Yehuda Leib Schneersohn

Rabbi Yehuda Leib Schneersohn (1811 - 1866) was a Ukrainian Habad Hasidic rabbi, the second son of Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, and founder and first leader of Kopust Hasidism.^[1]

Life and career

Known as 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").
• Rabbi Shalom Dovber Schneersohn of Rechitsa (d. 1908), known as the Rashab of Rechitsa.^[2] Succeeding his brother, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman, Rabbi Shalom Dovber served as the Kopuster movement's rebbe in the town of Rechitsa.^[3] 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.^[4] He was rav of the chasidim in Babruysk from 1872, and founded a yeshiva there in 1901.^[5] He authored a two volume work on Hasidism, titled "Shemen LaMaor" ("Light for the Luminary").^[6][7][8]

References

1. Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1942). Introduction to Hayom Yom.
2. a Hebrew acronym for "Rav Shalom Ber"
3. Kaminetzky, Yosef. Y. Days in Chabad. Kehot Publication Society. Brooklyn, NY. (2005): p. 21.
4. Kaminetzky, Yosef. Y. Days in Chabad. Kehot Publication Society. Brooklyn, NY. (2005): p. 93.
5. Kaminetzky, Yosef. Y. Days in Chabad. Kehot Publication Society. Brooklyn, NY. (2005): p. 92-93.
6. Lowenthal, Naftali. Schneersohn, Shmaryahu Noah. Encyclopedia of Hasidism, Jason Aronson Publishers. London. 1996.
7. Schneerson, Shmaryahu Noah. Shemen La'moar. Vol. 1. Kfar Chabad, Israel. (1964): p. 1. Available at HebrewBooks.org
8. Schneerson, Shmaryahu Noah. Shemen La'moar. Vol. 2. Kfar Chabad, Israel. (1967): p. 1. Available at HebrewBooks.org

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."