Menachem Mendel Schneerson

Menachem Mendel Schneerson (April 5, 1902 OS – June 12, 1994 NS), known as the Lubavitcher Rebbe or just the Rebbe amongst his hasidim, was a prominent hasidic rabbi who was the seventh and last Rebbe (spiritual leader) of the Chabad Lubavitch movement. He was fifth in a direct paternal line to the third Chabad-Lubavitch Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn.

In 1950, upon the death of his father-in-law, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, he assumed the leadership of Chabad Lubavitch. He led the movement until his death in 1994, greatly expanding its worldwide activities and founding a network of institutions (as of 2006, in 70 countries) to spread Orthodox Judaism among the Jewish people, with the stated goal of "Jewish unity".

Early life
Born in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, Schneerson was the eldest of three sons of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson, an authority on Kabbalah and Jewish law who served as the Rabbi of Yekaterinoslav from 1907 to 1939. His younger brothers were Dovber and Yisroel Aryeh Leib.

During his youth, Schneerson received mostly private Jewish education. He studied for a short while with Rabbi Zalman Vilenkin. When Schneerson was 4 1/2 years old, Vilenkin informed the boy's father that he had nothing more to teach his son.

Schneerson later studied independently under his father, who was his primary teacher. He studied Talmud and rabbinic literature, as well as the Hasidic view of Kabbalah. He received his rabbinical ordination from the Rogatchover Gaon, Rabbi Yosef Rosen Throughout his upbringing, Schneerson was involved in the communal affairs of his father's office, where his secular education and knowledge of the Russian language made him a useful aid in assisting his father's public administrative work. He was also said to be an interpreter between the Jewish community and the Russian authorities on a number of occasions. In 1923, Schneerson visited his second cousin twice removed, Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, for the first time. It was presumably at that time that he met Schneersohn's daughter, Chaya Mushka.He became engaged to her in Riga in 1923 and married her five years later in 1928, after being away in Berlin. He returned to Warsaw for his wedding, and in the announcement of his marriage in a Warsaw newspaper, "a number of academic degrees" were attributed to him. Following the marriage, the newlyweds went to live in Berlin.

Berlin
Schneerson reputedly "was known to have received several advanced degrees in Berlin, and then later in Paris," but Professor Menachem Friedman was only able to uncover records for one and a half semesters in Berlin and Schneerson's attendance was in a "record of the students who audited courses at the university without receiving academic credit." However many records from that period of time were destroyed in the war.

In 1931, Schneerson's younger brother, Yisroel Aryeh Leib, joined him in Berlin, traveling with false papers under the name Mark Gurary to escape the Soviets. He arrived and was cared for by the family as he was seriously ill with typhoid fever. He attended classes at the University of Berlin from 1931 to 1933. In 1933, after Adolf Hitler took over Germany and began instituting anti-Semitic policies, Schneerson helped Gurary escape from Berlin together with his wife. Gurary escaped to Mandate Palestine in 1939 with his fiancee Regina Milgram, where they later married. Despite Gurary's secularism, the two brothers maintained a relationship. Gurary worked as a businessman in Israel and later moved to England, where he began doctoral studies at Liverpool University. He died in 1951 before completing his degree. Schneerson arranged for Gurary's burial in Israel. Gurary's children, Schneerson's closest living relatives, currently reside in Israel.

Schneerson's other brother, DovBer, was killed in 1944 at the hands of Nazi collaborators.

Rabbi Soloveitchik
Rabbi Sholem Kowalsky, a close colleague of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, a former vice president of Agudas Harabbonim of America, and an active member of the Rabbinical Council of America; Rabbi Herschel Schacter, a former chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations; Rabbi Julius Berman, the current Chairman of the RIETS Board of Trustees; Rabbi Menachem Genack, Rabbinic Administrator of the Kashrus Division of the Orthodox Union; and Rabbi Fabian Schoenfeld, former head of the Rabbinical Council of America (all students of Rabbi Soloveitchik) have all asserted that Schneerson and Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik met for the first time while they both studied in Berlin. They met many times at the home of Rabbi Chaim Heller. It was in the course of these meetings that a strong friendship developed and, in the words of Soloveitchik to Rabbi Sholem Kowalsky, he "was a great admirer of the Rebbe."Rabbi Soloveitchik related that:

Rabbi Zvi Kaplan states that Rabbi Yitzchok Hutner recalled sitting with Schneerson and Soloveitchik at a lecture on Maimonides at the University and when the speaker asked Schneerson for his opinion on something, Schneerson deferred to Soloveitchik.

France
In 1933, Schneerson moved to Paris, France. He studied mechanics and electrical engineering at the École spéciale des travaux publics, du bâtiment et de l'industrie (ESTP), a Technical College in the Montparnasse district. He graduated in July 1937 and received a license to practice as an electrical engineer. In November 1937, he enrolled at the Sorbonne, where he studied mathematics until World War II broke out in 1939.

Schneerson lived most of the time in Paris at 9 Rue Boulard in the 14th arrondissement, in the same building as his wife's sister, Shaina, and her husband, Mendel Hornstein, who was also studying at ESTP. Mendel Hornstein failed the final exams and he and his wife returned to Poland; they were killed at Treblinka in late 1942. In June 1940, after Paris fell, the Schneersons fled to Vichy, and later to Nice, where they stayed until their final escape from Europe.

Schneerson learned to speak French, which he put to use in establishing his movement there after the war. The Chabad movement in France was later to attract many Jewish immigrants from Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia.

America and leadership
In 1941, Schneerson escaped from France on the Serpa Pinto, one of the last boats to cross the Atlantic before the U-boat blockade began, and joined his father-in-law, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, New York. Seeking to contribute to the war effort, he went to work in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, inspecting the electrical wiring of ships being built or repaired, and other classified military work.

In 1942, his father-in-law appointed him director of the Chabad movement's central organizations, placing him at the helm of building a Jewish educational network across the United States. However, Schneerson kept a low public profile within the movement, emerging only once a month to deliver public talks to his father-in-law's followers.

Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn died in 1950. The two candidates for leadership were Schneerson and Rabbi Shemaryahu Gurary, Schneersohn's elder son-in-law. Schneerson actively refused to accept leadership of the movement for the entire year after Schneersohn's passing. Schneerson had a larger following and seemed more sincere than Gurary. Schneerson was eventually cajoled into accepting the post by his wife and followers.

On the anniversary of his father-in-law's passing, 10 Shevat 1951, he delivered a Chassidic discourse, (Ma'amar), and formally became the Rebbe.

Jewish outreach
Schneerson believed that the American public was seeking to learn more about their Jewish heritage. He stated, "America is not lost, you are not different from. You Americans sincerely crave to know, to learn. Americans are inquisitive. It is the Chabad's point of view that the American mind is simple, honest, direct-good, tillable soil for Hassidism, or just plain Judaism". Schneerson believed that Jews need not be on the defensive, but need to be on the ground building Jewish institutions, day schools and synagogues. Schneerson said that we need "to discharge ourselves of our duty and we must take the initiative".

Schneerson placed a tremendous emphasis on outreach. He made great efforts to intensify this program of the Chabad movement, bringing Jews from all walks of life to adopt Orthodox Judaism, and aggressively sought the expansion of the baal teshuva movement.

His work included organising the training of thousands of young Chabad rabbis and their wives, who were sent all over the world by him as shluchim (emissaries) to spread the Chabad message. He oversaw the building of schools, community centers, youth camps, and "Chabad Houses", and established contacts with wealthy Jews and government officials around the world.

Schneerson also instituted a system of "mitzvah campaigns" called mivtzoim to encourage Jews to follow Orthodox Jewish practices. They commonly centered on practices such as keeping kosher, lighting Shabbat candles, studying Torah, laying tefillin, helping to write sifrei Torah, and teaching women to observe the laws of Jewish family purity. He also launched a global Noahide campaign to promote observance of the Noahide Laws  among gentiles, and argued that involvement in this campaign is an obligation for every Jew.

Political activities
He was in favour of a moment of silence at the beginning of the school day, he was pro-life, pro-Israel, and promoted Bible values, about which he was publicly vocal.

Israel
Schneerson never visited the State of Israel, where he had many admirers. He held a view that according to Jewish law, it was uncertain if a Jewish person who was in the land of Israel was allowed to leave. One of Israel's presidents, Zalman Shazar, who was of Lubavitch ancestry, would visit Schneerson and corresponded extensively with him. Menachem Begin, Ariel Sharon, Moshe Katzav, and later, Benjamin Netanyahu, also paid visits and sought advice, along with numerous other less famous politicians, diplomats, military officials, and media producers. In the elections that brought Yitzhak Shamir to power, Schneerson publicly lobbied his followers and the Orthodox members in the Knesset to vote against the Labor alignment. It attracted the media's attention and led to articles in Time, Newsweek, and many newspapers and TV programs, and led to considerable controversy within Israeli politics.

He lobbied Israeli politicians to pass legislation in accordance with Jewish religious law on the question "Who is a Jew" and declare that "only one who is born of a Jewish mother or converted according to Halakha is Jewish." This caused a furor in the United States. Some American Jewish philanthropies stopped financially supporting Chabad-Lubavitch since most of their members were connected to Reform and Conservative Judaism. These unpopular ideas were toned down by his aides, according to Avrum Erlich. "The issue was eventually quietened so as to protect Chabad fundraising interests. Controversial issues such as territorial compromise in Israel that might have estranged benefactors from giving much-needed funds to Chabad, were often moderated, particularly by...Krinsky." Rabbi Immanuel Jakobovits argued that Chabad moderated its presentation of anti-Zionist ideology and right-wing politics in England and downplayed its messianic fervor so as not to antagonize large parts of the English Jewish community.

Scholarship
In biblical scholarship, Schneerson is known mainly for his scholarly analysis and Hasidic thoughts on Rashi's Torah commentary, which were annotated by his aides. In halakhic matters, he normally deferred to members of the Crown Heights Beth Din headed by Rabbi Zalman Shimon Dvorkin, and advised the movement to do likewise in the event of his death.

Schneerson was known for delivering regular lengthy addresses to his followers at public gatherings, without using any notes. These talks usually centered around the weekly Torah portion, and were then transcribed by followers known as choizerim, and distributed widely. Many of them were later edited by him and distributed worldwide in small booklets, later to be compiled in the Likkutei Sichot set. He also penned tens of thousands of replies to requests and questions. The majority of his correspondence is printed in Igrot Kodesh, partly translated as "Letters from the Rebbe". His correspondence fills more than two hundred published volumes.

While Schneerson rarely chose to involve himself with questions of halakha (Jewish law), some notable exceptions were with regard to the use of electrical appliances on Shabbat, sailing on Israeli boats staffed by Jews, and halakhic dilemmas created when crossing the International Date Line.

"770"
Schneerson rarely left Crown Heights in Brooklyn except for frequent lengthy visits to his father-in-law's gravesite in Queens, New York. A year after the passing of his wife, Chaya Mushka, in 1988, when the traditional year of Jewish mourning had passed, he moved into his study above the central Lubavitch synagogue at 770 Eastern Parkway.

It was from this location that Schneerson directed his emissaries' work and involved himself in details of his movement's developments. His public roles included celebrations called farbrengens (gatherings) on Shabbats, Jewish holy days, and special days on the Chabad calendar, when he would give lengthy sermons to crowds. In later years, these would often be broadcast via satellite and cable television to Lubavitch branches around the world.

Later life
In 1977, Schneerson suffered a massive heart attack while celebrating the hakafot ceremony on Simchat Torah. Despite the best efforts of his doctors to convince him to change his mind, he refused to be hospitalized. This necessitated building a mini-hospital in his headquarters at "770." Although he did not appear again in public for many weeks, Schneerson continued to deliver talks and discourses from his study via intercom. On Rosh Chodesh Kislev, he left his study for the first time in more than a month to go home. His followers celebrate this day as a holiday each year.

In 1983, on the occasion of his 80th birthday, the United States Congress proclaimed Rabbi Schneerson's birthday as "Education Day, USA," and awarded him the National Scroll of Honor.

As the Chabad movement grew and more demands were placed on Schneerson's time, he limited his practice of meeting followers individually in his office. In 1986, Schneerson replaced those personal meetings, known as yechidut, with a weekly receiving line in "770". Almost every Sunday, thousands of people would line up to meet briefly with Schneerson and receive a one-dollar bill, which was to be donated to charity. People filing past Schneerson would often take this opportunity to ask him for advice or to request a blessing. This event is usually referred to as "Sunday Dollars."

Following the death of his wife in 1988, Schneerson withdrew from some public functions. For example, he stopped delivering addresses during weekdays, instead holding gatherings every Shabbat. He later edited these addresses, which have since been released in the Sefer HaSichos set.

"Moshiach" fervor
In 1991, he declared to his followers: "I have done everything I can [to bring Moshiach (the Jewish Messiah)], now I am handing over to you [the mission]; do everything you can to bring Moshiach!" A campaign was then started to usher in the Messianic age through "acts of goodness and kindness," and some of his followers placed advertisements in the mass media, including many full-page ads in the New York Times, declaring in Rabbi Schneerson's name that the Moshiach's arrival was imminent, and urging everyone to prepare for and hasten it by increasing their good deeds.

Crown Heights Riot
In 1991, Schneerson was indirectly involved in the start of a riot in his neighborhood of Crown Heights. The riot began when a car accompanying his motorcade &mdash; returning from one of his regular cemetery visits to his father-in-law's grave &mdash; accidentally struck two seven-year-old and left the scene, African American children, killing one boy. In the rioting, Australian Jewish graduate student Yankel Rosenbaum was murdered, many Lubavitchers were badly beaten, and much property was destroyed; also, rioters hurled rocks and bottles at the Jews over police lines.

Last illness
In 1992, Schneerson suffered a serious stroke while praying at the grave of his father-in-law. The stroke left him unable to speak and paralyzed on the right side of his body. Nonetheless, he continued to respond daily to thousands of queries and requests for blessings from around the world. His secretaries would read the letters to him and he would indicate his response with head and hand motions.

Despite his deteriorating health, Schneerson once again refused to leave "770". Several months into his illness, a small room with tinted glass windows and an attached balcony was built overlooking the main synagogue. This allowed Schneerson to pray with his followers, beginning with the Rosh Hashana services, and to appear before them after services either by having the window opened or by being carried out onto the balcony.

His final illness led to a split between two groups of aides who differed in their recommendations as to how Schneerson should be treated, with the two camps led by Leib Groner and Yehuda Krinsky. Aides argued over whether Schneerson had the same physical makeup as other humans, and if the illness should be allowed to run its course without interference. Krinsky argued that the latest and most suitable medical treatment available should be used in treating Schneerson, while Groner thought that "outside interference in the Rebbe’s medical situation might be just as dangerous as inaction. They saw his illness as an element in the messianic revelation; interference with Schneerson’s physical state might therefore affect the redemptive process, which should instead be permitted to run its natural course."

Death and burial
Schneerson died and was buried on June 12, 1994 (3 Tammuz 5754) next to his father-in-law, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, at Montefiore Cemetery in Queens, New York. An Ohel was built over both their graves. Established by philanthropist Joseph Gutnick of Melbourne, Australia, the Ohel Chabad-Lubavitch Center on Francis Lewis Boulevard, Queens, New York, is located adjacent to the Rebbe's Ohel.

The U.S. Congress and President issue annual proclamations declaring that Schneerson's birthday &mdash; usually a day in March or April that coincides with his Hebrew calendar birthdate of 11 Nisan &mdash; be observed as Education and Sharing Day in the United States.

Congressional Gold Medal
After Schneerson's death, a bill was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives &mdash; sponsored by Congressmen Chuck Schumer and co-sponsored by John Lewis, Newt Gingrich, and Jerry Lewis, as well as 220 other Congressmen &mdash; to posthumously bestow on Schneerson the Congressional Gold Medal. On November 2, 1994 the bill passed both Houses by unanimous consent, honoring Schneerson for his "outstanding and enduring contributions toward world education, morality, and acts of charity". President Bill Clinton spoke these words at the Congressional Gold Medal ceremony:

The late Rebbe's eminence as a moral leader for our country was recognized by every president since Richard Nixon. For over two decades, the Rabbi's movement now has some 2000 institutions; educational, social, medical, all across the globe. We (the United States Government) recognize the profound role that Rabbi Schneerson had in the expansion of those institutions.

Wills
Schneerson left no instructions about a successor. He made up two wills. His first will, dated February 14, 1988, left all his possessions to Agudas Chasidei Chabad and named Krinsky as his executor. His second will, first prepared August 30, 1988, was more controversial. It named rabbis Hodokov (Shneerson's chief of staff), Mindel (the movement's main editor and publisher), and Pikarski (the head of Central Lubavitch Yeshiva) as his executors and gave them power of attorney. The will was also more explicit regarding the way in which Schneerson wanted Chabad institutions to be run. No signed copies of this second will exist, and the day before his first stroke Schneerson allegedly told Krinsky to call Pikarski and tell him the second will had been canceled. After the stroke Schneerson was not able to confirm or deny whether he had done so. Some factions within the movement suspect Krinsky of "blocking the execution of the will or of hiding the signed copy."

The Meshichist movement


Before Schneerson's death in 1994 a significant body of Chabad Hasidim believed that he was soon to become manifest as the Messiah - an event that would herald the Messianic Age and the construction of the Third Temple. Books and pamphlets were written containing proofs for the Rabbi's status as Messiah. Even outside Chabad, many Jews were open to the idea that he might be the Messiah; Rabbi Aaron Soloveichik wrote that he had been of this opinion. After his death, the belief in his being the Messiah became confined to a subset of the Chabad community and is not commonly accepted outside of it.

In Schneersohn's later years a movement arose believing that it was their mission to convince the world of his messiahship, and that general acceptance of this claim would lead to his revelation. Adherents to this belief were termed Meshichist. After his stroke, followers routinely sang the song "Yechi Adoneinu Moreinu v'Rabbeinu Melech haMoshiach l'olom vo'ed!" (In English: "Long live our Master, Teacher, and Rabbi, the Annointed King, for ever and ever") in his presence, with his encouragement.

After his death the Meshichist movement lost many supporters, but continued to attract new ones, and remains strong within Chabad. The development of this movement and its impact on Chabad in specific &mdash; and Orthodox Judaism in general &mdash; has been the subject of much discussion in the Jewish press, as well as within the pages of peer-reviewed journals.