Founds Chabad-Lubavitch

After the death of Rabbi Dovber on Kislev 19, 5533 (1772) his disciples separated. Each one shouldered the task of propagating Chassidism in the country assigned to him.

Rabbi Shneur Zalman inherited the most difficult of all missions. He was to capture the stronghold of the Misnagdim – the opponents to the spreading of Chassidism in Lithuania, for the Chassidic ideology and way of life. This he was to accomplish, first, together with Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk, and after the latter’s departure for the land of Israel, by himself.

A man of lesser stature as a Talmudist could not have undertaken such a mission, for the opposition included some of the most illustrious scholars of the time. But Rabbi Shneur Zalman was well equipped to meet them on their own ground.

His attempts to meet with the Gaon Rabbi Elijah were harshly rejected. Nevertheless, he carried on his work with undiminished zeal. To the surprise of his contemporaries, friends and opponents alike, he succeeded to a degree hardly thought possible.

Rabbi Shneur Zalman was not a dreamer who lived in the clouds, but a true leader who was fully alive to the material needs of his co-religionists no less than to their spiritual shortcomings. His extensive work for the economic welfare of his brethren is a chapter in itself. Space permits only a brief mention here of some of his notable efforts in this field.

The Rav’s interest in his brethren spurred him to action immediately after his wedding. He began a campaign to induce more Jews to settle on the land and engage in farming. Rabbi Shneur Zalman devoted to this cause not only a great deal of effort, but his entire dowry.

From about the year 5532 (1772), Rabbi Shneur Zalman was engaged in an extensive plan to induce large numbers of Jews living on the Russo-Polish border to move eastwards, into the interior of Russia, where the opportunities for economic existence were more promising.

Rabbi Shneur Zalman also devoted himself to fund-raising activities in order to support the newly established Chassidic settlements in the land of Israel. However, his efforts were subsequently distorted by his opponents, who slandered him and denounced him to the Russian government, accusing him of sending funds to the Turkish government. Relations were strained between the two countries at that time.

When a decree was issued in 5568 (1808) for the expulsion of Jews living in rural areas and on farms, depriving thousands of Jewish families of their means of livelihood, Rabbi Shneur Zalman undertook an extensive fund-raising journey throughout Russia, with a view to meeting the emergency and creating the means for the rehabilitation of these unfortunates.

This work was carried on in addition to advising and guiding his thousands of followers, who turned to him individually in all their complicated problems.

During the years of struggle for the betterment of the spiritual life and economic conditions of his co-religionists, the Rav developed his magnificent philosophy of Chabad Chassidism.

Of the people who flocked to him after his return to Liozna, he demanded much more than the unquestioning adherence required by the other schools of Chassidic thought. Whereas their ideology centered on the righteous “Tzaddik” as a person of supernatural powers, he posed the idea of the Tzaddik as a spiritual guide, a teacher rather than a miracle worker.

The Chassid was to train himself for a life of faith and service to G-d, which would carry him to the highest level of Chabad, the three powers of intellect: Wisdom, Understanding and Grasping (Chochmoh, Binoh and Daas), forming a bond between heaven and earth.

Upon this basic thought Rabbi Shneur Zalman built the structure of Chabad ideology. Total man serves G-d with mind, heart and deed in unison, each complementing the other. The mind understands, the heart feels and the hand performs.

The substance of Rabbi Shneur Zalman’s teachings can be found in his major contribution to Rabbinic literature, the Likutei Amarim, better known as the Tanya1, after the first word of this exposition. It contains a concise outline of his philosophical system as a way of life, and attests to his vast knowledge and the depth of his understanding and mastery of both the exoteric and esoteric teachings of our Sages.

The Tanya has been and still is a sacred text for the thousands of followers of Chabad. It is religiously studied and memorized by the youngest as well as the oldest members of the Lubavitch movement, and seems inexhaustible at every level of approach and interpretation. Rabbi Shneur Zalman, the Baal ha Tanya, known to Chabad adherents as the Alter Rebbe, was also the author of many other works which are classics of Chabad literature.