The Rebbe�s brother Yisroel Aryeh Leib
The last years [in Berlin] the Rebbe spent with his younger brother, Yisroel Aryeh Leib. As explained in Volume 1, Yisroel Aryeh Leib had left Russia in the middle of 1930 to escape the communist oppression of dissidents. When he arrived in Berlin, he was very sick with typhus. Escaping Russia was no easy task. At times, the group of escapees literally faced death. In the process, Yisroel Aryeh Leib, who left Russia using the passport of Mordechai Gurary, became ill.
The Rebbe's nephew, Sholom Ber Gourary, remembers how the Rebbe and his aunt took care of Leibel.
"I remember that in one corner of their apartment was a bed for Leibel. There was a net-like material which hung over his bed. I was impressed by the devotion and care they showed to him during his illness. Despite the fact that typhus was very contagious, they took him into their apartment."
In Berlin, Yisroel Aryeh Leib, who now referred to himself as Mark Gurari, followed in his brother's footsteps and enrolled at the University of Berlin. He was a student there from 1931-33.
Although the Rebbe and his brother had similar facial features, their appearances were quite different. As the Rebbe's nephew describes:
�The Rebbe and his brother were two opposites in appearance. While the Rebbe walked around Berlin in a beret and a well-tailored suit, his brother wore a pair of slacks with his shirt out. While my uncle's hair was short, Leibel's was long and wild. However, it was clear that they really cared for each other. Besides hiring a taxi and going out together with my aunt [the Rebbetzini on Monday nights, the Rebbe and his brother would also play around like brothers. I remember that both of them were physically very strong and would challenge each other by locking their arms on one another's shoulders and wrestling with each other for long periods of time. After it had lasted for quite a while, my aunt would come and break it up.�
In 1933, when Germans began to crack down on the Jews, the Rebbetzin risked her life for the Rebbe's brother.
Although the Rebbe and his brother were still close in Berlin, they realized that they had grown apart. Yisroel Aryeh Leib was no longer religious and began courting his future wife, Regina Milgram. Regina, the Rebbe's sister-in-law, who is still alive and lives in London, is vehemently anti-religious. In a phone conversation, she called Chasidim "religious fanatics". She is the only one who spells her name "Gurari" in the London phone book. As the book went to press, I learned of the passing of Regina. She was buried along side her husband in Israel.
Regina Milgram was born on September 29, 1910 in Lodz. At that time, Lodz was part of Russia. Later it became part of Poland. Her parents were Hirsch Meyer Milgram, a Jewish merchant, and Sarah Jaffe. Both her parents were killed in the Lodz Ghetto. In our phone conversation, the Rebbe's sister-in-law told me that her brother-in-law, the Rebbe, was the one who filed the information about her parents with Yad Vashem.
As a young girl, Regina attended primary and secondary schools in Lodz from the age of seven to the age of fourteen and then moved with her parents to Danzig, where she continued her education in a private school until she was 19 years old. She then attended the Institute of Hygiene in Danzig for two years. In 1931, she went to Berlin and worked as a laboratory technician at the Hufeland Hospital. This hospital was just a few blocks away from where the Rebbe and his brother lived. It was in Berlin that they met, and she stayed in Berlin until 1933. When the Nazi crackdown began, she returned to her parents' home in Danzig. Shortly afterwards, both Regina and the Rebbe's brother emigrated to the land of Israel.
When she arrived in the Holy Land, Regina worked for two years in a pharmacy in Tel Aviv. In 1935, she became a laboratory technician with Dr. Walter Kahn of Tel Aviv and continued to work there for 15 years. The couple finally got married in Tel Aviv on August 15th, 1939 (Rosh Chodesh Elul 5699). Like his brother, the Rebbe, Leibel never received a degree from the University of Berlin. After emigrating to Israel, Leibel worked at a local library in Tel Aviv. He then opened a clothing store, located on Nachlos Binyamin #3 in Tel Aviv. The store was open on Shabbos as well. Various Chabad Chasidim who prayed at the Chabad Shut at Nachlas Binyamin #23 (known as "Chasidei Chabad Hamerkazi") tried to convince Leibel to close his store on Shabbos. However, this was to no avail. Rabbi Binyamin Althaus related:
"My father [Reb Pinchas] repeatedly tried to influence him to return to Judaism. However, it was a lost cause. Leibel was not only irreligious, he was anti-religious. He would deliberately walk in the Tel Aviv bus station on Shabbos with a cigarette in his hand. I also remember that in 1948, my father had visited New York for the High Holidays and when he returned to Israel, he brought back with him letters from the Rebbe and his mother addressed to Leibel. The following evening, Leibel came over to our house to pick up the letters. Rabbi Nochum Goldshmid, one of Leibel's childhood friends, seemed to have the most influence on him. Reb Nochum did manage to get Leibel to come to some Chasidic Yud Tes Kislev gatherings. However, that was the extent of his involvement with Judaism."
Rabbi Beri Chaskind, another famed Chabad Chasid, also tried repeatedly to influence him and bring him back to Judaism. However, these efforts were fruitless. In fact, many Chasidim related that "Leibel would deliberately walk in front of the Chabad synagogue, about the time that prayers were ending, with a cigar in his hand". Eventually, his store went bankrupt. Nachlot Binyamin Street in Tel Aviv still has one store owner who remembers Leibel well. The owner of Robinson Books, located at Nachlat Binyamin #31, relates: "I remember Gurari well. He had a major problem; he was very unorganized. His store was always a mess and every day he would open his store at a different time. I would tell him to clean up the place. Then one day he just had to close. He couldn't pay the rent." He then began working in a bookstore. As Verdina Shionsky related (see Volume I, Chapter VII), she would meet her cousin, Leibel, in the bookstore quite often.
However, Yisroel Aryeh Leib was not happy with himself. He did not feel accomplished. Leibel's dream was to finish his education. In his spare time, he would delve into mathematical problems. With the help of Zalman Shazar, he went to England to continue his studies. Leibel arrived in London on May 8, 1950. He traveled to Bristol University to discuss some of his independent research work in the field of physics with Professor Albrecht Frohlich and Professor Heilbron, both of the Department of Mathematics at Bristol University. With their help, Leibel became an external science student at the University of London. Based on his independent research work, he was awarded a B.Sc. in Special Mathematics in June of 1951.
Dr. Albrecht Frohlich, who had helped the Rebbe's brother to be accepted at the University of London, helped him once again. His relative. Dr. Herbert Frohlich, held the Chair of Theoretical Physics at the University of Liverpool. With his help, Leibel filed an application with the Faculty of Science at Liverpool to write a Ph.D. thesis in Theoretical Physics. The subject of his dissertation was Theory of Electrons in Solids. The Faculty of Science minutes for October 8, 1951 show that the dissertation was approved. Besides working on his dissertation, Leibel also worked in the Theoretical Physics math lab to help struggling physics students. This allowed him to earn some money while working on his Ph.D.
The Rebbe's brother lived in close proximity to the Liverpool campus. The Liverpool phone book for 1952 lists him as living at 56A Croxteth Road, Liverpool 8 in Sefton Park. The Immigration Department records also list this location as his address. Yisroel Aryeh Leib had been struggling for years with financial woes. The Rebbe hoped that his brother might finally have some peace and a successful career by receiving a Ph.D. In a handwritten note which the Rebbe had written to his father-in-law [this must be a typo as Deutsch wrote that Regina�s parent perished in Lodz] several years earlier, he says:
"I want to awaken mercy from the source of mercy and forgiveness on behalf of my mother, Chana, daughter of Rachel, that she be inscribed for a good and sweet year in all her endeavors. May she have a long, healthy and happy life. She should not have any hardships or worries. She should only know happiness. My brother, Yisroel Aryeh Leib, son of Chana, should be written and signed for a good and sweet year. He should organize himself in the best circumstance for him. He should be able to make a good living peacefully. Only goodness, kindness should meet him in all of his days. Good which is visibly good. His wife Gina should be written and signed for a good and sweet year in all ways. Only goodness and kindness should meet her. Good which is visibly good. Their daughter, Dalia daughter of Gina, should be written and signed for a good and sweet year. Her parents should raise her in a comfortable environment. May they have much happiness from her in all ways."The Rebbe's brother, who had a hard life, did not live to complete his Ph.D. He died on May 8, 1952 in Sefton Park, Liverpool. Dr. Herbert Frohlich, who helped the Rebbe's brother so much since he had arrived in England, gathered together some of Leibel's notes and published them in Philosophical Magazine, in March 1953.
UPDATE: A reader writes: �The attached appears to be the Yad Vashem filing for Hirsch Milgrom, the father-in-law of the Rebbe�s brother�. [filed by Dalia Rotman not the Rebbe as per Deutsch]
posted by Tzemach Atlas at 11:24 AM
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