משתמש:שמואל חיים/Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson
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תולדות חייו

ילדותו וצעירותו

הרבי בגיל שנתיים וחצי (תרס"ד)

The Rebbe was born in 1902, on the 11th day of Nissan, in Nikolaev, Russia, to the renowned kabbalist, talmudic scholar and leader Rabbi Levi Yitzchak and Rebbetzin Chana Schneerson. Rebbetzin Chana

. The Rebbe was named after his ancestor, the third Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Lubavitch

At age seven, the Rebbe moved with his parents to Yekatrinislav (today, Dnepropetrovsk), where Rabbi Levi Yitzchak was appointed Chief Rabbi of the city.

In 1923, the Rebbe met Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, who then served as "Rebbe" (teacher and leader) of the world wide Chabad-Lubavitch movement.

נישואיו ומגוריו בברלין ופריז

In November of 1928, the Rebbe’s marriage to Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, daughter of the then Lubavitcher Rebbe Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, was held in Warsaw, Poland.

Shortly after their marriage, the Rebbe and his wife moved to Berlin, where the Rebbe enrolled in the University of Berlin and took courses in philosophy and mathematics.

When Hitler came to power in 1933, the Rebbe and Rebbetzin relocated to Paris, where the Rebbe continued with his studies, at the Sorbonne and at a Parisian engineering college, until 1938.

הצלת הרבי והרבנית

On June 14, 1940, the armies of Nazi Germany conquered Paris. A French General offered the Rebbe a residence in the countryside; but the Rebbe, comprehending the true significance of the Nazi occupation, declined the offer and fled Paris on one of the last trains to leave the city. After a perilous passage over the front lines of the occupation, the Rebbe and his wife arrived in Vichy, France.

They remained in Vichy for a few months, then relocated to Nice in Southern France where they stayed until their final escape from Europe. Throughout this time, the Rebbe’s father-in-law — who had survived the bombing and occupation of Warsaw and had arrived in New York in March of 1940 — conducted a vigorous campaign to rescue them and bring them to the haven of America.

On June 12, 1941, the Rebbe and Rebbetzin boarded the Serpa Pinto in Lisbon, Portugal, the ship that would take them to the United States. On Monday, June 23 (28 Sivan on the Hebrew calendar), 10:30 A.M., the Rebbe and Rebbetzin arrived in New York.

בארצות הברית

In 1943 the Rebbe published Hayom Yom, a pocket-sized booklet with a Chassidic saying for each day of the year. Misleadingly humble in format, it soon became a veritable guide to the life of the soul of the Chassid.

קבלת הנשיאות

On Shabbat morning, January 28, 1950, the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, of righteous memory, passed on to his eternal rest.

On February 7, a mere ten days after Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak's passing, the Rebbe appointed Rabbi Michael Lipsker as his emissary, "shliach," to the Jews of Morocco.

On January 17, 1951, the Rebbe formally accepted the leadership of Chabad-Lubavitch by delivering the traditional discourse of Chassidic teaching, maamar, at a gathering marking the first anniversary of his father-in-law’s passing. On that occasion, the Rebbe said (free translation):

Here in America people like to hear things expressed in the form of a "statement"--preferably a provocative and shocking statement. I don't know if this is the best approach, but as our Sages have said, "When you come to a city, do as its custom."'

The three loves—love of G‑d, love of Torah and love of one's fellow—are one. One cannot differentiate between them, for they are of a single essence. And since they are of a single essence, each one embodies all three.

This is our "statement": If you see a person who has a love of G‑d but lacks a love of Torah and a love of his fellow, you must tell him that his love of G‑d is incomplete. And if you see a person who has only a love for his fellow, you must strive to bring him to a love of Torah and a love of G‑d—that his love toward his fellows should not only be expressed in providing bread for the hungry and water for the thirsty, but also to bring them close to Torah and to G‑d.

When we will have the three loves together, we will achieve the Redemption. For just as this last Exile was caused by a lack of brotherly love, so shall the final and immediate Redemption be achieved by love for one's fellow.