Shmuel Schneersohn

"Maharash" redirect here, for the 17th century Polish rabbi, see Meir Wahl

Shmuel Schneersohn
Lubavitcher Rebbe
Term	17-Mar-1866 – 14-Sep-1882 OS
Full name	Shmuel Schneersohn
Main work	Likutei Torah - Toras Shmuel
Born	17 March 1834 OS Lyubavichi, Russian Empire
Died	14 September 1882 OS Lyubavichi, Russian Empire
Buried	Lyubavichi
Dynasty	Chabad Lubavitch
Predecessor	Menachem Mendel Schneersohn
Successor	Sholom Dovber Schneersohn
Father	Menachem Mendel Schneersohn
Mother	Chaya Mushka (daughter of Dovber Schneuri)
Wife 1	Sterna (daughter of his brother Chaim Shneur Zalman)
Wife 2	Rivkah (granddaughter of Dovber Schneuri)
Children 2	Shneur Zalman Aharon Sholom Dovber Schneersohn Avrohom Sender Menachem Mendel Devorah Leah Ginsburg Chaya Mushka Horenstein

Shmuel Schneersohn (or Rabbi Shmuel of Lubavitch or The Rebbe Maharash) (17 March 1834 – 14 September 1882 OS) was an Orthodox rabbi and the fourth Rebbe (spiritual leader) of the Chabad Lubavitch chasidic movement.

Biography

Schneersohn was born in Lyubavichi, on 2 Iyar 1834, the seventh son of the Tzemach Tzedek. He faced competition from three of his brothers, primarily from Rabbi Yehuda Leib Schneersohn who established a dynasty in Kapust upon their father's death. Other brothers also established dynasties in Lyady, Nizhyn, and Ovruch.^[1]

In 1848 Schneersohn was married to the daughter of his brother, Rabbi Chaim Shneur Zalman Schneersohn. After several months she died, and he then married the Rebbetzin Rivkah, a granddaughter of Rabbi Dovber Schneuri, the Mitteler Rebbe. He had three sons, Rabbi Zalmman Aharon, Rabbi Sholom Dovber and Rabbi 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.^[2]

Besides his communal activism, he had wide intellectual interests. He spoke several languages, including Latin.^[3] 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.^[3] His discourses began to be published for the first time under the title Likkutei Torat Shmuel in 1945 by Kehot, and 12 volumes have so far been printed.^[3]

He passed away in Lyubavichi, on 13 Tishrei 1882, leaving four sons and two daughters, and was succeeded by his son Sholom Dovber.^[3]

Schneersohn urged the study of Kabbalah as a prerequisite for one's humanity:

A person who is capable of comprehending the seder hishtalshelus (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 (commandment) and an obligation to know the seder hishtalshelus.^[4]

Aphorisms

• "The world says, 'If you can't crawl under, climb over.' But I say, Lechatchilah Ariber--'At the outset, one should climb over.'"^[5]

• "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."^[6]

References

1. Sefer HaToldot Rav Shmuel, Admor Maharash, Glitzenstein, A. H.
2. The Messiah of Brooklyn: Understanding Lubavitch Hasidim Past and Present, M. Avrum Ehrlich, ch.16 note.12, KTAV Publishing, ISBN 0-88125-836-9
3. Encyclopedia of Hasidism, entry: Schneersohn, Shmuel. Naftali Lowenthal. Aronson, London 1996. ISBN 1-56821-123-6
4. Sefer HaToldos Admur Maharash
5. Explanation of the Lubavitcher Rebbe
6. The Nechama Greisman Anthology

External links

• A biography of The Rebbe Maharash - Rabbi Shmuel Schneersohn
• Family Tree
• Sefer Toras Shmuel by Rabbi Shmuel Schneersohn

1. Hayom Yom, pp. A8, A9. "18 Elul 5505 (1745): Birth of Alter Rebbe, R. Schneur Zalman to R. Baruch and his wife, Rivka, daughter of Avraham.[... A]rrives in the village of Piena, Kursk Province, on 12 Tevet 5583 (1812). There, after Shabbat ends, the eve of Sunday, 24 Tevet, he passes away. He is interred in Haditz, Poltava Province."
2. Hayom Yom, p. A9. "His [the Alter Rebbe's] wife was Rebbetzin Sterna, daughter of the magnate R. Yehuda Leib Segal and his wife Beila."
3. Hayom Yom, p. A8. "In the year 5520 (1760) he [the Alter Rebbe] married."
4. Hayom Yom, p. A10. "5534 (1773): Birth of the Mitter Rebbe [Dovber Schneuri] on Kislev 9.[...] On Wednesday, 9 Kislev 5588 (1827) he passes away in Niezhin, Chernigov province, while returning from his father's gravesite, and is interred there."
5. Hayom Yom, p. A10. "His [the Mitteler Rebbe's] wife was Rebbetzin Sheina."
6. Hayom Yom, p. A10. "5548 (1788): His [the Mitteler Rebbe's] marriage."
7. Hayom Yom, pp. A11, A12. "5549 (1789): Birth of Tzemach Tzedek on Erev Rosh Hashanah.[...] 5626 (1866): Passes away Wednesday night, the eve of Nissan 13, and is interred in Lubavitch."
8. Hayom Yom, p. A12. "5621 (1861 [sic; 9 Dec. 1860 O.S. or 21 Dec. 1860 N.S.]): [Tzemach Tzedek is] Widowed on the eighth of Tevet."