Everything about Lubavitch totally explained
Chabad-Lubavitch is one of the largest
Hasidic movements in
Orthodox Judaism, and is based in the
Crown Heights neighborhood of
Brooklyn. Chabad (חב"ד ) is a
Hebrew acronym for
Chochmah,
Binah,
Da'at meaning Wisdom, Understanding, and Knowledge. Lubavitch is the only extant branch of a family of Hasidic sects once known collectively as the Chabad movement; the names are now used interchangeably.
The movement took its name from
Lyubavichi, the Russian town which served as the movement's headquarters for over a century. It has over 200,000 adherents, and up to a million Jews attend Chabad services at least once a year. Its adherents follow Chabad
traditions and
prayer services based on
Lurianic kabbalah. As "Hasidim", they follow the
Chassidus of
Israel ben Eliezer.
Founded in the late
18th century by
Shneur Zalman of Liadi, Chabad-Lubavitch has had seven leaders or
rebbes.
Menachem Mendel Schneerson succeeded his father-in-law,
Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn in 1950, becoming the seventh leader of the movement, a position he held until his death in 1994.
Today the movement runs thousands of centers around the world, Jewish community centers, synagogues and schools, providing
outreach and educational activities for Jews.
Philosophy of Chabad
The founder of the Chabad thought system, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, developed an intellectual system and approach to Judaism intended to answer criticisms of Hasidism as anti-intellectual. Through a philosophy based partly on Kabbalah, Chabad thought methodised an understanding of God.
Chabad thought formulates the teachings of Kabbalah as a means to deal with one's daily life and psyche. It teaches that every aspect of the world exists only through the intervention of God. Through an intellectual approach and meditations, Chabad teaches that one can attain complete control over one's deeds.
"Chabad"
According to Tanya the intellect consists of three interconnected processes:
Chochma (wisdom),
Bina (understanding), and
Da'at (knowledge). While other branches of Hasidism focused primarily on the idea that "God desires the heart," Rabbi Shneur Zalman argued that He also desires the mind, and that without the mind the heart was useless. With the Chabad philosophy he elevated the mind above the heart, arguing that
"...understanding is the mother of...fear and love of God. These are born of knowledge and profound contemplation of the greatness of God."
According to
Jonathan Sacks, in Rabbi Shneur Zalman's system
Chochma represents "the creation in its earliest potentiality; the idea of a finite world as was first born in the divine mind.
Binah is the idea conceived in its details, the result of contemplation.
Da'at is, as it were, the commitment to creation, the stage at which the idea becomes an active intention." While in Kabbala there are clearly delineated levels of holiness, in Chabad philosophy these are grounded in the mundanities of peoples inner lives. So in reality - according to the Chabad analogy -
Chochma is the birth of an idea in the mind,
Binah is the contemplation, and
Da'at is the beginning of the actualisation of an idea. Sacks argues that this provided a psychological formulation that enabled the hasid to substantiate his mystical thoughts.
"This was an important advance because bridging the gap between spiritual insight and daily behaviour had always been a problem for Jewish mysticism."
Chabad can be contrasted with the
Chagat (Chesed, Gevurah, Tiferet) school of Hasidism. While all Hasidim have a certain focus on the emotions, Chagat saw emotions as a reaction to physical stimuli, such as dancing singing or beauty. Shneur Zalman, on the other hand, taught that the emotions must be led by the mind, and thus the focus of Chabad thought was to be Torah study and prayer rather than esotericism and song.
Tanya
Tanya, Shneur Zalman's moral magnum opus, is the first schematic treatment of Hasidic moral philosophy and its metaphysical foundations.
Some have argued that Shneur Zalman's moderation and synthesis saved Hasidism from becoming a Jewish breakaway movement, keeping it within the fold. Avrum Erlich writes: "Shneur Zalman was instrumental in the preservation of Hasidism within mainstream Judaism. It allowed for some of the mystically inclined Hasidim to reacquaint themselves with traditional scholarship and the significance of strict halakhic observance and behavior, concerning which other Hasidic schools were sometimes less exacting. Shneur Zalman also provided the opportunity for traditionalists and scholars to access the Hasidic mood and its spiritual integrity without betraying their traditional scholarly allegiances."
Torah study
Shneur Zalman fought against the perception that was prevalent in the early years of Hasidism that the movement neglected Talmudic study by focusing too heavily on mysticism and obscurantism. He emphasized that mysticism without Talmudic study was worthless - even dangerous. Without Talmudic study, he argued, the mind could never be elevated - and if the mind isn't elevated, the
soul will starve. On the other hand, he argued that while Torah was to be the focus of all study, it was also important to integrate the Torah's teachings into one's life. In a letter to Rabbi Joshua Zeitin of Shklow, Shneur Zalman wrote: "The Hasidim, too, set aside time for study. The difference between them and the
Misnagdim is this: the latter set time for study and they're limited by time, whereas the former make the Torah their path of life." Beyond this, Chabad demands
pnimiyut (inwardness): one shouldn't act superficially, as a mere act of faith, but rather with inner conviction.
M. M. Schneerson's philosophy
Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson strove, in his writings and lectures, to attain unity between opposites. He aimed to unite the mundane aspects of the world with the aspect of "godliness" in the world. Schneerson emphasized the concept of creating an abode for God on this world. Consequently, he sought to unite the modern world with the teachings of Judaism. He felt that the world wasn't a contradiction to the word of God, and it was to be embraced rather than shunned.
Role of the rebbe
Schneerson emphasised Chabad's view of a rebbe as a "collective soul", connecting his disciples with God. In a letter written several months after the passing of his father-in-law and predecessor, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, Schneerson writes that the role of a Rebbe is to develop the minds and hearts and to stimulating the faith of his followers.
Politics
Schneerson took a very hawkish view of the
Israeli-Arab conflict. He maintained that as a matter of Jewish law, any territorial concession on Israel's part would endanger the lives of all the Jews in the Land of Israel and is therefore forbidden. He also insisted that even discussing the possibility of such concessions showed weakness and would encourage Arab attacks, and thus endanger Jewish lives.
In USA domestic politics Schneerson supported government involvement in education, welcomed the establishment of the
United States Department of Education in 1980, but insisted that part of school's educational mission was to inculcate in children the religious values inherent in the
Seven Laws of Noah. He called for the introduction of a
Moment of silence at the beginning of the school day, and for students to be encouraged to use this time for such improving thoughts or prayers as their parents might suggest.
Bringing the Messiah
Schneerson became infused with a drive to "accelerate the coming of the Messiah". With increasing frequency over four decades, he repeated that the Messiah's arrival was imminent.
He instructed his followers to become active in
kiruv - with the aim of educating non-orthodox Jews about orthodox Jewish practices.
This approach to outreach became known as
Ufaratzta (from Genesis 28:14), a Hebrew word meaning
"you shall spread out" to implore his followers to bring the messianic times closer by spreading Jewish observance.
History of Lubavitch
The Rebbes of Lubavitch
The movement originated in
Belarus in
Eastern Europe, then part of
Imperial Russia under the
Tsars. Chabad traces its roots back to the beginnings of
Hasidic Judaism.
- Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi (1745–1812), was the youngest student of Rabbi Dovber of Mezeritch and founded the Chabad dynasty (he is known as the Alter Rebbe). He defined the direction of his movement and influenced Hasidic Judaism through his two most famous works the Tanya and the Shulchan Aruch HaRav. Tanya is primarily mystical and expounds upon the Zohar. The Shulchan Aruch HaRav is an authoritative work on Jewish law amongst hasidim. The names "Schneersohn" and "Schneerson" began as patronymics by Rabbi Shneur Zalman's descendants. The first form of this name was "Shneuri" (Hebrew for "of Shneur"). This was later changed to "Schneersohn".
- Rabbi Dovber Schneuri (1773–1827), son of Rabbi Shneur Zalman. Known as the Mitteler Rebbe. He authored many famous works, which aimed to categorize and render accessible mystical pursuits, particularly the various states of meditation in prayer. His magnum opus Sha'ar HaYichud aims to systematically explain the concept of God's unity with the universe.
- Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn (1789–1866), grandson of Rabbi Shneur Zalman and son-in-law of Dovber, known for his responsa named Tzemach Tzedek. He was a major hasidic posek of his time. He also edited and annotated many of the Alter Rebbe's works, as well as authoring a vast amount of his own mystical works. He was politically active in resisting the Haskalah in Russia, and to this end forged an alliance with Rabbi Yitzchok of Volozhin, a major leader of the misnagdim.
- Rabbi Shmuel Schneersohn (1834–1882), youngest son of Rabbi Menachem Mendel, known as "The Rebbe Maharash". His most famous saying is Lechatchile ariber — don't bother trying to go around or under obstacles, go right over them. He was politically active in defending Jewish interests against antisemitic elements in the Tsar's government.
- Rabbi Sholom Dovber Schneersohn (1860–1920), son of Shmuel, known as "the Rebbe Rashab". He is known for founding the Tomchei Temimim yeshiva network and his opposition to secular and religious political Zionism. His long essays on Chasidus (Ma'amorim) are classical Chassidic works, and are studied in all Chabad yeshivas as an introduction to Chasidus.
- Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn (1880–1950), only son of Sholom Dovber, known as the "Rebbe Rayatz" or the "Frierdiker Rebbe" (Previous Rebbe). He was the first Lubavitcher Rebbe in the United States. Following the tradition of his predecessors, he wrote lengthy ma'amorim, but also dedicated much time to more basic ma'amorim suitable for beginners. He kept a diary in which he recorded Hasidic stories he'd heard; many excerpts of this diary have been published, and these are a major source of knowledge about Hasidic history in general and Chabad history in particular.
- Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902–1994), sixth in paternal line from Menachem Mendel and son-in-law of Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn. He was successful in expanding the ranks of Chabad and spreading Orthodox Judaism in general. Even after his death he's revered as the leader of the Chabad movement.
Shneur Zalman of Liadi was the founder of the Chabad school of Hasidism. He became involved in the early Hasidic movement. His background as a youth had been in traditional
Talmud study rather than hasidism.
Shneur Zalman of Liadi
The
Alter Rebbe became not only the leader of his own hasidic movement but a prominent figure in Hasidim in general through his writings. He was the first to codify the philosophy of Hasidism in a comprehensive way and the first to put the customs and
halacha of hasidism into book form. - the exact details remain contended to this day, although the accusations against him were certainly false.
He supported the Tsar against Napoleon in
French invasion of Russia (1812) arguing that the emancipation of the Jews would lead to laxity in observance. His death in 1812, while fleeing from Napoleon left the question of succession open.
Dovber Schneuri
Schneuri moved with the followers who preferred him to the small border town of
Lyubavichi. He established a Yeshiva in Lubavitch, one of the earliest Hasidic yeshivas. reputedly with the help of Admiral
Wilhelm Canaris. Most of the Chabad Yeshiva system was destroyed by
Bolshevik governments and the
Nazi invasion in
1941, and many of its students were killed.
His ten years in New York saw the seeds of Lubavitch emissary work, and its messianic drive that was later taken on by his son-in-law and successor
Menachem Mendel Schneerson. In 1948, on his instruction
Kfar Chabad was established in
Israel.
Succession
He had three daughters, one married Mendel Hornstein, and died alongside him in the Holocaust. Another married Rabbi
Shemaryahu Gurary and a third
Chaya Mushka married Menachem Mendel Schneerson. Schneerson and Gurary became the candidates for succession on Yosef Yitzchak's death.
After a one year Schneerson accepted leadership and turned the movement from a fairly prominent Hasidic sect into a large organization with a presence throughout the world.
Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who had been living in
Berlin and
Paris,
France, since
1933, escaped from Paris via
Nice in
1941 and joined his father-in-law in the
Crown Heights section of
Brooklyn,
New York City. The worldwide headquarters of the Chabad movement is at
770 Eastern Parkway in the neighborhood of
Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and is referred to as "770" by Chabad adherents.
Menachem Mendel Schneerson
On
Menachem Mendel Schneerson's accession to the post of Rebbe, a year after his father-in-law's death he began turning the movement into a powerful force in Jewish life. His policies led to the establishment of Chabad institutions in over 900 cities around the world. He inspired many of his followers to dedicate their life's work to Chabad by talking of the impending
messianic redemption. in a 1984 book became commonplace within the movement in the years leading up to his death.
Schneerson's lack of offspring or a clear primary student exacerbated the messianism and his death in 1994 has led to a fundamental split in the Chabad movement between the messianists who believe that Schneerson is the messiah and the anti-messianists who either don't believe this, or believe that this should be a private belief. As of 2006 there were Chabad centers in 70 countries.
Current activities
Adherents
Chabad is currently thought to be the third or fourth largest
Hasidic movement in
Orthodox Judaism in terms of numbers of adherents, with only the
Satmar,
Ger, and
Belz dynasties having more followers. There are over 200,000 adherents to the movement, and up to a million Jews attend Chabad services at least once a year.
Emissaries
Following the initiative of the
sixth Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson spurred on the movement to what has become known as
shlichus ("serving as an emissary [performingoutreach]") after becoming
Rebbe in 1950-1951. As a result, Chabad
shluchim ("emissaries", sing.
shliach) have moved all over the world with the stated mission of persuading non-observant Jews to adopt Orthodox Jewish observance. They assist Jews with all their religious needs, as well as with physical assistance and spiritual guidance and teaching. The stated goal is to encourage Jews to learn more about their Jewish heritage and to practice Judaism.
The movement, motivated by Schneerson, has trained and
ordained thousands of
rabbis, educators, ritual slaughterers, and
ritual circumcisers, who are then accompanied by their spouses to many locations around the world. Typically a young Lubavitch rabbi and his wife, in their early twenties, with one or two children, will move to a new location, and as they settle in will raise a large family who as a family unit, will aim to fulfill their mandate of bringing Jewish people closer to Orthodox Judaism and encouraging gentiles to adhere to the
Seven Laws of Noah.
Chabad Houses
A Chabad House or Center is a form of
Jewish community center under their own religious auspices, often serving as the nerve center of all the educational and outreach activities of a
shliach (emissary) rabbi and his colleagues or allies in any given community. Often until the community can support the building of its own building for a Chabad house, the "Chabad House" is located in the
shliach's home, with the living room being used as the "
synagogue". The term "Chabad House" originated in
California with the creation of the first such outreach center on the campus of
UCLA by Rabbi
Shlomo Cunin.
The centers are informal in setup. They primarily serve both educational and observance purposes. Effort is made to provide an atmosphere in which the nonobservant won't feel intimidated by any perceived contrast between their lack of knowledge of Jewish practice and the advanced knowledge of some of the people they meet there.
Numbers
As of 2007 there are 3,300 Chabad institutions around the world. As of 2006 there were Chabad centers in 70 countries.
Outreach activities
Mitzvah campaigns
The Rebbes of Chabad have issued the call to all Jews to attract non-observant Jews to adopt Orthodox Jewish observance, teaching that this activity is part of the process of bringing the
Messiah. Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson issued a call to every Jew:
"Even if you're not fully committed to a Torah life, do something. Begin with a mitzvah - any mitzvah - its value won't be diminished by the fact that there are others that you're not prepared to do".
Schneerson also suggested ten specific
mitzvot that he believed were ideally suited for the emissaries to introduce to non-observant Jews. These were called "
mivtzoim" - meaning "campaigns" or "endeavors." These were: lighting candles before
Shabbat and the
Jewish holidays by Jewish women; putting on
tefillin; affixing a
mezuzah; regular
Torah study; giving
Tzedakah; purchasing
Jewish books; keeping
kosher; kindness to others; Jewish education, and keeping the
family purity laws.
In addition, Schneerson emphasized spreading awareness of preparing for and the coming of the
Jewish messiah, in line with his philosophy. He wrote on the responsibility to reach out to teach every fellow Jew with love, and implored that all Jews believe in the imminent coming of the Messiah as explained by
Maimonides. He argued that redemption was predicated on Jews doing good deeds, and that gentiles shoud be educated about the
Noahide Laws. Chabad has been a prime force in disseminating awareness of these laws.
He was emphatic about the need to encourage and provide strong education for every child, Jew and non-Jew alike.
Camps
Chabad has set up an extensive
network of camps around the world, most using the name Gan Israel, a name chosen by Schneerson for the first overnight camp. There are 1,200 sites serving 210,000 children—most of whom don't come from
Orthodox homes. Of these, 500 camps are in the United States.
Campus
In recent years Chabad has greatly expanded its reach on
university and
college campuses. Chabad Student Centers are active on over 100 campuses, and Chabad offers varied activities at an additional 150 universities worldwide. Professor
Alan Dershowitz has said that "Chabad’s presence on college campuses today is absolutely crucial", and "We can't rest until Chabad is on every major college campus in the world".
Publishing
Distribution of Jewish religious literature.
Kehot Publication Society (the Chabad publishing house) has promoted this by translating
books into 12 languages, providing books at discounted prices, and hosting book-a-thons.
Fundraising
Funds for activities of a Chabad center rely entirely on the local community. Chabad centers don't receive funding from Lubavitch headquarters. For the day to day operations, local emissaries do all the fundraising by themselves. The monies fundraised in the local community is invested in that local community. The emissary takes a minimum salary and seldom goes on vacation. Sue Fishcoff writes: "Emissaries in the field may sink millions of dollars into their center, synagogues and Mikvahs, but their own homes are modest, again patterned after their Rebbe's lack of personal ostentation."
Influence
Chabad pioneered the post-
World War II outreach movement which spread Judaism to many assimilated Jews worldwide, leading to a substantial number of
baalei teshuva ("returnees" to Judaism). The very first Yeshiva/Rabbinical College for such "baalei teshuva",
Hadar Hatorah was established by the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Chabad was also one of the first Jewish outreach organizations to use the
World Wide Web as an outreach tool.
Chabad followers have had a notable influence on Jewish entertainment. Composer and rabbi
Shlomo Carlebach began his outreach work as a representative of Chabad (he later moved away from the movement),
Avraham Fried is also an adherent.
According to Steven I. Weiss, Chabad's ideology has dramatically influenced non-Hasidic Jews' practice with regard to Jewish outreach issues.
Customs
Chabad has specific
minhagim ("customs") that distinguish it from other Hasidic groups. For example, they don't wear the fur hats common among other hasidim. Until the 1950s, most wore the Russian
kasket; now most wear a black
fedora. Almost all American Chabad Hasidim pronounce Hebrew according to the
Lithuanian dialect. However, many native
Israeli Chabad Hasidim pronounce Hebrew according to the
Modern Israeli Hebrew dialect. Like many other Hasidic groups, Chabad attaches importance to singing Hasidic
nigunim ("tunes"), usually without words, and following precise customs of their leaders.
Controversies
Rabbi
Shneur Zalman of Liadi was twice arrested by the Russians on trumped up charges, and later opposed Napoleon's emancipation of the Jews. The conduct of the sixth leader, Rabbi
Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn during the
Second World War was criticised by scholars and contemporaries. Some interpretations of its seventh leader, Rabbi
Menachem Mendel Schneerson's theology has been controversial; became active in Israeli politics and was criticised heavily by Rabbi
Elazar Shach for his messianic focus.
Chabad messianism, the belief that Schneerson is the messiah and will return or that he never even died has led to some friction within the Chabad community. Since his death in 1994 the movement has fragmented into competing factions. Financial battles have been ongoing between these factions since 1995, and the contested control over the headquarters in
Brooklyn has led to strife.
Naming
In the seminal Hasidic work,
Tanya, Shneur Zalman of Liadi defines "Chabad Hasidism" as "מוח שליט על הלב" ("mind ruling over the heart/emotions"). Chabad Chasidism considers this emphasis to make it fundamentally different from other forms of Hasidism, which are referred to as "
Chagas"; this acronym refers to the emotional attributes of
Chesed ("kindness"),
Gevurah ("power"), and
Tifereth ("beauty"), and implies that relatively speaking other Chasidic groups place a lesser emphasis on intellectual comprehension of Chasidic philosophy than that found in Chabad teaching.
Chabad
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.
Lubavitch
Lubavitch is a small town now in Smolensk Oblast, Russia, (then
Imperial Russia). The name of the town means "city of love," and Menachem Mendel Schneerson taught that this name symbolises the warm, loving approach of the movement. The movement was founded in
Liozna, and then moved to
Liadi, but it moved to Lubavitch after the Napoleonic War, and was based there for 102 years. In
Hasidic Judaism, a dynasty normally takes its name from the town in
Eastern Europe where it was based.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Lubavitch'.
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