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. It is one of the largest Hasidic groups as well as one of the largest Jewish religious organizations in the world. Unlike most Haredi groups, which are self-segregating, Chabad mainly operates in the wider world and it caters to secularized Jews.
Menachem Mendel Schneersohn also known as the Tzemach Tzedek was an Orthodox rabbi, leading 19th-century posek, and the third rebbe of the Chabad Lubavitch Hasidic movement.
Shneur Zalman of Liadi was a rabbi and the founder and first Rebbe of Chabad, a branch of Hasidic Judaism. He wrote many works, and is best known for Shulchan Aruch HaRav, Tanya, and his Siddur Torah Or compiled according to the Nusach Ari.
Shmuel Schneersohn was an Orthodox rabbi and the fourth Rebbe of the Chabad Lubavitch Chasidic movement.
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.
The Tanya is an early work of Hasidic philosophy, by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of Chabad Hasidism, first published in 1796. Its formal title is Likkutei Amarim, but is more commonly known by its first Hebrew word tanya, which means "it has been taught", where he refers to a baraita section in "Niddah", at the end of chapter 3, 30b. Tanya is composed of five sections that define Hasidic mystical psychology and theology as a handbook for daily spiritual life in Jewish observance.
Strashelye was a branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism, named after the town Strashelye (Starasel'lye) in the Mohilev Province of present-day Belarus, where its leader lived. Like all Hasidism it is based on the teachings and customs of Chasidut as taught by the Baal Shem Tov, in turn based on the Kabbalistic works of Rabbi Isaac Luria.
Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk (1730?–1788), also known as Menachem Mendel of Horodok, was an early leader of Hasidic Judaism. Part of the third generation of Hassidic leaders, he was the primary disciple of the Maggid of Mezeritch. From his base in Minsk Menachem Mendel was instrumental in spreading Hasidism throughout Belarus.
Rabbi Yehuda Leib Schneersohn (1808-1866) was a Ukrainian Habad Hasidic rabbi, the second son of Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, and founder and first leader of Kopust Hasidism.
Shneur Zalman Fradkin of Lublin (1830–1902), also known as the Toras Chessed or The Liader, was a famous Chabad posek and gaon. He was a disciple of the third Chabad-Lubavitch Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn.
Maamarim/Ma'amorim in Chabad Hasidism are the central format texts of in-depth mystical investigation in Hasidic thought. In Chabad philosophy, the textual format of the Maamar is used in a great number of published works.
Rabbi chaim Schneur Zalman Schneersohn of Liadi (1814-1880), was a Hasidic rebbe in the town of Liadi; He was the first rebbe of the Liadi branch of Chabad.
The Liadi branch of the Chabad Hasidic movement was founded after the death of the third rebbe of Chabad, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn. The group was one of several that sought to succeed Rabbi Menachem Mendel, whose death created a dispute over his succession. The group was led by its founder, Rabbi Chaim Schneur Zalman, a son of Rabbi Menachem Mendel.
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.
Rabbi Yitzchak Dovber Schneersohn of Liadi (1833-1910), was a Hasidic rebbe in the town of Liadi. Rabbi Yitzchak Dovber was the son of Rabbi Chaim Schneur Zalman of Liadi. Rabbi Yitzchak Dovber succeeded his father as rebbe for a number of Chabad Chasidim in Lyady. His brother-in-law, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak became a rebbe in the town of Sirotin (Siratshin). He and his brother-in-law were the last rebbes of the Liadi branch of Chabad.
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.
Dirah betachtonim, is a significant theological concept in Chabad philosophy describing the ultimate desire of God as relating to the manifestation of the divine presence within the material world.
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.
Beit Rebbe is a book of Chabad Hasidic history written by Hayim Meir Heilman, published in Berditchev in 1902. The work is seen as among the first to establish a Hasidic tradition of historiography.
