The Rebbe and the Rav

The Rebbe and the Rav

By Sholem B. Kowalsky

I had the opportunity to facilitate a meeting between the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, and Rabbi Joseph Ber Soloveitchik, "the Rav," at a sad time.

It was 1964. The Rebbe's mother, Rebbetzin Chana Schneerson, had passed away on Shabbat, four days before Yom Kippur, and the Rebbe was sitting shiva. The usual seven days of mourning were cut short, as the holy day of Yom Kippur fell on Wednesday, bringing shiva to an end.

Every year during the Ten Days of Repentance, the Rav would deliver a rousing lecture on the laws of repentance which thousands of people would attend.

continue