The Lubavitcher
Rebbe

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson was born on 11 Nisan 1902 in Nikolaev, Russia (today Ukraine), into an illustrious rabbinic family. His father, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson, was a renowned Kabbalist and halachic authority whose wisdom drew scholars from across the region.

From childhood he showed exceptional intellectual ability. By the age of 12 he had mastered extensive Talmudic tractates that usually take decades of study. In 1928 he married Chaya Mushka, daughter of the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe — a union that was both personal and spiritual throughout his life.

What set the Rebbe apart from other religious leaders of his time was his deep immersion in secular knowledge. He studied mathematics and physics at the University of Berlin and later at the Sorbonne in Paris, becoming an expert in the exact sciences while living a fully observant life. This combination of scientific rigour and spiritual depth would mark all his teaching.

In 1941, fleeing the Nazi advance, he arrived in New York. In 1950, after the passing of his father-in-law, he assumed the leadership of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. Rather than preserve a traditional Chassidic community, the Rebbe envisioned something radically different: a global network of emissaries who would bring the light of the Torah to every corner of the world, judging no one and accepting every Jew exactly where they were.

Over more than four decades of leadership he established more than 5,000 Chabad centres in over 100 countries. He received presidents, scientists and world leaders in his office at 770 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn. The United States Congress awarded him the Congressional Gold Medal, one of the nation's highest civilian honours.

He passed away on 3 Tammuz 5754 (12 June 1994), leaving a legacy that has never stopped growing. His talks, letters and teachings — collected in dozens of volumes — are studied every day by hundreds of thousands of people around the world.