Rebbetzin Freida, the daughter of the Alter Rebbe, was born in 5524 (1764) to her father, Rabbi Schneur Zalman, and her mother, Rebbetzin Sterna. The name Freida was given in honor of the Alter Rebbe's great-aunt. She was exceedingly beloved by her father, who said that her soul was from the world of the masculine but had clothed itself in a woman's body for a particular reason. She was a scholar and a righteous woman, and wrote Chasidic teachings which she addressed as letters to her brother, the Mitteler Rebbe. She married Rabbi Eliyahu Klotzker. About five months after her father's passing, on the 16th of Sivan, 5573 (1813), she departed this world at the age of forty-nine. She was buried in Haditch beside her father as she had requested, and on her tombstone was written, "In their lives and in their death they were not separated."
Rabbi Mordechai Yoel, of blessed memory, had a fixed practice of traveling to the Ohel (the burial place) of the Alter Rebbe in Haditch. Once, when he emerged from the Ohel, the holy Rebbe Nachum (son of the Mitteler Rebbe) said to him: “Come, let us go and say lechaim. Not in the city, but here with the attendant of the Ohel; he has a room for us.”
They sat together, and for dessert they had pancakes. Rabbi Mordechai Yoel said to Rebbe Nachum: “I would like to ask you something. How did Aunt Freidke come to be buried here beside the Alter Rebbe?”
Rebbe Nachum replied: “When Grandfather [the Alter Rebbe] departed, they needed to inform Father [the Mitteler Rebbe]. As is known, they prepared all the doctors of Kremenchug for this purpose, and indeed, after receiving the news, he was unconscious for twenty-four hours. They revived him and he fainted again, but finally… Father, with his great mind, composed himself.”
“Aunt Freidke was already weak beforehand, and following the passing of Grandfather, she weakened further. Then they took her to ‘Siratine’ [a health resort] where she stayed.”
“When she continued to weaken, she sent word requesting that the chasidim from Kremenchug come to her. When they arrived, she told them that she requested that after her passing they should take her to Haditch and bury her to her father’s right. The chasidim did not know what to do, even though they knew she was very precious in the eyes of the Alter Rebbe, but still there was the concern that perhaps it was inappropriate to bury her in the men's burial place? Finally, it was decided they would see what to do later.”
“Several days passed this way, and Freidke called them again. Her bed stood in the middle of the room, and she was already dressed and instructed them to stand around the bed. Then she began to say: ‘My God, the soul You have given me—it is pure…’ and so on until ‘and You will take it from me in the future.’ She raised her ten fingers and called out: ‘Father, wait, here in just another small moment!’ and her soul departed.”
[The narrator added: When Rebbe Nachum spoke these last words, a river of tears flowed from his eyes onto the pancakes, until they were no longer edible.]
The chasidim then understood that after such a departure, they must obey her request. Nevertheless, there was still a slight doubt in the hearts of the chasidim. When they reached a crossroads, where one path led to Kreminitz and the second path to Haditch, they let the horses go as they wished. And surely it must be clear to you, Mordechai Yoel, that the horses went on the path leading to Haditch….”
* * *
Every Shabbat after prayers the Alter Rebbe was accustomed to go to his daughter, Freida, to deliver a Chasidic discourse before her. However, to his son, the Mitteler Rebbe, he would not deliver Chasidic teachings as often, so as to increase his thirst to hear teachings of Chasidut.
The Mitteler Rebbe, who wanted to hear his father’s words, would hide in his sister’s house each time to hear the Torah, and once asked her to request from their father that he deliver Chasidic teachings about the four garments of the priesthood.
When the Alter Rebbe came, she requested this of him and he agreed. He began to expound, and in his words, he mentioned all the priestly garments, but he did not speak about the belt. The Mitteler Rebbe felt that soon the Alter Rebbe would go home, and still had not spoken about the belt, so he removed his own belt and threw it at his sister’s feet, so that she would remember and ask the Alter Rebbe to speak about it as well.
When Freida saw the edge of the belt she said to her father, “You still have not told me about the belt!”
The Alter Rebbe said to her: “Apparently your brother Dov is hiding under your bed and listening to the Torah… Come out, Berel, come out!” And he continued no further…
***
Once, the Alter Rebbe went to deliver Chasidic teachings before the Rebbetzin Freida, and the chasidim, who desired to get closer to hear his words, climbed the trees that grew around her house. When her father, the Alter Rebbe, noticed this, he said to his son, the Mitteler Rebbe, who was present during the delivery of the discourse: “They want to hear the latest news? [i.e., a discourse they have not heard yet]? Why do they not learn Tanya? I tell you, from the Tanya, one can become a chasid like Abraham our patriarch!”
“Say to Wisdom, You are My Sister”
The unique figure of Rebbetzin Freida is exceptional in several ways: a learned and profound woman in a generation where Torah study was distinctly a male domain, connected to her father by such a deep bond that she could not live without him, and he transmited to her things he did not transmit to the chasidim, not even to his son and successor. Many times, when the Mitteler Rebbe wanted to ask his father something, he did so through his sister. This is alluded to in the verse, ”Say to wisdom, you are my sister” (Proverbs 7:4).
Where can we find something similar in the sources? It is interesting to see that many hints to such an approach are found in the Jerusalem Talmud.
Rabbi Yannai had a son, Rabbi Shimon, and it is related in the Jerusalem Talmud (Beitzah 5:1) that he said about a certain law: “I did not hear from Father, my sister told me in his name.” In the Babylonian Talmud there is no parallel to this but in our story there is; also the opinion of Ben Azzai, that women are obligated in Torah study, is discussed more extensively in the Yerushalmi in the context of the mitzvah of hakhel—the gathering of the people at the end of the festival of Sukkot, once every 7 years; and finally, in the context of the discussion about Torah study during ritual impurity, the baraita in the Jerusalem Talmud (Berachot 3:4) states that women in various states of ritual impurity are permitted to read Torah, and study and repeat Midrash [of Halachah], and laws, and Midrash” (in the Babylonian Talmud, the baraita deals only with men).
Equal in Stature
The learning of Torah by women is a Messianic matter, which we have discussed extensively under the heading of “The Third Revolution in Torah learning.”[1] Indeed, for the general public this revolution erupted only a few decades ago, but in the homes of chasidic tzaddikim it was a relatively common phenomenon. The previous Rebbe of Chabad, the Rebbe Rayatz, in his Book of Memoirs tells of this extensively, and additional traditions bring stories of women who knew Jewish law in places where it was hidden even from the town rabbi.
This Chasidic and Jerusalem Talmud perspective is well—expressed in the writings of the holy Ari: According to the Arizal, the sefirah of kingdom (malchut), which reflects femininity and women, passes through seven stages of growth until the coming of Mashiach.
This growth is specifically connected to what is known in Kabbalistic parlance as the persona of Rachel, the aspect of femininity that is particularly expressed in the Land of Israel, and therefore it is so distinctly expressed in the Jerusalem Talmud. Chasidut too, although it began to develop in exile, aspired from its beginning to the Land of Israel and engaged extensively with it. Interestingly, the Chasidic teachings that Rebbetzin Freida wrote for her brother deal with deep matters of Mashiach and Redemption and with the refinement of the physical body in the future to come.
Thus she writes:
Even the flesh will reach the level of true nullification and inner prostration, so that the dividing screens will be nullified, as it is written, “And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh….”
Breaking the heart of stone, according to Rebbetzin Freida, is achieved by contemplating the greatness of God until one is moved by this to come to love and fear God. And all this is our work in this time. However, in the future it is written, “And the glory of God shall be revealed.” There will be a revelation of the 32 Paths of Wisdom called the “glory of God,” and then “all flesh shall see,” literally, even physical flesh will merit the level of nullification of wisdom called sight. As the sages say, “Who is wise? One who sees what is coming into being” from nothingness to being.
Meaning that with the coming of Mashiach, truth will be seen with our physical eyes without the need for contemplation and study of text made of letters (which are called “stones” in Sefer Yetzirah, and their arousal is what is called a “heart [made] of stone [i.e., letters].”
Indeed, Rebbetzin Freida writes there that in the time of exile there is no ability to reach this, but from the story of her passing it appears that she merited, similar to the Alter Rebbe in his passing, to have an actual vision of her Father in Heaven.
[1]. Search for “Fourth Revolution” on inner.org.
