The Rebbe Maharash’s Hand-Carved Table in the Rebbe’s Room

Few items carry a story as rich and personal as the small wooden table crafted by the Rebbe Maharash. The table was gifted to the Rebbe while in Paris by a granddaughter of the Rebbe Maharash, and it remains in the Rebbe’s room to this day.

By Anash.org writer

Among the many historic items in the Rebbe’s room, few carry a story as rich and personal as the small wooden table crafted by the Rebbe Maharash. Unlike many artifacts that passed through the Rebbe’s room temporarily, this table has remained there for decades and is still there today.

Following doctors’ advice to engage in manual labor for health reasons, the Rebbe Maharash devoted time to woodworking. He crafted several tables and other wooden pieces known for their beauty, and also wrote several mezuzos and a Megillah, famously known as the Rebbe Maharash’s Megillah, with pictures of it displayed in the library.

The story of the table’s arrival begins in Paris, 5707 (1947), during a unique and lesser-known chapter in the Rebbe’s life. For about three months, the Rebbe stayed in Paris to greet and assist his mother, Rebbetzin Chana, after her escape from Soviet Russia.

At the time, a woman named Mrs. Chana Ozerman was living in Paris. She was the daughter of R’ Mendel Schneerson, the son of the Rebbe Maharash. In her possession was a table hand-carved by her grandfather. It had been passed down through her father and remained in her care. Recognizing the table’s special and historical significance, Mrs. Ozerman gifted it to the Rebbe during his visit.

The gifted table, modest in size and circular in shape, was brought back to New York and reassembled in the Rebbe’s room at 770, near the Rebbe’s desk, where it regularly held seforim when the main table was full. A Sefer Haftaros written on parchment was a fixture on that table.