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Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (April 18, 1902 - 1994) was the 7th Rebbe of the Lubavitch hasidim.

In 1950, upon the death of his father-in-law and cousin Rabbi Joseph Isaac (Yosef Yitzchok) Schneersohn, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (known as "The Rebbe") became the 7th and last Lubavitcher rebbe, or paramount spiritual leader, of Chabad.

Steeped in the profoundest teachings of hasidic mysticism, after his marriage to Chaya Mushka, he went to study in Berlin, Germany, and obtained degrees at Heidelberg, and studied engineering in Paris, France. This was to give him a unique vantage point and appreciation of the workings of the modern scientific age.

In 1941 he escaped from France, and joined his father-in-law in New York City. They immediately began building a Jewish educational and hasidic outreach empire. By the time of his death in 1994, he had overseen the training of thousands of young Chabad hasidic rabbis and their wives and sent them all over the world.

Wherever their were Jews to be found, emmisarries, known as shlichim, were sent to reach out to Jews who had few contacts with formal Judaism. They worked through a system of mitzva campaigns, such as keeping kosher , observing shabbat, learning more Torah, writing a Torah scroll, and belief in Moshiach, the coming of the Jewish Messiah, all the while stressing that it was Rabbi Schneerson himself who was pushing everyone to accomplish these things, which was basically correct.

They did this with the greatest of devotion to Rabbi Schneerson, believing implicitly in his vision, insight, and supernatural powers. He hardly ever left his home in a building in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn at 770 Eastern Parkway which became known as "770" Chabad world headquarters from where he directed and controlled all aspects of his emmisaries' work. They built schools, community centers, youth camps, colleg campus centers known as Chabad houses, and reached out to the most powerful Jewish lay leaders and non-Jewish government leaders wherever they found themselves. They were exceptionally succesful fundraisers for their causes. In acknowledgement of his work, the United States Congress declared that the Rebbe's personal birthday, April 18th, should be observed as Education Day in the United States.

Many politicians would come to visit the mystical mind-penetrating rabbi at 770. By dint of charisma and magnetism and an emphasis on the Jewish laws of Ahavat Yisrael, of loving one's fellow Jews, and armed with many attractive hasidic teachings and texts especially the book of Tanya, the Lubavitchers won many adherents to their rebbe and to their cause.

Towards the end of his life, thousands of people would line up to receive a dollar and a quick blessing from him. His fame had spread far and wide and Jews of all persuasions were sympathetic to him and were quite often won over to becoming Orthodox Lubavitch hasidim or sending their children to Lubavitch run schools all over the world. In spite of the fact that following his death in 1994, some of his followers went so far as to openly declare their personal opinion about him to be the long awaited King Messiah, the Moshiach, the bulk of the movement has kept a lower profile about this; yet this has not stopped the growth of the movement which still serves as a magnet for any Baal teshuva who seeks them out and learns at their many programs, all of which still stress the centrality of the last Lubavitcher rebbe. Noone was named to succeed him, so his voluminous writings are examined for their guidance in all situations.

External links:

• Site for Rebbe Schneerson
• Torah teachings of Rabbi Schneerson via technology
• A school for late bloomers
• Reaching out to Israel
• Control of Federation of Jewish Communities in CIS, former Soviet Union Rabbi Berel Lazar the rebbe's emmisary and chief rabbi
• Chabad (Jabad) Spanish language outreach. Argentina
• Chabad educational outreach
• Work of Lubavitch
• Chabad in French
• In Berlin and in German
• Pleading for Moshiach now
• Rabbi Schneerson as the messiah
• The rebbe as Moshiach to the masses
• Multilingual services at the rebbe's grave-site
• Centers all over the world
• Lubavitch publications and Rabbi Schneerson's writings
• Charity
• Library of writings and holy texts
• Guide to Lubavitch art, videos,music and literature and writings of the rebbe
• History and founder of Lubavitch Rabbi Schneur Zalman
• A webring for Rabbi Schneerson
• Devoted to educating women
• Devotion to the rebbe's wife Chaya Mushka encouraging mikva ritual baths for women
• Manis Friedman A leading disciple teaches