The Lubavitcher Rebbe was a graduate of ESTP in Paris

In regards to the ongoing conversation on this blog about the Rebbe�s years in Berlin and Paris. I was emailed a link to this long forgotten article in the Haaretz in PDF hosted on Bar Ilan U. (we thank American Jewish History for the tip). For the benefit of our readers we turned it into a .doc file. Most of the Berlin information was already written up in the Larger than life: The life and times of the Lubavitcher Rebbe Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. But let�s talk Sorbonne for a moment. This is a post script to some of the arguments we been having regarding the veracity of Rebbe�s studies in Sorbonne. (those were the days when the Alter Vitebsker was huffing and puffing and Dr. Rigg commented). Schneur concluded then by saying:

Shimmy [Shaul Shimon Deutsch] has not even reached the Paris period in his proposed multi volume biography. I can only tell you that he has done research on that and has documents including report cards, etc. proving either that the Rebbe went to Sorbonne or he did not. I will let him publish the book. I have seen these documents and they will make everyone happy.

OK, we can�t wait for the Liozner forever. Here what Professor Menachem Friedman discovered about the Paris period:

Friedman called his, friend, Jules Cappell, a comparative religions scholar with connections in the intelligence community. Perhaps he went to a private university, said Cappell. They checked, but came up empty-handed. An old Jew spoke to them over the phone. He said he knew where the rebbe had studied. Then he got scared and claimed to have forgotten. He was just a feeble old man, he declared. Friedman begged him to reconsider. "All right," he said. "It's called ESTP, a technological college for construction and industrial engineering on Boulevard St. Germain in Montparnasse." [ESTP in Paris]

"A lot of baloney," thought Friedman. "I'm sure Jules will tell me there is no such place." He took his wife and went to sit in a local cafe. At three o'clock, he returned to the hotel. An urgent message was waiting for him. "Yes!" shouted Cappell. "He did study there! Tomorrow at nine we'll go down and check the records." Friedman could not sleep all night. At eight thirty in the morning, he was at the school office. A file lay on the table. "Finally I met the Rebbe," he said. "I saw his picture attached to the top of the file. I was so excited I nearly lost my mind." He begged the secretary for permission to take a photograph. She said no, but eventually gave in. He pulled out his pocket camera and snapped page after page. Then he dragged the whole file over to the photocopy machine. Here he is! The Rebbe himself! In flesh and blood! Mendel Schneerson. Soviet citizen. Grades: Not outstanding, but not bad. Diploma: Licensed to practice electrical engineering. Address: Aha! 9 Rue de Boulard, 14th arr. No wonder he was nowhere to be found in the Jewish Quarter. Friedman raced from the school to Rue de Boulard. Quite a way, he thought to himself. I wonder how the Rebbe walked all this way every Shabbat. In the wintertime, he asked to leave early on Friday afternoon. A note was appended: permission granted, on condition that all tests are passed.

In February 1996, Friedman returned to Paris to check out the building on Rue de Boulard. At the Paris archives, he obtained a full list of tenants from the 1930s: Tchi Que, Chinese. Bruno Rani, Italian. Alexander Muzamin, Russian artist. Another Russian. A journalist. A French waiter. And Menachem Mendel, Russian student. Immediately following, Hayah Schneerson. Friedman put the list down. These are the neighbors the Rebbe studied Talmud with? Never mind, he consoled himself. At least I've found him.

Rebbe Rayatz's daughter Sheina (in the middle) with her groom Mendel Horenstein and his sister Sonya. Sheina and Mendel were with the Schneersons in Paris.

UPDATE: The house of the Lubavitcher Rebbe in Paris.