 Lubavitch
is the name of a small town in
Russia meaning "town of love". It
was Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi who
founded the movement, while his son
established court in Lubavitch, and
the name stuck. In Hasidic Judaism,
a dynasty normally takes its name
from the town in Eastern Europe
where it was born and originated.
The followers of Lubavitch place
great emphasis on the value and
meaning of their group name and town
of origin. They say that this
evokes, symbolizes, and embodies who
they are.
 Chabad
is sometimes written as Habad in
English, and in all the phonetic
equivalents of the name in all the
countries they operate in. Thus, as
an example, Jabad is the Spanish
form, particularly important to the
Jews of Latin America, most notably
Argentina, which has the largest
concentration of Spanish speaking
Jews anywhere in the world and
therefore has a large Lubavitch
presence as well.
After an initiative from his
father-in-law, the 6th Lubavitcher
Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Schneerson
spurred the movement on to what has
become known as shlichus (outreach
work). As a result, Chabad shluchim
(emissaries) have moved all over the
world with a mission of helping all
Jews, regardless of demonination or
affiliation, to learn more about
traditional Judaism and their Jewish
heritage.
 They
have trained and ordained thousands
of rabbis, educators, ritual
slaughterers, and ritual
circumcisers, who are all
accompanied by equally motivated
spouses and typically large
families, all of whom aim to fulfill
their mandate of Jewish outreach,
education, and revival. They look
for and recruit people who want to
join them, and they are the
originators of, and major players
in, the Teshuva movement, which
encourages Jews alienated from their
religion to become more Jewishly
aware and religiously observant.
Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson
greatly emphasized spreading
awareness of the coming of Moshiach,
the Jewish Messiah, and preparing
for his imminent arrival. Belief in
the imminent coming of Moshiach is a
fundamental Jewish belief. The Era
of Redemption, or Geula, is the
culmination of the spiritual work
since the Creation of the world. We
prepare and pave the way for
Moshiach's coming by doing Mitzvoth
- the 613 commandments for Jews, as
detailed in the Torah.
Non-Jews have 7, G-d given, Noahide
Laws and the Rebbe strongly
encouraged raising awareness of
these Laws.
Once, when asked what remains to be
done to bring Moshiach, the Rebbe
answered that we need to perform
"Acts of Goodness and Kindness," now
a popular catchphrase. Rabbi
Schneerson intended that Moshiach
awareness be an essential part of
everything we do, and thus it is
unusual for any Chabad function to
be without mention of the desire for
the immediate Redemption.
The worldwide headquarters of the
Chabad movement is 770 Eastern
Parkway in Brooklyn, in the
neighborhood of Crown Heights.
This movement attaches importance to
singing Hasidic tunes, either with
or without words. Some of these can
be found in Midi format here
(http://www.geocities.com/novartza/Main/Midis.htm)
.
Rabbi Schneerson's passing in 1994
has created a rift of sorts among
Chabad followers, and between Chabad
and other Jews. Many of the his
teachings were interpreted to mean
that he was the destined Messiah,
though no Rabbinic authorities
outside of Chabad accepted this as
fact. After his passing, some Chabad
authorities held that he could not
be the Messiah, while others claimed
that according to Jewish belief, the
Messiah could come from the living
or the dead, while others debated
whether the classic meaning of death
could apply at all to the truly
righteous, and a small number even
claimed that Schneerson was an
incarnation of God. The thought that
the a person could be an incarnation
of God, or that the Messiah could
come from the dead, has provoked
some strong reactions; a work by Dr.
David Berger, professor of history
at the City College of New York,
enumerated criticisms of these
views.
Origins
Chabad traces its roots back to the
beginnings of Hasidic Judaism:
Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer 1698 - 1760
was known as the Baal Shem Tov
(abbreviated as BeSHT, meaning
"Master of the Good Name") a title
rarely applied, and only in
exceptional circumstances to a known
Jewish holy man and miracle worker
beloved and revered by the common
folk. According to Hasidic
tradition, he studied the inner
secrets of the Torah under the
legendary Biblical figure Achiah the
Shilonite, who the Talmud identifies
as never having died. He based his
nascent movement in Mezibush,
Ukraine.
Rabbi Dovber of Mezeritch d. 1772.
Sought out the Baal Shem Tov and
became his leading disciple. He was
well-versed in the Lurianic Kabbalah
and when he met the Baal Shem Tov he
acknowledged him as his master in
this area of esoteric mystical
wisdom. Upon the death of the BeSHT
he assumed the leadership of the
movement that would become known as
Hasidism .
Rebbes of Chabad:
Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi 1745 -
1812, son of Rabbi Boruch.
Rabbi Dovber 1773 - 1827, son of
Shneur Zalman.
Rabbi Menachem Mendel 1789 - 1866,
grandson of Shneur Zalman and
son-in-law of Dovber.
Rabbi Shmuel 1834 - 1882, son of
Rabbi Menachem Mendel .
Rabbi Sholom Dovber 1860 - 1920, son
of Rabbi Shmuel.
Rabbi Joseph Isaac Schneersohn 1880
- 1950, only son of Sholom Dovber.
Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson
1902 - 1994, sixth in paternal line
from Rabbi Menachem Mendel, and
son-in-law of Joseph Isaac.
The names "Schneersohn" and "Schneerson"
began as patronymics by Shneur
Zalman's descendants. The first form
of this name was "Shneuri" (Hebrew
for "of Shneur".) This was later
changed to "Schneerson". |
