Two 100-Ruble Bills Given by the Rashab as Chanukah Gelt – Fifth Night of Chanukah 1919 – With Letter of ...

Two 100-Ruble Bills Given by the Rashab as Chanukah Gelt – Fifth Night of Chanukah 1919 – With Letter of Authenticity by Rebbetzin Chana Gurary

Two 100-Ruble bills given by Rebbe Shalom Duber Schneerson, Rebbe Rashab of Lubavitch, in Rostov-on-Don, on Motzaei Shabbat, the fifth night of Chanukah, December 20, 1919.
The bills were issued in Stockholm (Sweden) in 1919, for the Northwestern Army (part of the White Army), commanded by General Nikolai Yudenich. Yudenich's signature is printed on the bills.
Letter of authenticity enclosed (handwritten note, in English), signed in Hebrew by Rebbetzin Chana Gurary (1899-1991), eldest daughter of Rebbe Rayatz and granddaughter of the Rebbe Rashab: "I hereby gift… the 100 Ruble note I received from my grandfather [Rebbe Rashab] on Motzei Shabbos the 5th night of Chanukah, a few weeks before the white army fell in 1920". (The letter mentions one bill only. According to R. Shaul Shimon Deutsch, who received the bills from the Rebbetzin, the Rashab gave Rebbetzin Gurary the second bill for her betrothed, R. Shemaryahu Gurary, the Rashag). The letter is dated December 10, 1989.

In his discourses, the Lubavitcher Rebbe spoke several times about the custom of Rebbe Rayatz and Rebbe Rashab to give Chanukah gelt to all members of their households on the fourth or fifth day of Chanukah (See: HaYom Yom, 28 Kislev).

In autumn 1915, during WWI, the German enemy approached Smolensk, close to Lubavitch, and Rebbe Rashab and his entourage were forced to flee the town which was home to his great-grandfather the Mitteler Rebbe since 1813. After several days of wandering, he settled in Rostov-on-Don in south-western Russia and lived there for four years. During those harrowing days, while a civil war raged in Russia, Rebbe Rashab devoted himself to improving the material and spiritual state of Russian Jewry. He sent disciples to Bukhara and Georgia, built mikvaot, aided war refugees and orphans, and made every effort to preserve Judaism during those arduous times.
Before his passing on 2nd Nissan 1920, the Rashab chose Rabbi Shemaryahu Gurary (the Rashag), son of R. Menachem Mendel Gurary of Kremenchuk, for his eldest granddaughter Rebbetzin Chana. They became engaged on 12th Tammuz 1920, three months after the death of the Rashab, and the wedding took place about one year later, on 11th Sivan 1921.
The Rebbe Rashab gave these bills as Chanukah gelt to his eldest granddaughter Rebbetzin Chana and to her betrothed, the Rashag, in Rostov-on-Don, on Motzaei Shabbat, the fifth night of Chanukah, 29th Kislev (December 20) 1919. Three weeks later, on January 10, 1920, the city of Rostov fell to the Red Army cavalry commanded by Semyon Mikhailovich Budyonny, and the bills became worthless.

Very good condition.