Chabad Movement

The Chabad movement is a Hasidic movement among Ultra-Orthodox Jews. Known collectively as the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, members follow the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who was the leader of the movement in its most recent incarnation in the United States from 1940 until his death in 1994. Although the philosophical and theological underpinnings of the Rebbe's teaching are complex, the fundamental mission of “Chabadniks,” as members are known, is to bring non-Orthodox Jews back to more Orthodox religious observance through gentleness, kindness, and the emphasis of the beauty of religious life. By reigniting the spiritual spark within individual Jewish souls, Chabadniks hope to make a holier world, and thereby encourage the coming of Moshiach, or the Jewish messiah.

The term Chabad, which stands for wisdom, comprehension, and knowledge (from the Hebrew words Chochmah, Binah, and Da'at, the consonant initials of which spell out Chabad), provides outreach to Jews all over the world in the form of synagogues, schools, summer camps, soup kitchens, foster homes, and other relief, rehabilitation, and community centers in over 900 cities worldwide. The Chabad emissaries, or Schluchim, who do the everyday work of running this far-reaching network, are typically young, married couples who are sent out into the world to Chabad centers worldwide, many of which are in challenging locations with very few Jews. In addition to responsibilities in the community, couples are encouraged to have large families, as per the biblical injunction to “be fruitful and multiply.” With these large families, most averaging between five and 10 children, come concerns of financial difficulty and the necessity of parental self-sacrifice. However, Chabad teachings emphasize that every child is a blessing, and that the joy of raising a child to Torah-observant, productive adulthood more than outweighs the potential difficulties inherent in bearing, raising, and providing for large numbers of children.