Brazil

Central Chabad House in the City of Paulo, Brazil

Brazil is the largest country in South America, bordering most countries on the continent, and on its eastern side bordering the Atlantic Ocean. The language spoken in the country is Portuguese, unlike the rest of South American countries where Spanish is spoken. Brazilian Jewry is the second largest Jewish community in South and Central America, after Argentina's Jewish community. Extensive activity of the Rebbe's shluchim takes place in the country, who have established yeshivas, synagogues, and many Jewish institutions over the years.

Development of the Chabad Community in Brazil

In 5670 (1910), Chabad settlement in Brazil began, and over the years a Chabad community developed in the country consisting of families of local Jews, baalei teshuva, and the Rebbe's shluchim, as follows.

During the Period of the Rebbe Rashab

5670 (1910) The beginning of Lubavitch settlement in Brazil was in 5670 (1910), when the Rebbe Rashab sent Rabbi Shmuel Novikov to the city of Paulo (as part of his efforts to arrange settlement places for Jews). Rabbi Shmuel served there as a shochet, bodek, and mohel, as a community activist who founded the Knesset Yisrael synagogue, a teacher of young children even in remote settlements, and also collected funds from the community to help Jews during World War I.

During the Period of the Rebbe Rayatz

5689 (1929), Rabbi Dov Ber and his wife Feiga Begon settled in southern Brazil, in the city of Porto Alegre, and established a mikveh tahara in their home (which exists to this day, maintained by the shliach Rabbi Liberov, who bought the house and renovated it). In 5708 (1948), Rabbi Dov Ber sent his two children, Rabbi Yaakov and Tzvi Aryeh Begon, to study at Tomchei Temimim-770 until their weddings, after which they were sent by the Rebbe for shlichus in Brazil.

5690 (1930), the Rebbe Rayatz wrote a letter to Rabbi Eliyahu Chaim Althaus, from which it appears that he wanted to visit Brazil. His holy words were: "Regarding the trip to Brazil, it is difficult for me to say anything about it yet, until some matter that still depends on estimation becomes clear, and I am not making any promise about this, but rather my desire and aim is that Hashem should help that the good will come from potential to actual, both materially and spiritually." No further details are known about this visit idea.

5693 (1933), another chassid named Pinchas Shleif settled in the city of Paulo. He maintained regular correspondence with the Rebbe Rayatz, to whom he reported about Brazilian Jewry.

Through the efforts of Rabbi Pinchas Shleif, an Orthodox school called "Talmud Torah" was established in Paulo. He first approached Rabbi Moshe Zalman Levin, one of the city's rabbis, who responded with astonishment: "Establish an Orthodox school in Paulo?" But Reb Pinchas did not give up and eventually established the Talmud Torah.

5694 (1934) The Zayantz family settled in Brazil. The first to arrive was Rabbi Simcha Yitzchak Zayantz who, after his shechita studies with his father-in-law, saw the rise of the Nazi regime (may their name be erased). In order to receive a shochet certificate in Poland, he had to pay a large sum of money, and when he came to ask the Rebbe Rayatz what to do, the Rebbe instructed him: "Go to Brazil and be a shochet there!" Rabbi Simcha Yitzchak accepted the words simply and traveled to Brazil, initially going alone and leaving his wife and two sons in Poland.

At first, Rabbi Simcha Yitzchak settled in Rio de Janeiro. About a month after his arrival, Rabbi Moshe Zalman Levin came to Rio and urged Rabbi Simcha Yitzchak to move to Paulo, saying: "What do you have to do in Rio? It is a defiled place, come with me to Paulo!" Indeed, Rabbi Simcha Yitzchak moved to Paulo and served there as a shochet and bodek, and also gave classes on the Alter Rebbe's Shulchan Aruch, Gemara with Tosafot, Chassidut, and later even on Likutei Sichot.

5707 (1947) A significant boost in Chabad settlement in Brazil was in 5707 (1947), when the fundraiser Rabbi Yosef Weinberg began visiting Paulo to raise funds and at the same time to infuse the spirit of Chassidut among the local Jews "to sow spirituality and reap materiality."

The main work that Rabbi Weinberg did in Brazil was to convince parents to send their sons to study at Yeshivat Tomchei Temimim in the United States, thereby turning them into connected chassidim. Among the students he sent to the yeshiva: Yaakov Begon, Tzvi Aryeh Begon, Meir Zayantz, Mordechai Zayantz, who later themselves became dedicated shluchim to the city of Paulo.

Rabbi Weinberg also tried, under the instruction of the Rebbe Rayatz, to open a Tomchei Temimim yeshiva in Paulo.

In this year, Rabbi Tzvi Elimelech Turnheim from Lukov was also sent by the Rebbe Rayatz to serve as a shochet for the Jewish community.

5710 (1950) Even in 5710 (1950), during the last period of the Rebbe Rayatz's life in this world, he continued to care for the Jews of Brazil when he instructed Rabbi Moshe Yitzchak Hecht to travel on shlichus to Brazil. For this mission (which was only possible after the Rebbe's passing), the Rebbe lent Rabbi Hecht a piece of the Rebbe Rayatz's handkerchief for the success of their mission.

the Rebbe

5711 (1951) One of the first countries to which the Rebbe sent permanent emissaries was Brazil, when already in 1951 he instructed Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Chitrik to go on a mission to São Paulo.

5713 (1953) - Rabbi Chitrik and his family arrived in São Paulo in 1953. Rabbi Chitrik worked extensively in proper Jewish education in the city when he was appointed to head the "Talmud Torah Beit Chinuch," and had to fight against many opponents from community leaders and the school who leaned more toward modernization and constantly tried to interfere with Rabbi Chitrik's holy work.

Rabbi Chitrik also opened a religious summer camp in Brazil called "Camp Yeshiva" which achieved great success. Due to the repeated opposition that interfered with Rabbi Chitrik's work, he decided to move to work in the city of Rio de Janeiro where the Jewish community was more active and he thought there would be less opposition to his work. Upon arriving there, he was appointed to be the principal of the Talmud Torah school. Just as Rabbi Chitrik did in São Paulo, so too in Rio, he opened a kitchen to provide kosher food for students, increased the hours of Jewish studies, and "imported" good educators from other countries.

5715 (1955) Rabbi Mordechai Zajac was sent by the Rebbe to São Paulo, where he established a branch of Agudas Chasidei Chabad which revitalized the spirit of Chassidus among the Jews of the city.

5717 (1957) Another emissary was sent by the Rebbe to Brazil, Rabbi Yaakov Begun, who came to help Rabbi Chitrik with educational work in Rio de Janeiro.

5718 (1958) Despite the apparent great success in Chitrik's activities, there were also some community leaders who did not view his work favorably, and began to restrict his efforts by opening a competing school called "Bar Ilan" under the management of Rabbi Chaim Benyamini. Due to these developments, Rabbi Chitrik wanted to leave Brazil. When he wrote about this to the Rebbe, the Rebbe instructed him to open an independent Lubavitch institution. Rabbi Chitrik indeed established a Lubavitch cheder in Rio, which was headed by Rabbi Yaakov Begun, who achieved great success.

That year, Rabbi Yerachmiel Blumenfeld, a Chabad chassid who greatly assisted Chabad activities and even built a beautiful mikvah there, also moved to Rio.

5719 (1959) Rabbi Tzvi Aryeh Begun was sent on a mission to Rio, where he established a mehadrin slaughterhouse. After about four months, he moved to São Paulo and worked there on Lubavitch shechita (kosher slaughter).

5720 (1960) Rabbi Tzvi Aryeh Begun began teaching the Hungarian youth in the Bom Retiro neighborhood. His brother, Rabbi Yaakov Begun, also moved to São Paulo (following disagreements with the community there), and together with his brother and a few other activists, they founded "Cheder Lubavitch" in São Paulo, an institution that operates to this day, and received many blessings from the Rebbe. From there, many emissaries, institution directors, and activists were educated throughout Brazil and around the world.

5721 (1961) Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Chitrik completed his mission and left Brazil following several changes in the Rio community and returned to New York. Before his departure, the community members held an impressive farewell ceremony as appreciation for his many activities.

Following Rabbi Chitrik's departure from Brazil, a vacuum was created in the activities there. Therefore, the Rebbe sent Rabbi Shabtai Alperin to Brazil to serve as the chief emissary in Brazil.

Influenced by Rabbi Yerachmiel Blumenfeld, Rabbi Alperin arrived in Rio and was appointed there to be the principal of the "Talmud Torah" school. (Later, he even united it with another school in the city). He was also appointed to be the rabbi of the synagogue in the school building.

5722 (1962) The Rebbe's brother-in-law, Rabbi Shmarya Gurary, went on a visit to Brazil and delivered a detailed report to the Rebbe about Chabad activities.

5723 (1963) Rabbi Shabtai Alperin moved to São Paulo and was appointed to be the principal of the "Beit Chinuch" school (the same school that Rabbi Chitrik managed about a decade earlier).

Rabbi Chaim Benyamini moved to Brazil at the Rebbe's instruction and began working extensively in the field of education throughout Brazil, establishing a youth club in Rio, as well as a Jewish school in the city of Belo Horizonte.

5726 (1966) Rabbi Chaim Benyamini established the first yeshiva in Brazil, "Yeshiva Machane Israel" in the city of Petropolis, a yeshiva that brought back and accepted hundreds of baalei teshuva (returnees to Judaism) who later became emissaries themselves in Brazil. It received thousands of detailed instructions from the Rebbe.

5727 (1967) Rabbi Leibel Zajac, the third son of Rabbi Simcha Yitzchak Zajac, completed his studies in the Rebbe's court and returned to São Paulo where he worked extensively on the tefillin campaign and also printed thousands of Tanya books around the world.

From then on, the expansion of the Chabad community in Brazil was mainly through students of Yeshiva Machane Israel who, upon completing their studies, settled in Brazil and became emissaries who brought many more back to Judaism, and so the community continues to grow to this day.

Regional Kinus HaShluchim in S. Paulo

Shluchim and Chabad Houses in Brazil

Paulo

• Rabbi Shamai Ende - Mara D'Asra of the Chabad community
• Rabbi Shabtai Alperin - Shliach and director of the Central Chabad House
• Rabbi Yaakov Begon - Founder of Chabad-Lubavitch institutions in Brazil and Rabbi of Tiferet Lubavitch community
• Rabbi Tzvi Aryeh Begon - Director of Ohalei Yosef Yitzchak Lubavitch institutions
• Rabbi Mordechai Begon - Director of Chabad school in the city
• Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Alperin - Central Chabad House
• Rabbi Yitzchak Mishan - Director of "Bayit" synagogue in Higienópolis neighborhood
• Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schildkraut - Director of Chabad House Itaim
• Rabbi Yosef David Weitman - Rabbi of Beit Yaakov synagogue
• Rabbi Yaakov Grunstadt - Director of Chabad House in Brooklyn neighborhood
• Rabbi Yerachmiel Belinow - Rabbi of "Chai Menachem" synagogue in Higienópolis neighborhood
• Rabbi Noach Ginsburg - Director of Chabad House for youth
• Rabbi Aryeh Baruch Bloch - Director of Talmud Torah Or Menachem (Brazil)
• Rabbi Yaakov Nurkin - Central Chabad House
• Rabbi Daniel Ashkenazi - Central Chabad House
• Rabbi Shalom Dober Nurkin - Central Chabad House
• Rabbi Dov Pomeroy - Central Chabad House
• Rabbi Shalom Dober Gourary - Director of Chabad House Das Vilas
• Rabbi David Goldberg - Director of Chabad House Morumbi
• Rabbi Yeshayahu Dayan - Chabad House Morumbi
• Rabbi Ariel Antebi - Director of Chabad House for travelers in Santana neighborhood
• Rabbi Adi David Kafif - Director of Chabad House in Vila Mariana neighborhood
• Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Kafif - Chabad House Vila Mariana
• Rabbi Yitzchak Bronner - Chabad House Vila Mariana
• Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Fishel Rabinowitz - Rabbi of Beit Yaakov Pinheiros synagogue
• Rabbi Baruch Rosenfeld - Director of Chabad House Alto da Pinheiros
• Rabbi Nachman Stolman - Director of Chabad House Campinas
• Rabbi Yosef Ben Zachri - Director of Chabad House in Pompeia neighborhood
• Rabbi Menachem Mendel Niselwich - Chabad House for the Israeli community
• Rabbi Shimon Brand - Chabad House Granja Viana, Cotia
• Rabbi Chaim Osovitsky - Rabbi of Jewish school in the city
• Rabbi Levi Weitman - Mayanot Publications
• Rabbi Dober Weitman - Director of "Ten Yad" organization
• Rabbi Tuvia Weitman - Director of the Jewish Museum
• Rabbi Yosef Tevel - Chabad House Andre
• Rabbi David Azulay - Rabbi of "Har Sinai" community
• Rabbi Eliyahu Axelrod - Chabad House Brooklyn
• Rabbi Michael Zev Tabachnik - Chabad House Brooklyn
• Rabbi Mordechai Malubani - Rabbi of "Knesset Yisrael" synagogue
• Rabbi Avraham Stiefelmann - Knesset Yisrael
• Rabbi Leibel Zajac - Director of Tzeirei Agudas Chabad Brazil
• Rabbi Yechiel Yosef Zajac - Tzeirei Agudas Chabad Brazil
• Rabbi David Levinson - Chabad Campus
• Rabbi Shneur Zalman Slonim - Director of Chabad House Perdizes
• Rabbi Levi Slonim - Chabad House Perdizes
• Rabbi Menachem Mendel Calderon - Chabad House Perdizes
• Rabbi David Yitzchak Grebertchik - Director of "L'Oded" organization
• Rabbi Pesach Kaufman
• Rabbi Ehud Kevin - Dayan and member of the local Beit Din

Rio de Janeiro

• Rabbi Yaakov Blumenfeld - Mara D'Asra
• Rabbi Yehoshua Binyamin Goldman - Director of Chabad institutions in Rio de Janeiro
• Rabbi Levi Goldman - Central Chabad House and Director of youth organization in Leblon
• Rabbi Menachem Goldman - Central Chabad House and Director of Chabad Campus in Rio
• Rabbi Yosef Fishman - Director of CTeen organization in Rio
• Rabbi Ilan Stiefelmann - Director of Chabad House Copacabana
• Rabbi Avraham Tzvi Boitner - Chief editor of publishing house in Portuguese
• Rabbi Moshe Lentissky - Central Chabad House
• Rabbi Yosef Aryeh Shimanowitz - Director of Chabad House in Barra da Tijuca neighborhood
• Rabbi Shmuel Shimanowitz - Chabad House in Barra da Tijuca neighborhood
• Rabbi Chaim Bronner - Director of Chabad boys school Beit Menachem
• Rabbi Meir Rosenberg - Rabbi of "Beit Yaakov" synagogue
• Rabbi Eliyahu Kaprow - Rabbi of "Har Sinai" community and Director of Chabad House Tijuca
• Rabbi Moshe Nigri - Rabbi of the Sephardic community in Tijuca
• Rabbi Gavriel Aboutboul - Rabbi of "Edmond Safra" community
• Rabbi Mendel Aboutboul - "Edmond Safra"
• Rabbi David Gazala - Rabbi of Magen David community
• Rabbi Avraham Meir Berkash - Rabbi of "Beit Aharon" community and member of the Kashrus system in Brazil
• Rabbi Yisrael Katala - Director of Chabad House Botafogo
• Rabbi Shlomo Osovitsky - Director of Chabad House Niterói

Brasília

• Rabbi Leib Rotenberg

Belém

• Rabbi Disraeli Zagury
• Rabbi Shlomo Yosef Yitzchak Zagury

Porto Alegre

• Rabbi Moshe Menachem Mendel Liberow
• Rabbi Shlomo Aharon Liberow
• Rabbi Yosef Liberow
• Rabbi Yaakov Samuels

Curitiba

• Rabbi Yosef Dubrawsky
• Rabbi Menachem Mendel Lebkowski
• Rabbi Menachem Mendel Stulik

Belo Horizonte

• Rabbi Nissim Katri
• Rabbi Menachem Katri

Salvador

• Rabbi Yisrael Bukiet

Recife

• Rabbi Alexander Mizrachi

Manaus, Amazonas

• Rabbi Aryeh Reichman

Morro de S. Paulo

• Rabbi Menachem Mendel Grunstadt

Streets and Squares

Paulo

The city has several streets with Jewish and Chassidic names established through the efforts of Chabad representative in the municipality, David Rosen:

• Chabad Street (in Portuguese: Rua Chabad)
• Talmud Torah Street (in Portuguese: Rua Talmud Tora)
• Moshiach Now Square (in Portuguese: praça Mashiach now)

Rio de Janeiro

In honor of seventy years of the Rebbe's leadership, a square named "The Lubavitcher Rebbe" (praça rebe de Lubavitch) was dedicated in the city center. This was initiated by one of the shluchim's sons in the city (Menachem Mendel Shimanovitz, currently one of the Rebbe's shluchim in Paulo) together with members of the community.

See Also

• Machaneh Yisrael Yeshiva Petropolis
• Or Menachem Brazil
• Bnei Noach Brazil
• Tomchei Tmimim Paulo

Further Reading

• Admorei Chabad V'Yahadut Brazil (Chabad Rebbes and Judaism in Brazil). Rabbi Zusha Wolf
• Yeshiva Shel Maalah B'Yaarot Brazil (A Heavenly Yeshiva in the Forests of Brazil)

External Links

• Photo tour of Brazil and Chabad institutions
• Dedication of square named after the Rebbe in Rio de Janeiro
• The shluchim in Brazil united
• Appreciation for shluchim to Israelis in Brazil
• President of Brazil meets with the Rebbe's shluchim