Blood Pressure Monitor of Rebbetzin Chana Schneersohn (Mother of the Lubavitcher Rebbe)

Blood Pressure Monitor of Rebbetzin Chana Schneersohn (Mother of the Lubavitcher Rebbe)

Accoson sphygmomanometer [manual blood pressure monitor], London, [ca. 1950s-1960s].
Letter of authenticity enclosed (handwritten note, in English, signed in Hebrew by R. Shalom Dov Ber (Barry) Gurary (1923-2005), only grandson of Rebbe Rayatz (son of his daughter Rebbetzin Chana and her husband R. Shemaryahu Gurary – the Rashag): "I hereby gift… the Accoson sphgmonanometer[!] that Mina [wife of R. Shalom Dov Ber Gurary] kept when cleaning out my uncle's mother's [Rebbetzin Chana Schneersohn, mother of the Lubavitcher Rebbe] apartment with my aunt. My uncle would take his mother's blood pressure with this device". Dated – 10th January 1990.

Rebbetzin Chana Schneersohn (1880-1964), mother of Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneersohn – the Lubavitcher Rebbe; daughter of the rabbi of Mykolaiv (Ukraine), R. Meir Shlomo, and his wife, Rebbetzin Rachel Yanovsky. Married R. Levi Yitzchak Schneersohn, and with utmost devotion joined him in fearlessly spreading Judaism under the communist rule, first in Ekaterinoslav and later in his exile to Chiali, Kazakhstan. During this time, she produced ink from weeds, to enable her husband to write his Torah novellae, and later risked her life by carrying his writings while traveling from place to place. These writings were later printed in his series of books Likutei Levi Yitzchak on the Zohar. R. Levi Yitzchak passed away in Alma-Ata (Almaty), Kazakhstan in 1944. In 1946, Rebbetzin Chana crossed the Russian border to Poland, and reached Paris in Adar 1947. Upon hearing the news of his mother's arrival in Paris, her son, Rebbe Menachem Mendel, who was already living in Brooklyn, immediately boarded a plane to meet his mother, who had been confined behind the Iron Curtain and whom he had not seen for 20 years. The Rebbe stayed in Paris for three months to arrange all the necessary authorizations for her immigration to the United States, and in Sivan, embarked with his mother on a ship to the USA. After her arrival in the United States of America, Rebbetzin Chana lived near her son, in close proximity to 770, no. 1418 on the corner of President St. and Kingstone St., Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York City. Some three years later, the Rayatz passed, and Rebbe Menachem Mendel became the Rebbe of Chabad. Rebbetzin Chana was very much involved in the lives of the Chassidim and in the various Chabad activities, and served on the board of Chabad women's organization in the United States.
She passed away on Shabbat, 6th Tishrei 1964, and is buried near the Rayatz and the Lubavitcher Rebbe. The Beit Chana network of girls' schools was named after her.
After the passing of Rebbetzin Chana Schneersohn in 1965, her daughter-in-law Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneersohn, and Rebbetzin Mina Gurary (wife of R. Shalom Dov Ber Gurary, daughter-in-law of Rebbetzin Chana and R. Shemaryahu Gurary) worked together on cleaning out her apartment (see Rebbetzin Chana, p. 190). According to the enclosed letter, while cleaning out the apartment of Rebbetzin Chana Schneersohn, Rebbetzin Mina Gurary kept the present blood pressure monitor.

Good condition. Mechanism not examined. Tears and minor wear to fabric cuff.