Dovber Schneuri

Dovber Schneuri (1773-11-13 - 1827-11-16 OS) was the second Rebbe (spiritual leader) of the Chabad Lubavitch chasidic movement. Rabbi Dovber was the first Chabad rebbe to live in the town of Lyubavichi (now in present-day Russia), the town for which this Hasidic dynasty is named. He is also known as Der Mitteler Rebbe ("The Middle Rebbe" in Yiddish), being the second of the first three generations of Chabad leaders.

Biography

Rabbi Dovber was born in Liozna, White Russia, on 9 Kislev 5534. His father, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, was Rebbe of the community there, and of many Chassidim in White Russia and Lithuania, and other parts of Russia. His father named him after his own teacher, Rabbi Dovber of Mezeritch, the disciple and successor of the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of the Chassidic movement. Dovber was a prodigal student, and had begun to study Talmud at the age of seven. His father taught him Zohar, and transmitted to him the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov. Rabbi Dovber adopted the family name of "Schneuri," after his father, but succeeding generations changed it to "Schneersohn," or "Schneerson."

In 1788 he married Sheine, the daughter of a local Rabbi. In 1790 Rabbi Dovber was appointed the Mashpia (spiritual guide) of the Hasidim who would come to visit his father. At the age of 39, while studying in the city of Kremenchug, his father died. He then moved to the small border-town of Lubavichi, from which the movement would take its name.. His accession was disputed by one of his father's prime students, Rabbi Aharon HaLevi of Strashelye, however the majority of Shneur Zalman's followers stayed with Dovber, and moved to Lubavichi. Thus Chabad had now split into two branches, each taking the name of their location to differentiate themselves from each other. He established a Yeshivah in Lubavitch, which attracted gifted young scholars. His son-in-law, who later became his successor, Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Lubavitch, headed the Yeshivah.

Like his father, Rabbi Dovber con­sidered it his sacred task to help the Jews of Russia, whether Chassidim or not, not only spiritually but also eco­nomically. The position of the Jews under the Czars was never easy, but it became much worse when Czar Alexander I was succeeded by Czar Nicholas I in 1825. The restrictions against the Jews increased in number and severity. The Jews were confined to a small area, called the Pale of Settlement. ­They had no right to live, work or do business outside this crowded Pale, where conditions had become very difficult in the wake of the Franco-Russian war.

Rabbi Dovber thus launched a campaign (in 1822, or 1823) to urge Jews to learn trades and skilled factory work. He urged communities to organize trade schools. He also encouraged the study of agriculture, dairy farming, and the like, re­minding them that once upon a time, when the Jewish people lived in their own land, they were a people of farmers, fruit growers and herdsmen. He urged that boys who did not show promise of becoming Torah scholars, should, after the age of thirteen, devote part of their time to the learning of a trade, or work in the fields, to help support the family.

In 1815, with government permission and sponsorship, he set up Jewish agricultural colonies in the Kherson region. He took to the road to raise funds for this purpose, and he personally visited the Jewish farmers and encouraged them in their pioneer work, also seeing that their spiritual needs and the education of the farmers' children should not be neglected.

He was active in the collection and distribution of financial aid from Russia to the Jewish population in the Holy Land.

He intended to settle in Hebron himself, believing that this was the "gate of heaven," and prayers to be particularly effective there. He instructed Chabad followers living in the Holy Land to move to the city for this reason.

Like his father, he was informed upon by his enemies, accused of being a danger to the Russian government. He was arrested on charges of having sent 200-300 rubles to the Sultan, and was ordered to appear for a trial in Vitebsk; however, due to the efforts of several non-Jewish friends he was later released before the trial. The day of his release, 10 Kislev 5587, is celebrated joyously to this day by Chabad Chassidim. He died in Nizhyn a year later, on 9 Kislev - his birthday - 5588, the very day he was born 54 years earlier.

He had two sons, Menachem Nahum and Baruch, and seven daughters. The oldest of his daughters, Chaya Mushka, was married to her cousin Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, another grandchild of Shneur Zalman of Liadi. Menachem Mendel succeeded his father-in-law cum uncle as Rebbe.

In addition to his many talents, Rabbi Dovber inherited from his father a great love for sacred music and Chassidic melody. His father had composed ten soul-stirring melodies (niggunim), and Rabbi Dov Ber knew their powerful effect to rouse the singers and listeners to great heights of ecstasy and attach­ment to G-d. He encouraged the sing­ing of these and other melodies of his own composition at certain occasions of solemn and joyous gatherings, known as farbrengens. He even had an organized choir from among his Chassidim who led in the singing, known as the kapelye.

Works

Rabbi Dovber wrote many works on Chabad philosophy and Kabbalah, including a commentary on the Zohar. He was a brilliant thinker and a fast writer. His Chassidic works tend to be very long and very intricate.

It is said that when he finished writing the bottom line on a sheet of paper, the ink of the top line has not yet dried. About twenty of his works have been published, a good many of them during his lifetime.

One of his most famous works, entitled "Sha'ar HaYichud" (The Gate of Unity), now translated to English , describes the creation and entire make-up of the world according to Kabbalah. The work begins with the "Essence of G-d," and traces the creation of the universe down to the physical world itself, using complicated parables to illustrate difficult points. The book also describes, in its first ten chapters, the proper way to meditate on these Kabbalistic ideas.

Succession controversy

When R' Shneur Zalman died, many of his followers flocked to one of his top students, R' Aharon HaLevi of Strashelye. While many more became followers of the Mitteler Rebbe, the Strashelye school of Chassidic thought was the subject of many of the Mitteler Rebbe's discourses. R' Aharon HaLevi emphasized the importance of basic emotions in divine service (especially the service of prayer). The Mitteler Rebbe did not reject the role of emotion in prayer, but emphasized that if the emotion in prayer is to be genuine, it can only be a result of contemplation and understanding (hisbonenus) of the explanations of Chassidus, which in turn will lead to an attainment of bittul (self-nullification before the Divine). In his work entitled "Kuntres Hispa'alus" (Tract on Ecstasy), the Mitteler Rebbe argues that only through ridding oneself of what he considered disingenuous emotions could one attain the ultimate level in Chassidic worship (that is, bittul).

Perhaps in response to Sha'ar HaYichud, and perhaps in an attempt to come up with his own systematization of Kabbalah, R' Aharon HaLevi published a book entitled Sha'arei HaYichud ve'Ha'Emuna (The Gates of Unity and Faith), which is also a top to bottom description of the universe according to Kabbalah, and which describes the importance of the Torah and Divine service in the world's existence.

After two generations the Strashelye school dissolved, and many if not most of the Strashelye Chassidim became followers of the Tzemach Tzedek. However, the thought and the works of the Strashelye are still held in particular reverence by the Toldos Aharon chasidim and the other sects related through rabbi Aharon Roth.

It is said that when the Mitteler Rebbe was imprisoned, the Strashelyer's son traveled to the informer who had brought this about and attempted to intercede for him. The annoyed informer had the Strashelyer imprisoned as well. So it happened that the Strashelyer and the Mitteler Rebbe were imprisoned together; the Strashelyer was released a day before the Mitteler Rebbe.

Works

• Maamarei Admur Ha'emtza'i - Chassidic discourses on the Torah and festivals - 20 vols.
• Bi'urei HaZohar - explanation of the Zohar
• Pirush HaMilos - Chassidic explanation of the liturgy
• Kuntres HaHispaalus - on meditation and ecstasy in prayer; also known as Kuntres HaHisbonenus
• Shaarei Teshuvah - on Teshuvah, repentance
• Derech Chaim - continuation of Shaarei Teshuvah
• Toras Chaim - Chassidic discourses on the books of [[Bereshis] and Shemos]
• Ateres Rosh - Chassidic discourses for the Days of Awe
• Shaar HaEmunah - explanation of the Mitzvah of faith and the festival of Pesach
• Shaar HaYichud - explanation of Seder hishtalshelus
• Shaarei Orah - on the festivals of Chanukah and Purim
• Imrei Binah - explanation of the Mitzvah of reading the Shema and donning the Tefillin

Citations

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