Menachem Mendel Schneerson, known to many as the Lubavitcher Rebbe or simply as the Rebbe, was a Russian Empire-born American Orthodox Jewish rabbi, and the most recent rebbe of the Lubavitcher 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 movement. 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.
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.
The Mishneh Torah, subtitled Sefer Yad ha-Hazaka, is a code of Jewish religious law (Halakha) authored by Maimonides. The Mishneh Torah was compiled between 1170 and 1180 CE, while Maimonides was living in Egypt, and is regarded as Maimonides' magnum opus. Accordingly, later sources simply refer to the work as "Maimon", "Maimonides", or "RaMBaM", although Maimonides composed other works.
Daf Yomi is a daily regimen of learning the Oral Torah and its commentaries, in which each of the 2,711 pages of the Babylonian Talmud is covered in sequence. A daf, or blatt in Yiddish, consists of both sides of the page. Under this regimen, the entire Talmud is completed, one day at a time, in a cycle of seven and a half years.
The Dardaim or Dor daim, are adherents of the Dor Deah movement in Orthodox Judaism. That movement took its name in 1912 in Yemen under Rabbi Yiḥyah Qafiḥ, and had its own network of synagogues and schools, although, in actuality, the movement existed long before that name had been coined for it. According to ethnographer and historian, Shelomo Dov Goitein, author and historiographer, Hayyim Habshush had been a member of this movement before it had been given the name Dor Deah, writing, “...He and his friends, partly under European influence, but driven mainly by developments among the Yemenite Jews themselves, formed a group who ardently opposed all those forces of mysticism, superstition and fatalism which were then so prevalent in the country and strove for exact knowledge and independent thought, and the application of both to life.” It was only some years later, when Rabbi Yihya Qafih became the headmaster of the new Jewish school in Sana'a built by the Ottoman Turks and where he wanted to introduce a new curriculum in the school whereby boys would also learn arithmetic and the rudiments of the Arabic and Turkish languages that Rabbi Yihya Yitzhak Halevi gave to Rabbi Qafih's movement the name Daradʻah, a word which is an Arabic broken plural made-up of the Hebrew words Dör Deʻoh, and which means "Generation of Knowledge."
Ger toshav is a term in Judaism for a Gentile (non-Jew) living in the Land of Israel who agrees to be bound by the Seven Laws of Noah, a set of imperatives which, according to the Talmud, were given by God as a binding set of laws for the "children of Noah" – that is, all of humanity. A ger toshav is therefore commonly deemed a "Righteous Gentile".
Elazar Menachem Man Shach was a leading Lithuanian-Jewish Haredi rabbi in Bnei Brak, Israel. He also served as one of three co-deans of the Ponevezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak, along with Rabbis Shmuel Rozovsky and Dovid Povarsky.
Chitas is a Hebrew acronym for Chumash, Tehillim (Psalms), and Tanya. These are considered basic Jewish texts according to the Chabad Jewish community, an ultra-orthodox Chasidic group. They have the custom to study these works according to a yearly cycle, which is known colloquially as "doing ChiTaS."
Chabad messianism, or Lubavitch messianism, generally refers to the passion among adherents of the Chabad movement regarding the coming of the mashiach or Moshiach (Messiah), and their goal to raise awareness that his arrival is imminent. In addition, the term also refers more specifically to the belief that Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Chabad's seventh leader, is the Messiah.
Mitzvah Campaigns, or Mivtzo'im refer to the various mitzvah campaigns launched by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, for observance by all Jews. During the years 1967 to 1976, Rabbi Schneerson called all Jews to observe ten basic "beginner's mitzvot"— which, because of their centrality to the Torah's guide to life, are ideally suited for a first experience of the mitzvah connection. In the years that followed there were campaigns for additional mitzvot as well.
Chabad Hasidic outreach is a Kiruv phenomena, whereby Chabad Chasidim attempt to encourage Jews to adopt Orthodox Jewish observance.
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.
The term Hakhel refers to a biblical commandment of assembling all Jewish men, women and children, as well as "strangers" to assemble and hear the reading of the Torah by the king of Israel once every seven years.
Kol Menachem is a non-profit independent Chabad publishing house based in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, founded by philanthropist Meyer Gutnick and Rabbi Chaim Miller in 2000. Its goal is "to organize the teachings of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson and make them universally accessible and useful."
Machneh Israel is the social service organization of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement.
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.
Toras Chaim is a two-volume work of Hasidic discourses on the books of Genesis and Exodus by the second Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Dovber Schneuri. The work is arranged in a similar fashion as Likutei Torah/Torah Or, a fundamental work on Chabad philosophy authored by Rabbi Dovber's father, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of the Chabad movement. Both works are arranged according to the weekly Torah portion.
Yud Shvat is a significant date on the Chabad Hasidic calendar. It is the yahrtzeit or anniversary of passing of the sixth Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (1880–1950). The day also marks the formal acceptance of leadership in 1951 by the seventh Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902–1994). On Yud Shvat, Rabbi Menachem Mendel formally accepted the leadership of Chabad-Lubavitch movement with a public address and Hasidic discourse (maamar) at a gathering marking the first anniversary of his predecessor’s passing.
