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), the town for which this Hasidic dynasty is named. He is also known as the Mitteler Rebbe ("Middle Rebbe" in Yiddish), being the second of the first three generations of Chabad leaders.

Biography

Rabbi Schneuri was born in Liozna, modern day Belarus, on 9 Kislev 5534. His father, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, was Rebbe of the community there, and of multiple Chassidim in White Russia and Lithuania, and other parts of Russia. His father named him after his own teacher, Rabbi Dov Ber of Mezeritch, a disciple and successor of the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of the Chassidic movement. The Yiddish first name דוב-בער Dov-Ber literally means "bear-bear", traceable back to the Hebrew word דב dov "bear" and the German word Bär "bear". It is thus an example of a bilingual tautological name.

In 1788 he married Rebbetzin Sheina, the daughter of a local rabbi. In 1790 Rabbi Dovber was appointed the Mashpia (spiritual guide) of the Hasidim who would come to visit his father. When Schneuri was 39, while studying in the city of Kremenchug, his father died. He then moved to the small border-town of Lubavichi, from which the movement would take its name.

Like his father, Schneuri considered it his sacred task to help the Jews of Russia, whether they were Chassidim or not, not only spiritually but also economically. The position of the Jews under the Czars was never easy, but it became much worse when Czar Alexander I was succeeded by Czar Nicholas I in 1825. The restrictions against the Jews increased in number and severity, and the Jews continued to be confined to the Pale of Settlement. They had no right to live, work or do business outside the Pale, where conditions had become difficult in the wake of the Franco-Russian war.

Death

He died in Nizhyn on November 16 1827, on his Hebrew birthday, 9 Kislev.

Works

Schneuri wrote works on Chabad philosophy and Kabbalah, including a commentary on the Zohar, Bi'urei HaZohar, and several texts on contemplation and prayer. A biographical account by Nissan Mindel states that about twenty of his works were published, many during his lifetime. Another work, Sha'ar HaYichud (The Gate of Unity), describes the creation and structure of the world according to Kabbalah and presents methods of meditation on these ideas.

List of works

Maamarei Admur Ha'emtza'i - Chassidic discourses on the Torah and festivals - 20 vols. - explanation of the Zohar Pirush HaMilos - Chassidic explanation of the liturgy Kuntres HaHispaalus - on meditation and ecstasy in prayer; also known as Kuntres HaHisbonenus Shaarei Teshuvah - on Teshuvah, repentance Derech Chaim - continuation of Shaarei Teshuvah Toras Chaim - Chassidic discourses on the books of Bereshis and Shemos Ateres Rosh - Chassidic discourses for the Days of Awe Shaar HaEmunah - explanation of the Mitzvah of faith and the festival of Pesach Shaar HaYichud - explanation of Seder hishtalshelus Shaarei Orah - on the festivals of Chanukah and Purim Imrei Binah - explanation of the Mitzvah of reading the Shema and donning the Tefillin