Reb Zalman Moishe was born in Nevel, Russia, to his father, Reb Dovber ("Berel Der Shoichet"), who was the Chabad shochet in Nevel. The surname HaYitzchoki indicated their lineage to Rashi. His mother was Rochel Zisselson, the daughter of a prominent Lubavitch family in Nevel. He married Neshe Reines of Zhembin, the Reineses were a prominent Rabbinic family in White Russia.[1]
After marrying, Reb Zalman Moishe began studying unofficially part-time at the Tomchei TemimimYeshiva in Zhembin, and this brought him to become intensely devoted to the study of Chabad Chassidus. He would come to attend the lectures on this topic delivered by Reb Shmuel Groinem Esterman, the official Mashpia.[2]
Several years later he moved to Schtzedrin, a small village founded by the Tzemach Tzedek, and populated exclusively by Chabad Chassidim. He accepted the request of the village's inhabitants that he come practice shechita. This was during World War I, a time when abject poverty prevailed. Nevertheless, Reb Zalman Moishe was careful to distribute all his earnings to the needy.[3]
After his father died in 1919 he returned to Nevel to replace his father as the city's shochet. He immediately became one of the central personalities in the city, and his home became a centre for Chassidic farbrengens.[4]
In the year 1933 he decided to immigrate to the Holy Land. In order to file his application he moved to Moscow, where he stayed for two years, until his application was accepted in 1935.[5] He then moved to Tel Aviv.
In the early 1940s he suffered partial paralysis, and would spend most of the day studying the Chasidic discourses of the Rebbe Rashab, and praying at great length.[6]
Personality
Reb Zalman Moishe was known for his sharp and even crude style of rebuke during farbrengens. However, those who knew him well understood that the "real" Reb Zalman Moishe was refined and considerate. Nevertheless, he used this approach at farbrengens because he believed that then is the appropriate occasion to deal with the animal soul, which understands no other language.[7]
When he arrived in Tel Aviv, some elderly Chassidim there were upset at Reb Zalman Moishe's sharp style of farbrengens. They wrote a letter of complaint to Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneerson, who replied, saying that their letter caused him “great pain and much sorrow of the spirit,” and completely dismissed their complaints.[8]
A characteristic episode is told concerning his sense of submission to the Chabad Rebbes: The Rebbe Rayatz once turned to him at a farbrengen and said something to him. Afterwards, the other Chassidim asked him what the Rebbe had said. "I didn't hear one word," he responded, "only one thought bothered me at that moment: When will the Rebbe already remove his holy eyes from my disgraceful face?"[9]
Piety
For many years he maintained a regimen of study of Chassidus: Early every morning he would study for six consecutive hours. He would then go to work for several hours as a shochet. He would then eat something, rest a bit, and pray for several hours.[10]
Upon the urging of the Rebbe Rashab he recited the Tikkun Chatzos midnight prayer of mourning over the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash his entire life.[5]
Reputation
The Rebbe Rashab would refer to him affectionately as "my Zalman Moishe."[11] He was held in such high esteem by the Rebbes of Chabad that the Rebbe said that "an aphorism of Zalman Moishe is told over in the house of the Chabad Rebbes (Beis HoRav)."[12] In the condolence letter sent by the Rebbe to the family after his death, the Rebbe referred to him as a Tzaddik. This is extraordinary, as the Rebbe had not referred that way to any other Chossid.[13]
The Rebbe Rayatz said of Reb Zalman Moishe to the Chabad residents of Tel Aviv: “He is one of the few unique ones who diligently study and comprehend Chassidus. He is expert in many discourses of my father [the Rebbe Rashab]. They should strive to find him an appropriate position as a shochet, and draw him exceedingly close.”[14]
Students
Reb Zalman Moishe's distinguished students included Reb Mendel Futerfas, Reb Nissan Neminov, and Reb Yoel Kahn.[15] Once Reb Nissan said to Reb Mendel, "Listen, Mendel, the small amount of Chassidic enthusiasm that we have is from what we received from Reb Zalman Moishe!"[16]
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.
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.
Agudas Chassidei Chabad is the umbrella organization for the worldwide Chabad-Lubavitch movement. The chairman of the executive committee is Rabbi Abraham Shemtov.
Rabbi Yehuda Chitrik was an author and Mashpia in the Chabad Hasidic community in Brooklyn, New York.
Sadigura is a Hasidic dynasty named for the city of Sadhora, Bukovina, which belonged to Austria. The dynasty began in 1850 with Rabbi Avrohom Yaakov Friedman, a son of Rabbi Yisrael Friedman of Ruzhyn, and was based in Sadigura until 1914. During the interwar period the dynasty was led by Rebbes in Vienna and Przemyśl, Poland, and on the eve of World War II was transplanted to Israel, where it thrives to this day.
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.
The Kopust branch of the Chabad dynasty of Hasidic Judaism was founded in 1866 by Yehuda Leib Schneersohn after the death of his father Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, the third Chabad rebbe. It is named after the town of Kopys in the Vitebsk Region of present-day Belarus, where Yehuda Leib Schneersohn settled after his father's death.
Mashpia or feminine Mashpi'oh lit. "person of influence", pl. Mashpi'im is the title of a Hasidic rabbi who serves as a spiritual mentor, whose main influence and teachings are in matters of the worship of God, the correction of virtues and spiritual elevation.
Reb Yoel Kahan was a senior Chabad rabbi, who served as the leading hoizer and meiniach for the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. His position as leading choizer and meiniach made him the default authority on the Rebbe's teachings and one of the most universally recognized scholars of general Chabad Chassidic doctrine.
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.
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.
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.
Yehoshua Mondshine (1947–2014) was an Israeli rabbi, scholar, researcher and historian associated with the Chabad-Lubavitch, Hasidic movement. Mondshine worked as a librarian and bibliographer at the National Library of Israel in Jerusalem.
Yosef Yitzchak "Yossi" Jacobson, also known as YY Jacobson, is an American Chabad rabbi and speaker from Monsey, New York.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
