Editing Brazil (section)

= 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.
[[File:כינוס השלוחים האזורי - ברזיל.jpeg|thumb|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

[[Category:Brazil|*]]
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