Unknown Childhood Photograph of the Lubavitcher Rebbe – Yekaterinoslav, 1911/1912 – Two Copies

Unknown Childhood Photograph of the Lubavitcher Rebbe – Yekaterinoslav, 1911/1912 – Two Copies

Unknown photograph of Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, as a child. [Yekaterinoslav (present-day Dnipro), late 1911 or early 1912]. Two copies (one was owned by his sister-in-law, Rebbetzin Chanah Gurary, and the other by his niece Rebbetzin Mina Gurary).

The photograph shows the Rebbe as a young 9-10-year-old boy with a tall and slim build. His expression is solemn, and he is dressed in a dark jacket and a wide-collared, light-colored shirt, with a cap on his head. He is wearing short trousers (reaching his knees), with long socks and boots. Several study books are held in his left hand.

There are remarkable similarities between the famous picture of the Rebbe prior to his third birthday, before his upsherin, and the present picture – in both pictures one can notice his high forehead, serious expression and penetrating gaze. Both photographs also display a long right eyebrow and a short left eyebrow.

Letter of authenticity enclosed (handwritten note, in English), signed in Hebrew by his sister-in-law Rebbetzin Chana Gurary (1899-1991), eldest daughter of the Rebbe Rayatz: "I hereby gift... a photo of my brother-in-law [the Lubavitcher Rebbe] at 9½ years old. It was taken in Yakekttrinislav by my brother-in-law's neighbor and cousin the father of Avraham Shlonsky [Tuvia Shlonsky]. My brother-in-law [the Rebbe] was on the way to cheder. My sister [Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka] gave me the photo when she cleaned out her mother-in-law's apartment [Rebbetzin Chana, wife of R. Levi Yitzchak Schneerson, the Rebbe's mother]". The letter is dated November 12, 1989.

There is a second letter, from the Rebbe's niece, Rebbetzin Mina Gurary, wife of R. Barry (Shalom Ber) Gurary: "Photo from Chana Schneerson's apartment. Given to me by my aunt by marriage Moussia [Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka]. Barry's uncle [the Lubavitcher Rebbe; age] nine just before his tenth birthday" (the letter of authenticity is typewritten and attached to the back of one photograph).

After the passing of the Rebbe's mother, Rebbetzin Chana Schneerson, in 1964, her daughter-in-law Chaya Mushka asked her sister and niece Chana and Mina Gurary for help clear out Rebbetzin Chana's apartment in 1418 President Street, Kingston Avenue, Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York. As mentioned in the letter of authenticity, Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka took this opportunity to give them copies of the photograph (on the clearing out of Rebbetzin Chana's apartment by Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, see HaRabbanit Chana, p. 190). Enclosed with the photograph received from Rebbetzin Mina Gurary is a photocopy of a visiting card of Mina Gurary, and a photocopy of the envelope in which Mina sent the photograph, dated 1995 and inscribed in English on the front and back – "DO NOT BEND".

The Shlonsky and Schneerson Families. The present photograph was taken by Tuvia Shlonsky, from a Chabad Chassidic family in Kremenchuk ("a man who fused Chabad, Haskalah and Zionism"). His wife Tziporah, née Braverman, was the first cousin of Rebbetzin Chana Schneerson (mother of the Lubavitcher Rebbe) – both were granddaughters of R. Yisrael Leib Yanovsky and great-granddaughters of R. Avraham David Lavut, Rabbi of Nikolayev. Among the six children of the Shlonsky family, of special note are the poet Avraham Shlonsky and the composer and pianist Verdina Shlonsky.

For several years, the Shlonsky and Schneerson families lived together in Yekaterinoslav, in two adjacent apartments (on the ground floor of the same building, with "only a corridor separating, or rather connecting us"). The neighborly and familial ties led to a close friendship between the two families – they spent time in each other's homes and sometimes even held joint meals on festivals; the mothers went out shopping together and the children played together in the yard; the boys studied in the same Cheder under the same teacher – the Chassid R. Shneur Zalman Vilenkin. (As mentioned in the enclosed letter, this photograph was taken by Tuvia Shlonsky in Yekaterinoslav in late 1911 or early 1912, when the young Menachem Mendel, future Lubavitcher Rebbe, was on his way to Cheder). The photograph was presumably taken near the Schneerson family's first residence in Yekaterinoslav, 1908-1913, on the corner of Alexanderskaya and Bolnichnaya Streets.

Two copies (sepia), mounted on card: 14X10 cm; approx. 14X9.5 cm (one photograph trimmed unevenly). Good condition. Minor defects.

Please note that this item can be viewed  by appointment only.

The Rebbe as a Child

In her memoirs, Rebbetzin Chana Schneerson, the Rebbe's mother, describes him at bar mitzvah age: "He was a skinny child, with a gentle, inspired expression, the type one very scarcely encounters" (Reshimat Zichronot, booklet 33, p. 14).

In an article in the Maariv newspaper (March 25, 1977) entitled "Verdina Shlonsky: the Rebbe – Childhood Memories", his cousin Verdina Shlonsky, composer and pianist, youngest of the six Shlonsky children, describes "Mendele" – the eldest of the three Schneerson children, as imprinted in her memory from those times: "I remember him as a reserved boy with a high forehead, a serious face and glowing, shining eyes. We children called him Memke, sometimes Mendele. Today he is the Lubavitcher Rebbe".

In the same article, Verdina describes "Mendele's" parents, Rebbetzin Chana and R. Levi Yitzchak Schneerson, and his younger brothers Dov Ber and Yisrael Aryeh Leib, their two homes and the close ties between her family and the Schneersons: "They [R. Levi Yitzchak and Rebbetzin Chana] were so beautiful, aesthetic, musical and pure… Chana was a very beautiful woman… R. Levik was a large and handsome man with an impressive beard, like Herzl. And their children, they were all beautiful and pure. Mendele was older than me, but I remember how he was interested in everything, and I remember how the adults talked about the interest he showed in science. The second, Belke, died at a young age [Dov Ber (Berel), perished in the Holocaust, 1941]. Lyuba, the youngest [Yisrael Aryeh Leib (Leibel)] was an extraordinary boy, very similar to his eldest brother both in external appearance, character and subjects of interest. I spent many hours with him… When I think of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, I think of Memke, Belke and Lyuba and the hallway where the sounds, faith, mutual influence, emotions and song passed forever".

His cousin, the famous poet Avraham Shlonsky, also describes his youth in Yekaterinoslav and his friendship with the Schneersons: "For several years, during my childhood, we lived in the same house as our relative R. Levi Yitzchak Schneerson, Rabbi of Yekaterinoslav, right across from each other. I studied in the same Cheder as his son Mendel (we called him Maka, and he is presently the Lubavitcher Rebbe). I spent many hours in the rabbi's home, becoming enriched with the world and atmosphere of Chabad Chassidut…" (Yekaterinoslav-Dnipropetrovesk, pp. 84-85).

In Elul 1911, the Rebbe and his two brothers participated in the wedding of their uncle R. Shmuel Schneerson and Rebbetzin Gitel Yanovsky, held in the Rebbe's hometown, Nikolaev (Mykolaiv). His cousin Gita Kazachkov (daughter of Rebbetzin Ruda Sima, sister of R. Levi Yitzchak), who also participated in the wedding, describes the Rebbe's appearance at the time – "Mendel, nine years old at the time, was handsome and imposing" (Shanim Rishonot, chapter 2, p. 85; based on a video interview with her on 2.12.1991).

His fellow townsman from Yekaterinoslav, R. Nachum Goldshmid, describes the figure of the Rebbe and his brothers Berel and Leibel in those years, during his studies in the cheder of R. Shneur Zalman Vilenkin: "By divine grace, R. Levik's three sons were gifted with diligence from a young age… They possessed amazing memory… There was no such thing as forgetfulness for them. They had extraordinary capabilities. The brothers' natures were different. The Rebbe was serious by nature, and his face bore a constant expression of solemnity, while his next brother – named Leibel – was wild… and would speak at length with those he met, and with jokes and witty sayings. The Rebbe was more serious and quiet" (Kfar Chabad, issue 298).

In the Kfar Chabad weekly (issue 485), Dov Ber Gurary describes the serious countenance of the Rebbe in the years when the present photograph was taken: "I do not recall him playing. In general, he was considered a child prodigy. Everyone marveled at his talents, but the truth is that even more than at his talents, they marveled at his seriousness. His expression was always one of intense seriousness. Solemnity such as one doesn't see even in adults. Not only the adults noticed this, but even us, the children. He was always viewed by us, the children, as someone, something exceptional".