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Chabad-Lubavitch is one
of the largest Hasidic movements in Orthodox Judaism, and is
based in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn. Chabad is a
Hebrew acronym for Chochmah, Binah, Da'at meaning Wisdom,
Understanding, and Knowledge. Lubavitch is the only extant
branch of a family of Hasidic sects once known collectively as
the Chabad movement; the names are now used interchangeably. A
member of Chabad is called both a Chabadnik and also a
Lubavitcher.
The movement took its name from Lyubavichi, the Russian
town which served as the movement's headquarters for over a
century. It has over 200,000 adherents, and up to a million Jews
attend Chabad services at least once a year. Its adherents
follow Chabad traditions and prayer services based on Lurianic
kabbalah. As "Hasidim", they follow the Chassidus of Israel ben
Eliezer.
Founded in the late 18th century by Shneur Zalman of
Liadi, Chabad-Lubavitch has had seven leaders or rebbes.
Menachem Mendel Schneerson succeeded his father-in-law, Yosef
Yitzchok Schneersohn in 1950, becoming the seventh leader of the
movement, a position he held until his death in 1994. Today the
movement runs thousands of centers around the world, Jewish
community centers, synagogues and schools, providing outreach
and educational activities for Jews.
Chabad gained some unfortunate attention in the midst of
the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India. One of the locations
targeted by the terrorists was the local Chabad outreach center,
where the center's Rabbi, his wife and others were murdered.
Chabad subsequently received condolences from around the world,
including United States President-elect Barack Obama, who wrote
to the movement's Chicago director that "As you mourn and
remember those we lost, you should know that so many Americans
share your grief and pain. May their memories be a blessing."
"Chabad" -
According to Tanya the intellect consists of three
interconnected processes: Chochma (wisdom), Bina
(understanding), and Da'at (knowledge). While other branches of
Hasidism focused primarily on the idea that "God desires the
heart," Rabbi Shneur Zalman argued that God also desires the
mind, and that without the mind the heart was useless. With the
Chabad philosophy he elevated the mind above the heart, arguing
that "...understanding is the mother of...fear and love of God.
These are born of knowledge and profound contemplation of the
greatness of God."
According to Jonathan Sacks, in Rabbi Shneur Zalman's
system Chochma represents "the creation in its earliest
potentiality; the idea of a finite world as was first born in
the divine mind. Binah is the idea conceived in its details, the
result of contemplation. Da'at is, as it were, the commitment to
creation, the stage at which the idea becomes an active
intention." While in Kabbala there are clearly delineated levels
of holiness, in Chabad philosophy these are grounded in the
mundanities of peoples inner lives. So in reality - according to
the Chabad analogy - Chochma is the birth of an idea in the
mind, Binah is the contemplation, and Da'at is the beginning of
the actualisation of an idea. Sacks argues that this provided a
psychological formulation that enabled the hasid to substantiate
his mystical thoughts. "This was an important advance because
bridging the gap between spiritual insight and daily behaviour
had always been a problem for Jewish mysticism."
Chabad philosophy argues that man is neither static nor
passive nor dependent on others to connect to God. Shneur Zalman
rejected all ideas of aristocratic birth and elitism - he argued
for meritocracy where all were capable of growth, every Jew - in
his view - was capable of becoming a Tzadik.
Chabad can be contrasted with the Chagat (Chesed, Gevurah,
Tiferet) school of Hasidism. While all Hasidim have a certain
focus on the emotions, Chagat saw emotions as a reaction to
physical stimuli, such as dancing singing or beauty. Shneur
Zalman, on the other hand, taught that the emotions must be led
by the mind, and thus the focus of Chabad thought was to be
Torah study and prayer rather than esotericism and song. As a
Talmudist, Shneur Zalman endeavored to place Kabbalah and
Hasidism on a rational basis. In his seminal work, Tanya, he
defines his approach as "the brain ruling the heart").
Tanya, Shneur Zalman's moral magnum opus, is the first schematic
treatment of Hasidic moral philosophy and its metaphysical
foundations. The original name of the first book is Sefer Shel
Beinonim, the "Book of the Intermediates." It is also known as
Likutei Amarim--"Collected Sayings." Sefer Shel Beinonim
analyzes the inner struggle of the individual and the path to
resolution. The philosophy is based on the notion that man
himself is not evil; rather, every individual has an inner
conflict that is characterized with two different inclinations,
the good and the bad.
Some have argued that Shneur Zalman's moderation and
synthesis saved Hasidism from becoming a Jewish breakaway
movement, keeping it within the fold. Avrum Erlich writes: "Shneur
Zalman was instrumental in the preservation of Hasidism within
mainstream Judaism. It allowed for some of the mystically
inclined Hasidim to reacquaint themselves with traditional
scholarship and the significance of strict halakhic observance
and behavior, concerns with which other Hasidic schools were
sometimes less exacting. Shneur Zalman also provided the
opportunity for traditionalists and scholars to access the
Hasidic mood and its spiritual integrity without betraying their
traditional scholarly allegiances." |
The
copy of "The Tanya" which was handed over by the Russian
government to Chabad representatives in 1998.
The
complete tzaddik ("righteous person") has transformed his
animal soul completely, to the point that it is able to
reach intense Godly delight in its connection to Godliness,
and is disgusted by all worldly pleasures.
Chabad
House Tragedy Mumbai
The
Nariman House, renamed as Chabad House, is a five-story
landmark in the Colaba section of Mumbai, India. The
building was home to a Chabad house, a Jewish outreach
center run by Chabad-Lubavitch, and they have owned the
building since around 2006. The center had a synagogue, an
educational center, a hostel and offered Torah classes, drug
prevention services, and helped people dealing with drug
addiction and poverty. The building was attacked during the
November 2008 Mumbai attacks. Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka
Holtzberg, the directors of Chabad-Lubavitch of Mumbai, were
killed during one of the worst terrorist attacks to strike
India in recent memory. 
Shneur Zalman
of Liadi (1745-1812) founder of Chabad and author of Tanya and
Shulchan published
his Likkutei Amarim anonymously in 1797. Later editions
incorporated additional writings by Shneur Zalman. The latest
version of this work, dating from 1814, consists of five parts: