The Founding of Chabad Chassidus

Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi (the Alter Rebbe), founder of Chabad Chassidus

The founding of Chabad Chassidus refers to the historical process by which the approach of the Alter Rebbe and his disciples came to be recognized as a distinct movement within Chassidus, known as Chabad.

Background

During the twelve years of the Maggid of Mezeritch's leadership, the Chassidic movement had spread and taken root in many communities. His passing sent a tremor through his disciples, and there were genuine fears that the path of Chassidus — as laid down by the Baal Shem Tov and continued by the Maggid — might, Heaven forbid, collapse. In response, the Maggid's disciples held a series of assemblies to deliberate on who should lead the movement. At one of those gatherings, the Alter Rebbe disclosed to his colleagues that the Maggid had appeared to him on 18 Kislev (1772), the day before his passing, and requested that he endeavor to have his son, Rabbi Avraham HaMalach, accept the burden of leadership — and that if Avraham were to decline, they should appoint Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk.

At that same assembly, the disciples of the Maggid chose three of their number — Rabbi Yehuda Leib HaKohen, the Alter Rebbe, and Rabbi Zusha of Anipoli — to bring a letter of hitkashrut (formal spiritual attachment) to Rabbi Avraham, the Maggid's son. In this letter, all of the Maggid's disciples committed themselves to him and accepted him as their nasi (leading figure). Rabbi Avraham HaMalach's leadership, however, was short-lived, and after several years he passed away.

In those early years, Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk filled the role of nasi of the Chassidic movement. But the difficult circumstances of the time demanded strong leadership capable of standing up to the many Misnagdim — opponents of Chassidus — who had risen against the movement. In light of this, the Maggid's disciples resolved to appoint the Alter Rebbe to that role. From 1772 (תקל"ג) through 1776 (תקל"ו), the Alter Rebbe carried out his duties, and in 1776 (תקל"ו) the disciples of the Maggid convened a general assembly to take stock of the three years since the Maggid's passing. At that assembly, it was decided that Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk would emigrate to the Holy Land, and that the Alter Rebbe would be appointed nasi of the Chassidim in Lithuania and would serve as general organizer of the Chassidic movement. That same year, the Alter Rebbe established the first center of Chassidus in his home city of Liozna.

For a time, the Alter Rebbe resided in Vitebsk, Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk in Horodok, and Rabbi Avraham of Kalisk in Kalisk, with Rabbi Menachem Mendel at the head of the Chassidic community.

After Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk emigrated to the Holy Land in 1777 (תקל"ז), the Alter Rebbe settled in Horodok. At that point, Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk and Rabbi Avraham of Kalisk appointed the Alter Rebbe, Rabbi Yisrael of Polotsk, and Rabbi Yissachar Dov of Lubavitch as the leaders of the Chassidic community. In a letter dated 4 Adar 5542, they wrote:

There are now with you, with G-d's help, great men who plumb the depths of the heart — wise sages, profound scholars, men of great counsel, renowned in Torah and the fear of Heaven all their days, sharp and incisive, steadfast and wholehearted: the celebrated Rabbi and Maggid, a man of G-d called holy, our honored teacher Rabbi Yisrael of Polotsk, may G-d protect him; and our honored teacher Rabbi Yissachar Ber Segal, preacher of the holy community of Lubavitch; and our honored teacher Rabbi Schneur Zalman, may G-d protect him. May their names endure forever — a threefold cord that shall not be quickly broken — in whose hands, with G-d's help, lies the goodness of the great hidden and concealed treasure, to enlighten the eyes of all and give them life. Their counsel is faithful and their deeds are true.

— Introduction to the Igros Kodesh of the Alter Rebbe, section 7

The Founding of the Chabad Approach

Already during the lifetime of the Maggid of Mezeritch, in 1772 (תקל"ב), the Alter Rebbe founded his own distinct approach to the service of G-d — which would later become known as Chabad Chassidus — an approach that stood apart from those of the other disciples of the Maggid. As the Alter Rebbe spread his approach through his own teaching and through emissaries, hundreds of young scholars joined him. Standing at his right hand in building Chabad Chassidus was his brother, Rabbi Yehuda Leib Posner.

Over the following four years, Chabad Chassidus spread among hundreds of additional bnei aliyah — people of genuine spiritual striving. After the Maggid's passing and the emigration of the foremost of his disciples, Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk, to the Holy Land — when leadership of the Chassidic movement in Lithuania passed to the Alter Rebbe — thousands of additional families joined Chabad and formed bonds of hitkashrut (spiritual attachment) with the Alter Rebbe. By 1780 (תק"מ), the Chabad Chassidim numbered 15,000 families across Russia.

In the years that followed, Chabad continued to spread steadily and grow at an extraordinary pace. By 1795 (תקנ"ה), an accounting conducted by the shaddarim (emissaries) and mashpi'im (spiritual mentors) whom the Alter Rebbe had appointed to guide the Chassidim found that the number of Chassidim had reached 70,000 families across Russia and Ukraine.

By 1797 (תקנ"ז), Chabad had become the largest Chassidic movement, with the number of the Alter Rebbe's Chassidim estimated at one hundred thousand. This led the Alter Rebbe to restrict personal visits to him through a set of formal regulations (the Takanot Liozna), and to publish the Tanya — with the express intention that Chassidim would find answers to their questions in the Tanya rather than making the journey to see him in person and seek his guidance face to face.

At a meeting between the Alter Rebbe and Rabbi Nachman of Breslov in 1810 (תק"ע), just a few years before the Alter Rebbe's passing, Rabbi Nachman asked whether it was true that the Alter Rebbe had some 80,000 Chassidim. The Alter Rebbe replied that this was quite possible — for many of his Chassidim served as teachers and maintained charity funds designated for his household's support (ma'amados), and they raised their children to contribute as well; those children, too, were thus counted among his Chassidim.

The name "Chabad" as an appellation for the movement and its followers first appears in a letter written by the Alter Rebbe in the summer of 1805 (תקס"ה). In that letter, addressed to Rabbi Avraham of Kalisk, the Alter Rebbe reviewed everything that had transpired between them — beginning from the time Rabbi Avraham had begun to contest the Alter Rebbe's approach to Chassidus in 1798 (תקנ"ח), through his management of the Eretz Yisrael fund-collection network from 1803 (תקס"ג) onward, as well as the connection between these two disputes. In that letter, the Alter Rebbe writes:

In the winter of 5563 [1803], those well-known emissaries came to me and demanded that I cancel all the agents in our country from all the existing ma'amados, so that they themselves would travel around and establish new ma'amados from true supporters — those who are not designated by the name Chabad.

— Igros Kodesh of the Alter Rebbe, Letter 51

At the outset of the founding of the Chabad approach, approximately forty gifted young scholars from the towns surrounding Liozna gathered to study under the Alter Rebbe. They were divided according to their levels of learning, and three study rooms (chadarim) were opened for them. The Alter Rebbe established a new curriculum:

• Gemara must be studied with close analytical focus (b'iyun) in study groups on a single topic, for no fewer than four hours a day.
• Each week, one body of material must be covered and mastered to the point of fluency (bekius).
• Gemara must also be reviewed daily in the mode of rapid reading (girsa) — no fewer than one page per day.
• Twice each week, on set days and at fixed hours, the students would engage in spirited Talmudic debate (pilpul), with each presenting his own challenges and proposed resolutions.

In addition to the Alter Rebbe himself, classes were taught by his brothers: Rabbi Yehuda Leib, Rabbi Mordechai Posner, and Rabbi Moshe.

The Dispute with Rabbi Avraham of Kalisk

The ohel (burial chamber) of the Baal Shem Tov, in which Rabbi Boruch of Mezhybizh is also interred

In 1788 (תקמ"ח), Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk passed away, and Rabbi Avraham of Kalisk succeeded him as leader of the Chassidim in the Holy Land. Like his predecessor, Rabbi Avraham sent letters of encouragement to the Alter Rebbe and supported his rulings and enactments. Rabbi Boruch of Mezhybizh was also on friendly terms with the Alter Rebbe at first, and when he received a copy of the Tanya, reportedly described it as "the book of the intellect."

However, when in 1797 (תקנ"ז) the Alter Rebbe published the Tanya — which represented an extraordinary innovation for its time — Rabbi Avraham of Kalisk wrote him a critical letter, raising the argument that Chassidim should conduct themselves with simple, heartfelt fear of Heaven, and that the inner secrets of the Torah which the Alter Rebbe had revealed in the Tanya ought to be restricted to the spiritually elite.

Rabbi Avraham grounded his position in the verse v'tzaddik be'emunaso yichyeh — "the righteous shall live by his faith" (Habakkuk 2:4), writing to Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev: "How much effort have I expended with him through various letters, to establish him on the principle of 'the righteous shall live by his faith.'"

In 1800 (תק"ס), the Alter Rebbe sent Rabbi Avraham a letter in which he apologized for the delay in responding and set out his approach to the matter at length. In its wake, Rabbi Avraham of Kalisk issued a letter in which he retracted his criticism of the Alter Rebbe.

Rabbi Avraham of Kalisk was in the habit of sending emissaries to Russia to collect funds for the Jews of the Holy Land. Those emissaries proved a persistent source of friction with the Alter Rebbe, and when they returned to Rabbi Avraham, they brought back fabricated and distorted reports about him.

In addition, Rabbi Avraham's emissaries — who visited Rabbi Boruch of Mezhybizh, Rabbi Mordechai of Lechovitch, and Rabbi Asher of Stolin — spoke falsehoods against the Alter Rebbe, and as a result, those leaders also joined in opposing him.

As part of his campaign against the Alter Rebbe, Rabbi Avraham wrote to Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, claiming that the Alter Rebbe had departed from the path of the Maggid of Mezeritch and of Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk. Rabbi Levi Yitzchak, however, wrote back in support of the Alter Rebbe — and later remarked that "we all ate from the same plate, but the Litvak [the Alter Rebbe] took the fat and the essence."

As the conflict intensified and Rabbi Avraham continued to press his accusation that the Alter Rebbe had departed from the path of the Maggid, the Alter Rebbe wrote to Rabbi Avraham in 1805 (תקס"ה) stating plainly that since he was not Rabbi Avraham's disciple, he had no need of Rabbi Avraham's approval to write works of Chassidus.

The Nature and Approach of Chabad Chassidus

The Chabad approach holds that while faith in the Almighty is the foundation of Jewish life, that faith must be grounded in intellectual understanding. It also holds that Jewish life cannot rest on spontaneous feeling alone — such emotions can vanish as suddenly as they appear, and may even be "false imaginings," leaving whatever was built upon them to dissolve and disappear. The true foundation of a complete Jewish life, according to Chabad, is therefore deep intellectual engagement with Chassidic teaching. Within this approach, even the emotions — love of the Creator and awe of Him — become stable and enduring when they grow out of intellectual reflection and internalization, which occurs primarily during prayer. The aim of the entire process is to bring a person to full mastery over his thoughts, speech, and actions, directing them entirely toward Heaven.

Chabad Chassidic teaching is characterized by its depth and by its drive to penetrate to the innermost dimensions of the concepts found in Kabbalistic tradition — understood through the lens of personal Divine service. This approach is rooted in the teachings and path of the Baal Shem Tov, but continues primarily and with some elaboration along the path laid by the Maggid of Mezeritch. For this reason, some have described the Baal Shem Tov, the Maggid of Mezeritch, and the Alter Rebbe — the founder of Chabad Chassidus — as embodying the three highest sefiros (Divine attributes): Chochmah (Wisdom), Binah (Understanding), and Da'as (Knowledge), whose initials spell the word "Chabad."

The Role of the Rebbe in Chabad

Main article: Nasi HaDor

Unlike most other Chassidic courts of the time, the Chabad movement did not accept the view that the primary burden of Divine service rests on the Rebbe or tzaddik, with the Chassidim required only to cleave to him and maintain their bond of hitkashrut with him.

This stance initially stirred controversy among other disciples of the Maggid of Mezeritch — who argued that it represented a departure from the Chassidic path as charted by both the Maggid and the Baal Shem Tov — with Rabbi Avraham of Kalisk as its sharpest critic. The Alter Rebbe responded that his path integrated the approach of the Baal Shem Tov and the Maggid with the obligation incumbent on every individual to serve G-d through his own effort.

It is also recounted that Rabbi Shlomo of Karlin asked the Alter Rebbe's permission to settle in the territory where the Alter Rebbe's Chassidim were active — and the Alter Rebbe agreed, subject to three conditions. Rabbi Shlomo accepted the first two, but would not accept the third: "that he not say the tzaddik must carry the flock."

These differences of view rarely led to actual ruptures between Chabad and other Chassidic groups. Thus even tzaddikim whose approach to Chassidus differed greatly from that of Chabad — such as Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev and Rabbi Mordechai of Chernobyl — intermarried with the leaders of Chabad.

At the same time, even within the Chabad approach, the tzaddikim are regarded as the "head and mind" of the community, with the community drawing spiritual — and even material — vitality from them, and bonding through them to the Divine. In the Alter Rebbe's own formulation:

In every generation there are the heads of the thousands of Israel, whose souls stand in relation to the souls of the common people as the head and mind stand to the body… The vitality and life-force of the souls of the ordinary people is drawn from the souls of the tzaddikim and sages, the heads of the children of Israel in their generation… Through attachment to Torah scholars, the souls of ordinary Jews are bound and united with their primordial essence and their root in supernal Wisdom.

— Tanya, chapter 2

Following from this, the Rebbe occupies a central place in the Chabad Chassidic community, and every Chassid strives to be "bound" to him — a relationship called hitkashrut, which is cultivated primarily through studying the Rebbe's Torah teachings and carrying out his directives. Many Chassidim also made it their practice not to take any significant step in life without seeking the Rebbe's counsel and receiving his blessing.

Paths of Divine Service

Main articles: Divine Service, ''Avodah'' and Intellect, Mind Over Heart, ''Bitul'', ''Iskafya'', and ''Ishapcha''

According to Chabad teaching, all forms of sadness are to be set aside — even sorrow over sins and spiritual shortcomings. Great emphasis is placed on deep contemplative meditation during prayer, as the means of connecting intellectual understanding to the emotions of the heart throughout the day.

Among the most central principles of Chabad Divine service is the concept of mochin shalit al halev — "the mind rules over the heart." This refers to a state in which the intellect governs the emotions and character traits of the heart — in which the mind leads and guides the person, for the mind is the seat and dwelling place of the Divine soul.