Why Did The Rebbe Go To His Father-in-Law's Grave?

Amongst the nonsense on the internet which some of you may have heard or read lately, some people are now under the impression that Judaism forbids prayer at the Kever of a Tzaddik.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  

Click here to read why we pray at the graves of Tzadikim and see below to learn the truth about the Lubavitcher Rebbe's prayers at his father-in-law's grave.

The Rebbe would often go to the Ohel, the resting place of his father-in-law, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (the "Rayatz"), of righteous memory. In the first year after the Rayatz's passing in 1950, the Rebbe would take a bus to the Ohel together with the yeshivah students before every Rosh Chodesh (the first day of a new Jewish month). After that year, the Rebbe would travel by car. After the Rebbe's mother passed away in 1964, the Rebbe started going an additional time, mid-month. In even later years, there were times when the Rebbe would go to the Ohel four times a week, nearly every weekday.

I [Yehuda Krinsky] drove the Rebbe almost every time, thousands of times. The Rebbe always had bags of letters with him, filled with requests of every kind that the Rebbe would read at his father-in-law's resting place.

The Rebbe (far left) at the resting place of the sixth Lubavitch Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, of righteous memory.

The Rebbe stood opposite Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak's burial spot the entire time. There was a small room built to protect the Rebbe from the cold, heat, snow and rain. In the summertime, we had an air conditioner, and in the wintertime a heater, so the Rebbe would remain relatively comfortable.

The custom at the Ohel is to tear your letter after reading it, and toss the shreds onto the burial spot. The Rebbe would do this with many of the letters he received. Sometimes, however, the Rebbe would jot a response on a letter and bring it back with him to his office.    

Source: Yehuda Krinsky Chabad