The Lubavitcher Rebbe

Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902–1994) was the seventh and most influential Rebbe of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. Born in Russia, he studied mathematics and philosophy in Paris and Berlin before settling in Latvia. After his father-in-law, the sixth Rebbe, died in 1950, Schneerson assumed leadership of the movement from Brooklyn, New York. He transformed Chabad from a relatively insular Hasidic community into a global organization, establishing schools, hospitals, and outreach centers worldwide. Known for his scholarly mastery of Kabbalah and Talmud, his emphasis on practical mitzvah observance, and his vision of hastening the messianic era through education and good deeds, he became one of the most recognizable Jewish leaders of the late twentieth century.