Hundreds attend 131st memorial for Chabad Hebron matriarch Menucha Rochel Slonim

 

Hundreds of Chassidim from around the country came to visit the grave of
Rebbetzin Menucha Rochel Slonim, matriarch of the Chabad community in Hebron who passed
away on this day 131 years ago.

Prayers were recited at her grave, followed by a festive farbrengin including speeches
from prominent Chabad representatives from around the country. Notably absent was
the recently deceased Rabbi Zev Dov
Slonim, descendant of Menucha Rochel and an important community leader in
Jerusalem for decades.

Rebbetzin Menucha Rochel, the daughter of the Mittler Rebbe of Lubavitch, was born on
the day her grandfather, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the Alter Rebbe – was
released from prison in Russia on false charges. Her grandfather added Rochel
(Rachel) as her middle name after his daughter who had died
recently.  

Menucha Rochel married Rabbi Yaakov Koli Slonim and together they raised a
family in the town of Lubavitch. In 1815, her father the Rebbe sent
shluchim (emissary groups) to strengthen the small, but ancient Jewish
community in Hebron. He initiated the purchase of plots of land in the city and even
purchased the “small synagogue” next to the Avraham Avinu Synagogue. This synagogue,
which was ransacked in the 1929 massacre and later by the Jordanians, was restored and
renovated and today is active.

After her father’s death, her cousin, the Tzemach Tzedek, took over the leadership of
Chabad. Upon his advice, Rebbetzin Slonim immigrated to the city with her family in
1845.

According to tradition, she and her family lived in a building known as the
Schneerson House which belonged to the well-known Schneerson family of Chabad. Now
refurbished, there are seven Jewish families living in the building. However, a
historical examination shows that the house was probably built a few decades later. In
addition, one of the famous stories about the Rebbetzin is a flood of rainwater that
threatened to drown the city and was stopped only when the Sabbath candles reached
her window.

If this dramatic story is accurate, then the house was located somewhere in
which rainwater could reach. This has led historians to postulate that
the Rebbetzin’s home was actually located in the main street of the old Jewish
neighborhood, today known as the Casbah where there were many Jewish
homes.

Researchers now believe she probably lived in a structure known as the “House of
the Haref” near the “courtyard of the Kabbalists” in the heart of what is today a
bustling Arab marketplace. Israeli access to the area is very limited.

Either way, the Slonim family occupied a central place in the Jewish community of
Hebron which they heled revive. The Rebbetzin became known as a master of wonders and
many came to ask for her blessing, among them Arab neighbors. The Rebbetzin would also
give them her blessings with joy, but conditioned them on not harming their Jewish
neighbors.

The Rebbetzin Menucha Rochel passed away on the 24th of Shvat / February 2, 1888,
and was buried in the Ashkenazi section of the ancient cemetery in
Hebron.

The cemetery was ravaged after the Jewish community was deported following the 1929
Hebron massacre. In the 1970s, the location of her tomb was identified by Prof. Ben-Zion
Tavger, thanks to old British aerial photographs and other measurements on the
ground.

Prof. Tavger erected a temporary tombstone on her grave. In 1998, in preparation for the
110th anniversary of her death, the site was renovated by the Jewish community in
Hebron.

However, many other graves in this plot which were vandalized during the Jordanian
rule have not been restored and are still waiting for a breakthrough that will enable
their restoration.

In preparation for the signing of the Hebron Accords in 1997, it turned out that the
plot containing her grave was intended to be handed over to the Palestinian Authority.
Thanks to public and political pressure across sectors, the plot, located strategically
at the top of a hill and on the outskirts of the hostile Jabal al-Rahma neighborhood,
was finally left under Israeli control.

Thus the Rebbetzin continues to defend the Jewish community of Hebron, more than a
hundred years after her death.

Aside from the annual memorial, the site is always open and secure. It is
possible to arrive at all times of the year without special coordination. In the evening
hours there is a permanent Kollel in a nearby old stone building which was beautifully
renovated.

 

 

* Walking
Between the Raindrops: The Life of Rebbetzin Menucha Rochel
Slonim

* Chabad
keeps faith with IDF guarding Hebron

* In
Terrorists’ Line of Fire Daily, IDF Troops Turn to Chabad of
Hebron

* HEBRON
MATRIARCH MENUHA ROCHEL STILL INSPIRES OVER 100 YEARS
LATER

 

 

United States contact info:



http://www.hebronfund.org

1760 Ocean Avenue

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Israeli contact info:

http://en.hebron.org.il/

02-996-5333

office@hebron.com

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RECOMMENDED ARTICLES:

* Hundreds in Hebron at
Memorial for Chabad Matriarch Menucha Rochel – 2016

* Hundreds Visit Hebron
for Menucha Rochel Yahrzeit – 2018

* Hundreds in Hebron for Torah
Dedication, Chabad Event

* Rabbi Zev Dov Slonim,
Pillar of Jerusalem with Hebron Roots Mourned