Shmuel Schneersohn (or Rabbi Shmuel of Lubavitch or The Rebbe Maharash) (29 April 1834 – 14 September 1882 OS) was an

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

and the fourth

Rebbe A Rebbe () or Admor () 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 Spirituality (Audio)''. UCTV, 20 Oct 2011. web. ...

(spiritual leader) of the

Chabad Lubavitch Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (; ; ), is a Hasidic dynasty, dynasty in Hasidic Judaism. Belonging to the Haredi Judaism, Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) branch of Orthodox Judaism, it is one of the world's best-known Hasi ...

Chasidic Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most of those affi ...

movement.

Biography

Shmuel Schneersohn was born in Lyubavichi, on 2 Iyar 5594 (1834), the seventh son of

Menachem Mendel Schneersohn Menachem Mendel Schneersohn (; September 20, 1789 – March 17, 1866) also known as the Tzemach Tzedek (Hebrew: "Righteous Sprout" or "Righteous Scion") was an Orthodox rabbi, leading 19th-century posek, and the third rebbe (spiritual leader) o ...

. He faced competition from three of his brothers, primarily from Yehuda Leib Schneersohn who established a dynasty in

Kapust The Kopust branch of the Chabad dynasty of Hasidic Judaism was founded in 1866 by Yehuda Leib Schneersohn after the death of his father Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, the third Chabad rebbe. It is named after the town of Kopys in the Vitebsk Reg ...

upon their father's death. Other brothers also established dynasties in Lyady,

Nizhyn Nizhyn (, ; ) is a city located in Chernihiv Oblast of northern Ukraine along the Oster River. The city is located north-east of the national capital Kyiv. Nizhyn serves as the capital city, administrative center of Nizhyn Raion. It hosts the ...

, and

Ovruch Ovruch (, ) is a city in Korosten Raion, Zhytomyr Oblast, northern Ukraine, first mentioned as Vruchiy in 977. It was the capital city of the Drevlians in the 900s, later conquered by the Mongols in the 13th century, then later part of the Grand D ...

. In 1848, Schneersohn was married to the daughter of his brother, Chaim Shneur Zalman Schneersohn. After several months she died, and he then married Rivkah, a granddaughter of his own grandfather

Dovber Schneuri Dovber Schneuri (13 November 1773 – 16 November 1827 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 (in present-day Russia), ...

. He had three sons, Zalman Aharon, Shalom Dovber, and Menachem Mendel, as well as one daughter, Devorah Leah. Schneersohn was said to have had chariots on call for the evacuation of books in time of fire. Besides his communal activism, he had wide intellectual interests. He spoke several languages, including

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

.''Encyclopedia of Hasidism, entry: Schneersohn, Shmuel''. Naftali Lowenthal. Aronson, London 1996. He wrote widely on a range of religious and secular topics, and much of his writing has never been published and remains in manuscript form alone. His discourses began to be published for the first time under the title ''Likkutei Torat Shmuel'' in 1945 by

Kehot Kehot Publication Society is the publishing division of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. History Kehot was established in 1941 by the sixth Rebbe of Chabad-Lubavitch, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn. In 1942, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak appointed his son ...

, and 12 volumes have so far been printed. He died in Lyubavichi, on 13 Tishrei 5643 (1882), leaving three sons and two daughters, and was succeeded by his son Sholom Dovber. Schneersohn urged the study of

Kabbalah Kabbalah or Qabalah ( ; , ; ) is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. It forms the foundation of Mysticism, mystical religious interpretations within Judaism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ...

as a prerequisite for one's humanity:

A person who is capable of comprehending the ''
seder hishtalshelus In Kabbalistic and Hasidic philosophy, seder hishtalshelut (, ) refers to the chain-like descent of the Four Worlds between God and Creation. Each spiritual world denotes a complete realm of existence, resulting from its general proximity or dis ...
'' (kabbalistic secrets concerning the coming-into-being of all existence every moment) - and fails to do so - cannot be considered a human being. At every moment and time one must know where his soul stands. It is a
mitzvah In its primary meaning, the Hebrew language, Hebrew word (; , ''mīṣvā'' , plural ''mīṣvōt'' ; "commandment") refers to a commandment Divine law, from God to be performed as a religious duty. Jewish law () in large part consists of disc ...
(commandment) and an obligation to know the ''seder hishtalshelus''.

Works

*"Likkutei Torah L'Sholosh Parshiyos" - Discourses based on the first three parshiyos in Torah Ohr of the

Alter Rebbe Shneur Zalman of Liadi, (; September 4, 1745 – December 15, 1812 O.S. / 18 Elul 5505 – 24 Tevet 5573) commonly known as the Alter Rebbe or Baal Hatanya, was a rabbi and the founder and first Rebbe of Chabad, a branch of Hasidic Judaism. He ...

*" Likkutei Torah - Toras Shmuel 5626-5642" 35 volumes - discourses in order of the parshiyos and festivals *"Sefer hasichos Toras Shmuel" *"Igros Kodesh" A collection of over 70 surviving letters and Halachik responsa

Aphorisms

"The world says, 'If you can't crawl under, climb over.' But I say, ''Lechatchilah Ariber''--'At the outset, one should climb over.'"

"You cannot fool God; ultimately, you cannot fool others either. The only one you can fool is yourself. And to fool a fool is no great achievement."

"because better is better, is good not good? rather good is good, and better is better!"

"Why are you demanding of me? Demand of yourself! If you toil and fill your mind with Torah there won't be any space for foreign thoughts! break your desires and you will feel great pleasure in prayer!"

References

External links

A biography of The Rebbe Maharash - Rabbi Shmuel Schneersohn

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schneersohn, Shmuel 1834 births 1882 deaths People from Rudnyansky District, Smolensk Oblast People from Orshansky Uyezd Schneersohn family Rebbes of Lubavitch Russian Hasidic rabbis Hasidic rabbis in Europe Kabbalists Philosophers of Judaism