Yehoshua Shneur Zalman Serebryanski
Encyclopedia
Rabbi Yehoshua Shneur Zalman Serebryanski, known familiarly as Reb Zalman, (Dec 1904-1991-06-15) was an Orthodox
rabbi
and Mashpia
belonging to the Chabad-Lubavitch
Hasidic
movement. He was a follower of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn (1880–1950), the sixth Rebbe
of the Chabad-Lubavitch
Hasidic
movement, known as Rebbe Rayatz, and Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn
, (1902–1994) the seventh Rebbe.
Born in Brahin
, Belarus
, he was educated there and at the Tomchei Temimim
Yeshiva
in Rostov-on-Don
, and was then sent to organise underground yeshivos in various towns in the USSR. He eventually settled in Kharkov (now the city of Kharkiv
, Ukraine
), where he met and married Brocha Futerfas, the sister of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Futerfas
and artist Hendel Lieberman
. He was responsible for the upkeep of the underground yeshivah there.
He was conscripted into the Red Army
, but because of his poor health he was assigned to the air defense unit protecting Kharkov. When the city fell to the Germans
he made his way to Saratov
, and from there to Samarkand
, where his family had fled. In 1946, when Polish refugees were allowed to leave the USSR, he and most of his family obtained Polish papers and left for Poland, where he remained for about a year at the request of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, to arrange for the smuggling of messages between him and the Lubavitcher hasidim who remained in the USSR. During this period he was also active in rescuing Jewish children from convents where they had been left by their parents during the war. With the consolidation of Communist power in Poland
it was impossible to continue this work, and he moved on to Paris
, where he founded the cheder
that became the nucleus of the Chabad educational network in Paris.
In 1949, the newly-elected Menzies
government relaxed Australia
's immigration policies, and several Lubavitcher hasidim obtained visas for Australia. Reb Zalman asked Rabbi Joseph Isaac Schneersohn whether he should join them, and was told to go and start a yeshivah there. He landed at Melbourne
on 1949-09-12, and the yeshivah began in Shepparton in October.
Serebryanski was one of the four pioneering founders of the Yeshivah community. Together with Rabbis Isser Kluwgant, Shmuel Betzalel Althaus, and Nochum Zalman Gurewicz, he laid the groundwork for what the Yeshivah educational facilities
and community are today.
He founded the Yeshivah College
High School, first in Shepparton, then in Burwood, and finally in East Saint Kilda
. He also founded the Beth Rivkah Ladies College
and the Yeshivah Gedolah
Rabbinical College.
He is survived by his three children, and more than 100 grandchildren, great- and great-great-grandchildren.
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
and Mashpia
Mashpia
Mashpia lit. "person of influence", pl. Mashpi'im is the title of a rabbi or rebbetzin who serves as a spiritual mentor in Tomchei Temimim , in a girls' seminary belonging to the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement, or in a Chabad community.-Definition:Although counterparts to the mashpia exist in...
belonging to the Chabad-Lubavitch
Chabad-Lubavitch
Chabad-Lubavitch is a Chasidic movement in Orthodox Judaism. One of the world's larger and best-known Chasidic movements, its official headquarters is in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, New York...
Hasidic
Hasidic Judaism
Hasidic Judaism or Hasidism, from the Hebrew —Ḥasidut in Sephardi, Chasidus in Ashkenazi, meaning "piety" , is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that promotes spirituality and joy through the popularisation and internalisation of Jewish mysticism as the fundamental aspects of the Jewish faith...
movement. He was a follower of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn (1880–1950), the sixth Rebbe
Rebbe
Rebbe , which means master, teacher, or mentor, is a Yiddish word derived from the Hebrew word Rabbi. It often refers to the leader of a Hasidic Jewish movement...
of the Chabad-Lubavitch
Chabad-Lubavitch
Chabad-Lubavitch is a Chasidic movement in Orthodox Judaism. One of the world's larger and best-known Chasidic movements, its official headquarters is in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, New York...
Hasidic
Hasidic Judaism
Hasidic Judaism or Hasidism, from the Hebrew —Ḥasidut in Sephardi, Chasidus in Ashkenazi, meaning "piety" , is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that promotes spirituality and joy through the popularisation and internalisation of Jewish mysticism as the fundamental aspects of the Jewish faith...
movement, known as Rebbe Rayatz, and Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn
Menachem Mendel Schneersohn
Menachem Mendel Schneersohn also known as the Tzemach Tzedek was an Orthodox rabbi and the third Rebbe of the Chabad Lubavitch chasidic movement.-Biography:...
, (1902–1994) the seventh Rebbe.
Born in Brahin
Brahin (town)
Brahin is an urban-type settlement in Belarus and an administrative center of Brahin Raion. It stands on the banks of Braginka river, 28 km from the nearest railway , and has a population of 3,700....
, Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
, he was educated there and at the Tomchei Temimim
Tomchei Temimim
Tomchei Temimim is the central Yeshiva of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement...
Yeshiva
Yeshiva
Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...
in Rostov-on-Don
Rostov-on-Don
-History:The mouth of the Don River has been of great commercial and cultural importance since the ancient times. It was the site of the Greek colony Tanais, of the Genoese fort Tana, and of the Turkish fortress Azak...
, and was then sent to organise underground yeshivos in various towns in the USSR. He eventually settled in Kharkov (now the city of Kharkiv
Kharkiv
Kharkiv or Kharkov is the second-largest city in Ukraine.The city was founded in 1654 and was a major centre of Ukrainian culture in the Russian Empire. Kharkiv became the first city in Ukraine where the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed in December 1917 and Soviet government was...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
), where he met and married Brocha Futerfas, the sister of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Futerfas
Menachem Mendel Futerfas
Rabbi Menachem Mendel Futerfas , known informally as Reb Mendel, was a famous Chabad Mashpia. He was a top student of the famed Mashpia, Reb Zalman Moishe HaYitzchaki.-Activities:...
and artist Hendel Lieberman
Hendel Lieberman
Chenoch Hendel Lieberman , born Chenoch Hendel Futerfas, was an Orthodox Jewish Russian-born, Chabad hasidic American artist. He was the brother of the famed Mashpia Rabbi Menachem Mendel Futerfas....
. He was responsible for the upkeep of the underground yeshivah there.
He was conscripted into the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
, but because of his poor health he was assigned to the air defense unit protecting Kharkov. When the city fell to the Germans
First Battle of Kharkov
The 1st Battle of Kharkov so named by Wilhelm Keitel was the 1941 tactical Wehrmacht battle for the city of Kharkiv during the final phase of Operation Barbarossa by the German 6th Army of the Army Group South on 20 October 1941...
he made his way to Saratov
Saratov
-Modern Saratov:The Saratov region is highly industrialized, due in part to the rich in natural and industrial resources of the area. The region is also one of the more important and largest cultural and scientific centres in Russia...
, and from there to Samarkand
Samarkand
Although a Persian-speaking region, it was not united politically with Iran most of the times between the disintegration of the Seleucid Empire and the Arab conquest . In the 6th century it was within the domain of the Turkic kingdom of the Göktürks.At the start of the 8th century Samarkand came...
, where his family had fled. In 1946, when Polish refugees were allowed to leave the USSR, he and most of his family obtained Polish papers and left for Poland, where he remained for about a year at the request of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, to arrange for the smuggling of messages between him and the Lubavitcher hasidim who remained in the USSR. During this period he was also active in rescuing Jewish children from convents where they had been left by their parents during the war. With the consolidation of Communist power in Poland
History of Poland (1945–1989)
The history of Poland from 1945 to 1989 spans the period of Soviet Communist dominance imposed after the end of World War II over the People's Republic of Poland...
it was impossible to continue this work, and he moved on to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, where he founded the cheder
Cheder
A Cheder is a traditional elementary school teaching the basics of Judaism and the Hebrew language.-History:...
that became the nucleus of the Chabad educational network in Paris.
In 1949, the newly-elected Menzies
Robert Menzies
Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....
government relaxed Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
's immigration policies, and several Lubavitcher hasidim obtained visas for Australia. Reb Zalman asked Rabbi Joseph Isaac Schneersohn whether he should join them, and was told to go and start a yeshivah there. He landed at Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
on 1949-09-12, and the yeshivah began in Shepparton in October.
Serebryanski was one of the four pioneering founders of the Yeshivah community. Together with Rabbis Isser Kluwgant, Shmuel Betzalel Althaus, and Nochum Zalman Gurewicz, he laid the groundwork for what the Yeshivah educational facilities
Yeshivah Centre, Melbourne
The Yeshivah Centre is an Orthodox Jewish umbrella organisation in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia that serves the needs of the Melbourne Jewish community. It is run by the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, until recently, under the direct administration of Rabbi Yitzchok Dovid Groner...
and community are today.
He founded the Yeshivah College
Yeshivah College
Yeshivas Oholei Yosef Yitzchok Lubavitch, known more commonly as Yeshivah College, is an independent, single-sex, Orthodox Jewish day school for boys, located in St Kilda East, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
High School, first in Shepparton, then in Burwood, and finally in East Saint Kilda
St Kilda, Victoria
St Kilda is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km south from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Port Phillip...
. He also founded the Beth Rivkah Ladies College
Beth Rivkah Ladies College
Beth Rivkah Ladies College or Beth Rivkah Lubavitch is a single-gender girls' K-12 Orthodox Jewish day-school on Balaclava Road, East St Kilda in Melbourne, Australia run by the Chabad-Lubavitch movement's Yeshivah Centre. The school runs from kinder through to Year 12...
and the Yeshivah Gedolah
Yeshivah Gedolah Zal
Yeshivah Gedolah "Zal" , Yeshivah Gedolah, The Rabbinical College of Australia and New Zealand, or colloquially, Y.G., is a government accredited yeshiva, an academy for young Orthodox Jews to devote themselves to full-time rabbinical studies. It is located in St Kilda East, Victoria, Melbourne,...
Rabbinical College.
He is survived by his three children, and more than 100 grandchildren, great- and great-great-grandchildren.