The Early Years

The Rebbe is the seventh the dynastic lineage of Lubavitcher leaders, which began in the 18^th century by its founder Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi  (1745- 1812) author of the basic work of Chabad philosophy – the Tanya and the Shulchan Aruch – the Code of Jewish Law.

The Rebbe was born in Nikolaev, Russia, on the 11^th day of Nissan, 1902 to Rabbi Levi Yitzchak and Rebbetzin Chana Schneerson. The Rebbe’s father was a renowned Kabbalist and Talmudic scholar. The Rebbe’s mother was an aristocratic woman from a prestigious rabbinic family. At the age of five he moved with his parents to the Ukrainian city of Yekatrinislav, now Dnepropetrovsk, where his father was appointed Chief Rabbi.

From early childhood, the Rebbe displayed a prodigious mental acuity and soon had to leave the cheder because he was far ahead of his classmates. His father engaged private tutors for him, and after that, taught him himself. By the time he reached barmitzvah, the Rebbe was an illuy, a Torah prodigy. He spent his teen years immersed in the study of Torah.

The Rebbe met the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, in 1923, in Rostov, Russia. In December 1928, the Rebbe married the previous Rebbe’s second daughter, the Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka (1901-1988). The wedding took place in Warsaw, Poland. The Rebbetzin is well remembered for her exceptional erudition and compassion, yet unpretentious and humble demeanor.

Later the Rebbe studied at the University of Berlin (1928-1932) and then at the Sorbonne in Paris (1934-1938). It may have been there that his formidable knowledge of mathematics and the sciences began to blossom.

Arrival in the U.S.A.

On the 28^th of Sivan, 5701 – June 23^rd, 1941, the Rebbe and the Rebbetzin arrived in the United States, having miraculously escaped the Nazi onslaught. His father-in-law, the previous Rebbe, who had arrived in the United States a year earlier, appointed him to head his newly founded organization: Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch, the education arm of the Lubavitch movement; Machne Israel, the movement’s social service organization; and Kehot Publication Society, the Lubavitch publishing house.

Shortly thereafter, the Rebbe began writing his scholarly notations to various Chassidic and Kabbalistic treatises, as well as a wide range of Torah response. With publication of these works, scholars throughout the world soon recognized his genius.

Leadership

After the passing of the previous Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, on the 10^th of Shvat, 1950, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, ascended to the leadership of the flourishing movement.

Motivated by a profound lover for the Jewish people, the Rebbe launched an unprecedented program to bring Judaism to every individual Jew, wherever he or she may be. Inspired by the Biblical mandate: “ And you shall spread forth to the West and to the East and to the North and to the South,”

(Genesis 28:14), the Rebbe established a corps of shluchim – Lubavitch emissaries – and charged them with establishing Chabad- Lubavitch centers in every corner of the world. These dedicated men and women reflect the commitment of Lubavitch to the entire Jewish people. It is no wonder that, for many communities, Chabad-Lubavitch, with its vast array of educational and social services programs, has become the central address for all matters Jewish.

In his years as leader of Chabad-Lubavitch, the Rebbe established Chassidism not as one of the limbs, but as the heart and life of Judaism. Indeed, many of the Rebbe’s innovations are so deeply ingrained in Jewish life today that they are often no longer identified as Lubavitch in origin.

Spanning the Globe

During more than four decades of inspired leadership the Rebbe made Lubavitch the world’s largest outreach organization.

Today, some 2400 Chabad-Lubavitch institutions employing over 4000 full-time emissary families span more than 50 countries on six continents. These educational and social service institutions serve a variety of functions for the entire spectrum of Jews, regardless of affiliation or background. Indeed those programs geared to humanitarian endeavors reach out beyond the Jewish community, to all people.

Lubavitch institutions have been established in Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China Columbia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, D. R. of the Congo, England, Estonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Holland, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Tunisia, Ukraine, United States, Uruguay,  Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Zaire

Israel

In Israel, the “Chabadniks” are particularly endeared to all. Their programs reach all segments of the community, and they enjoy respect of the population regardless of affiliation.

Kfar Chabad, the Lubavitch city near Tel Aviv, is headquarters for Lubavitch there. Kfar Chabad’s unique educational institutions and outreach facilities have become a lifeline for thousands of Israeli citizens.

It was the people of Kfar Chabad who have airlifted over a thousand children affected by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, bringing them to Israel for medical treatment. In addition to the lifesaving medical attention, the rescued children live and learn in the warm, friendly atmosphere of Kfar Chabad. This airlift continues with more children arriving regurlarly.

From the soldier stationed on the front, to the farmer on the kibbutz, feelings of veneration and respect for the Rebbe run deep, as all have benefited in some way from his concern.

Former Soviet Republics

It was in Russia that Chabad-Lubavitch was born more than 200 years ago and since nurtured there by its Rebbes in each generation.

A history of heroic, clandestine efforts by Lubavitch has kept Judaism alive, under the most oppressive and excruciating circumstances conceivable, before and especially after the Bolshevik revolution and during the Communist regime.

Now that the Soviet Union has crumbled, Lubavitch has emerged from the underground and the work continues publicly unabated. There are more than two hundred Chabad-Lubavitch institutions in the Commonwealth of Independent States and Latvia. Hundreds of emissary families have taken up residence there to promote Jewish activities. As developments unfold, Jewish institutions under the auspices of Lubavitch are mushrooming throughout the Commonwealth of Independent States and Eastern Europe.

People of the Book

Under the Rebbe’s guidance, the Lubavitch publishing house, Kehot Publication Society, has become the largest Jewish publishing house in the world. Publishing and distributing millions of books, pamphlets, cassettes and educational material in Hebrew, Yiddish, English, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Portuguese, Arabic, Farsi, Dutch, Swedish and German.

The central library and archive center of Agudas Chassidei Chabad-Lubavitch, at the Lubavitch World Headquarters, is one of the world’s most precious repositories of Jewish books and literature. The library contains a vast collection of rare books and manuscripts.

Reversing the Tide

The Rebbe was often heard to say, “We dare not rest until every Jewish child receives a Jewish education.”

The American Jewish day-school system, initiated and pioneered by Lubavitch in the 1940’s, has displaced across a wide spectrum the once- prevalent ideology that Jewish education was a dutiful appendage to the real business of acquiring a secular education. Jewish day schools have since become accepted and desirable even to those who opposed it then. This, as well as the outreach programs of Chabad-Lubavitch has served as a guide for others to emulate.

From full-time yeshivas for Jewish men and women with little or no background in Torah study to literally tens of thousands of classes at Chabad-Lubavitch centers and synagogues around the world – the Rebbe is the vital life force behind an outreach process that has affected the entire spectrum of Jewish life.

His widespread mitzvah and holiday campaigns, and the innovative mitzvah mobiles have raised awareness of Jewish life and Jewish practice among millions of Jews, motivating them to explore and to examine their identity.

From Hong Kong to Tel Aviv, Budapest to Chicago, through the many Lubavitch schools, youth centers, institutions, agencies and activities established and maintained by the Rebbe’s emissaries, countless Jews have found their way home.

Light Unto The Nations

Responding to the demands of the time, the Rebbe reached out beyond the Jewish community with a universal message to all peoples of the world.

The Rebbe consistently called for greater awareness of ht crucial importance of education for all mankind. The Rebbe stressed that the goal of education is not just to provide a child with information, but more essentially to develop child’s character, together with his intellectual ability, with emphasis on moral, spiritual and ethical values. Only such an education will guarantee a generation of people who will abide by fundamental human rights and societal obligations.

The Rebbe continuously  maintained that  modern, secular man has an enduring need for moral values and a religious philosophy by which to live.

He often spoke of the obligation of all humankind to adhere, and live by, the “Seven Noahide Laws” – the universal code of morality and ethics, given to all at Mt. Sinai. This, the Rebbe insisted, is of the utmost necessity to bring sanity and stability to a perplexed world.

The Rebbe’s brilliant insights into the human experience and world events, his genuine compassion for others, his strong leadership and his profound, endless flow of genius, made him a legend in his lifetime, and won him the admiration, respect and awe of all those who came to know him.

The Ohel

"The Ohel" is where the Rebbe was laid to rest on the 3rd of Tammuz 5754 (June 12, 1994), next to his father-in-law, the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Y. Schneersohn, of righteous memory.

The term Ohel (lit. "tent") refers to the structure built over the resting place of a Tzaddik, a righteous person.

In his lifetime, the Rebbe was receptive of every individual, regardless of background, education or degree of religious involvement. All who approached the Rebbe beheld his penetrating insight into their particular condition and found solace in his purposeful words of blessing and advice.

Today this continues as thousands of people from all walks of life come to the Ohel and ask the Rebbe to intercede on High in their behalf and to receive inspiration, vitality and direction.

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