Menachem Mendel Schneerson and his Beard
The Red Pill – Ramash Productions
Incredible collection of the Rayatz photos on the RebbeDrive. There are almost all photos of the Rayatz (few photos are missing). There are a number of the photos from the Citizenship ceremony in 1949. The Citizenship ceremony seems like a PR stunt organized by Ramash, he is literally in every photo. Note that Rashag is absent. Note that Merkos L'inyonei Chinuch, Ramash’s staff, in attendance Nissan Mindel, Chodokov. The Riga mafia. Ramash was probably working on the “I am the right hand of the Rebbe and the right man for the job” angle. And make sure there is a video and all the pictures printed in the Yiddish news. Professional photographers and videographers hired, press invited (most likely got Cramers to pay for it). Figured to schedule it when Rashag wasn’t around. This event in nutshell foretold the PR über alles future of Chabad. It had all the ingredients of the political power players mixed with the Jewish nostalgia that will become the trademark of Chabad business under Ramash.
All the pomp and it wasn’t even a religious event, just a zeide from the old country in a kolpak becoming an amerikaner. There was nothing of this level of “production” before in Chabad. It was a sign of things to come. Ramash was thinking ahead. The Rayatz was to die in only nine months.
JEM put a colored video on the tube. Why colored? Because it gave them the opportunity to paint black the gray suit and hat of the Ramash.
The voice-over goes on to tell us how respectful Ramash was to the Rayatz, blah, blah. If someone paid you for a no show job for over 10 years in Paris and Berlin and then 10 years in Brooklyn, you would be “respectful” too. Besides, the infirm and fading Rayatz didn’t know that he was being played, used as a prop in an elaborate Ramash’s PR production. Nechoma Deena wasn’t sophisticated enough to understand what was going on. But her intuition was right.
There is a bigger issue than the gray double-breasted suit.
The photo was discovered in Berlin by Shimie Deitch. I scanned it from the book and published on the original mentalblog. The picture is from 1928 (or later in Berlin). The beard is jagged, naturally untrimmed.
This photo is from 1929, allegedly in Riga. The wedding was in 1928 in Otvozk. Was the Rayatz still in Riga in 1929? This more likely in Otvozk. In the Riga apartment, in the middle of the city, did they even have the outdoors?
Now I think this photo is 1927 or earlier, likely in Leningrad. See updated post link below.
Anyhow, Ramash’s beard extends three, four inches below the chin. Despite being long, if I had to guess, I would say this is a trimmed beard. It looks unnaturally round and even at the edges (as we know Ramash’s natural beard was square). Not like a more bushy beard of the “college student” pictured in 1928 (or later) above. The young bride must have been nudging Ramash to make it more “presentable”. Fools, the natural beard looks so much better. After all, they were enjoying Berlin, the capital of the civilized world! He must have been pressured by his modern wife and his surroundings in the university. In any case, “Mikhail Lvovich” as Musya called him then, came to visit the in-laws. Moreover, if you compare the photo from 28 to the photo from 29, you can see that Ramash lost a tremendous amount of weight. One wouldn’t expect this is in the first year of marriage. We can only speculate about Musya’s confidence in the kitchen. Perhaps the adjustment to marriage destroyed the man. Easy to imagine knowing Mysua’s somewhat naive, princess on a pea disposition.
Rayatz still glowing from his big hasune, couldn’t be happier. He finally found someone for his difficult daughter.
The Rebbetzin served the afternoon tea outdoors. A box of matchers lays in front of Rayaz, so cigarette must be close.
Update: Dating of Menachem Mendel Schneerson Photos.
Indeed, here comes the savory puff. This photo was taken in the same location, likely at the same time. The distinct line of changing texture on the wall surface and the door.
In the same tea party, Nechoma Deena appears to be deeply concerned about something. She is visibly distraught. It's possible that a conversation during the afternoon tea sparked her worried contemplation regarding her daughter's family. Maybe Musya said something. This gathering was likely the first time they met in such an informal and comfortable atmosphere.
Interestingly, there are no photographs of Musya from any of these family visits. The photos, perhaps no head covering photos, might have been concealed in the Barry Gourary Memorial Library or destroyed altogether. This is why I am opposed to the transfer of the Schneerson collection from Moscow, as a large portion of the archive is expected to be censored and the remaining material may never see the light of day.
Purkersdorf c. 1936. Ramash came from Berlin Paris to the resort in Austria to visit the in-laws.
Miracle Growth
I do not understand the beard. This post has evolved from the Rebbe was trimming his beard in 1949, to I do not know, and I do not understand.
How did the young man with the bushy beard that extended below his chin in the late 1920s and 1930s appear with a shorter beard in the 1949 photographs, taken twenty years later? As most men know, beards don't get shorter.
The American WASP culture placed greater emphasis on shaving compared to Europe, while in Russia, having a beard was customary. One can observe from old photos of Raytaz in American cities like Boston that nobody had a beard during that time, possibly due to societal pressure.
After Ramash becomes the Rebbe the beard is fuller than in 1949 but is still short.
And then most of the beard growth starts in the 60s. And the beard continued to grow until the 90s.
The Rebbe beard appears to shorten in 23 years between 1927 and 1950.
Then for 10 years it grew slowly until 1960.
Then most of the growth is 1960-1990.
I sincerely do not understand what is happened here. The human beards don’t grow shorter and then start to grow in the late middle age. It’s a miracle!
BTW, the two judges. They look like the tall and strong Jewish breed. They probably selected the judges based on looks then. Both have a handkerchief peeking from the pocket. They look like two bothers. A “special act of congress”, two judges, the bid joke. Everyone in attendance, laughing and smiling all the way because it was a farce. In the context of what recently happened, the catastrophe that was left behind, an insulting joke of a ceremony. And it had all the markings of the Ramash production.
As an aside. When I was going to the American embassy in Rome, the Ladispoli Rebbe AKA TNLR told me you can’t raise your hand and swear as in neder. So, I waited for my turn to declare the allegiance to America and to gain an entry visa. When asked to raise my hand, I said: “can’t raise my hand for religious reasons”. The embassy clerk gave me an eye roll, another nutcase was reporting ashore. He wasn’t wrong… And here in the video and the photos, there was no problem for Rayaz in raising his holy hand? Always the double standard for us the peasants…
At least the Rebbetzin brought the cake and shown her fine cake cutting skills.
Bee Gees – “Heartbreaker”
I got to say it and it's hard for me You got me cryin' like I thought I would never be Love is believin', but you let me down How can I love you when you ain't around, and I Get to the morning and you never call Love should be everythin' or not at all And it don't matter whatever you do I made a life out of lovin' you Only to find any dream that I follow is dying I'm crying in the rain I could be searchin' my world for a love everlasting I'm feeling no pain, when will we meet again? And, why do you have to be a heartbreaker? Is it a lesson that I never knew Got to get out of the spell that I'm under My love for you Why do you have to be a heartbreaker? When I was bein' what you want me to be Suddenly everythin' I ever wanted has passed me by This world may end, not you and I My love is stronger than the universe My soul is cryin' for you, it cannot be reversed You made the rules but you could not see You made a life out of hurtin' me Out of my mind I am held by the power of your love Tell me when do we try? Why should we say goodbye? Why do you have to be a heart, heartbreaker? Is it a lesson that I never knew Got to get out of the spell that I'm under My love for you Why do you have to be a heartbreaker? Is it a lesson that I never knew Got to get out of the spell that I'm under My love for you, my love, my love Why do you have to be a heart, heartbreaker? When I was bein' what you want me to be Suddenly everythin' I ever wanted has passed me by My love, my love has passed me by Why do you have to be a heart, heartbreaker? Is it a lesson that I never, never knew
I discovered frum Kopuster desc in B'nai Brak,I've is interested in continuing Chabad dynasty
Whatever the beard situation was with Ramash (I doubt he touched his beard),the real issue is the great number of young Chabad men who shave and or trim beards.
For a real Lubavitzer it's akin to eating in a Burger King for a normative Orthodox Jew.
Doesn't any Chabad leader care ,how about the senior mashpiim Rav Manis,the Jacobson boys,Shayis etc