In the Halls of the Sorbonne

Paris, late 1930s
Rabbi Yoel Reitzer lives in Antwerpen, Belgium. His father, Moshe Zev Reitzer was studying to become a pharmacist at “the Sorbonne,” attending some of the same classes as the Rebbe in the late 1930’s.

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…My father was from Grosswardein, a little town which at one time was part of Hungary, at another time it was part of Romania. He was called up to the military draft. He had a brother who had already moved to France to escape the draft. He advised my father to also come to France, so my father came to France. In the Old Country my father had studied at the Yeshiva of Maharam Brisk, one of the greatest Yeshivos in Hungary. But he had no livelihood, so he decided to study something. Otherwise he couldn’t make a living in Paris.

He studied at the Sorbonne. There he met a Jew - at the time he didn't even know who he was; later he became the Lubavitcher Rebbe. My father was in awe of him, the Rebbe would come straight to the lectures; and he didn't speak with anyone, he would come in, and as soon as the lecture ended, he would leave. He [my father] was very impressed by him he was extremely careful - my father told me - to guard hi eyes, not to see anything impermissible, He spoke to almost no one, and if he did say something, it was very brief.

There, he got to know the Rebbe a little. My father was a Torah Jew. He was still single. Apparently, the Rebbe appreciated him.

One day, the Rebbe said, "would it not be a good idea... There are a number of young boys wandering around in Paris, they have nowhere to study Torah, we need to ensure that they remain good Jews. Would you teach them privately?"

My father agreed. For my father it was a windfall, as well, because he deeded to eat [livelihood]. The [future] Rebbe pulled it together; this child, another one. Later, my father had a class at night with a whole group of boys - my father used to say, that when he left Paris, he went to Lyon - later when he hot engaged - the children were really crying - my father really loved children had a deep love of Torah. The children became very attached to him….

Rebbe's Entire Existence - Torah

Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine - 1921

Yona Kese grew up in Dnepropetrovsk at the same time the Lubavitcher Rebbe Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson was there. He was a writer, who later became a member in the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset.

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Here is an excerpt:

The house was an authentic Chassidic home. His father was a great Torah scholar, the rabbi of the city, and he carried great influence on a large circle of Jews. We mustn’t forget this is the time of the Bolshevists, with the beginning of religious persecution. And he carried with strength and pride - his responsibility a Rav.

“I was witness to Mendel's [the Rebbe] great diligence in Torah study. Whenever I found him - he never studied sitting down; always standing. I remember, as well, that already then, he was well-versed in physics and mathematics. I even remember, although he was Orthodox, that he would be visited by students, and even professors, to consult with him on problems of physics and mathematics. Apparently already then, [the Rebbe was] an incredible combination of knowledge; obviously, expert in Talmud, Jewish Law, Chassidic philosophy, and also in basic, secular knowledge.

“I remember him as a very modest person, totally hidden. And his entire existence, I remember, was Torah..."
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Chabad Lubavitcher Rebbe as a youth, his whole existence was torah study. Was consulted by students and professors in secular subjects. universityYkaterinoslav, Yekaterinoslav Shneorson -- הרבי מליובאוויטש חב"ד צעיר ב דנייפרופטרובסק ניקולאייב אוקראינה כל מציאותו הי' לימוד תורה, גם סטודנטים ופרופסורים נועדו איתו בקשר לפיסיקה ומטימטיקה, כל פעם שפגשתי אותו למד תורה בעמידה

Daily Talmud Class

On January 30, 1933 Hitler was elected the German Chancellor. For a couple who was foreign and Jewish, it was time to get out of Germany. The Rebbe and his wife Chaya Mushka moved to Paris, where the Rebbe continued his studies at the University for Polytechnic at Mont Rouge and the prestigious University of Paris, known as “the Sorbonne.” David Fakler studied with the Rebbe.

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“The Rebbe gave a daily shiur (torah class) in Gemara. Everyone, even very secular Jews were drawn to the ‘Lubavitcher’, as the Rebbe was known at the time. When they spoke of him, they would say: “oh, the Lubavitcher - a unique man. He is not like all the other rabbis, people are drawn to him.””
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Chabad Lubavitcher Rebbe Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson in Paris gives daily shiur in Talmud Pletzel 25 Rue des Rosiers הרבי מליובאוויטש בפריז צרפת נותן שיעור גמרא (תלמוד) בכל יום פלעצל

Rebbe Crosses Boarder Illegally

After escaping Nazi-occupied Paris, the Lubavitcher Rebbe Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson spent many perilous months in Vichy, France.

The holiday of Sukos was approaching, and the next worry was how to obtain the items necessary for the holiday mitzvos (precepts). The Chabad custom dating back to the first Rebbe is to specifically use an Esrog from the region of Calabria in Italy. Rabbi Shmuel Yaakov Rubenstein, a prominent Rabbi from Paris was also in Nice at that time.

“Rabbi Rubinstein told me, that the [Lubavitcher] Rebbe wanted to cross the border from France to Italy. In general, every Jew had to be ‘invisible.’ but to cross the border was an unthinkable danger. So the Rebbe asked Rabbi Rubinstein, if from the standpoint of Jewish law it was permissible to risk his life by crossing the border illegally, to acquire an Esrog from Calabira, Italy.

“Rabbi Rubinstein answered, of course, that it was out of the question; he would have to suffice with a regular Esrog... Not long after, the Rebbe disappeared for a few days. It came to light that he had indeed made his way across the border. When the Rebbe returned, his face was beaming, as he arrived with Esrog in hand. The Rebbe was very happy to enable the Jews in Vichy to fulfill the Mitzvah at its best, according to this exeptional custom.”

During world war II the Chabad, Lubavitcher Rebbe makes a dangerous, move to illegally cross boarder from Vichy, France to Italy to get an Esrog from Calabira, Mesiras Nefesh for a custom, Minhag, mesirat nefesh

Berlin Made No Impression on Rebbe

Berlin, Germany 1928 – 1932
Rabbi Sholom Kovalski tells of taking Rabbi Joseph Ber Soloveitchik to visit the Rebbe in 1964. During the drive home, Rav Soloveitchik shared some personal recollections of the Rebbe, from their time together in Berlin



...The journey from Yeshiva University to Crown Heights took over an hour, affording me lots of time to discuss the Lubavitcher Rebbe with the Rav [Rabbi Joseph Ber Soloveitchik]. During the discussion, I asked the Rav to tell me about the Rebbe as a person, his imposing character, his personality, his great Torah scholarship, as well as his relationship with him.

The Rav told me that he was a great admirer of the Rebbe. He said that their relationship began when they met in Berlin where they were both studying at the University of Berlin. During that period, they would often meet at the home of the Torah scholar Rabbi Chaim Heller. It was in the course of these meetings that a strong friendship developed between the two men, both of whom were destined to become outstanding spiritual leaders of the century.

The Rav recalled that the Rebbe always carried the key to the mikvah (ritual pool) with him when he attended lectures at the university. "At about two or three o'clock every afternoon when he left the university he would go straight to the mikvah. No one was aware of this custom and I only learnt about it by chance," the Rav said.

"On another occasion, I offered the Rebbe a drink. The Rebbe refused. When I started pressuring him I understood that he was fasting that day. It was Monday and the Rebbe was fasting.

"Imagine that," Rabbi Soloveitchik said to me, "a Berlin University student immersed in secular studies maintains this custom of mikvah and fasting!

"Studying together with us in the university at the time were other Jewish students from other communities. Some of them are considered today to be famous Torah giants. In the university they behaved the same way as other university students, but the Rebbe behaved like a Jew from Warsaw or from Russia. Berlin made absolutely no impression upon him at all.

"This made a huge impression on me. Additionally, the Rebbe had an amazing memory." The Rav described the Rebbe's memory as "gevaldig" (astounding). "In all my life, I never encountered someone with such a memory."

..."The Rebbe was very hidden." I want you to know that Rav Soloveitchik couldn’t get over how hidden, how quiet, the Rebbe was. "Very few people knew who he was; very few people knew who he came from."

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Chabad Lubavitch Rebbe Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson university student in Berlin Germany went to the mikva every day. He lived like in a Jewish community in Poland Berlin made absolutely no impression upon him at all unlike other future famous torah giants who acted like the other students. Beard, yarmulke, kippa

Purim in Berlin

Berlin, Germany circa 1930
Rabbi Chaim Ciment shares a few stories he heard from Rabbi Joseph Ber Soloveitchik about his days together with the Rebbe in Berlin



“...I took the opportunity to ask him ‘Rav Soloveitchik, you were with the Rebbe in Berlin, tell us something about your time together.’

So he says: “One thing I can tell you: the Rebbe had only two things on his mind, Torah and Mikvah, in Berlin!, How so?

“Torah: Even in the university, when the professor was lecturing, the Rebbe would always go with a Torah book in his hand. When the professor was lecturing, the Rebbe would listen, hear what the professor was saying, then he finished listening, he had heard it, so he stopped listening and took out a Torah book. The professor noticed that he is not listening so he was disturbed, he calls upon him, 'Shneerson! Maybe you can repeat what I just lectured?'. The Rebbe stood up and said it over word by word. Since then, the professor never bothered him.

“Mikva: In Berlin, the Rebbe managed to get the key to the Mikvah, every day he would go to the Mikvah, he never failed. Mikva & Torah were foremost in his mind wherever he went.” That's what Rabbi Soloveitchik said.

“...it came Purim, apparently the Rebbe had fulfilled the Mitzvah to drink, on campus in the middle of the night, he goes out, gets up on a chair, the students are around... He starts lecturing about Purim, a whole sermon about Purim and the observance of the day. In Berlin you have to have a license to preach. So the police came . . they put him in prison. They fond out who his friends were, so they called me up . . I went to the police and explained, ‘Today is a holiday, he meant no harm...’ So they let him out.

“When we went out, I said to the Rebbe: I prophesize that one day you will be a Rebbe. Why? Your grandfather was in prison - the Alter Rebbe, your father-in-law was in prison, and now you were in prison. You're going to be a Rebbe one day!”…

While studying in university as a student Berlin, Germany the Chabad Lubavitcher rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson had only two things that were foremost on his mind study torah & going to Mikva every day and wherever he went. Purim the rebbe lectured to students on campus without a license to preach and was arrested I predicted at the time that one day he would become rebbe. moshiach now

The Rebbe Didn’t Change

While living in Berlin, Germany in 1928 the Chabad Lubavitch Rebbe made the acquaintance of a Jewish businessman named Yitzchok Meir Ferstenberg. Rabbi Chazkel Besser of Agudas Yisrael of America later heard these recollections from Yitzchok Meir



Here is a small excerpt:

“While we talked one time, he [Ferstenberg] mentioned he knew the Lubavitcher Rebbe from Berlin . . the Rebbe was a student at the university . . he was very impressed. For me it meant a lot, because he [Ferstenberg] generally was a critic. I very rarely heard from Itche Meir, praise about someone; rather the negative side. And over here, he was full of praise.

“He told me, by the way, “the Rebbe never changed. He always wore a hat or a beret or something,” which in Germany was unusual. Here [in the USA] you don’t understand, but in Berlin, in Germany, you couldn’t enter a bank without taking off your hat, or go to a drug store – you had to take off your hat - They would tell you that you have to do it – And he [ the Rebbe] had a beard, uncut, untouched. But that was not the greatness for him to tell of the Rebbe, that he did have a beard. He saw more in the Rebbe then these trivialities….”

The Chabad Lubavitcher Rebbe Rebbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson didn't change since the time I knew him in Berlin, Germany around 1929. He had a untouched uncut beard, always covered his head - this was unheard of in Berlin at the time One had to remove their kipa, yarmulke, hat, head covering when walking into many important places, I saw that the Rebbe never removed his hat, Kippah, Deutsch

The Rebbe in Berlin, Germany

Studying in Berlin, Germany in 1929 at the same time with the Lubavitcher Rebbe was Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveichik. Over the years, Rabbi Soloveitchik’s Talmidim heard vignettes of the relationship. Here’s a part of the interview with Rabbi Fabian Schoenfeld, Former President of the Rabbinical Council of America

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"...I consider myself, B’chasdey Hashem lucky, that I was able to be with the Rav literally, for over fifty years, just about, until the day of his passing. The Rav was Zt"l was a student at University in Berlin and I think this is where the Rebbe and the Rav met.

"He [Rabbi Soloveicthik] told us, "I remember him [the Lubavitcher Rebbe] from Berlin That he never missed going to the Mikva a single day during the time he was in Berlin." Lets face it, going to Mikva every day is not exactly in the textbooks of the Brisker dynasty, but the Rav was impressed by it; Here’s a young man – university, college, lectures, professors – he was able to separate this. So every morning he went to the Mikva, that’s what the Rav said. I remember his exact words: "I can testify, he never missed going to the Mikva, one single day.""

While studying in university as a student Berlin, Germany the Chabad Lubavitcher Rebbe Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson went to the Mikva every day Also: Mr. Julius Berman & Rabbi Menachem Genack. Moshiach Now