What did the Rebbe say about Marilyn Monroe
Rabbi Avraham David Tenenhaus, a long time educator in Montreal and a passionate Jewish activist (died in 1993), once visited the Lubavitcher Rebbe doe a private audience at 770 Eastern Parkway. During the visit, Rabbi Tenenhaus who was outspoken to the Rebbe, lamented the fact that the famous Chabad Chassid and mentor, Rabbi Peretz Motchkin from Montreal, was so poor.
“Rebbe”! Said Avraham David Tenenhaus. When Reb Peretz came to the Rebbe, he was reluctant to enter the Rebbe’s chamber with his torn Kapote (long Chassidic black coat.) So he borrowed a Kapote from Rabbi Shlomo Aaron Kasarnovski to put on before entering the Rebbe’s room.
Where is justice? Cried Tenenhaus. The world famous actress Marilyn Monroe, whose moral and spiritual stature is far far lower than that of Reb Peretz Motzkin, a woman who was not considered the most righteous person in Hollywood, just earned four million dollars on a movie!
[This was around 1960, shortly after the film “Some Like It Hot” in which she acted became an extraordinary hit, and earned her millions.]
And while Marilyn Monroe makes four million dollars, Peretz Motchkin is borrowing a Kapate to go into the Rebbe?!”
The Lubavitcher Rebbe responded:
Peretz Mochkin could not care less about having or not having money. It is not where his self worth comes from. The fact that his Kapate is torn does not disturb him the slightest, and he feels no shame in borrowing the capate to come in here.
He is a happy man.
YOU may be bothered by the fact; but he could not care less. His life, his passion, his heart is immersed in other matters.
Now Marilyn Monroe, with her millions of dollars and her extraordinary fame, is miserable within. She suffers terribly inside. She does not know who she is; nor does she appreciate her own true self worth. And the more she earns, the more success she achieves, the deeper her inner void grows, and the more she becomes depressed.
I am afraid, the Rebbe said, that soon we will all sadly observe how miserable this woman really is.
It is not Peretz Mochkin you should feel bad for; he is a happy human being. It is Marilyn Monroe you should feel bad for…
The Rebbe was an acute man. In August 1962, at the age of 36, Marilyn Monroe committed suicide. She overdosed herself to death.