Most of us only know greatness from afar. We observe our leaders, absorb their messages — from a distance. Some are fortunate enough to be born to giants. And then there are those who join an exalted family when they marry. Three daughters-in-law of great men share their experiences.
“I hadn’t yet agreed to marry my husband,” she relates, “but he told me that I should come and meet his parents. No obligation at all, he said. I was in the area anyway, I may as well come by.
“I still remember walking up the narrow steps of Bluzhev. And how my future mother-in-law hugged me and said in Yiddish: ‘I’m giving you the key to the house.’ This was no obligation? I shot my future husband a look. The Rebbe stood behind her. He wasn’t wearing rebbishe garb, just his shirtsleeves, with suspenders — I only realized years later that he did that so that I would feel comfortable. In accented English, he said: ‘He’s a nice boy, yes?’ ”
The Rebbe and Rebbetzin’s warmth set the timbre of a relationship that Rebbetzin Spira would cherish for decades.
The daughter-in-law of Rav Yaakov Hillel, renowned Sephardic rosh yeshivah and mekubal, was first struck by how her in-law’s home is a throwback to another era. “There’s nothing there that might be from the 21st century. Not even a radio. And the talk, too: My father-in-law will never, ever discuss politics.” Rabbanit Hillel describes her in-law’s tangible respect for those who turn to them — it is this, she feels, which makes their home a bastion of peace.
Create a free account to keep reading.
