Yisroel Jacobson (or Israel Jacobson) (1895-1975) was a

Chabad 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 and the representative of the sixth Chabad

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. ...

Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn Yosef Yitzchak (Joseph Isaac) Schneersohn (; 21 June 1880 – 28 January 1950) was an Orthodox rabbi and the sixth Rebbe (spiritual leader) of the Chabad Lubavitch Hasidic movement. He is also known as the Frierdiker Rebbe (Yiddish for "Pr ...

, to the United States during the 1920s and 1930s. He was one of the first Lubavitcher activists to arrive in to the United States. He was born in Russia and migrated to the United States in 1925.

Biography

Jacobson was born in Zurowitz, Belarus, on 20 November 1895 and died on 27 May 1975 at the age of 79.

Before World War Two

Jacobson moved from Poland to New York in 1925 to help Chabad Hasidim emigrate to the United States. He became a rabbi and teacher and became active in fundraising activities, sending the funds to Schneersohn in Eastern Europe, supporting Chabad activities and enabling Schneersohn to leave Russia.Rigg, Bryan Mark. ''Rescued from the Reich: How One of Hitler's Soldiers Saved the Lubavitcher Rebbe''. Yale University Press. 2008. Pages 32-34, 97. Jacobson was the rabbi in the Anshei Bobroisk synagogue in

Brownsville, Brooklyn Brownsville is a residential neighborhood in eastern Brooklyn in New York City. The neighborhood is bordered by Crown Heights, Brooklyn, Crown Heights to the northwest; Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, Bedford–Stuyvesant and the subsection of ...

. He founded

Yeshivas 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 studyin ...

Achei T’mimim in New York in 1932 for young men.

During World War Two

After the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Jacobson arranged for Schneersohn and his family to leave Poland. After Schneersohn's secured passage from Nazi-occupied Poland to

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

, Jacobson interceded unsuccessfully with the American consul in Berlin to secure Schneersohn's library of books and manuscripts in

Otwock Otwock (Yiddish: אָטוואָצק) is a city in the Masovian Voivodeship in east-central Poland, some south-east of Warsaw, with 43,895 inhabitants (2024). Otwock is part of the Warsaw metropolitan area. It is situated on the right bank of the ...

, Poland. Subsequent attempts to secure the library were made after the war.

After World War Two

Following the death of Schneersohn in 1950, Jacobson became an early supporter of

Menachem Mendel Schneerson Menachem Mendel Schneerson ( – June 12, 1994; Anno Mundi, AM 11 Nissan 5662 – 3 Tammuz 5754), known to adherents of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement as the Lubavitcher Rebbe or simply the Rebbe, was an American Orthodox rabbi and the most rec ...

(who was not yet leader of Chabad) backing him over his brother-in-law

Shemaryahu Gurary Shemaryahu Gurary, also known by his Hebrew initials as Rashag, (1897–1989) was a rabbi following the Chabad-Lubavitch dynasty of Hasidism. His father was Menachem Mendel Gurary. He was a son-in-law of Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, the sixth Chaba ...

. Jacobson served on the faculty of the central Lubavitch yeshiva at

770 Eastern Parkway 770 Eastern Parkway (), also known as "770" ("Seven Seventy"), is the street address of the World Headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement, located on Eastern Parkway in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Th ...

. He also helped found the Yeshiva Hadar Hatorah for baalei teshuvah ("returnees" to Judaism) where he served as dean. He was also the dean of the

Beth Rivkah Beth Rivkah (, ''Bais Rivkah'', lit. "House of Rebecca"), formally known as Associated Beth Rivkah Schools, is a private girls' school system affiliated with the Chabad Lubavitch Hasidic movement. It was established in 1941 by Rabbi Yosef Yi ...

school for girls.

Influence

Zalman Schachter-Shalomi Meshullam Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (August 28, 1924 – July 3, 2014), commonly called "Reb Zalman" (full Hebrew name: ), was an American Rabbi, writer, and activist, and one of the founders of the Jewish Renewal movement and an innovator in ecu ...

, founder of the Jewish Renewal movement, described Jacobson as "my ''

mashpia Mashpia () or feminine Mashpi'oh lit. "person of influence", pl. Mashpi'im () is the title of a rabbi who serves as a spiritual mentor in a Hasidic Jewish yeshiva. This title is also used in Breslov Hasidic movements, who have no rebbe. Previo ...

''" (spiritual mentor) and cites his teachings in his memoir.Schachter-Shalomi, Zalman. ''My Life in Jewish Renewal: A Memoir''. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. 2012. Page 59.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobson, Yisroel 1895 births 1975 deaths American Hasidic rabbis Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidim Hasidic rabbis in Europe Russian emigrants to the United States