Shneur Zalman of Liadi | |
---|---|
Alter Rebbe | |
Term | gradual – 1812-12-15 OS |
Full name | Shneur Zalman Borukhovich |
Main work | Tanya, Shulchan Aruch HaRav |
Born | 1745-09-04 OS Liozna, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth |
Died | 1812-12-15 OS Pena, Kursk Governorate Russian Empire |
Buried | Hadiach |
Dynasty | Chabad |
Predecessor | Dovber of Mezeritch |
Successor | Dovber Schneuri |
Father | Boruch |
Mother | Rivkah |
Wife | Sterna Segal |
Children |
Dovber Schneuri Devorah Leah Rochel |
Dovber Schneuri
Chaim Avraham
Moshe
Shneur Zalman of Liady (Hebrew: שניאור זלמן מליאדי, September 4, 1745 – December 15, 1812 O.S. / 18 Elul 5505 – 24 Tevet 5573), was an Orthodox rabbi and the founder and first Rebbe of Chabad, a branch of Hasidic Judaism, then based in Liadi in the Russian Empire. He was the author of many works, and is best known for Shulchan Aruch HaRav, Tanya and his Siddur Torah Or compiled according to the Nusach Ari.
He is also known as the "Baal HaTanya" (Master of the Tanya), and by a variety of other names including "Shneur Zalman Baruchovitch," Baruchovitch being the Russian patronymic from his father Baruch, by the acronym "RaShaZ" (רש"ז), by the title "Baal HaTanya ve-haShulchan Aruch'" (Master of the Tanya and the Shulchan Aruch), as the "Alter Rebbe" ("Old Rebbe" in Yiddish), "Admor HaZaken" ("Old Rebbe" in Hebrew), "Rabbenu HaZaken", "Rabbenu HaGadol", "our great rabbi", the "GRaZ", and "Rav".
Shneur Zalman was born in 1745 in the small town of Liozna, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (present-day Belarus). He was the son of Baruch, great5-grandson of the mystic and philosopher Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the "Maharal of Prague". He was a prominent (and the youngest) disciple of Dovber of Mezeritch, the "Great Maggid", who was in turn the successor of the founder of Hasidic Judaism, Yisrael ben Eliezer, known as the Baal Shem Tov.