12 вересня 1964 р. цей матеріальний світ покинула душа ребецн Хани Шнеєрсон, дружини головного рабина Катеринослава-Дніпропетровська Леві-Іцхака Шнеєрсона, матері Сьомого Любавицького Ребе Менахема-Мендла Шнеєрсона. Хана Шнеєрсон – символ мужності й жіночності водночас – на своєму життєвому шляху зазнала піднесень і падінь, вшанування й приниження, розкоші й злиденних поневірянь. Проте ніякі випробування не зламали дух Хани. Здається, що вихована в юдейській традиції жінка була позбавлена звичайних людських страхів – вона боялася лише Вс-шнього…
On September 12, 1964, the soul of Rebbetzin Hana Schneerson, wife of the Chief Rabbi of Katerynoslav-Dnipropetrovsk Levi-Yitzhak Schneerson, mother of the Seventh Lubavitch Rebbe Menachem-Mendl Schneerson, left this material world. Hana Schneerson – a symbol of masculinity and femininity at the same time - has experienced ups and downs, honors and humiliations, luxury and poverty wanderings on her life path. However, no trials broke Hana's spirit. It seems that a woman brought up in the Jewish tradition was deprived of ordinary human fears - she was afraid only of God …
Hana Shneerson was born on January 12, 1880, in Mykolaiv. Her parents were the rabbi of the city Meir Shlomo Yanovsky and Rebbetzin Rachel. The girl inherited musical and literary talent from her father. On his instructions, Khana copied by hand each new article of the Lubavitch Rebbe, as soon as it was sent to Mykolaiv, and distributed copies to Hasidim.
In 1900, Hana became the wife of Levi-Yitzhak Schneerson, the grandson of the third Lubavitch Rebbe Tsemach-Tzedek. Even then, the young Levi-Yitzchak was a well-known Jewish scholar. Three sons were born in the family: Menachem-Mendl (the future Seventh Lubavitch Rebbe), Dov-Ber and Aryeh-Leib. Rebetsn knew several foreign languages, was an erudite woman; besides, she understood people and knew how to communicate with them. All this contributed not only to the good upbringing of the sons, but also to the success of the man in his life's work.
In 1909, 30-year-old Levi-Yitzhak Shneerson became the rabbi of Katerynoslav. He held this position for thirty years, until his arrest in 1939. At that time, the city was one of the largest Jewish centers of the Russian Empire, Jews made up more than a third of its population. The Schneerson family became the spiritual center of the Jewish community. The rebbetzin helped her husband to do everything to ensure that Jews had the opportunity to lead a traditional way of life. She hosted many people at her home, gave advice on Jewish rites: circumcision, bar (bat) mitzvah, weddings, holidays, burials. Rebbetzin Khana collected dowries for poor brides, counseled women in the most difficult times. And she continued to do all this even after the revolution, when any religious gatherings and ceremonies were prohibited, and the Schneerson house was under constant surveillance.
During the First World War, crowds of Jewish refugees expelled from the border areas found themselves in Katerynoslav. These people had neither a roof over their heads nor a means of livelihood. Hana Schneerson devoted all her time to the problems of aliens. “It was an amazing phenomenon, never have I seen such energetic compassion, day and night. I studied in the heather and did not worry too much about household chores, but my mother's activities were extraordinary, she remained in my memory forever,” – this is how Menachem-Mendl told thousands of his followers about his mother many years later.
In 1928, Menachem-Mendl Schneerson managed to leave the USSR – he was released together with his bride and future father-in-law – the Sixth Lubavitch Rebbe Yosef-Yitzhak. Soon in Warsaw, the young man married his daughter Haya-Mushka. The groom's parents could not leave behind the “Iron Curtain”, so Rebbetzin Khana found an opportunity to celebrate their son's wedding in Dnipropetrovsk. In her memoirs, she mentions that the neighbor even had to remove the partition separating their apartments – there were so many guests. Everyone was having fun as if the bride and groom were with them. The parents received many congratulatory telegrams and gifts, which they then sent to the newlyweds by mail. For the next 20 years, the only thread connecting the eldest son with his parents' family were letters.
In 1939, Levi-Yitzhak Schneerson was arrested and after a long investigation was sentenced to exile. The rabbi served it in the Kazakh settlement of Chiili. As soon as Hana found out about her husband's place of exile, she went there. Life turned into a terrible struggle for existence. The rebbetzin took care of everything necessary for her husband, even learning how to make ink from local herbs so that Levi-Yitzhak could keep his records. After his death, despite the danger, Hana Schneerson kept these manuscripts and even dared to take them outside the USSR; later they were issued in the USA. When her husband died, Khana was left completely alone: the eldest and youngest sons were abroad, the middle one died together with other Jews in Dnipropetrovsk during the Holocaust. Even the surname Shneerson contained certain risks for life in the USSR.
In 1946, her sufferings and wandering finally came to an end. At that time, Polish citizens who ended up in the territory of the USSR returned to Poland. Many Jews managed to use this "corridor" to escape from under the "Iron Curtain" using false Polish documents. Rebbe Khan was among them. She reached Paris, where her eldest son met her. From Paris, they left for the USA, where a new phase of life began for Hana Shneerson. According to contemporaries, she bore the title of "Mother of the Rebbe" with dignity and without pretensions. From the day Hannah Schneerson arrived in New York until her death, Menachem-Mendl Schneerson visited her mother every day.
Hana Schneerson left this world on Holy Saturday in 1964 at the age of 84; thousands of Hasids said goodbye to her; she was buried in New York. After Hana Shneerson's death, her diaries were published, in which she talked about life in the USSR. This text testifies to the literary talent of the author, and to the devotion not only to the family - to her husband and sons - and to the ideas of preserving the Jewish tradition. In memory of her, Jewish educational institutions named “Beit Hana” and “Mahon Hana” were founded all over the world. Museum “Jewish Memory and Holocaust in Ukraine” joined the commemoration of her asceticism. The exhibition “Jews of Katerynoslav-Dnipropetrovsk-Dnipro” presents the figure of Hana Shneerson, who lived in our city for more than 30 years.
Olena Ishchenko