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Rabbi
Yisrael Baal Shem Tov (1698-1760) was the founder of the Chassidic movement,
which began in Eastern Europe. The central themes of his teaching are the
centrality of love of one's fellow in Jewish thought and the importance of
sincerity and a sense of closeness to G-d in one's prayer, Torah study and
observance of the Mitzvot.
The
Baal Shem Tov was succeeded by Rabbi Dov Ber, the Maggid of Mezeritch
(d.1772), who organised Chassidism as a powerful movement and attracted some
of the leading minds of his generation. The youngest of his close disciples
was Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1812), from White Russia, who became
the main leader of Chassidism in the third generation, and also founded the
Chabad Lubavitch movement.
Rabbi
Shneur Zalman wrote Likkutei-Amarim Tanya, a work which expresses how the
individual can use his or her mind in study and contemplation in order to
arouse inspiration and spiritual dedication in the heart. He also compiled an
important halachic work known as 'the Rav's Shulchan Aruch'.
The
emphasis on the mind as the key to the emotion led to Rabbi Shneur Zalman's
movement being called Chabad, a Hebrew acronym combining the initial letters
of Chochmah, Binah, Da'at - Wisdom, Understanding and Knowledge. Around 1814
the little town of Lubavitch became the centre of the movement, which it was
to remain for a century: hence the name Lubavitch.
Rabbi
Shneur Zalman founded a dynasty of Chassidic leaders who led the
Chabad-Lubavitch movement for seven generations. The leader in the seventh
generation was Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, known widely as the
Lubavitcher Rebbe (1902-1994). All the Chabad-Lubavitch leaders are
characterised by encouraging study of the spiritual dimension of Judaism and a
fearlessly activist approach to the preservation of Judaism and Jewish life.
Their collective writings on Chassidic teachings, Torah commentary and
halachah fill hundreds of volumes.
