Chabad-Lubavitch is a philosophy, a movement, and an organization. It is the world’s largest Jewish organization andis considered the most dynamic force in Jewish life today.


The Philosophy

The word “Chabad” is a Hebrew acronym for the three intellectual faculties of chochmah—wisdom, binah—comprehension and da’at—knowledge. The movement’s system of Jewish religious philosophy, places great emphasis on the need for intellectual understanding and recognition of the Creator, the divine purpose of creation, and the important role and unique mission of each creature. This philosophy guides a person to refine and govern his or her every act and feeling through wisdom, comprehension and knowledge.


The Movement

Chabad-Lubavitch was founded as a Chassidic movement 250 years ago, by Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, the first Chabad Rebbe in 1772 in White Russia. The movement—a branch of Hasidism—swept through Russia and spread in surrounding countries as well. Eventually the philosophy of Chabad-Lubavitch and its adherents reached almost every corner of the world and have affected almost every facet of Jewish life.

The movement was originally based in Liozna and Liadi and in 1813 moved to the town of Lubavitch in White Russia, and was based there for more than a century.

In 1928, a few months after the Previous Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, was released from Soviet prison (in 1927), the Rebbe and the movement moved to Riga, Latvia, and later, in 1934, to Warsaw, Poland. In 1940, escaping the Nazis, the Previous Rebbe moved to Brooklyn, New York, where the movement is based today.


The Leadership

The movement is guided by the teachings of its seven leaders (“Rebbes”), beginning with Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi of righteous memory (1745–1812). These leaders expounded upon the most refined and delicate aspects of Jewish mysticism, creating a corpus of study thousands of books strong. They personified the age-old Biblical qualities of piety and leadership, and they concerned themselves not only with their own movement, but with the totality of Jewish life, spiritual and physical. No person or detail was too small or insignificant for their love and dedication.

In our generation, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson of righteous memory (1902–1994), known simply as “the Rebbe,” emerged as the leader of post-holocaust Jewry who brought the teachings of the Chabad movement to virtually every Jewish community on the face of the globe.


The Organization

The origins of today’s Chabad-Lubavitch organization can be traced to the early 1940s, when the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn of righteous memory (1880–1950), appointed his son-in-law and later successor, Rabbi Menachem Mendel, to head the newly founded educational and social service arms of the movement.

Motivated by his profound love for every Jew and spurred by his boundless optimism and self-sacrifice, the Rebbe set into motion a dazzling array of programs, services and institutions to serve every Jew.

Today 4,000 full-time emissary families apply 250-year-old principles and philosophy to direct more than 3,500 institutions (and a workforce that numbers in the tens of thousands) dedicated to the welfare of the Jewish people worldwide.

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