Unseen Moments
Rare Early Photos of the Lubavitcher Rebbe Surface in Chabad Archives
Rare black-and-white photos of the Lubavitcher Rebbe from the 1960s, captured by Rabbi Chaim Baruch Halberstam, have surfaced in Chabad archives, revealing intimate moments and historic visits, including Israeli President Zalman Shazar at 770 Brooklyn.
An extraordinary collection of previously unseen black-and-white photographs of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson זי"ע, from the mid-1960s has been revealed by JEM – The Jewish Educational Media, stirring deep emotion across Chabad communities worldwide.
The images, captured beginning in 5726 (1966), were taken by Rabbi Chaim Baruch Halberstam, a scion of the Sanz dynasty who arrived from Eretz Yisrael that year and quickly became one of the Rebbe’s trusted mashbakim (personal attendants).
For decades, Rabbi Halberstam accompanied the Rebbe and Rebbetzin at their home on President Street. Using a discreet Minox subminiature camera, uncommon and unnoticeable in an era when photography inside 770 was rare, Rabbi Halberstam documented intimate moments with no known parallels.
JEM, based in Crown Heights, recently rediscovered dozens of these tiny negatives – some as small as 8 mm, scratched and aged. Over the past month, technicians carefully stabilized the fragile film, scanned at high resolution, and restored details while preserving authenticity. Each frame was researched to identify exact dates, locations, and individuals
Among the images:
“These are not just photos, they are windows into the Rebbe’s early leadership,” a JEM spokesperson said. “Every restored image is a gift to future generations.” The full collection is being cataloged and will be made available through JEM’s digital archive in the coming months.