The Lubavitcher Rebbe Schneersohn (1902-1994) is a phenomenal spiritual Jewish thinker and leader of the modern age. Many works of the Jewish leader have been published, he has crowds of messengers all over the planet, bringing the light of his teachings to his fellows, thousands of followers, millions of admirers and supporters who consider him a mentor, teacher, leader and role model. This is a man whose efforts shook the conscience of the generation, the spiritual awakening of the nation began.
Childhood
The Lubavitcher Rebbe, whose photo is presented in this article, was born in the city of Nikolaev (in the Russian Empire). The boy's father, Levi Yitzchok Schneersohn, was one of the most famous rabbis. The scientist, who had extensive knowledge of Jewish law, the Talmud, Hasidic thought, turned out to be an implacable opponent of the new winds brought by the Bolsheviks. Khana (his wife, the daughter of Meer-Shloimo Yanovsky - the Nikolaev rabbi) was a true friend andsoul mate of her husband.
The father named his son in honor of Rabbi Menachem-Mendl, his great-grandfather, the 3rd Lubavitcher Rebbe, known in Jewish circles for his work "Tzemach Tzedek". A well-known paternal relative, Rabbi Rashab, provided the child's parents with a series of instructions. For example, a mother had to perform obligatory ritual handwashing before feeding the baby.
Training
When the child was five years old, his parents took him out of the cheder because of his amazing academic performance, after which they hired him for individual teachers. The teacher from the cheder believed that this child was born to become great.
In the memoirs of his childhood, Rebbe Lubavitcher did not say anything about children's games. The child did not play, he was constantly learning. It should be noted that many are proud to get to know him, but no one will dare to call him a friend. He probably had no friends at all: for children, the child was too smart. The father realized early that his son could not be a simple yeshiva student. The boy was 9 years old when he sent his work in Jewish jurisdiction to the newspaper for children "Ah", published in Lubavichi. The child prodigy's essay has been published.
He was fascinated not only by the Torah, the young man was also interested in secular sciences. Dad allowed him to study science in his free time. Within six months, little Menachem-Mendl graduated from high school as an external student, receiving a state certificate and a gold medal.
Brothers
The Lubavitcher Rebbe had twobrothers, whose names were Yisroel-Arye-Leib and Dovber. The fate of the latter was tragic. He had he alth problems since childhood, so he spent most of his life in hospitals. Most likely, because of this, the family did not manage to go abroad if possible. When Levi Yitzchok was arrested and sent to Kazakhstan, where Dovber could not receive the necessary medical care, and the road seemed too difficult, it was decided that the child would stay in Dnepropetrovsk. During the war, he shared the fate of many Jews - he was shot by the Nazis.
But Yisroel-Arye-Leib became a mathematician. After the revolution, he moved to Palestine, then to England, where he lived until the end of his years.
Rostov
In 1923, Menachem-Mendl went to Rostov, where perhaps the most important meeting of his life took place. He met Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn (Rebbe Lubavitcher 6th). Together with his family, the Rebbe left Russia in 1927, and two years later he married his daughter Chaya Musa in Warsaw. The newlyweds moved from Warsaw to Berlin.
Berlin
The next period of life Rebbe Lubavitcher studies at the University of Berlin. With the coming to power of the Nazis, Schneersohn was forced to leave Heidelberg University, where he studied philosophy and mathematics at the same time.
Paris
The couple moved from Germany to Paris in 1933. The young man's studies continued at the Faculty of Shipbuilding at the Sorbonne, where he received a diploma.
USA
Today, many are familiar with the video of the Lubavitcher Rebbe singing. Then the young man just tried to survive. After a series of truly detective circumstances and adventures in 1941, the Schneersons managed to escape to the United States from occupied France, where by that time his father-in-law, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok, had already settled.
Here the rabbi expected to engage in shipbuilding - his professional activities. He actually took part in the construction of submarines at a military base for some time. His secretary says that until the end of his life, the rebbe received payments due to him for innovations in the field of shipbuilding. Although his famous father-in-law insisted that the rebbe head large Lubavitcher organizations - the center of educational institutions Chabad, Merkaz Leinyanei Khinukh, the Kegot publishing house and the Mahane Yisrael charitable organization.
In 1950 Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn (6th Lubavitcher Rebbe) died. Accordingly, the question of a successor arose. Interestingly, the Hasidim had a choice between the two sons-in-law of the rebbe. The husband of the eldest daughter, Rabbi Shmarya Gurary, was the head of the Lubavitcher yeshiva. He spent all the years near his father-in-law and could become his successor. Rabbi Menachem Mendel did not seek to take on such a great responsibility. He represented another generation: a scientist, a graduate of the Sorbonne, fluent in European languages. Yosef Yitzchok did not leave clear instructions on this matter. Although he hinted several times that he would prefer to have a younger brother-in-law as his successor.
BecomingRebbe
The future rebbe turned out to be categorically against the proposal to take the place of the father-in-law. He even told the Hasidim who molested him that he would be forced to leave here in order to get rid of these absurd proposals. He could not refuse the Jews only one thing - support and advice. Hasidim flocked to the elder son-in-law and to him with requests and questions. This turned out to be a good test for the applicants. After another piece of advice, Rabbi Shmarya said that he wanted to become his brother-in-law's Hasid himself, and asked him to take over the duties of a rebbe. But for the young man, this was not enough. On the first anniversary of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok's departure from this world, his younger son-in-law became, in fact, the new rebbe.
During his leadership, he managed to bring more people closer to Jewishness than all the leaders of the current generation combined. The last (7) Lubavitcher Rebbe used completely innovative methods never seen before in Jewish organizations. He used, it seems, all the technologies, opportunities, public influence, the press in order to achieve success. The bled, dying Hasidic movement became a powerful force whose influence was felt by millions of people. The Rebbe was able to build a huge network of Chabad branches around the world.
Israel
Many wondered why the Rebbe did not move to Israel for permanent residence. This question was obvious because of his love for the country, interest in the events taking place there.
This question was asked more than once by the Rebbe himself. One day he said that he knew that sometalk about the simplicity of reasoning about the unity of Jerusalem, being on Eastern Parkway. Only every Jew has his own inheritance in the land of Israel. The whole faith of the Jews is connected with this country.
Second question: why don't everyone go there to live. Israelis constantly come to the Jews of the Diaspora, where they ask for help to resolve various issues with a certain senator or to influence a certain government official so that he begins to feel better about the country. The Rebbe wanted Israel to have maximum benefits for families with many children. At the same time, everyone could personally write a letter to the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
Message to the Rebbe
If you try to describe in a few words the main message of the Rebbe to the world, it will probably be the responsibility for every Jew of the entire Jewish people. It does not matter who this person is and in what spiritual state he is. There is no person about whom one can say: "farfallen", or "lost". Jews do not have the right to leave a single person without attention. To do this, the Rebbe created the empire of Chabad, and sent his emissaries even to places where there were very few Jews.
