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Barry Gurary (also: Gourary, Sholom Dovber[ citation needed ] or Berke [1] ) (b. in Rostov-on-Don, Russia February 10, 1923, d. Montclair, New Jersey, United States March 14, 2005) was a rabbi. He was the nephew of Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the seventh Lubavitcher rebbe.
Barry Gurary was the only son of Rabbi Shemaryahu Gurary and the nephew of Menachem Mendel Schneerson. He married Mina Haskind.[ citation needed ]
Gurary's relationship with Schneerson was a source of friction within the family and the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic community. [2]
One year after the death of Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, his son-in-law Menachem Mendel Schneerson became the seventh rebbe of the movement, while Shemaryahu Gurary, Barry Gurary's father, held the same positions he had in the past after his brother-in-law had become the seventh (and last) Lubavitcher rebbe. [3] [ better source needed ]
Barry's grandfather the sixth rebbe, Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, collected a large library of Jewish texts, which included several hundred rare volumes. Barry believed he was entitled to a portion of the library and was supported in this by his mother and his grandfather's librarian, Rabbi Chaim Lieberman. [3]
In 1984 Barry Gurary entered the library and clandestinely removed some books which he sold to rare book dealers. One illuminated Passover Haggadah from 1757 was sold for $69,000 to a Swiss book dealer who soon found a private buyer to pay nearly $150,000 for it. Gurary was observed on a security camera taking the books. [3]
Gurary claimed to have his mother's permission and the permission of his aunt, Menachem Mendel Schneerson's wife, to take the books. His aunt denied giving him permission. [4] Schneerson demanded that the volumes be returned. When Gurary refused, also refusing Schneerson's summons to a Beth Din (rabbinical court), Schneerson's legal team sought a temporary restraining order that would impound the books still in Gurary's possession, and a ruling that the library was the property of Agudas Chasidei Chabad, the umbrella organization for the Chasidic movement. [4] Schneerson's legal team included Nathan Lewin, former ambassador Jerome J. Shestack, and future Solicitor General of the United States Seth Waxman. [3]
Schneerson argued that the volumes were not the "personal possession" of Gurary's grandfather, but the "communal property" of the Lubavitch Hasidim. This argument was supported by a letter from Gurary's grandfather indicating that the books were the heritage of the entire Jewish community. [2] [3]
During the court hearing, Gurary's mother supported him while his father supported Schneerson. Schneerson was not deposed, but his wife, Chaya Mushka Schneerson was. Other witnesses included Nobel Peace Prize recipient Elie Wiesel, who testified as an expert witness on Chasidic life. [3] [5]
In 1986, the court ruled in favor of Agudas Chassidei Chabad, and the ruling was upheld on appeal in 1987. Agudas Chassidei Chabad located and paid the various book collectors who had bought the books from Gurary and the volumes were returned to the library. In total, Agudas Chassidei Chabad paid $432,000 to buy back the various books. [3]
Gurary worked as a management consultant. [3]
Menachem Mendel Schneerson, known to many as the Lubavitcher Rebbe or simply the Rebbe, was a Russian Empire-born American Orthodox rabbi and the most recent Rebbe of the Lubavitch Hasidic dynasty. He is considered one of the most influential Jewish leaders of the 20th century.
Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch, is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities, including on many college campuses. It is one of the largest Hasidic groups and Jewish religious organizations in the world. Unlike most Haredi groups, which are self-segregating, Chabad operates mainly in the wider world and caters to secularized Jews.
Menachem Mendel Schneersohn also known as the Tzemach Tzedek was an Orthodox rebbe, leading 19th-century posek, and the third rebbe of the Chabad Lubavitch Hasidic movement.
Yosef YitzchakSchneersohn was an Orthodox rabbi and the sixth Rebbe of the Chabad Lubavitch Chasidic movement. He is also known as the Frierdiker Rebbe, the Rebbe RaYYaTz, or the Rebbe Rayatz. After many years of fighting to keep Orthodox Judaism alive from within the Soviet Union, he was forced to leave; he continued to conduct the struggle from Latvia, and then Poland, and eventually the United States, where he spent the last ten years of his life.
Schneersohn is a Jewish surname used by many of the descendants of the Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the first Rebbe of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement.
Sholom Dovber Schneersohn was the fifth Rebbe of the Chabad Lubavitch chasidic movement. He is known as "the Rebbe Rashab". His teachings represent the emergence of an emphasis on outreach that later Chabad Rebbes developed into a major theme.
Kehot Publication Society is the publishing division of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement.
Chaya Mushka (Moussia) Schneerson, referred to by Lubavitchers as The Rebbetzin, was the wife of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the seventh and last Rebbe of the Chabad-Lubavitch branch of Hasidic Judaism. She was the second of three daughters of the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn. She was named after the wife of the third Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn.
Levi Yitzchak Schneerson was a Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic rabbi in Yekatrinoslav, Ukraine. He was the father of the seventh Chabad-Lubavitch Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson.
770 Eastern Parkway, also known as "770", is the street address of the World Headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement, located on Eastern Parkway in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, New York, in the United States. The building is the center of the Chabad-Lubavitch world movement, and considered by many to be an iconic site in Judaism.
Hayom Yom is an anthology of Hasidic aphorisms and customs arranged according to the calendar for the Hebrew year of 5703 (1942–43). The work was compiled and arranged by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the seventh Rebbe of Chabad, from the talks and letters of the sixth Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn. The work was published in 1943.
Agudas Chassidei Chabad is the umbrella organization for the worldwide Chabad-Lubavitch movement. The chairman of the executive committee is Rabbi Abraham Shemtov.
Rabbi Shemaryahu Gurary, also known by his Hebrew initials as Rashag, (1897-1989) was an Orthodox rabbi belonging to the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement. His father was Rabbi Menachem Mendel Gurary. He was the older son-in-law of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn (1880-1950), known as Rebbe Rayatz, the sixth Rebbe of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement, and the brother-in-law of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902-1994), the seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe. He worked with his father-in-law in communal service in both Russia and Poland and then arrived in the U.S. in 1940, where he continued this work until his death. Gurary had a comprehensive knowledge of Chassidic philosophy and was a devoted follower of his father-in-law Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, and later of his brother-in-law Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson.
The Kopust branch of the Chabad Hasidic movement was founded in 1866 by Rabbi Yehuda Leib Schneersohn after the death of the third rebbe of Chabad, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn. The movement is named after the town of Kopys in the Vitebsk Region of present-day Belarus, where Rabbi Yehuda Leib Schneersohn settled after his father's death.
The Library Of Agudas Chassidei Chabad is a research library owned by Agudas Chasidei Chabad. Its content had been collected by the Chabad-Lubavitch Rebbes. The library is housed next to the Lubavitch world headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, New York, and is utilized by Chabad and general Judaic scholars. It is viewed by thousands of visitors each year.
Nissen Nemanov (1904–1984), known familiarly as Reb Nissen, was a Belarusian Orthodox rabbi. He served as a Mashpia, Hasidic mentor, in the Yeshiva of Tomchei Temimim in Brunoy, near Paris, France. He taught many thousands of students during his lifetime, and was renowned for his piety and abstinence. He was buried in the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.
Chabad offshoot groups are those spawned from the Chabad Hasidic Jewish movement. Many of these groups were founded to succeed previous Chabad leaders, acting as rivals to some of the dynastic rebbes of Chabad. Others were founded by former students of the movement, who, in forming their own groups, drew upon their experiences at Chabad.
Chabad customs and holidays are the practices, rituals and holidays performed and celebrated by adherents of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement. The customs, or minhagim and prayer services are based on Lurianic kabbalah. The holidays are celebrations of events in Chabad history. General Chabad customs, called minhagim, distinguish the movement from other Hasidic groups.
Shaina Horenstein (1904-1942) was the youngest daughter of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, the sixth Rebbe of the Chabad Hasidic movement. In the Chabad community, she is referred to as Rebbitzin Shaina.
Yisroel Jacobson (1895-1975) was a Chabad Hasidic rabbi and the representative of the sixth Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, to the United States during the 1920s and 1930s. Rabbi Jacobson was one of the first Lubavitcher activists to arrive in to the United States. He was born in Russia and migrated to the United States in 1925.