 | |
| Type of business | Non-profit |
|---|---|
| Available in |
|
| Founder(s) | Yosef Yitzchak Kazen |
| URL | chabad.org |
| Launched | 1988 |
| Current status | Active |
 |
| Part of a series on |
| Chabad |
|---|
| Rebbes |
|
| Places and landmarks |
| Holidays |
| Organizations |
| Schools |
| Chabad philosophy |
| Texts |
| Outreach |
| Terminology |
| Chabad offshoots |
Chabad.org is the flagship website of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement. [1] It was one of the first Jewish internet sites [2] and the first and largest virtual congregation. [3]
In 1988, Yosef Yitzchak Kazen, a Chabad rabbi, began creating a Chabad-Lubavitch presence in cyberspace. With the advent of computer communication technology, Kazen recognized its potential for reaching an almost limitless audience, unlimited by geographic and other constraints. Kazen digitized thousands of documents into what became the world's first virtual Jewish library, and enabling thousands of people to learn about Judaism for the first time. Chabad.org served as a model for other Jewish organizations that created their own educational websites. [4]
Chabad.org has a Jewish knowledge base which includes over 100,000 articles of information ranging from basic Judaism to Hasidic philosophy taught from the Chabad point of view. The major categories are the human being, God and man, concepts and ideas, the Torah, the physical world, the Jewish calendar, science and technology, people and events.[ citation needed ] There are sections on Shabbat, Kosher, Tefillin, Mezuzah, the Jewish way in death and mourning and a synagogue companion.[ citation needed ]
Chabad.org was the pioneer of “Ask the rabbi” sites. Kazen reached out to thousands of people on Fidonet, an online discussion network, as far back as 1988. [5]
In 1994, Kazen launched the first version of Chabad's “Ask the Rabbi” website. Today's version, in which 40 rabbis and educators field questions via e-mail, answered more than 500,000 questions between 2001 and 2006, averaging about 270 a day. [6] Many people take advantage of the Web's anonymity to impart experiences and ask for advice from chabad.org. [6] Chabad.org also operates TheJewishWoman.org's “Dear Rachel”, a similar service which is run by women for women. [6] Questions and answers have been posted online.[ citation needed ]
Chabad.org provides daily, date-specific information relevant to each day from Jewish history, daily Torah study, candle-lighting times, and forthcoming Jewish holidays. [7] [ citation needed ]
Chabad.org maintains a number of sub-sites, including
Chabad.org and its affiliated sites claim over 43 million visitors per year, and over 365,000 email subscribers. [8]
Menachem Mendel Schneerson, known to many as the Lubavitcher Rebbe or simply the Rebbe, was an 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. 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.
Shneur Zalman of Liadi was a rabbi and the founder and first Rebbe of Chabad, a branch of Hasidic Judaism, then based in Liadi in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later in the Grodno Governorate of the Russian Empire. He wrote many works, and is best known for Shulchan Aruch HaRav, Tanya, and his Siddur Torah Or compiled according to the Nusach Ari.
Yosef YitzchakSchneersohn was an Orthodox rabbi and the sixth Rebbe of the Chabad Lubavitch Hasidic 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.
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.
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.
Moshe J. Kotlarsky is an Orthodox Hasidic rabbi who serves as Vice Chairman of Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch, the educational arm of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement which in turn oversees over 5,000 religious and educational institutions worldwide. Kotlarsky is a key movement fundraiser, and a powerful figure in the outreach operation. He also heads the Chabad on Campus International Foundation which is active on over two hundred and thirty campuses worldwide, and serves as chairman of the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute.
Hadar Hatorah is a Chabad men's yeshiva in Brooklyn, New York. It is the world's first yeshiva for baalei teshuva.
Yehuda Leib "Leibel" Groner was an American Hasidic Jewish teacher, scholar, and author. He is best known for having served as the personal secretary to Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe, for 40 years.
Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch is the central educational arm of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. It was founded in 1943 by the sixth Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, who served as president, and appointed his son-in-law, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who would later become the seventh Rebbe, as its chairman and director. After the passing of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson succeeded him as president. Today, Rabbi Chaim Yehuda Krinsky serves as chairman and Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky serves as vice-chairman.
Orthodox Jewish outreach, often referred to as Kiruv or Qiruv, is the collective work or movement of Orthodox Judaism that reaches out to non-observant Jews to encourage belief in God and life according to Jewish law. The process of a Jew becoming more observant of Orthodox Judaism is called teshuva making the "returnee" a baal teshuva. Orthodox Jewish outreach has worked to enhance the rise of the baal teshuva movement.
The baal teshuva movement is a description of the return of secular Jews to religious Judaism. The term baal teshuva is from the Talmud, literally meaning "master of repentance". The term is used to refer to a worldwide phenomenon among the Jewish people.
Likkutei Sichos, literally, "Collected Talks" contains both the scope and the core of the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, and is the most authoritative source-text for Schneerson's way of explaining Judaism and the world writ large.
Rabbi Yosef Yeshaya BraunArchived September 26, 2020, at the Wayback Machine is an Orthodox rabbi and a member of the Chabad Hasidic movement. Rabbi Braun serves as a member of the Beth Din of Crown Heights, the Bais Din Tzedek of the Jewish community in Crown Heights, Brooklyn; he is an authority on Halacha and Hasidic philosophy. Rabbi Braun previously served as the rabbi of the Tzemach Tzedek Synagogue in Sydney, Australia.
Yosef Avraham haLevi Heller is an Orthodox rabbi and a member of the Chabad Hasidic movement. Rabbi Heller serves as an emeritus member of the Bais Din Tzedek of the Chabad community in Crown Heights, Brooklyn; he is an authority on Halacha and Hasidic philosophy. Rabbi Heller holds the additional position of Rosh Kollel, head of the community's kollel, a yeshiva for married men.
Chabad philosophy comprises the teachings of the leaders of Chabad-Lubavitch, a Hasidic movement. Chabad Hasidic philosophy focuses on religious concepts such as God, the soul, and the meaning of the Jewish commandments.
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.
Yosef Yitzchak Kazen, also known as Y.Y. Kazen, was an American Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic rabbi. He is known for creating and running Chabad.org in 1988, before the World Wide Web existed.
Yosef Yitzchak "Yossi" Jacobson, also known as YY Jacobson, is an American Chabad rabbi and speaker from Monsey, New York.
Hasidic Judaism in Lithuania is the history of Hasidic Judaism and Hasidic philosophy in Lithuania and parts of modern-day Belarus. Hasidic Judaism in Lithuania began with R. Aaron Perlow of Karlin (Karalin) (1736–1772), R. Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk (1730?–1788) R. Shneur Zalman of Liadi (Lyady) (1745–1812) and to a lesser extent R. Hayim Haykl of Amdur (Indura), all of whom were disciples of R. Dov Ber of Mezeritch (Mezhirichi), who in part was the successor to the R. Israel Baal Shem Tov who founded Hasidic Judaism in Western Ukraine. In its earliest years, Lithuanian Hasidism suffered immense persecution by the Lithuanian Misnagdic rabbinate, who attempted to ban and excommunicate Hasidism on several occasions in Lithuania beginning with R. Elijah b. Solomon Zalman of Vilna (1720–1797), who was the earliest disseminator of anti-Hasidic thought which flourished in Lithuania.
