Rabbi Yehuda Leib Schneersohn (1808-1866) was a Ukrainian

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

Hasidic 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 aff ...

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 ...

, the second 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 ...

, and founder and first leader of

Kopust 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 Regio ...

Hasidism.

Life and career

Known as the Maharil (an acronym for "Moreinu HaRav Yehuda Leib"), he settled in Kopust a few months after the death of his father, when he and his brothers were not able to reach an agreement about the succession. He died two months later. He had three sons: * Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Schneersohn (1830–1900), oldest son of Rabbi Yehuda Leib, assumed his father's position in Kopust. He is the author of a work on Hasidism titled "Magen Avot" ("Shield of the Fathers"). Two months after the death of his father, Ha'Tzemach Tzedek, settled in the city of Kapust, located south of Vitebsk (today in Belarus), and began to lead the presidency there. Maharil was the oldest son who agreed to lead the rebbe, and even during his father's lifetime he led the rebbe, so most of the Hasidim flocked to him. Shmuel Schneerson is the one who is supposed to fill his father's place * Rabbi Shalom Dovber Schneersohn of Rechitsa (died 1908), known as the Rashab of Rechitsa. Succeeding his brother, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman, Rabbi Shalom Dovber served as the Kopuster movement's rebbe in the town of

Rechitsa Rechytsa or Rechitsa (, ; ; ) is a town in Gomel Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Rechytsa District. The town is located on the Rechytsa River, which flows into the Dnieper. In 2020, its population was 66,400. As o ...

. Rabbi Shalom Dovber seems to have died without a successor. * Rabbi Shmaryahu Noah Schneersohn (1842–1924), known as Shmaryahu Noah of Babruysk. Succeeding his brother, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman, Rabbi Shmaryahu Noah served as the Kopuster movement's rebbe in the town of

Babruysk Babruysk (, ) or Bobruysk (, ; , ) is a city in Mogilev Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Babruysk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. It is situated on the Berezina, Berezina River. Bab ...

. He was

rav ''Rav'' (or ''Rab'', Modern Hebrew: ) is the Hebrew generic term for a person who teaches Torah or is a Jewish spiritual guide or a rabbi. For example, Pirkei Avot (in the Talmud) states (1:6) that: The term ''rav'' is also Hebrew for ''rabbi ...

of the chasidim in Babruysk from 1872, and founded a

yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...

there in 1901.Kaminetzky, Yosef. Y. ''Days in Chabad''. Kehot Publication Society. Brooklyn, NY. (2005): p. 92-93. He authored a two volume work on Hasidism, titled "Shemen LaMaor" ("Light for the Luminary").Lowenthal, Naftali. Schneersohn, Shmaryahu Noah. ''Encyclopedia of Hasidism'', Jason Aronson Publishers. London. 1996.Schneerson, Shmaryahu Noah. ''Shemen La'moar''. Vol. 1. Kfar Chabad, Israel. (1964): p. 1
Available at HebrewBooks.org
/ref>Schneerson, Shmaryahu Noah. ''Shemen La'moar''. Vol. 2. Kfar Chabad, Israel. (1967): p. 1
Available at HebrewBooks.org
/ref>

References

1808 births 1866 deaths Hasidic rabbis in Europe Ukrainian Hasidic rabbis Rebbes of Chabad Schneersohn family {{Ukraine-rabbi-stub