Leader: Currently none
Location: Kfar Chabad
Origins: The court was founded by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, author of the Tanya, the main treatise of Hassidism. The seventh Lubavitcher rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, made the movement into the well-known force it is today.
Influence: In the world of Jewish law people like to joke that the second most common brand name in the world, after Coca Cola, is the Chabad movement, which has branches and activists in even the most far-flung locations. Lubavitchers, the most influential and activist Hassidim today, are hard to categorize. Though they have branches and Habad houses all over, they have had no rabbinic leader since Rabbi Schneerson’s death in 1994.
The messianist faction of the Lubavtichers does not accept that he died. They claim not only that he is alive, but also that he is the Messiah. Others acknowledge that he died but have continued his legacy on the basis of the verse, “And you shall spread forth to the west, to the east, to the north, and to the south.”
Chabad is considered one of the richest Hassidic groups in the world, and it runs Jewish schools in many different countries, especially in the former Soviet republics. The group believes in using modern technology like satellite broadcasts and web sites, as well as extensive billboard ad campaigns, to disseminate its message.
Habad Hassidim are more involved in public life than other types of ultra-Orthodox Jews. Inspired by their late rebbe to take a right-wing line in Israeli politics, they helped Benjamin Netanyahu to be elected Prime Minister with their slogan, “Netanyahu is good for the Jews.”
Location: Kfar Chabad
Origins: The court was founded by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, author of the Tanya, the main treatise of Hassidism. The seventh Lubavitcher rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, made the movement into the well-known force it is today.
Influence: In the world of Jewish law people like to joke that the second most common brand name in the world, after Coca Cola, is the Chabad movement, which has branches and activists in even the most far-flung locations. Lubavitchers, the most influential and activist Hassidim today, are hard to categorize. Though they have branches and Habad houses all over, they have had no rabbinic leader since Rabbi Schneerson’s death in 1994.
The messianist faction of the Lubavtichers does not accept that he died. They claim not only that he is alive, but also that he is the Messiah. Others acknowledge that he died but have continued his legacy on the basis of the verse, “And you shall spread forth to the west, to the east, to the north, and to the south.”
Chabad is considered one of the richest Hassidic groups in the world, and it runs Jewish schools in many different countries, especially in the former Soviet republics. The group believes in using modern technology like satellite broadcasts and web sites, as well as extensive billboard ad campaigns, to disseminate its message.
Habad Hassidim are more involved in public life than other types of ultra-Orthodox Jews. Inspired by their late rebbe to take a right-wing line in Israeli politics, they helped Benjamin Netanyahu to be elected Prime Minister with their slogan, “Netanyahu is good for the Jews.”
1 comment:
Chabad Habad Lubavitch in truth, however, all these descents and concealments are merely external. On a more sublime level, since G-d conducts the world according to His will and since He desires that all creation attain spiritual perfection, even those things that seem to indicate darkness and a headlong fall are but a prerequisite for refinement, illumination and soaring ascent.
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