Miriam Friedman, whose life spanned the oppression of Soviet Russia, the chaos of post-World War II Europe and the heady growth of Chabad in the United States and around the world, passed away on June 11 at age 101.
She was born on the Jewish holiday of Tu B’Shevat in the winter of 1916 to Rabbi Yosef Baruch and Ita Menuchah Reichverger in the Ukrainian town of Kuzmyn, where her father was a rabbi and noted linguist.
Both of her parents were scions of Chassidic leadership. Her mother was a descendant of the Baal Shem Tov, and her father traced his lineage to Rabbi Pinchas of Koretz.
After the Bolshevik Revolution, the family suffered greatly for their adherence to Judaism.
For the so-called “crime” of being a rabbi, the Communist government declared her father a “parasite,” effectively ending his ability to earn a living. With next to nothing to eat, her older brother, Mordechai, was forced to leave home at age 13 in order to provide for the family.
At one time, her father was arrested by the Communists for the crime of playing cantorial music at home. Her brother, Yisroel Tzvi, was sent to Siberia and never seen again. His infraction? Translating a text into Hebrew.
Despite the dangers, Rabbi Reichverger made sure to tutor his daughter, Miriam, in Judaic studies. Naturally inclined toward mathematics, she enjoyed gematriaand studied bookkeeping, a skill she would come to use later in life.
As the Nazis advanced into Soviet territory in 1941, in the midst of World War II, she and her parents were evacuated to Tashkent along with her brother, Mordechai, a talented artist who worked for the Russian Military Academy.
Not all of her siblings were so fortunate. It is believed that they are among the countless anonymous Jews who met their deaths at Babi Yar outside Kiev.
While in Tashkent, the Reichvergers became acquainted with a young man named Yaakov Moshe Friedman, who had escaped the Nazi onslaught in Poland via Siberia. They were deeply impressed by the respect he held for his parents and the pains he took to help anyone in need. Still a teen, while in Siberia he worked a double shift so that neither he nor his father, Rabbi MeirYisroel Isser Friedman (the “Krynitzer Rav”), would have to work on Shabbat. At one point, he was known to have walked 30 miles in tattered shoes, fighting off attacks by wild dogs in order to bring food and blankets to a starving widow and her seven young daughters.
Yaakov Moshe and Miriam were married in Tashkent in 1944. At that time, they both became exposed to the community of Chabad Chassidim, who were active in feeding the hungry, housing those in need and providing a Torah education for children of the many Jewish refugees who had flooded the city. Yaakov Moshe would remain forever grateful for the life-saving assistance that he received from the Chabad activists.
They were also attracted to the joyous, loving and thoughtful approach to Judaism of the Chabad Chassidim.
The Rescue Operation
Their first child, a daughter, was born on May 9, 1945, which would be celebrated in the Soviet Union as Victory Day, commemorating the victory over Nazi Germany.
With the war in Europe over, the couple went to Lodz, but soon realized that Jewish life in Poland had gone up in smoke.
There, her husband came to the attention of Dr. Jacob Griffel of the Vaad Hatzalah, an American organization that endeavored to rescue Jews from the Holocaust and that now had turned its attention to assisting survivors. At his behest, the young couple traveled to Prague, then a way station for millions of Holocaust survivors looking to rebuild their lives.
The war-weary and battered Jewish refugees streaming into Czechoslovakia needed help to secure exit visas to the United States, Canada, South America and Israel. After making arrangements for the safe transport to America of Yaakov Moshe’s father, sister and brother, the Friedmans remained in Prague with their growing family and threw themselves into the rescue operation.
Their work was fraught with danger; it required creative documentation, transportation across heavily guarded borders, and the paying off of various state and government officials.
Yaakov Moshe established particularly good connections with the Guatemalan and San Salvadorian consulates, and through them managed to secure visas for thousands of refugees.
The authorities caught up with the couple’s activities, and Yaakov Moshe was jailed for six months. Miriam was left to care for their three young children for the duration of his imprisonment. When questioned, she denied knowing anything about her husband’s work, though ledger books from that period contain careful accounts and records in her handwriting, showing her detailed knowledge and involvement in her husband’s activities.
Family in the United States raised money for his release, and with the blessings and financial assistance of the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe—Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, of righteous memory—Yaakov Moshe was freed from prison, and able to obtain exit papers for himself and his family.
They made their way to the United States, where they settled in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Growing Connections in Brooklyn
There, their connection to the Chabad community continued to grow. They developed personal connections to the Rebbe—Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory—and members of his family.
Living in the large apartment complex at 1414-1418 President St., they were neighbors with the Rebbe’s mother, who would comment to her son how much she enjoyed listening to the melodious songs coming from the Friedman apartment on Shabbat.
Yaakov Moshe became an administrator at the Central Lubavitcher Yeshivah(a position he held for 40 years). Miriam balanced caring for her growing brood and working as a bookkeeper at various Chabad organizations. In the late 1980s, she was appointed bookkeeper for Keren Hachomesh, the charitable fund the Rebbe established in memory of his wife.
Her home on Montgomery Street was open to all in need. In addition to the countless tzedakah collectors who knew they were always welcome there, others would come for a fresh bed, warm meal and kind smile.
She and her husband—who passed away in 2004—watched with pride as their children took up positions in the Rebbe’s extensive network of Chabad shluchim all over the world.
The couple’s eldest daughter, Fay, and her husband, the late Rabbi Yankel Kranz, founded a Chabad outpost in Virginia. Their eldest son, Rabbi Manis Friedman, made his home in St. Paul, Minn., with his wife, Chanie, where he became founding dean of the Bais Chana women’s seminary. Their second daughter, Ita, is an emissary in Long Beach, Calif., with her husband, Rabbi Yitzchok Marcus.
Rabbi Benzion Friedman and his wife, Esther, joined emissaries in Kansas City. Rabbi Alter Eliyahu and Chaya Leah Friedman were among the emissaries dispatched by the Rebbe to Tzfat, Israel. Rabbi Shlomo Friedman lives with his wife, Brocha, in Brooklyn, where he is administrator of LubavitchYouth Organization. Rabbi Yosef Baruch Friedman and his wife, Sheina, also reside in Brooklyn, where he is director of Kehot Publishing Society.
The youngest sibling, Avraham, is an iconic Chassidic singer. Known by the stage name Avraham Fried, he has popularized many Chabad melodies, and uses his concerts and recordings as a vehicle for Jewish values and inspiration. He resides in Brooklyn with his wife, Tzivia.
Miriam Friedman remained lucid until her last day, anticipating the arrival of Moshiach, and quietly spreading her enthusiasm for Judaism and her firm belief in G‑d. Even as her body weakened and she needed nursing care, she made sure to emphasize to her caregivers, many of whom were not Jewish, to thank G‑d and acknowledge His kindness in their lives.
She is survived by hundreds of grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren all over the world. Just minutes after she was interred in the Old Montefiore Cemetery in Queens, N.Y., even before anyone had left the grounds, a great-granddaughter was born and named for her, perpetuating the family legacy.
