White Russia, (September 4, 1745 – December 15, 1812 (18th of Ellul) 

Founder of Chabad/Lubavitch  Chassidut.

Shneur Zalman of Liadi (Hebrew: שניאור זלמן מליאדי‎), also known as the Baal HaTanya, was an Orthodox Rabbi, and the founder and first Rebbe of Chabad, a branch of Hasidic Judaism, then based in Liadi, Imperial Russia. 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.

Rabbi Shneur Zalman was born in 1745 in the small town of Liozna, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Belarus). He was the great-grandson of the mystic and philosopher Rabbi Judah Loew, the "Maharal of Prague". He was a prominent and the youngest disciple of Rabbi Dovber of Mezeritch, the "Great Maggid", who was in turn the successor of the founder of Hasidism, Rabbi Yisroel ben Eliezer known as the Baal Shem Tov.

He displayed extraordinary talent while still a child. By the time he was 5 years old he wrote an all inclusive commentary on the Chumash based on the works of Rashi the Ramban and Eben Ezra.

In 1764 he became a disciple of Rabbi Dovber of Mezeritch. In 1767, at the age of 22, he was appointed maggid of Liozna, a position he held until 1801.

after Rabbi Dovber's passing, Rabbi Shneur Zalman became the leader of Hasidism in Lithuania, along with his senior colleague Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk. When Rabbi Menachem Mendel died (in 1788), Rabbi Schneur Zalman was recognized as leader of the Chassidim in Lithuania.  

At the time Lithuania was the center of the mitnagdim (opponents of Hasidism), and Rabbi Shneur Zalman faced much opposition. In 1774 he and Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk traveled to Vilna in an attempt to create a dialogue with the Vilna Gaon who led the Misnagdim and had issued a ban against the Hasidim, but the Gaon refused to see them (see Vilna Gaon: Antagonism to Hasidism and Hasidim and Mitnagdim).

Undaunted by this antagonism, he succeeded in creating a large network of Hasidic centers. He also joined opposition to Napoleon's advance on Russia by recruiting his disciples to the Czar's army. He was also active in canvassing financial support for the Jewish settlements in the Land of Israel, then under the control of the Ottoman Empire.

In his seminal work, Tanya, he defines his approach as "מוח שולט על הלב" ("mind ruling over the heart/emotions"). He chose the name "Chabad" for this philosophy—the Hebrew acronym for the intellectual attributes (sefirot) Chochma ("wisdom"), Bina ("understanding"), and Da'at ("knowledge”).

In 1797 following the death of the Gaon, leaders of the Vilna community falsely accused the Hasidim of subversive activities - on charges of supporting the Ottoman Empire, since Rabbi Shneur Zalman advocated sending charity to support Jews living in the Ottoman territory of Palestine. In 1798 he was arrested on suspicion of treason and brought to St. Petersburg where he was held in the Petropavlovski fortress for 53 days, at which time he was subjected to an examination by a secret commission. Ultimately he was released by order of Paul I of Russia. The Hebrew day of his acquittal and release, 19 Kislev, 5559 on the Hebrew calendar, is celebrated annually by Chabad Hasidim, who hold a festive meal and make communal pledges to learn the whole of the Talmud; this practice is known as "Chalukas Ha'Shas".

In Habad tradition, his imprisonment is interpreted as a reflection of accusations in Heaven that he was revealing his new dimensions of mystical teachings too widely. The traditional tendency to conceal Jewish mysticism is founded on the Kabbalistic notion of the Sephirot. The side of Divine Chesed seeks to give physical and spiritual blessing without restriction. This is counterbalanced by the side of Gevurah, which measures and restricts the flow to the capacity and merit of the recipient. The subsequent Sephirah of Hod impliments any restriction in order to preserve the glory of the Divine majesty. In the Hasidic story of an earlier episode among the "Holy Society" disciples of Dov Ber of Mezeritch, one of the great followers saw a page of Hasidic writings blowing around the courtyard. He regretted the undue dissemination of Hasidut for its desecration of Divine holiness. In the account, his vocalisation of these thoughts caused a Heavenly accusation against the Maggid, for revealing too much.

In 1800 he was again arrested and transported to St. Petersburg, this time along with his son Moshe who served as interpreter, as Rabbi Shneur Zalman spoke no Russian or French. He was released after several weeks but was banned from leaving St. Petersburg The elevation of Tsar Alexander I (Alexander I of Russia) a few weeks later led to his release; he was then “given full liberty to proclaim his religious teachings” by the Russian government.

After his release he moved his base to Liadi, Vitsebsk Voblast, Imperial Russia; rather than returning to Liozna, he took up his residence in the town of Liadi at the invitation of Prince Stanisław Lubomirski, voivode of the town. There his movement grew immensely, and he is still associated with the town to this day. In 1812, fleeing the French Invasion, he left Mogilev, intending to go to Poltava, but died on the way in the small village of Pena, Kursk Oblast. He is buried in Hadiach.

He was succeeded as Rebbe by his oldest son, Dovber Schneuri. According to David Assaf, his youngest son, Moshe, suffered a lifetime of mental illness and converted to Catholicism shortly before he was consigned to a mental hospital.

Rabbi Dovber Schneuri moved the movement to the town of Lubavitch (Lyubavichi) in present-day Russia. A top follower of Rabbi Shneur Zalman, Rabbi Aharon HaLevi Horowitz, established a rival Chabad school in Strashelye, which did not last after his passing.

His ability to explain even the most complex issues of Torah made his writings popular with Torah scholars everywhere. Rabbi Shneur Zalman had a vast knowledge of mathematics and science as well. His son Rabbi Shalom Dov Ber Schneerson, became the leader of the Chassidic movement after R' Shneur's death.

In 1940, under the leadership of the previous Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, the Chabad-Lubavitch movement moved its headquarters to Brooklyn, New York in the United States. Under the leadership of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Chabad established branches all over the world staffed by its own Lubavitch-trained and ordained rabbis with their wives and children. The number of branches continues to grow to this day, and existing branches continue to expand.

Many descendants of Rabbi Shneur Zalman carry surnames such as Shneur, Shneuri, Schneerson, and Zalman.

Rabbi Shneur Zalman formulates his thoughts in Likutei Amarim, better known as Tanya, exposition of Hasidic Jewish philosophy, first published in 1797. (The fuller and more authoritative version of this work dates from 1814.) Due to the popularity of this book, Hasidic Jews often refer to Rabbi Shneur Zalman as the Baal HaTanya (the author of the Tanya). The Tanya deals with Jewish spirituality and psychology from a Kabbalistic point of view, and expounds on such profound themes as the Oneness of God, Tzimtzum, the Sefirot, simcha, bitachon, and many other mystical concepts.

Rabbi Shneur Zalman is also well known for the Shulchan Aruch HaRav, his version of the classic Shulkhan Arukh, an authoritative code of Jewish law and custom commissioned by Rabbi Dovber of Mezeritch. The Maggid of Mezeritch saught a new version of the Shulchan Aruch for the Hasidic movement. The work states the decided halakha, as well as the underlying reasoning. The Shulchan Aruch HaRav is considered authoritative by other Hasidim, and citations to this work are many times found in non-Hasidic sources such as the Mishnah Berurah used by Lithuanian Jews and the Ben Ish Chai used by Sephardic Jews. Rabbi Shneur Zalman is also one of three halachic authorities on whom Shlomo Ganzfried based his Kitzur Shulkhan Arukh (Concise version of Jewish law).

He also edited the first Chabad siddur - Siddur Torah Or. It was based on the Ari Siddur of the famous kabbalist Rabbi Isaac Luria (Arizal) of Safed, but he altered it for general use, and corrected its textual errors. Today's Siddur Tehillat HaShem is based on Shneur Zalman's Siddur Torah Or.

Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi- Baal HaTanya

In 1950, upon the death of his father-in-law, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, he assumed the leadership of Chabad Lubavitch. He led the movement until his death in 1994, greatly expanding its worldwide activities and founding a network of institutions to spread Orthodox Judaism among the Jewish people, with the stated goal of "Jewish unity".

Menachem Mendel Schneerson was born in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, Schneerson was the eldest of three sons of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson, an authority on Kabbalah and Jewish law who served as the Rabbi of Yekaterinoslav from 1907 to 1939. His younger brothers were Dovber and Yisroel Aryeh Leib.

During his youth, Schneerson received mostly private Jewish education. He studied for a short while with Rabbi Zalman Vilenkin. When Schneerson was 4 1/2 years old, Vilenkin informed the boy's father that he had nothing more to teach his son.

Schneerson later studied independently under his father, who was his primary teacher. He studied Talmud and rabbinic literature, as well as the Hasidic view of Kabbalah. He received his rabbinical ordination from the Rogatchover Gaon, Rabbi Yosef Rosen.

In 1933, Schneerson moved to Paris, France. He studied mechanics and electrical engineering at the École spéciale des travaux publics, du bâtiment et de l'industrie (ESTP), a Technical College in the Montparnasse district. He graduated in July 1937 and received a license to practice as an electrical engineer. In November 1937, he enrolled at the Sorbonne, where he studied mathematics until World War II broke out in 1939.

Schneerson lived most of the time in Paris at 9 Rue Boulard in the 14th arrondissement. In June 1940, after Paris fell, the Schneersons fled to Vichy, and later to Nice, where they stayed until their final escape from Europe.

Schneerson learned to speak French, which he put to use in establishing his movement there after the war. The Chabad movement in France was later to attract many Jewish immigrants from Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia.

In 1941, Schneerson escaped from France on the Serpa Pinto, one of the last boats to cross the Atlantic before the U-boat blockade began, and joined his father-in-law, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, New York. Seeking to contribute to the war effort, he went to work in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, inspecting the electrical wiring of ships being built or repaired, and other classified military work.

In 1942, his father-in-law appointed him director of the Chabad movement's central organizations, placing him at the helm of building a Jewish educational network across the United States. However, Schneerson kept a low public profile within the movement, emerging only once a month to deliver public talks to his father-in-law's followers.

Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn died in 1950. The two candidates for leadership were Schneerson and Rabbi Shemaryahu Gurary, Schneersohn's elder son-in-law. Schneerson actively refused to accept leadership of the movement for the entire year after Schneersohn's passing. Schneerson had a larger following and seemed more sincere than Gurary. Schneerson was eventually cajoled into accepting the post by his wife and followers.

On the anniversary of his father-in-law's passing, 10 Shevat 1951, he delivered a Chassidic discourse, (Ma'amar), and formally became the Rebbe.

Schneerson placed a tremendous emphasis on outreach. He made great efforts to intensify this program of the Chabad movement, bringing Jews from all walks of life to adopt Orthodox Judaism, and aggressively sought the expansion of the baal teshuva movement.

His work included organising the training of thousands of young Chabad rabbis and their wives, who were sent all over the world by him as shluchim (emissaries) to spread the Chabad message. He oversaw the building of schools, community centers, youth camps, and "Chabad Houses", and established contacts with wealthy Jews and government officials around the world.

Schneerson also instituted a system of "mitzvah campaigns" called mivtzoim to encourage Jews to follow Orthodox Jewish practices. They commonly centered on practices such as keeping kosher, lighting Shabbat candles, studying Torah, laying tefillin, helping to write sifrei Torah, and teaching women to observe the laws of Jewish family purity. He also launched a global Noahide campaign  to promote observance of the Noahide Laws among gentiles, and argued that involvement in this campaign is an obligation for every Jew.

Schneerson never visited the State of Israel, where he had many admirers. He held a view that according to Jewish law, it was uncertain if a Jewish person who was in the land of Israel was allowed to leave. One of Israel's presidents, Zalman Shazar, who was of Lubavitch ancestry, would visit Schneerson and corresponded extensively with him. Menachem Begin, Ariel Sharon, Moshe Katzav, and later, Benjamin Netanyahu, also paid visits and sought advice, along with numerous other less famous politicians, diplomats, military officials, and media producers. In the elections that brought Yitzhak Shamir to power, Schneerson publicly lobbied his followers and the Orthodox members in the Knesset to vote against the Labor alignment. It attracted the media's attention and led to articles in Time, Newsweek, and many newspapers and TV programs, and led to considerable controversy within Israeli politics.

Schneerson was known for delivering regular lengthy addresses to his followers at public gatherings, without using any notes. These talks usually centered around the weekly Torah portion, and were then transcribed by followers known as choizerim, and distributed widely. Many of them were later edited by him and distributed worldwide in small booklets, later to be compiled in the Likkutei Sichot set. He also penned tens of thousands of replies to requests and questions. The majority of his correspondence is printed in Igrot Kodesh, partly translated as "Letters from the Rebbe". His correspondence fills more than two hundred published volumes.

While Schneerson rarely chose to involve himself with questions of halakha (Jewish law), some notable exceptions were with regard to the use of electrical appliances on Shabbat, sailing on Israeli boats staffed by Jews, and halakhic dilemmas created when crossing the International Date Line.

Schneerson rarely left Crown Heights in Brooklyn except for frequent lengthy visits to his father-in-law's gravesite in Queens, New York. A year after the passing of his wife, Chaya Mushka, in 1988, when the traditional year of Jewish mourning had passed, he moved into his study above the central Lubavitch synagogue at 770 Eastern Parkway.

It was from this location that Schneerson directed his emissaries' work and involved himself in details of his movement's developments. His public roles included celebrations called farbrengens (gatherings) on Shabbats, Jewish holy days, and special days on the Chabad calendar, when he would give lengthy sermons to crowds. In later years, these would often be broadcast via satellite and cable television to Lubavitch branches around the world.

In 1977, Schneerson suffered a massive heart attack while celebrating the hakafot ceremony on Simchat Torah. Despite the best efforts of his doctors to convince him to change his mind, he refused to be hospitalized. This necessitated building a mini-hospital in his headquarters at "770." Although he did not appear again in public for many weeks, Schneerson continued to deliver talks and discourses from his study via intercom. On Rosh Chodesh Kislev, he left his study for the first time in more than a month to go home. His followers celebrate this day as a holiday each year.

In 1983, on the occasion of his 80th birthday, the United States Congress proclaimed Rabbi Schneerson's birthday as "Education Day, USA," and awarded him the National Scroll of Honor.

As the Chabad movement grew and more demands were placed on Schneerson's time, he limited his practice of meeting followers individually in his office. In 1986, Schneerson replaced those personal meetings, known as yechidut, with a weekly receiving line in "770". Almost every Sunday, thousands of people would line up to meet briefly with Schneerson and receive a one-dollar bill, which was to be donated to charity. People filing past Schneerson would often take this opportunity to ask him for advice or to request a blessing. This event is usually referred to as "Sunday Dollars."

Following the death of his wife in 1988, Schneerson withdrew from some public functions. For example, he stopped delivering addresses during weekdays, instead holding gatherings every Shabbat. He later edited these addresses, which have since been released in the Sefer HaSichos set.

In 1992, Schneerson suffered a serious stroke while praying at the grave of his father-in-law. The stroke left him unable to speak and paralyzed on the right side of his body. Nonetheless, he continued to respond daily to thousands of queries and requests for blessings from around the world. His secretaries would read the letters to him and he would indicate his response with head and hand motions.

Despite his deteriorating health, Schneerson once again refused to leave "770". Several months into his illness, a small room with tinted glass windows and an attached balcony was built overlooking the main synagogue. This allowed Schneerson to pray with his followers, beginning with the Rosh Hashana services, and to appear before them after services either by having the window opened or by being carried out onto the balcony.

Schneerson died and was buried on June 12, 1994 (3 Tammuz 5754) next to his father-in-law, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, at Montefiore Cemetery in Queens, New York. An Ohel was built over both their graves.

The Ohel is the name of a religious shrine in Queens, New York, to which thousands of people make a pilgrimage each year. The Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson and his father-in-law Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn (the two most recent leaders of the Chabad-Lubavitch school of Hasidic Judaism) are interred there. The gravesites of the previous Rebbes of Chabad are also referred to as Ohels.

The Ohel is located at Montefiore Cemetery (AKA Old Springfield Cemetery) at 226-20 Francis Lewis Boulevard, Cambria Heights Queens, New York.

After Schneerson's death, a bill was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives — sponsored by Congressmen Chuck Schumer and co-sponsored by John Lewis, Newt Gingrich, and Jerry Lewis, as well as 220 other Congressmen — to posthumously bestow on Schneerson the Congressional Gold Medal. On November 2, 1994 the bill passed both Houses by unanimous consent, honoring Schneerson for his "outstanding and enduring contributions toward world education, morality, and acts of charity".

Menachem Mendel Schneerson – Lubavitcher Rebbe

Nachman of Breslov

Full name: Nachman of Breslov
Main work: Likutey Moharan
Born:  April 4, 1772 (Rosh Chodesh Nisan 5532) Medzhybizh, Ukraine
Died:  October 16, 1810 (18 Tishrei 5571) Uman, Ukraine
Buried: Uman, Ukraine
Dynasty: Breslov
Successor: none

Nachman of Breslov (Hebrew: נחמן מברסלב‎), (Yiddish: רב נחמן ברעסלאווער),  (April 4, 1772 – October 16, 1810), was the founder of the Breslov Hasidic dynasty.

Rebbe Nachman, a great grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, breathed new life into the Hasidic movement by combining the esoteric secrets of Judaism (the Kabbalah) with in-depth Torah scholarship. He attracted thousands of followers during his lifetime and his influence continues until today. Rebbe Nachman's religious philosophy revolved around closeness to God and speaking to God directly, without intermediaries. The concept of hitbodedut is central to his thinking.

Nachman was born in the town of Medzhybizh in the Ukraine. His mother, Feiga, was the daughter of Adil, daughter of the Baal Shem Tov, founder of Hasidic Judaism. His father Simcha was the son of Rabbi Nachman of Horodenka (Gorodenka), one of the Baal Shem Tov's disciples, after whom Nachman was named. Nachman had two brothers, Yechiel Zvi and Yisroel Mes, and a sister, Perel.  From the age of six, he would go out at night to pray at the grave of his great-grandfather, the Baal Shem Tov, and immerse in the mikveh afterward.

At the age of 13, he married Sashia, daughter of Rabbi Ephraim, and moved to his father-in-law's house in Ossatin (Staraya Osota called today).
In 1798-1799 he traveled to the Land of Israel, where he was received with honor by the Hasidim living in Haifa, Tiberias, and Safed. In Tiberias, his influence brought about a reconciliation between the Lithuanian and Volhynian Hasidim.

In 1802, Nachman moved to the town of Bratslav, Ukraine, also known as "Breslov".  His move brought him into contact with Nathan of Breslov ("Reb Noson"), a 22-year-old Torah scholar in the nearby town of Nemirov, eight miles north of Breslov. Over the next eight years, Reb Noson became his foremost disciple and scribe, recording all of Nachman's formal lessons as well as transcribing the Rebbe's magnificent work, Likutey Moharan. After Nachman's death, Reb Noson recorded all the informal conversations he and other disciples had had with the Rebbe, and published all of Rebbe Nachman's works as well as his own commentaries on them.

Nachman and Sashia had six daughters and two sons. Two daughters died in infancy and the two sons (Ya'akov and Shlomo Efraim) both died within a year and a half of their births. Their surviving children were Adil, Sarah, Miriam, and Chayah. Sashia died of tuberculosis on June 11, 1807, the eve of Shavuot, and was buried in Zaslov just before the festival began. The following month, Nachman became engaged to a woman from Brody (name unknown). Right after the engagement, he contracted tuberculosis.

In May 1810, a fire broke out in Bratslav, destroying Nachman's home. A group of maskilim (Jews belonging to the secular Enlightenment movement) living in Uman, Ukraine invited him to live in their town, and provided housing for him as his illness worsened.

Many years before, Nachman had passed through Uman and told his disciples, "This is a good place to be buried." He was referring to the cemetery where more than 20,000 Jewish martyrs were buried following the Haidamak Massacre of Uman of 1768. Nachman died of tuberculosis at the age of 38 on the fourth day of Sukkot 1810, and was buried in that cemetery.

Rebbe Nachman achieved much acclaim as a teacher and spiritual leader, and is considered a seminal figure in the history of Hasidism. His contributions to Hasidic Judaism include the following:

• He rejected the idea of hereditary Hasidic dynasties, and taught that each Hasid must "search for the tzaddik ('saintly/righteous person')" for himself — and within himself. He believed that every Jew has the potential to become a tzaddik.

• He emphasized that a tzaddik should magnify the blessings on the community through his mitzvot. However, the tzaddik cannot "absolve" a Hasid of his sins, and the Hasid should pray only to God, not to the Rebbe. The purpose of confiding in another human being is to unburden the soul as part of the process of repentance and healing. (Modern psychology supports this idea, which is the "Fifth Step" in many 12-step programs for recovery.)

• In his early life, he stressed the practice of fasting and self-castigation as the most effective means of repentance. In later years, however, he abandoned these severe ascetisms because he felt they may lead to depression and sadness. He told his followers not to be "fanatics". Rather, they should choose one personal mitzvah to be very strict about, and do the others with the normal amount of care.

• He encouraged his disciples to take every opportunity to increase holiness in themselves and their daily activities. For example, by marrying and living with one's spouse according to Torah law, one elevates sexual intimacy to an act bespeaking honor and respect to the God-given powers of procreation. This in turn safeguards the sign of the covenant, the brit milah ("covenant of circumcision") which is considered the symbol of the everlasting pact between God and the Jewish people.

• He urged everyone to seek out his own and others' good points in order to approach life in a state of continual happiness. If one cannot find any "good points" in himself, let him search his deeds. If he finds that his deeds were driven by ulterior motives or improper thoughts, let him search for the positive aspects within them. And if he cannot find any good points, he should at least be happy that he is a Jew. This "good point" is God's doing, not his.

• He placed great stress on living with faith, simplicity, and joy. He encouraged his followers to clap, sing and dance during or after their prayers, bringing them to a closer relationship with God.

• He emphasized the importance of intellectual learning and Torah scholarship. "You can originate Torah novellae, but do not change anything in the laws of the Shulchan Aruch!" he said. He and his disciples were thoroughly familiar with all the classic texts of Judaism, including the Talmud and its commentaries, Midrash, and Shulchan Aruch.

• He frequently recited extemporaneous prayers. He taught that his followers should spend an hour alone each day, talking aloud to God in his or her own words, as if "talking to a good friend." This is in addition to the prayers in the siddur. Breslover Hasidim still follow this practice today, which is known as hitbodedut (literally, "to make oneself be in solitude"). Rebbe Nachman taught that the best place to do hitbodedut was in a field or forest, among the natural works of God's creation.

Another prominent feature of Rebbe Nachman's teachings is his Tikkun HaKlali ("General Rectification" or "General Remedy") for spiritual correction. This general rectification can override the spiritual harm caused by many sins, or one sin whose ramifications are many. Rebbe Nachman revealed that ten specific Psalms, recited in this order: Psalms 16, 32, 41, 42, 59, 77, 90, 105, 137, and 150, constitute a special remedy for the sin of wasting seed, which defiles the sign of the covenant, and, by extension, all the other mitzvot. Most Breslover Hasidim try to say the Tikkun HaKlali daily.

In April 1810, Rebbe Nachman called two of his closest disciples, Rabbi Aharon of Breslov and Rabbi Naftali of Nemirov, to act as witnesses for an unprecedented vow:

"If someone comes to my grave, gives a coin to charity, and says these ten Psalms [the Tikkun HaKlali], I will pull him out from the depths of Gehinnom!  It makes no difference what he did until that day, but from that day on, he must take upon himself not to return to his foolish ways".

This vow spurred many followers to undertake the trip to Rebbe Nachman's grave.

Nachman's Torah lessons and stories were published and disseminated mainly after his death by his disciple, Reb Noson:

• Likutey Moharan ("Collected Teachings of Our Teacher, Rabbi Nachman") (vol. i., Ostrog, 1808; vol. ii., Moghilev, 1811; vol. iii., Ostrog, 1815)—Hasidic interpretations of the Tanakh, Midrashim, etc.

• Sefer HaMidot (The Aleph-Bet Book) (Moghilev, 1821)—Treatises on morals, arranged alphabetically as a primer.

• Tikkun HaKlali ("General Remedy")—Rebbe Nachman's order of ten Psalms to be recited for various problems, plus commentary by Reb Noson. Published as a separate book in 1821.

• Sippurey Ma'asiyyot (Rabbi Nachman's Stories) (n.p., 1816)—13 seemingly simple "tales" in Hebrew and Yiddish that are filled with deep mystical secrets. The longest of these tales is The Seven Beggars, which contains many kabbalistic themes and hidden allusions. Several fragmentary stories are also included in Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan's translation of the complete tales, Rabbi Nachman's Stories.

Rebbe Nachman also wrote two other books, the Sefer HaGanuz ("The Hidden Book") and the Sefer HaNisraf ("The Burned Book"), neither of which are extant. Rebbe Nachman told his disciples that these volumes contained deep mystical insights which few would be able to comprehend. He never showed the Sefer Ha-ganuz to anyone, and instructed Reb Noson to burn the latter's copy of Sefer Ha-nisraf in 1808. No one knows what was written in either manuscript.

Nachman of Breslov

Rabbi Akiva

He was the son of converts, and an unlearned shepherd. At the age of 40, at the insistence of his wife, he began studying Torah,under Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, Joshua ben Hananiah, and Nahum Ish Gamzu ultimately attracting 24,000 students including Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai, Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Judah ben Ilai. He supported Bar Kochba's revolt. He was imprisoned and savagely murdered by the Romans for teaching Torah (he is one of the Ten Martyrs).

He was born in the vicinity of Lydda to a humble peasant family. Until well on in years, he was an illiterate shepherd employed by the wealthy Ben Kalba Sabua, whose daughter Rachel married Akiva on condition that he devote himself to learning. Rachel saw that he had a great mind, and that if he would put his mind to The Almighty's Divine Torah, he would flourish into a great teacher in Israel.  One day Akiva came to Rachel by a river, and asked her why the Jewish people, if they were God's Chosen people, had to suffer so much.  Rachel's response moved Akiva, and he told her that he could only dedicate himself to Torah if he had a wife like her by his side. She said that she would accept his "wooing" if he would devote himself to the study of God's law. He said he would, and they married in secret. Her father opposed the match and banished Rachel from his home and swore that he would never help her while Akiva remained her husband.

According to the Talmud, Akiva owed almost everything to his wife. Akiva and his wife were so poverty-stricken that the bride had to sell her hair to enable her husband to pursue his studies. But these very straits only served to bring out Akiva 's greatness of character. It is related that once, when a bundle of straw was the only bed they possessed, a poor man came to beg some straw for a bed for his sick wife. Akiva  at once divided with him his scanty possession, remarking to his wife, "Thou seest, my child, there are those poorer than we!" This pretended poor man was none other than the prophet Elijah, who had come to test Akiva  (Ned. 50a).

Akiva labored hard to earn a meager livelihood. When his child started school, Akiva accompanied him, and together they learned to read. Despite many discouragements, Akiva persevered in his studies and at the age of 40 entered the rabbinical academy of Johanan ben Zakkai, a Pharisaic teacher, at Yabneh (Jamnia).

By agreement with his wife, Akiva spent twelve years away from her, pursuing his studies under Eliezer ben Hyrcanus and Joshua ben Hananiah. Returning at the end of that time, he was just about to enter his wretched home after 12 years, when he overheard a neighbor saying to his wife Rachel: "How long will you live as a widow while still married? Your husband has probably forgotten all about you!" She answered her: "If he would listen to me, he should go study another twelve years." Hearing this, Rabbi Akiva said: "So I'm doing it with her approval!" and went and studied another twelve years. Without crossing the threshold, Akiva  turned about and went back to the academy, to return at the expiration of another twelve years. The second time, however, he came back as a most famous scholar, escorted by 24,000 disciples, who reverently followed their beloved master. When she reached him she prostrated herself and started kissing his feet. His servants started pushing her away. He said to them: "Let her be! What both I and you have is hers." (she deserves the credit) (Ned. 50a, Ket. 62b et seq.).

Her father heard that a great man had arrived in town. He said: "Let me go to him, perhaps he may annul my vow." Rabbi Akiva asked him: "Had you known that her husband would become a great man, would you have vowed?" Kalba Savua answered: "Why, if he even knew one chapter, even one Halakha!" Rabbi Akiva then said: "I am him." He prostrated himself and kissed him on his feet, and gave him half his assets (Ketubot 62b-63a).

Akiba taught thousands of students: on one occasion, twenty-four thousand students of his died in a plague. His five main, last remaining students were Judah bar Ilai, Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Nehemiah, Jose ben Halafta and Shimon bar Yochai.

In the year 96 Akiva  went with other rabbis on a mission to Rome to persuade the emperor Domitian to revoke an anti-Jewish edict. Shortly after their arrival, Domitian was assassinated, and his successor, Nerva, adopted a more humane policy toward the Jews. From a convert to Judaism in Rome, Akiva received a generous bequest, which enabled him to establish an academy at Bnei Berak near Jaffa.

Akiva developed a new method of textual interpretation which attached significance and meaning to every word, letter, and title of the scriptural text. It was imaginative, but unlike the logical system employed by Hillel, it was rather artificial. With this new approach Akiva was able to adjust the law to the needs of the times. His disciples applied this approach in the Midrashic (biblical expositional) works they compiled.

Another of Akiva's outstanding contributions to scholarship was his arrangement according to subject matter, in divisions and subdivisions, of the earlier collections of the Oral Law, which heretofore had been badly organized. His system was further developed by his disciple Rabbi Meir, and it was set up in its present form, the Mishnah, by Judah I (Judah Hanasi, the Prince) about 200.

Akiva played an important role in the Bar Kochba revolt against Rome (132-135) and insisted on continuing to teach the Law, though to do so was a capital offense. He was imprisoned, tortured, and executed by the Romans, dying with the Shema Yisroel ("Hear O Israel," Deuteronomy 6:4), Israel's profession of faith, on his lips.

The most common version of Akiva's death is that the Roman government ordered him to stop teaching Torah, on pain of death, and that he refused.  The version in the Babylonian Talmud (Berachot 61b) tells it as a response of Akiva to his students, who asked him how even now—as he is being tortured—he could yet offer prayers to God. He says to them, "All my life I was worried about the verse, 'with all your soul,' (and the sages expounded this to signify), even if He takes away your soul. And I said to myself, when will I ever be able to fulfill this command? And now that I am finally able to fulfill it, I should not? Then he extended the final word Echad ("One") until his life expired with that word. A heavenly voice went out and announced: "Blessed are you, Rabbi Akiva, that your life expired with "Echad". Pure monotheism was for Akiba the essence of Judaism: he lived, worked, and died for it.

Legend tells how Elijah, accompanied by Akiba's faithful servant Joshua, entered unperceived the prison where the body lay. Priest though he was, Elijah took up the corpse—for the dead body of such a saint could not defile—and, escorted by many bands of angels, bore the body by night to Cæsarea, Israel. The night, however, was as bright as the finest summer's day. When they arrived there, Elijah and Joshua entered a cavern which contained a bed, table, chair, and lamp, and deposited Akiba's body there. No sooner had they left it than the cavern closed of its own accord, so that no man has found it since (Jellinek, Bet ha-Midrash, vi. 27, 28; ii. 67, 68; Braunschweiger, Lehrer der Mischnah, 192-206).

Akiba's grave is located in Tiberias, Israel.

Rabbi Akiva

He was the preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars of the Middle Ages. He is most commonly known by his Greek name, Moses Maimonides. He worked as a rabbi, physician, and philosopher in Spain, Morocco and Egypt. With the contemporary Muslim sage Averroes, he promoted and developed the philosophical tradition of Aristotle. As a result, Maimonides and Averroes would gain a prominent and controversial influence in the West, where Aristotelian thought had been lost for centuries. Albert the Great and Thomas Aquinas were notable Western readers of Maimonides.

One of the central tenets of Maimonides's philosophy is that it is impossible for the truths arrived at by human intellect to contradict those revealed by God. Although his copious works on Jewish law and ethics were initially met with opposition during his lifetime, he was posthumously acknowledged to be one of the foremost rabbinical arbiters and philosophers in Jewish history. Today, his works and his views are considered a cornerstone of Jewish thought and study.

He was born during what some scholars consider to be the end of the golden age of Jewish culture in Spain, after the first centuries of the Moorish rule. At an early age, he developed an interest in the exact sciences and philosophy. In addition to reading the works of Muslim scholars, he also read those of the Greek philosophers made accessible through Arabic translations. Maimonides was not known as a supporter of mysticism. He voiced opposition to poetry, the best of which he declared as false, since it was founded on pure invention - and this too in a land which had produced such noble expressions of the Hebrew and Arabic muse. This Sage, who was revered for his saintly personality as well as for his writings, led an unquiet life, and wrote many of his works while travelling or in temporary accommodation. Maimonides studied Torah under his father Maimon, who had in turn studied under Rabbi Joseph ibn Migash - a student of Isaac Alfasi.

In 1148 he settled in Fez, Morocco. During this time, he composed his acclaimed commentary on the Mishnah in the years 1166–1168.  Following this sojourn in Morocco, he and his family briefly lived in the Holy Land, before settling in Fostat, Egypt around 1168. Maimonides shortly thereafter became instrumental in helping rescue Jews taken captive during King Amalric's siege on the Egyptian town of Bilbays. He sent five letters to the Jewish communities of lower Egypt requesting them to pool money together to pay the ransom. The money was collected and then given to two judges sent to Palestine to negotiate with the Crusaders. The captives were eventually released. Following this triumph, the Maimonides family gave their savings to the youngest son David, a merchant, in the hopes of expanding their wealth. Maimonides directed him to procure goods only at the Sudanese port of Aydhab, but, after a long arduous trip through the desert, David did not like the goods offered in the port city. So he boarded a ship to India against his brother's wishes since great wealth was to be found in the East. Sadly, David drowned at sea sometime between 1169–1170 before he could make it to India. The death of his brother caused Maimonides to become sick with grief. In a letter discovered in the Cairo Geniza, he later explained:  "The greatest misfortune that has befallen me during my entire life—worse than anything else—was the demise of the saint, may his memory be blessed, who drowned in the Indian sea, carrying much money belonging to me, him, and to others, and left with me a little daughter and a widow. On the day I received that terrible news I fell ill and remained in bed for about a year, suffering from a sore boil, fever, and depression, and was almost given up. About eight years have passed, but I am still mourning and unable to accept consolation. And how should I console myself? He grew up on my knees, he was my brother, [and] he was my student."

Following his recovery, he was appointed the Nagid of the Egyptian Jewish community around 1171. Arabist S.D. Goitein believes the leadership he displayed during the ransoming of the Crusader captives led to this appointment. But since the Maimonides family had their savings tied up in David's business venture, when he drowned, all of that money was lost. This forced Maimonides to take up his famous vocation as a physician. Maimonides was trained as a physician in Cordoba and in Fez. He gained widespread recognition and became a court physician to the Grand Vezier Alfadil, then to Sultan Saladin, after whose death he remained a physician to the royal family.. In his writings he described many conditions including asthma, diabetes, hepatitis, and pneumonia, and emphasized moderation and a healthy life style. His treatises became influential for generations of physicians. He was knowledgeable about Greek and Persian medicine, and followed the principles of humorism in the tradition of Galen, however, did not blindly accept authority but used his own observation and experience. Frank, however, indicates that in his medical writings he sought not to explore new ideas but to interpret works of authorities so that they could become acceptable. Maimonides displayed in his interactions with patients attributes that today would be called intercultural awareness and respect for the patient's autonomy.

Maimonides died in Fostat, Egypt where it is believed that he was shortly buried before being reinterred in Tiberias, a town on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, Lower Galilee, Israel. However the location of Maimonides grave is not without controversy and in the Jewish Cairene community there is tradition that maintains that his grave has remained in Egypt.

Maimonides and his wife, the daughter of one Mishael ben Yeshayahu Halevi, had one child, Avraham, who was recognized as a great scholar, and who succeeded him as Nagid and as court physician at the age of eighteen. He greatly honored the memory of his father, and throughout his career defended his father's writings against all critics. The office of Nagid was held by the Maimonides family for four successive generations until the end of the 14th century.

He is widely respected in Spain and a statue of him was erected in Córdoba in the only synagogue in that city which escaped destruction; although no longer functioning as a Jewish house of worship, it is open to the public.

Maimonides composed works of Jewish scholarship, rabbinic law, philosophy, and medical texts. Most of Maimonides's works were written in Judeo-Arabic. However, the Mishneh Torah was written in Hebrew. His Judaism texts were:

• Commentary on the Mishna (Hebrew Pirush Hamishnayot), written in Judeo-Arabic. This text was one of the first commentaries of its kind; its introductory sections are widely quoted.
• Sefer Hamitzvot (trans. The Book of Commandments).
• Sefer Ha'shamad (letter of Martydom)
• Mishneh Torah, also known as Sefer Yad ha-Chazaka, a comprehensive code of Jewish law;
• Guide for the Perplexed, a philosophical work harmonizing and differentiating Aristotle's philosophy and Jewish theology. Written in Judeo-Arabic. The first translation of this work into Hebrew was done by Samuel ibn Tibbon
• Teshuvot, collected correspondence and responsa, including a number of public letters (on resurrection and the afterlife, on conversion to other faiths, and Iggereth Teiman - addressed to the oppressed Jewry of Yemen).
• Treatise on Logic (Arabic: Makala Fi-Sinat Al-Mantik) has been printed 17 times, including editions in Latin (1527), German (1805, 1822, 1833, 1828), French (1935), and English (1938), and in an abridged Hebrew form.

Maimonides wrote ten known medical works in Arabic that have been translated by the Jewish medical ethicist Fred Rosner into contemporary English.

• Extracts from Galen, or The Art of Cure, is essentially an extract of Galen's extensive writings.
• Commentary on the Aphorisms of Hippocrates is interspersed with his own views.
• Medical Aphorisms of Moses titled Fusul Musa in Arabic ("Chapters of Moses," Pirkei Moshe in Hebrew) contains 1500 aphorisms and many medical conditions are described.
• Treatise on Hemorrhoids discusses also digestion and food.
• Treatise on Cohabitation contains recipes as aphrodisiacs and anti-aphrodisiacs.
• Treatise on Asthma discusses climates and diets and their effect on asthma and emphasizes the need for clean air.
• Treatise on Poisons and Their Antidotes is an early toxicology textbook that remained popular for centuries.
• Regimen of Health is a discourse on healthy living and the mind-body connection.
• Discourse on the Explanation of Fits advocates healthy living and the avoidance of overabundance.
• Glossary of Drug Names represents a pharmacopeia with 405 paragraphs with the names of drugs in Arabic, Greek, Syrian, Persian, Berber, and Spanish.

Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon (Rambam)

Rabbi Avraham ben HaRambam

Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov

Rabbi Meir Baal Ha-Nes

Rabbi Moshe Ben Nachman (Nachmanides) – “Ramban”

Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato- "The Ramchal"

Rabbi Yaakov Abuchatzeira "Baba Sali"

Rabbi Yaakov ben Asher - Baal HaTurim

Rabbi Yitzchak Luria- The "ARI"

Rabbi Yosef Caro

Rabbi Yosef Chaim - "Ben Ish Chai"

Rambam - Rabbi Moshe Ben Maimon - Maimonides

Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai- Rashbi

Rabbi Eliyahu of Vilna- The Vilna Gaon

Yisrael Meir HaKohen Kagan- "The Chafetz Chaim"