User talk:David Spart/history of chabad

History of Chabad
Shneur Zalman of Liadi became involved in the early Hasidic movement. His background as a youth had been in traditional Talmud study rather than hasidism. He was a prominent and youngest disciple of Rabbi Dovber of Mezeritch, the principle disciple of the founder of hasidism appointed the Rabbi in the town of Liadi he gradually built up a following as the Rebbe in the town of Liozna.

Shneur Zalman of Liadi
The Alter Rebbe became not only the leader of his own hasidic sect but a prominent figure in Hasidim in general through his writings. He was the first to codify the philosophy of Hasidism in a comprehensive way and the first to put the customs and halacha of hasidism into book form. He was the most prominent exponent of Hasidism throughout his life, and his influence on the movement was profound. He directed the movement away from obscurantism and towards more traditional forms of study. Chabad as a school of thought changed Hasidism, and this gave the Chabad movement prestige.

He was twice arrested by the Russian authorities of suspicion of sedition or spying - the exact details remain contended to this day, although the accusations against him were certainly false.

He supported the Tsar against Napoleon in French invasion of Russia (1812) arguing that the emancipation of the Jews would lead to laxity in observance and Free thinking. His death in 1812, while fleeing from Napoleon left the question of succession open.

Succession
When Schneur Zalman died, many of his followers flocked to one of his top students, R' Aharon HaLevi of Strashelye, establishing a breakaway movement which also considered itself part of Chabad for a few generations. His son Dovber Schneuri also maintained a court and was also heir to his fathers position.

Dovber Schneuri
Schneuri moved with the followers who preferred him to the small border town of Lyubavichi. He established a Yeshiva in Lubavitch, one of the earliest Hasidic yeshivas.

Like his father he was the subject of an arrest in 1828. DovBer began a campaign (in 1822, or 1823) to urge Jews to learn trades and skilled factory work. He continued in his father's philosophical path, encouraging the study of kabbalah alongside traditional halachic texts. He served as the Rebbe for 15 years dying in 1827.

Menachem Mendel Schneersohn
Menachem Mendel Schneersohn the grandson of the Alter Rebbe through a daughter, born in 1789, married a cousin, daughter of Dovber as became a prime candidate for succession on Dovber's death. Other candidates included Menachem-Nachum Schneuri  son of Dovber, and Chaim-Avraham Boruchovitch son-in-law of Schneur Zalman. He took over as Rebbe in 1831 after a 3 year succession struggle, becoming known as the Tzemach Tzedek after his magnum opus. He was active in the dispute between the Haskalah (enlightenment Jews) and their opponents. he served as Rebbe for 25 years before dying in 1866.

Shmuel Schneersohn
Shmuel Schneersohn, the seventh son of Menachem Mendel, he took from his father following his death and served as Rebbe of the movement until his own death in 1882. As a leader of a prominent Hasidic grouping he became active in fighting Anti-Semitic decrees and pogroms in Russia and beyond. He traveled widely to places such as St. Petersburg, Kiev, France and Germany to this end.

Sholom Dovber Schneersohn
Sholom Dovber Schneersohn, as the younger son of Shmuel Schneersohn, was not expected to succeed his father, his brother Zalman Aharon being the heir presumptive. Sholom Dovber rose to prominence interceding on behalf of the Jews in a number of issues including the May Laws, and was selected as Rebbe in 1892. In 1897 he established the Tomchei Temimim yeshiva.

He was a fierce critic of Zionism and a proponent of Jews taking on factory work and farming. He kept the Lubavitch movement out of the World Agudath Israel when it formed in 1912. He died in 1920, after 30 years of stewardship of Lubavitch.

Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn
Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, only son of Sholom Dovber took charge of the movement on the death of his father and led it until his death in 1950. He fought the Bolsheviks attempting to preserve Jewish life in Russia. In 1927 he was arrested and imprisoned in the Spalerno prison in Leningrad, and sentenced to death for spreading Judaism. After international protests his life was spared and he went on a world tour in the early 1930s. He returned to Warsaw in 1934, disillusioned with the secularism of the United States. He stayed in Warsaw with his Hasidim through 1940 and the capture of the city by the Nazis. A desperate struggle to save his life ensued. Ultimately he was granted diplomatic immunity, and arrived in New York in March 1940, reputedly with the help of Admiral Wilhelm Canaris. Most of Chabad Yeshiva system was destroyed by Bolshevik governments and the Nazi invasion in 1941, and many of its student were killed.

His ten years in New York saw the seeds of Lubavitch emissary work, and its messianic drive that was later taken on by his son-in-law and successor Menachem Mendel Schneerson. In 1948, on his instruction Kfar Chabad was established in Israel.

Succession
He had three daughters, one married Mendel Hornstein, and died alongside him in the Holocaust. Another married Rabbi Shemaryahu Gurary and a third Chaya Mushka married Menachem Mendel Schneerson. Schneerson and Gurary became the candidates for succession on Yosef Yitzchak death. Schneerson was considered modern, while Gurary was problematic as his only son, Barry Gurary was not very religious at all. After a one year succsecion battle Schneerson was chosen and turned the movement from a fairly prominent Hasidic sect into a large organization with a presence throughout the world.

Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who had been living in Berlin and Paris, France, since 1933, escaped from Paris via Nice in 1941 and joined his father-in-law in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, New York City. The worldwide headquarters of the Chabad movement is at 770 Eastern Parkway in the neighborhood of Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and is referred to as "770" by Chabad adherents.

Menachem Mendel Schneerson
On Menachem Mendel Schneerson's accession to the post of Rebbe, a year after his father-in-law's death he began turning the movement into a powerful force in Jewish life. His policies led to the establishment of Chabad institutions in over 900 cities around the world. He inspired many of his followers to dedicate their life's work to Chabad by talking of the impending messianic redemption.

Messianism and succession
His regular talk of the coming of the messiah, and what some say are hints that he was to be the long promised saviour of the Jews led to the emergence of the idea that was going to reveal himself as the messiah. This belief - first openly professed by Shalom Dov Wolpo in a 1984 book became commonplace within the movement in the years leading up to his death. "The Lubavitch Messianic Resurgence: The Historical and Mystical Background 1939-1996", Rachel Elior in Toward the Millennium: Messianic Expectations from the Bible to Waco ed. Peter Schäfer and Mark Cohen, 383-408. (Leiden: Brill, 1998)

Schneerson's lack of offspring or a clear primary student meant exacerbated the messainsim and his death in 1994 has led to a fundamental split in the Chabad movement between the messianists who believe that Schneerson is the messiah and the anti-messianists who either don't believe this, or believe that this should be a private belief.

Since Schneerson's death
The fragmentation in the movement from the top down into rival camps has not seriously impeded Chabad's activities around the world - indeed, it continues to open new institutions on a regular basis. However, the lack of the Rebbe's cenral authority has led to controversy within the movement as the competing faction vie for power and control. As of 2007 the Chabad directory listed over 1,300 institutions under their control in 65 countries.