Behind the letter
In the above letter to Mr. Chaim Meir Friedland there is mention of a unique relationship the Rebbe had with his father-in-law.
Mr. Benjamin Horwitz was a middle-aged businessman and industrialist living in Crown Heights at the time the Rebbe Rayatz moved there. There was a lot of talk among the local Jews about the Rebbe Rayatz bringing orthodoxy to the secular inclined Crown Heights; Mr. Horowitz decided to go to 770 and discover it by himself.
Mr. Horwitz returned home greatly inspired by Lubavitch and wished to become more involved in it. “This is the type of Judaism I want,” he told his family. Despite his age he began learning Torah and Yiddishkeit, thus becoming closer to Judaism and its precepts. He studied with Rabbi Meir Greenberg and the Rebbe (then called the Ramash), this can be seen also by the correspondences between the Rebbe and Mr. Horowitz in the summer of 5708.
In 1947, his daughter, Rivkah (Rhoda), got married to Chaim Meir (Everett) Friedland. Mr. Horwitz dedicated some Kehot publications in their honor. Rhoda, having a degree in English and Journalism, volunteered as a writer for the National Committee for the Furtherance of Jewish Education, a branch of Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch, which was directed by Rabbi JJ Hecht.
Tragically, Mr. Horowitz passed less than two months short of Yud Shevat, 5710 — the day the Rebbe Rayatz passed away — at the young age of 55.
On Thursday, two days before Shabbos Yud Shevat, Rabbi JJ Hecht took Mrs. Rhoda and her husband for an audience with the Rebbe Rayatz. Rabbi Hecht told the Rebbe that they have been married for a number of years and have not been blessed with children. The Rebbe Rayatz asked Rabbi Hecht if they had been to...
