The Rebbe

A short biography

To many he is a saintly scholar and to others, a spiritual giant. Some know him as an inspiring leader and still others, as a dear friend. But above all, anyone who ever came in contact with him would agree that a persona of the Rebbe’s vision, spirit and selfless dedication comes along perhaps once in a generation.

Beyond the sheer magnitude of his leadership, the wide scope of his knowledge and warm sensitivity of his understanding the Rebbe was loved and regarded by all simply for being "the Rebbe".

Born in the Russian town of Nikolaev in 1902, Menachem Mendel Schneerson moved with his family to Yekatrinoslav at the age of seven. Even at that young age he already showed promising signs of great maturity and leadership.

His mother, the Rebetzin Chana, of blessed memory, recalls in her memoirs a certain pogrom, in which a group of Jewish families huddled together in an underground shelter to hide from the murderous mobs. When the children began to cry some of the adults were afraid that the sound of the sobbing would alert the mobs to their hiding place. The Rebbe, then a young child himself, approached these children in a calm and mature manner, gave them some candy and coaxed them into a quiet children’s game, thereby saving the lives of the entire group.

In his parents’ home, the Rebbe learned the true nature of Jewish responsibility and leadership. His father, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak, the chief Rabbi for the city of Yekatrinoslav, constantly encouraged his congregation to continue their Jewish practice and observance despite the dangers of the strict communist regime.

In 1929 the Rebbe married Chaya Mushka, the daughter of the then Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yoseph Yitzchak Schneersohn, and went on to University studies in Berlin and Paris. It may have been there that his formidable knowledge of mathematics and science began to blossom.

More influential, though, to his particular approach to the understanding of Judaism, were his combined studies under both his father and father-in-law. The Rebbe developed a unique and rare ability to unite the exoteric and the esoteric, the simple and the complex, utilizing both his deep mystical knowledge and broad scientific understanding of the world.

The Rebbe came to the United States in 1941. Upon his arrival, his father-in-law, the previous Rebbe, appointed him to head the educational, social and publishing departments of the Chabad Lubavitch movement.

With penetrating insight, he recognized the potential for a Jewish reawakening in the United States. The Rebbe began to teach, inspire and help transform American Jewry into a vibrant and dynamic community.

In 1950, upon the passing of his esteemed father-in-law, the Rebbe took over the mantle of leadership. Standing at the helm of the Chabad Lubavitch movement, he set out on an ambitious and powerful program. Single-handedly, the Rebbe charted a new course for himself, his followers and an entire Jewish generation.

Through a vast and global network of Hebrew day schools, Chabad houses and outreach centers the Rebbe strives to reach every Jew on the face of the earth. Sending "Shluchim" (personal emissaries) to all four corners of the world, his message of hope and inspiration is spread to Jews the world over.

From Australia to Thailand, from Siberia to Alaska, people began to turn back to their tradition, regaining in the process their Jewish dignity and pride.

Recognizing the precarious position of post-holocaust Jewry, the Rebbe encourages his followers to search out in love the very same people who were once hunted down in hate. It was the mystical answer to an unprecedented tragedy where all other answers had failed. The Rebbe saw that a massive act of evil can be redeemed only by a massive act of good: in this case, through saving lives, souls and identities on an unprecedented scale.

The Rebbe teaches us, a generation of holocaust survivors, a profound and most important lesson. He challenges us to remember that survival alone is never enough, for in order to survive physically, one must be able to thrive and prosper spiritually.

The Rebbe leads by example. In all of the years of his leadership he has never taken a day off. In 1959, several days after he returned from the Catskill Mountains, where he went to address the children of a Chabad summer camp, a Chassid asked him how he had enjoyed his trip. The Rebbe told him that he was still working to recover the hours he had lost in traveling back and forth.

Throughout the years, the Rebbe would periodically hold "Farbrengens" (gatherings) in the main Synagogue for his many followers. Thousands of "Chassidim", young and old, from all over the world would gather to spend some time with the Rebbe.

Nobel laureate Eli Wiesel once described a "Farbrengen" in the following fashion: "The Synagogue at once seems both huge and intimate, at the center is the Rebbe. The chassid in me looks at him with wonder. There is something melancholy and profoundly moving about his personality, disturbing and reassuring at the same time. In his presence one feels more authentically Jewish. Seen by him one comes closer with one’s own Jewish center."

Every week, on Sunday afternoon, the Rebbe would stand for hours on end as people came from all over the world to visit with him. People with questions, people with problems or people who simply needed a blessing. All came to the Rebbe for comfort, solace and help. Today people still are turning to the Rebbe and receiving guidance through the Rebbe’s printed collection of letters, known as the Igros Kodesh.

The Rebbe’s presence today is more accessible than ever. His courage, strength and leadership are available to anyone who desires to benefit from it. The time is now to act on the Rebbe’s vision and to work towards a time of everlasting peace, a time of great knowledge and prosperity. To be sure, the Rebbe has announced that the time for the Redemption has arrived. All we must do is to prepare with acts of goodness & kindness.