Rebbe: The Life and Teachings of Menachem M. Schneerson, the Most Influential Rabbi in Modern History

by Joseph Telushkin

Years later, also at a public speech, the Rebbe offered more background to the story, adding information that made the Alter Rebbe’s behavior seem even more unusual.1 All the actions he performed that day, including chopping wood and cooking a meal, took place on Yom Kippur, the holiest of Jewish holidays, and a day on which such activities are normally—and strictly—forbidden by Jewish law. The reason the new mother was alone now became clear as well; her family members were apparently so anxious to attend the Yom Kippur service that they left her alone, assuming that the woman would be all right resting by herself with the baby for a few hours. That day, the Alter Rebbe, having somehow learned that the new mother was alone, was suddenly overwhelmed with the certainty that the woman required someone to attend to her needs immediately; it might well be a matter of life and death. And since no one else was taking care of her, he concluded that he should be the one to do so.2