Chabad: Difference between revisions

'''Chabad-Lubavitch''' is the Chassidic movement founded by [[the Alter Rebbe]], Rabbi Schneuri Zalman of Liadi in Tsarist Russia, and is a main offshoots of the general Chassidic movement founded by [[the Baal Shem Tov]], Rabbi Yisrael ben Elizer and his successor, [[the Maggid of Mezritch]], Rabbi Dovber ben Avraham.

The Alter Rebbe, born in 1745 in the city of [[Liozna]] in the [[Russian Empire]],  

The name "Chabad" (חב״ד) is an acronym formed from the three Hebrew words—[[Chokmah]], [[Binah (Kabbalah)|Binah]], [[Da'at]]— for the first three [[sefirot]] of the [[Tree of life (Kabbalah)|kabbalistic Tree of Life]] after [[Keter]]: חכמה, בינה, דעת, "Wisdom, Understanding, and Knowledge"—which represent the [[Chabad philosophy|intellectual and kabbalistic underpinnings]] of the movement.<ref>"About Chabad-Lubavitch" Chabad.org.</ref> The name [[Lubavitch]] derives from the town in which the Alter Rebbe's son and successor, [[the Mitteler Rebbe], Rabbi Dovber Schneuri, relocated the movement after the war between Napoleon and Russia. The succeeding Rebbes of Chabad resided in the town until the First World War. Following the rise of Communism in Russia, the sixth Rebbe of Chabad, [[the Rebbe Rayatz]], Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, moved the center of the Chabad movement from Russia to Poland. After the outbreak of World War II, he moved the center of the movement to [[770 Eastern Parkway]] in the [[Crown Heights]] section of Brooklyn (New York, [[United States|USA]]). There, following the ''[[histalkus]]'' of the Rebbe Rayatz in 1950, [[the Rebbe]], Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson became the leader of the worldwide Chabad movement exactly one year later. In the following decades, the Rebbe transformed the Chabad movement into one of the most widespread Jewish movements in the world. Under his leadership, Chabad established a large network of institutions to [[spread the wellsprings]] of the teachings of Chassidus, as well as to provide for the religious, social and humanitarian needs of Jews across the world. Chabad institutions provide outreach to unaffiliated Jews and humanitarian aid, as well as religious, cultural and educational activities. The impact of the Chabad movement on non-Chassidic Jews is widely recognised. In a 2020 study, the Pew Research Center found that 16% of American Jews from different backgrounds participated in Chabad services or activities at least semi-regularly.<ref>Pew Research Center, "Jewish Americans in 2020", pewforum.org.</ref> The Rebbe's focus on the immediate coming of the [[Moshiach]], a foundational Jewish belief, was made very clear in many teachings and writings, and which continue to inspire his Chassidim until this very day.

The movement was centered in Lyubavichi for a century until the fifth Rebbe, [[Sholom Dovber Schneersohn|Rabbi Shalom Dovber]] left the village in 1915<ref name=haaretz1920 /> and moved to the city of [[Rostov-on-Don]]. During the [[interwar period]], following Bolshevik persecution, the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, under the Sixth Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak, was centered in [[Riga]] and then in [[Warsaw]]. The outbreak of World War II led the Sixth Rebbe to move to the [[United States]]. Since 1940,<ref name="Barry">[|url=leagle.com/decision/19872113650fsupp146311879|archive-url=web.archive.org/web/20150609131447/leagle.com/decision/19872113650FSupp1463_11879|url-status=dead|title=AGUDAS CHASIDEI CHABAD OF &#124; 650 F.Supp. 1463 (1987) &#124; Leagle.com|archive-date=June 9, 2015|website=Leagle}}</ref> the movement's center has been in the [[Crown Heights, Brooklyn|Crown Heights]] neighborhood of [[Brooklyn]].<ref>[ |url=chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/272209/jewish/Rabbi-Sholom-DovBer-Schneersohn.htm |publisher=Chabad |title=Sholom DovBer Schneersohn (1860–1920) |access-date=January 13, 2015}}</ref><ref name="Altein, R page 270">Altein, R, Zaklikofsky, E, Jacobson, I: ''Out of the Inferno: The Efforts That Led to the Rescue of [[Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn]] of Lubavitch from War Torn Europe in 1939–40'', p. 270. Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch, 2002 {{ISBN|0-8266-0683-0}}</ref>