘Joseph is in Egypt, and sons were born to him on his knees—Menashe and Ephraim.’ His heart faltered while he was still in prayer. When he finished, he immediately saw the wagons, and the spirit of Jacob their father was revived.”
But there is more to this story.
When the brothers sold Joseph, they all swore an oath that none of them would ever tell Jacob what they had done. They then slaughtered a goat, took Joseph’s tunic—the special garment his father had given him—dipped it in blood, and sent it to Jacob. They asked him, “Is this your son’s tunic or not?” (Vayeshev 37:32). Jacob concluded, “A wild beast has devoured him—Joseph has surely been torn apart!” And so he mourned Joseph’s death for many years.
But you know how it is in a home: parents sometimes talk, and children overhear. Secrets whispered among adults do not always stay hidden; they reach young ears as well.
Serach bat Asher heard her father quietly say that Joseph was alive—that the brothers had sold him. Serach, who dearly loved her grandfather Jacob, went and secretly revealed this to him. Perhaps that is why Jacob never truly gave up hope for Joseph; all those years, he worried about him and feared for his fate.
This is brought in the commentary Hadar Zekenim on the Torah, in Deuteronomy (Parshat Vezot HaBerachah), chapter 33, verse 24:
“‘Blessed among sons is Asher’ — and there is a Midrash: Why did Moses bless him in this way more than all the other tribes? One explanation is that he had been placed under a ban because Serach, his daughter, revealed to Jacob that Joseph was alive. For when Joseph was sold, the tribes made one another swear not to reveal the matter. Serach heard this and told Jacob, ‘Joseph is still alive.’ She heard it from her father, as we say: a child easily overhears what a father or mother says. And because she revealed it, he was placed under a ban.”
Seventy Souls
When we make the list of the seventy souls who went down to Egypt, something is missing. Even if we count everyone—together with Joseph and his two sons—we still arrive at only sixty-nine. Rashi explains that the missing soul was Yocheved, the mother of Moses, who was born “between the walls.”
This is how Rashi explains it:
“Thirty-three—yet when you count them individually, you find only thirty-two. Rather, this refers to Yocheved, who was born between the walls as they entered the city, as it says, ‘whom she bore to Levi in Egypt’—her birth was in Egypt, but her conception was not in Egypt” (Vayigash 46:15).
The Rebbe says something remarkable about this. The seventy souls are the foundation of the Jewish people. And who completed the number seventy? A tiny newborn baby girl. She didn’t have to accomplish great feats; it was enough that she was born. Nothing more was required.
In the Rebbe’s own words:
“The completion of the number of seventy souls was brought about by Yocheved, a small child who had just been born! Here we see the precious value of every single Jew—that even a tiny newborn girl brought about the completeness of the Jewish people.”
(Torat Menachem 5734, vol. 2, p. 4)
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