1 Early 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"). He based his nascent movement in Mezibush, Ukraine.
• Rabbi Dovber of Mezeritch (d. 1772) was the Baal Shem Tovs leading disciple. He was well-versed in the Lurianic Kabbalah. Upon the death of the BeSHT he assumed the leadership of the movement that would become known as Hasidism.

2 Rebbes of Chabad

Portrait of Shneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1812) founder of Chabad Lubavitch and author of Tanya and Shulchan Aruch HaRav.

2.1 Founder

1. Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi 1745 - 1812, son of Rabbi Boruch, was a student of Dovber of Mezeritch and founded the Chabad house of Hasidism. This name is not truly of Eastern European origin. The etymology of "Shneur Zalman" was a linguistic corruption of "Senor Solomon" which came into usage when Spanish Jews were expelled from Spain and increased the links with Eastern Europe. His family took his first name as their Family name (surname) of "Schneersohn". He defined the direction of his movement and of all Hasidic Judaism through his master works The Tanya which is primarily mystical and in line with the Zohar, and his authoritative work on Jewish law known as the Shulchan Aruch HaRav.

2.2 Leadership

1. Rabbi Dovber 1773 - 1827, son of Shneur Zalman.
2. Rabbi Menachem Mendel 1789 - 1866, grandson of Shneur Zalman and son-in-law of Dovber.
3. Rabbi Shmuel 1834 - 1882, son of Rabbi Menachem Mendel.
4. Rabbi Sholom Dovber 1860 - 1920, son of Rabbi Shmuel.
5. Rabbi Joseph Isaac Schneersohn 1880 - 1950, only son of Sholom Dovber.
6. Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson 1902 - 1994, (his family name does not have the "h" of "...sohn" as he was a cousin from a different branch of the family), 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 "Schneersohn".

3 Origin of name

3.1 Chabad

The names Chabad and Lubavitch each have a history. Chabad is a Hebrew acronym for Chochma (Wisdom), Bina (Understanding), and Da'as (Knowledge), that was chosen early on by its founder, the first Rebbe, Shneur Zalman of Liadi. The name Chabad reflects the intellectual accessibility of the mystical teachings of the Kabbalah. Rabbi Shneur Zalman is the author of the seminal Hassidic work, Tanya, as well as the Shulchan Aruch Ha'Rav - a code of Jewish Law.

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.

3.2 Lubavitch

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, but 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.

4 The movement

In 19th and 20th century Russia, Chabad had a large following and had a sizeable network of yeshivoth called Tomchei Temimim. Most of this system was destroyed by Bolshevik governments and the German invasion on 1942. The Rebbe had escaped Russia in time, and settled in the United States.

After an initiative from his father-in-law, the previous Rebbe, Rabbi M.M. 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 denomination or affiliation, to learn more about their Jewish heritage, and Judaism as practised by Chabad.

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 fulfil 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 Schneerson greatly emphasized spreading awareness of the coming of Moshiach and preparing for his imminent arrival. According to Schneerson's teaching:

• belief in the imminent coming of Moshiach is a fundamental Jewish belief
• Geula, or the Era of Redemption, is the culmination of the spiritual work since the Creation of the world
• Jews prepare and pave the way for the coming of Moshiach by doing mitzvoth - the 613 commandments, as detailed in the Torah
• non-Jews have 7, God given, Noahide Laws that they should become aware of.

Once, when asked what remains to be done to bring Moshiach, Rabbi Schneerson 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 the neighborhood of Crown Heights, Brooklyn, referred to "770" by Lubavitchers who deem the number to have great mystical powers.

The Chabad movement attaches importance to singing Hasidic tunes (link below), either with or without words.

5 Controversy

Sixth Rebbe of Chabad Lubavitch Joseph Isaac Schneersohn (1880-1950) left, with his son-in-law and successor Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902-1994), right, the last Lubavitcher Rebbe.

Rabbi Schneerson's passing in 1994 has created a rift of sorts among Chabad followers, and between Chabad and other Jews. Many of his teachings were interpreted to mean that he was the destined Messiah, though few 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 a person could be an incarnation of God, or that the Messiah could come from the dead, has provoked some strong reactions.

Vociferous opponents of the "meschichist" ("messianist") approach were some of the prominent roshei yeshiva (deans of Talmud colleges), such as Rabbi Elazar Menachem Schach, dean of the Ponovezh yeshiva in Israel. From the Modern Orthodox side, Dr. David Berger, professor of history at the City College of New York, enumerated criticism of meschichism. However Professor Berger's book has met with rebuttals and criticism from within and outside Chabad (see e.g. Dalfin).

6 References

• Fishkoff S. "The Rebbe's Army : Inside the World of Chabad-Lubavitch" Schocken, 2003 BooksEnthsiast.com
• Berger D. The Rebbe, the Messiah, and the Scandal of Orthodox Indifference. Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2001. BooksEnthsiast.com.
• Dalfin C. "Attack on Lubavitch: A Response" JEP, 2002 BooksEnthsiast.com

7 External links

• www.chabad.org The official Chabad-Lubavitch website
• www.therebbe.org About the Lubavitcher Rebbe
• Hasidic tunes in MIDI format

Orthodox Judaism

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