Rabbi Shneur Zalman Fradkin of Lublin was born in the month of Adar in the year 5590 (1830) in the town of Liadi to his father, Rabbi Shlomo who was a ritual slaughterer in Binskovitz, and to his mother, Eidel. From a young age, he was a distinguished student of the Tzemach Tzedek. After his engagement, he went to study under Rabbi Eliyahu Yosef of Drivin, where he became a Torah scholar. After his marriage, he decided not to earn a living from the rabbinate, but after losing his wealth, the Tzemach Tzedek commanded him to become the rabbi of Polotsk. Indeed, in 5615 (1855), he was appointed to the rabbinate there. After thirteen years, he left Polotsk and turned to the rabbinate of Lublin, where he formed a special bond with Rabbi Tzadok HaCohen of Lublin. They would spend hours together, studying chasidic teachings. Rabbi Shneur Zalman served as rabbi of Lublin for twenty years, and even the Rogatchover Gaon, Rabbi Yosef Rosen, travelled to study under him in Lublin. The great scholars of his generation testified that he studied Torah for its own sake.
In 5652 (1892), he first expressed his desire to make aliyah to Jerusalem. His community tried to prevent him from doing so, so he went to recuperate at healing springs, and from there “escaped” to Jerusalem. Only upon arriving in Jerusalem did he send his resignation to Lublin. In Jerusalem, Rabbi Shneur Zalman established a chasidic court of Jewish law and a Lubavitch-style slaughterhouse, administered the Chabad Kollel, and headed the Tzemach Tzedek synagogue. It is said that every Yom Kippur eve, his distinguished teacher, the Tzemach Tzedek, would appear to him while he was awake, and they would study Torah together. The Tzemach Tzedek even taught Rabbi Shneur Zalman the secret of receiving kvitlach (prayer notes), a practice usually reserved only for Rebbes. In Jerusalem, his first wife passed away, and then he married his second wife, Yocheved. All the great scholars of Jerusalem, such as Rabbi Shmuel Salant and Rabbi Yehoshua Leib Diskin, participated in the wedding.
Although in his last years he was ill, about a month before his passing, in Adar of 5662 (1902) he surprised even his family and said: “I can no longer bear this world of falsehood!!” And on the 5th of Nisan 5662, Rabbi Shneur Zalman returned his soul to its Creator, and at that moment, a storm of lightning and thunder broke out in the streets of Jerusalem. He was laid to rest in the Chabad section on the Mount of Olives.
Rabbi Shneur Zalman, author of the responsa Torat Chesed, was one of the most prominent Torah scholars of his generation. It is said that his birth was rooted in the blessing of the Alter Rebbe to his grandfather, Rabbi Dov Ber, after his son passed away, “I will comfort you that your daughter will give birth to a son who will illuminate the eyes of Israel.” On another occasion, when all the family members passed by the Alter Rebbe except for the daughter Sarah, the Alter Rebbe asked, “Where is she? A great light will come forth from her.”
His birth is also associated with a blessing his father received following an incident: Rabbi Shlomo Fradkin was a constructer, and once he built a house for the Tzemach Tzedek. During the construction, the Tzemach Tzedek suddenly came out of his room, and Rabbi Shlomo recoiled in alarm. When the Tzemach Tzedek noticed him, he asked, “Am I a bear?” and proceeded to bless him to merit “sons who are rabbis.”
The hope was great, but Rabbi Shneur Zalman was born mute, lacking the power of speech. His father and mother sought doctors but found no cure for his condition. Suddenly, at the age of three, words of Torah began to flow from his mouth, and it became clear that for all those three years, he had been listening to Torah but could not speak. Moreover, his first words were an interpretation of Onkelos’ translation of the verse “And man became a living soul,” which Onkelos translated as, “and it became in man a speaking spirit.” People came from all corners of the region to witness this extraordinary wonder: a three-year-old child already proficient in Chumash with Rashi and Onkelos.
By age five, he already knew complete tractates of Talmud thoroughly. When the Tzemach Tzedek visited Liadi, he tested the child on his learning for two consecutive hours and afterwards gave him a quarter of a ruble. The child took the money and said: “In the Book of Samuel, Saul gave the man of God—Samuel—a quarter of silver, and here the man of God gives me a quarter.” The Tzemach Tzedek was delighted and blessed him to become great in Torah. Indeed, the boy grew so much that by age eleven, the Tzemach Tzedek gave him questions about agunot for his halachic opinion.
Rabbi Shneur Zalman was connected in his life to many tzaddikim: to the Tzemach Tzedek as a devoted chasid and student, and to the Rebbe Moharash—whom Rabbi Shneur Zalman assisted in his appointment as rebbe and to whom he subordinated himself. We can also mention his teacher, the chasid Rabbi Eliyahu Yosef Rivlin, in whose footsteps he made aliyah to the Land of Israel, and his friend Rebbe Tzadok of Lublin. But among them, the connection to the Alter Rebbe, after whom he was named and by whose blessing he was born, is especially prominent.
If we contemplate their shared name, we discover that the second name, Zalman, is not a regular Hebrew name; it is a common translation of the name Shlomo, similar to Solomon. The translated name joins here with the fact that the child prodigy’s first words were from Onkelos’ translation of the Torah. The numerical value of “Zalman” (זַלְמָן) is 127, which is the midpoint of 253, the value of “Onkelos” (אוּנְקְלוֹס).
These anecdotes point to a close connection between Rabbi Shneur Zalman and the inner explanation of the verse, “Torah of kindness is on her tongue” (Proverbs 31:26) the verse after which he chose to name his great book. The Torah of chesed (loving-kindness) is Torah learned with the intention of teaching others, to impart the goodness of Torah to those who cannot attain it on their own. This is the purpose of translation in general, and particularly of Onkelos’ translation. Onkelos was a righteous convert, the embodiment of one who was distant and came near and therefore understood the need to help others learn Torah in the vernacular.
However, not only those who are distant need Torah that is inviting and brings them near. To draw themselves even closer and to maintain their closeness, even those who are already learned are required to continuously augment their learning. Such was the practice of Rabbi Shneur Zalman himself, who dedicated three hours a day to studying the Torah of the Tzemach Tzedek. He used to say that one cannot cling and connect to a rebbe without studying his Torah teachings. Indeed, the connection he merited was so intense that his Rebbe, the Tzemach Tzedek, would come from the spiritual worlds and study with him while he was awake!
Rabbi Yisrael Yitzchak Reisman z"l related what he heard personally from the Rebbetzin of the Torat Chesed:
Once the Torat Chesed’s wife heard a conversation between two people in her husband’s room, and she knew for a fact that only her husband was alone inside. She approached the door, but the Torat Chesed was already standing in front of the door with both hands on either side, saying to her, “Der Rebbe der Tzemach Tzedek iz do, nisht dertzeiln!” (The Rebbe, the Tzemach Tzedek, is here, don't tell!). All her life she kept silent, and only after his passing did she share this story.
Rabbi Azriel Lieberman of blessed memory related that as a young man, he merited to serve the Torat Chesed. On Yom Kippur eve in Hebron, Rabbi Azriel brought him a jug of water for washing his hands. Upon entering the Torat Chesed’s room, he saw a form of fire and fell to the ground, fainting (the understanding from his words was that this was the Rebbe, the Tzemach Tzedek). The household members woke him from his faint and asked Rabbi Shneur Zalman if they should give him something to eat or drink (even thought it was Yom Kippur). The Rabbi answered that they should lay him on the bed for a short while, after which he got up and went on his way in good health.
