Editing Lubavitch (section)

==== The Period of [[the Alter Rebbe]] ====
A painting of the town of Lubavitch in 1812

In the years 1756-1757, the Alter Rebbe, when he was a child of about 11-12 years old, was sent by his father to the town of Lubavitch to study with the Gaon Rav Yosef. Rav Yosef handed him over to his son-in-law Rav Yissachar Ber of Kabilnik to teach him. For two years (1756-1757), the Rebbe studied in Lubavitch. During this period, he stayed in the apartment of Rav Naftali the 'Batlan' and Tzere-Dvashe the shopkeeper. His designated place of study was in the second room of the "Poalei Tzedek Mashkimei Kum" Beis Medrash. On the site where the Alter Rebbe studied, the courtyard of our Rebbeim was later established.

The Frierdiker Rebbe writes about this:<blockquote>"Lubavitch was also the place of Torah where the Alter Rebbe, Rabbi Shneur Zalman, wandered in his childhood to study Torah. And from whom? From that same Rabbi Yissachar Dov! Rabbi Shneur Zalman, the teacher and founder of Chabad, did not know then about Chassidus in general and had not even heard, presumably, about the Baal Shem Tov - he was then a boy of twelve years old. He certainly heard then the foundations of Chassidus as explained in the sermons of Rabbi Yosef the Maggid. Rabbi Shneur Zalman learned Torah not only from Yissachar Dov but also from his teacher's father-in-law, Rabbi Yosef the Maggid, and apparently also from Rabbi Zevulun the Scribe, as these three were always together. The spirit of Chassidus was felt in all their words, in all details of their behavior, and in their relationship with people, especially simple people..."

"...Later, when Rabbi Dov Ber moved to Mezeritch and led the Chassidic movement from there, attracting the greatest and finest people of that period, Rabbi Shneur Zalman also became connected to him. Thus, Rabbi Shneur Zalman became a double 'grandson' of the Baal Shem Tov, both as a student of Rabbi Yissachar Dov of Lubavitch and as a student of Rabbi Dov Ber of Mezeritch, the successor of the Baal Shem Tov. Through this double connection to the Baal Shem Tov, his connection with Lubavitch, the town where he studied in his youth under Rabbi Yissachar Dov, was also strengthened. This laid the foundation for the connection of Chabad Chassidus with the town of Lubavitch, although the Alter Rebbe himself established his court in Liozna and later in Liadi, and only in the second generation of Chabad Chassidus was its capital established in Lubavitch by the Mitteler Rebbe."

Later, when our Rebbe was with Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Horodok, he met again with Rav Yissachar Ber. And over the years after our Alter Rebbe founded Chabad Chassidus, the roles reversed and Rav Yissachar Ber became a chassid of our Alter Rebbe.

Also, Rav Yissachar Dov's son, Rav Yosef of Lubavitch, was among the greatest students of our Rebbe. Similarly, the chassid Rav Tzvi Hirsh Zarchi, from the students of the Alter Rebbe, lived in Lubavitch. In the Alter Rebbe's responsa (Chapter 17), there is a halachic question sent to our Rebbe from "Rav Binyamin Moreh Tzedek of Lubavitch."</blockquote>In 1812, a force of Napoleon was stationed in Lubavitch for two weeks.