Lyubavichi ( be, Любаві́чы; russian: Люба́вичи; yi, ליובאַװיטש, ''Lyubavitsh''; pl, Lubawicze) is a

rural locality In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

) in Rudnyansky District of

Smolensk Oblast Smolensk Oblast (russian: Смоле́нская о́бласть, ''Smolenskaya oblast''; informal name — ''Smolenschina'' (russian: Смоле́нщина)) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative centre is the city o ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

History

The village existed in what was the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...

since at least 1654. In 1784, it was mentioned as a small town,'' Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland, 1880–1914''
Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego tom V, s. 392
then a possession of the Polish princely family the

Lubomirski The House of Lubomirski is a Princely Houses of Poland, Polish princely family. The Lubomirski family's coat of arms is the Drużyna coat of arms, which is similar to the Szreniawa coat of arms but without a cross. Origin and the coat o ...

. After the

partitions Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of ...

of the

, the village was annexed by the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...

. During the

French invasion of Russia The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign, the Second Polish War, the Army of Twenty nations, and the Patriotic War of 1812 was launched by Napoleon Bonaparte to force the Russian Empire back into the continental block ...

in 1812, the village was occupied by

Napoleonic Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

troops for two weeks. During the reign of the Russian Empire, the village was in Orshansky Uyezd of

Mogilev Governorate The Mogilev Governorate () or Government of Mogilev was a governorate () of the Russian Empire in the territory of the present day Belarus. Its capital was in Mogilev, referred to as Mogilev-on-the-Dnieper, or Mogilev Gubernskiy. The area of t ...

.Исполнительный комитет Смоленского областного совета народных депутатов. Государственный архив Смоленской области. "Административно-территориальное устройство Смоленской области. Справочник", изд. "Московский рабочий", Москва 1981. Стр. 250 In 1857, it had a population of 2,500. Another source from approximately 1880 reports a total of 1,516 inhabitants (978 Jews) with 313 houses, two

Russian Orthodox Russian Orthodoxy (russian: Русское православие) is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, whose liturgy is or was traditionally conducted in Church Slavonic language. Most ...

churches, and two Jewish

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of wor ...

s. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Lyubavichi was the largest market within the Mogilev Governorate, with annual sales of more than 1.5 million rubles.

Jewish community

The Jewish population of Lyubavichi was 1,164 in 1847 and 1,660 in 1897. The village's economy declined after the

1917 Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...

and religious Jews were persecuted by the Yevsektsiya. The Jewish population was 967 in 1926, half of the total population. During the

German invasion of Russia German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

, the German military entered Lyubavichi in August 1941, established a ghetto, and massacred the 483 remaining Jews on November 4, 1941.

Chabad-Lubavitch dynasty

The village lends its name to the

Chabad-Lubavitch Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (), is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities. It is one of the largest Hasidic groups ...

branch of

Hasidic Judaism Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism ( Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of cont ...

, where its leadership established a court and was the seat of four generations of Chabad

Rebbe A Rebbe ( yi, רבי, translit=rebe) or Admor ( he, אדמו״ר) is the spiritual leader in the Hasidic movement, and the personalities of its dynasties.Heilman, Samuel"The Rebbe and the Resurgence of Orthodox Judaism."''Religion and Spiritu ...

s between 1813 and 1915. The second Chabad Rebbe, Dovber Schneuri (1773–1827), moved from Lyady to Lyubavichi in 1813. The third Rebbe of Chabad,

Menachem Mendel Schneersohn Menachem Mendel Schneersohn (September 9, 1789 – March 17, 1866) also known as the Tzemach Tzedek (Hebrew: "Righteous Sprout" or "Righteous Scion") was an Orthodox rebbe, leading 19th-century posek, and the third rebbe (spiritual leader) of t ...

(1789–1866), and the fourth Rebbe,

Shmuel Schneersohn Shmuel Schneersohn (or Rabbi Shmuel of Lubavitch or The Rebbe Maharash) (29 April 1834 – 14 September 1882 OS) was an Orthodox rabbi and the fourth Rebbe (spiritual leader) of the Chabad Lubavitch Chasidic movement. Biography Shmuel Schn ...

(1834–1882) are buried in Lyubavichi. The fifth Rebbe, Sholom Dovber Schneersohn (1860–1920), established the Yeshivah Tomchei Temimim Lubavitch in the village in the summer of 1897. In the fall of 1915, the rebbe evacuated his Hassidic court to Rostov, Russia with the onset of World War I. The central yeshivah was disbanded in 1917, and its students went into exile before its reestablishment by the Rebbe in Rostov. The Chabad movement opened an information center in the village in 2008 called Hatzer Raboteinu Nesieinu Belubavitch. The center is in the former Jewish area of the village, and close to the graves of the two Rebbes. The European Conference of Shluchim brought 500 Chabad rabbis to the village in August 2016 to visit the graves and tour the village.

Gallery

File:Tzemachtzedek2.jpg,

(1789–1866), 3rd

Chabad Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (), is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities. It is one of the largest Hasidic group ...

Hasidism Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism ( Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of cont ...

is buried in Lyubavichi, along with his successor

(1834–1882) File:Belarus 1882.jpg, 1882 map of

White Russia White Russia, White Russian, or Russian White may refer to: White Russia *White Ruthenia, a historical reference for a territory in the eastern part of present-day Belarus * An archaic literal translation for Belarus/Byelorussia/Belorussia * Ru ...

regions. In the

, Lyubavichi was a part of

(present-day

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

) File:Map showing the percentage of Jews in the Pale of Settlement and Congress Poland, The Jewish Encyclopedia (1905).jpg, The Russian Empire

Pale of Settlement The Pale of Settlement (russian: Черта́ осе́длости, '; yi, דער תּחום-המושבֿ, '; he, תְּחוּם הַמּוֹשָב, ') was a western region of the Russian Empire with varying borders that existed from 1791 to 19 ...

where Jews were permitted to live. Shows Mogilev Governorate at the northeastern edge File:Graves of founders of Lubavitchy Hasidic branch.JPG, Jewish cemetery in Lyubavichi File:Graves of founders of Lubavitchy Hasidic branch 3.JPG, Ohel graves of Wives in the

dynasty in Lyubavichi File:Graves of founders of Lubavitchy Hasidic branch 2.JPG,

dynasty grave headstone

Climate

Lyubavichi has a warm-summer humid continental climate (''Dfb'' in the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

References

External links

History of Chabad in the village of Lubavitch

JewishGen Locality Page: Lyubavichi, Russia

Sources

* * {{Authority control Chabad communities Chabad in Europe Hasidic Judaism in Russia Rural localities in Smolensk Oblast Orshansky Uyezd Historic Jewish communities in Europe Holocaust locations in Russia Jewish communities destroyed in the Holocaust