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.
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.
Shneur Zalman of Liadi, was an influential Lithuanian Jewish rabbi and the founder and first Rebbe of Chabad, a branch of Hasidic Judaism, then based in Liadi in Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later in the Grodno Governorate of the Russian Empire. He was the author of many works, and is best known for Shulchan Aruch HaRav, Tanya, and his Siddur Torah Or compiled according to the Nusach Ari. Zalman is a Yiddish variant of Solomon and Shneur is a Yiddish composite of the two Hebrew words "shnei ohr".
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 opening word, Tanya, which means "it was taught in a beraita". It is composed of five sections that define Hasidic mystical psychology and theology as a handbook for daily spiritual life in Jewish observance.
The tradition of humor in Judaism dates back to the Torah and the Midrash from the ancient Middle East, but generally refers to the more recent stream of verbal and often anecdotal humor of Ashkenazi Jews which took root in the United States over the last hundred years, including in secular Jewish culture. European Jewish humor in its early form developed in the Jewish community of the Holy Roman Empire, with theological satire becoming a traditional way of clandestinely opposing Christianization.
A nigun or niggun is a form of Jewish religious song or tune sung by groups. It is vocal music, often with repetitive sounds such as "Bim-Bim-Bam", "Lai-Lai-Lai", "Yai-Yai-Yai" or "Ai-Ai-Ai" instead of formal lyrics. Sometimes, Bible verses or quotes from other classical Jewish texts are sung repetitively to form a nigun. Some nigunim are sung as prayers of lament, while others may be joyous or victorious.
Hashomer was a Jewish defense organization in Palestine founded in April 1909. It was an outgrowth of the Bar-Giora group and was disbanded after the founding of the Haganah in 1920. Hashomer was responsible for guarding Jewish settlements in the Yishuv, freeing Jewish communities from dependence upon foreign consulates and Arab watchmen for their security. It was headed by a committee of three—Israel Shochat, Israel Giladi, and Mendel Portugali.
Dovber Schneuri was the second Rebbe of the Chabad Lubavitch Chasidic movement. Rabbi Dovber was the first Chabad rebbe to live in the town of Lyubavichi, the town for which this Hasidic dynasty is named. He is also known as the Mitteler Rebbe, being the second of the first three generations of Chabad leaders.
A Jewish wedding is a wedding ceremony that follows Jewish laws and traditions. While wedding ceremonies vary, common features of a Jewish wedding include a ketubah which is signed by two witnesses, a chuppah or huppah, a ring owned by the groom that is given to the bride under the canopy, and the breaking of a glass.
Hershel of Ostropol is a prominent figure in Jewish humor. Hershel was a prankster from Ostropol, Crown Poland, who lived in poverty and targeted the rich and powerful, both Jew and Gentile. Common folks were not safe from his shenanigans, either, but usually got off lightly. He is also remembered by Ukrainian Gentiles as something of an ethnic folk hero, who could take on establishment forces much larger than himself with nothing but his humor.
Hasidic philosophy or Hasidism, alternatively transliterated as Hasidut or Chassidus, consists of the teachings of the Hasidic movement, which are the teachings of the Hasidic rebbes, often in the form of commentary on the Torah and Kabbalah. Hasidism deals with a range of spiritual concepts such as God, the soul, and the Torah, dealing with esoteric matters but often making them understandable, applicable and finding practical expressions.
Barry Gurary was the only son of Rabbi Shemaryahu Gurary and Chana Gurary. He was the nephew of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the seventh Chabad-Lubavitcher Rebbe.
Mezhbizh is the name of the town of Medzhybizh in the present Ukraine which is significant as both the source of a Hasidic dynasty that bears its name and as a symbolic name for the roots of Hasidism.
Kfar Chabad is a Chabad-Lubavitch village in central Israel. Between Beit Dagan and Lod, it falls under the jurisdiction of Sdot Dan Regional Council. In 2019 it had a population of 6,598.
Messianism in Chabad refers to the contested beliefs among members of the Chabad-Lubavitch community, a group within Hasidic Judaism, regarding the Jewish messiah, also referred to as mashiach or moshiach. A majority of the Chabad community believe that Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the deceased seventh Rebbe of the Chabad-Lubavitch dynasty, is the Jewish messiah. The issue remains controversial within both the Chabad movement and the broader Jewish community.
Rabbi Shmuel Menachem Butman is a Chabad rabbi in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York. He is the director of Lubavitch Youth Organization. He has served for many years as the director of the L'Chaim weekly magazine.
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.
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.
Mordechai Tsanin was a Yiddish language writer, journalist and lexicographer and a leading figure in post-war Israeli Yiddish culture.
There are several major aspects of humor related to the Holocaust: humor of the Jews in Nazi Germany and in Nazi concentration and extermination camps, a specific kind of "gallows humor"; German humor on the subject during the Nazi era; the appropriateness of this kind of off-color humor in modern times; modern anti-Semitic sick humor.
