Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn of Lubavitch was born on the 11th of Nisan 5662 (1902) to his father Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneersohn, a fifth-generation descendant from the Admur (Grand Rabbi) Tzemach Tzedek, the third Lubavitcher Rebbe. His mother was Rebbetzin Chanah, daughter of Rabbi Meir Shlomo Yanovsky. At the age of seven, the family moved to Ekaterinoslav, where his father was appointed as a rabbi. In Ekaterinoslav, he was privately tutored by Rabbi Shneur Zalman Vilenkin. Alongside his diligence and depth in both the revealed and the mystical dimensions of Torah, the Rebbe also excelled in mathematics. In 1923, he met his future father-in-law and mentor, the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, the Rebbe Rayatz, and on the 14th of Kislev 1928, he married the Rebbe Rayatz’s daughter, Rebbetzin Chayah Mushkah.
After his marriage, the Rebbe moved to Berlin, where he studied mathematics, physics, and philosophy at the university and received rabbinical ordination from the author of Seridei Eish. In 1933, he moved to Paris and studied engineering. In 1941, the Rebbe and Rebbetzin fled burning Europe. The Rebbe joined his father-in-law in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn and began to lead Chabad institutions.
On the 10th of Shevat, 5710 (1950), the Rebbe Rayatz, passed away, and a year later, on the 10th of Shevat, 5711 (1951), Rabbi Menachem Mendel was crowned as the seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe. On the 22nd of Shevat, 5748 (1988), Rebbetzin Chayah Mushkah passed away, and the Rebbe referred to her passing as the end of an era and the preparation for a new era towards the coming of Mashiach. On the 27th of Adar 1, 5752 (1992), while praying at his father-in-law’s grave, the Rebbe suffered a stroke and ceased speaking. This condition continued until Saturday night, the eve of the 3rd of Tammuz, 5754 (1994), the day when “the sun stopped in Giv’on and the moon in the Valley of Ayalon.”
Once, a Jewish man came to the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s head emissary to Paris, crying bitterly, and told him that his daughter was about to marry a non-Jew. And not just any non-Jew, but a black man. He did not know what to do and came to the emissary in complete despair. The emissary was deeply moved by his story, and since he was preparing to travel to the Lubavitcher Rebbe at that time, he promised to mention his daughter before the Rebbe.
When the emissary’s turn came to enter for a private audience (yechidut) with the Rebbe, he specifically requested a blessing for the Jewish man, that his daughter would leave the non-Jew. The Rebbe listened attentively and gave a surprising response: “What is so terrible about that?” Before the emissary could recover from his surprise, the Rebbe continued, “Let him convert!”
The emissary, still shocked, protested, “But he is black!”
The Rebbe replied, “A soul has no color. So what if he is black?”
The emissary returned to France with the Rebbe’s response, and ultimately, the Rebbe’s guidance was fulfilled. The emissary himself attended the wedding. Contrary to the original plan, it was a traditional Jewish wedding. Over time, the former non-Jew became a rabbi himself.
In this story, the Rebbe orchestrated a surprising transformation. While in similar situations he would urge the separation of the couple, in this case, he facilitated their union through conversion. This brings to mind one of the significant episodes in the Torah: the incident involving Miriam and Aaron speaking against Moses “regarding the Cushite [black] woman he had married.”
