Barry Gurary (also: Gourary, Sholom Dovber or Bere) (b. in Rostov-on-Don, Russia November 2, 1923, d. Montclair, New Jersey, United States March 3, 2005) was the only son of Rabbi Shemaryahu Gurary and Rebbetzin Chana Gurary, who was the elder daughter of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn. Barry Gurary was an ordained non-practicing Orthodox rabbi and physicist. He became the focus of disputes as an estranged heir to the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic dynasty.
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Rabbi Joseph Isaac Schneersohn was the sixth Rebbe of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement. This made Barry Gurary both the only grandson of the sixth Rebbe, Rabbi Joseph Isaac Schneerson, as well as the only nephew of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson (1901–1988) and her husband the future seventh Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902–1994) who were childless.
Barry Gurary's close family relationship with the leadership of Chabad-Lubavitch was a source of struggle and friction to himself, the Schneerso(h)n and Gurary families and to the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic dynasty which they led - precisely because he was the only grandson and the last male relative related directly by birth to the sixth Rebbe. Little is known about Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson's own surviving relatives. Prior to his death Rabbi Menachem Schneerson appointed Rabbi Chaim Yehuda Krinsky, a non-relative, as the sole executor of his will upon his death.
After the family emigrated to the United States in 1940, Barry evidently did not display a strong interest in his grandfather's, and father's work. He focused on his own pursuits, prominent among them being the study of physics.
In the United States Barry Gurary studied at the famed Yeshiva Torah Vodaas, receiving semichah ("ordination") from one of its faculty.
After the death of his grandfather in 1950, he did not follow his uncle Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson and eventually left the Chabad-Lubavitch movement entirely.
During the lifetime of the sixth Rebbe, Barry Gurary's father, Rabbi Shemaryahu Gurary (known in Lubavitch by his initials as RaSHaG) (1898–1989) held the position of Director of the Central Lubavitcher Yeshiva - Tomchei Temimim.
One year after the death of sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson became the choice of most Lubavitchers as the seventh Rebbe of the movement, the second time a son-in-law had ever held such a position in the movement (the third rebbe was a grand son of the first rebbe and his father in law who was the second rebbe was also his uncle (he married his cousin), while Rabbi Shemaryahu Gurary, Barry Gurary's father, did not gain popular support and instead held on to the same positions of power he had in the past, and was loyal to his brother-in-law, who had become the seventh and was to be the last Rebbe of Chabad.
On the occasion of his Bar Mitzvah, there is a tradition that his grandfather delivered one of the longest and most inspiring talks of his tenure as Rebbe. The speech described the passion of some of the Lubavitcher Rebbes for books and book collecting, and suggested that Barry might want to collect as well.
As the only grandson of the sixth Rebbe he was one of the prime candidates for succession on his death despite being only 27 at the time. According to Scholar Avrum Erlich:[1]
| “ | He was prominent in the movement, but there were perceived, if not actual, irregularities in his behavior that precluded his succession. He had shaved his beard at a young age and had a reputation for publicly desecrating halakhah. He also involved himself in the fight for his father’s right to succeed, publicly slandering Schneerson. Such behavior effectively ended any possibility that he himself might succeed Yosef Yitzhak, and possibly ended his father’s chances too.[2] | ” |
Barry Gurary was the nephew of the seventh Rebbe's wife, Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson (1901–1988), who was the younger daughter of the sixth Rebbe.
In other important present-day Hasidic groups, nephews of Rebbes have themselves in turn become the Rebbes following the passing of their uncles. For example, in similar recent historical circumstances, after Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum the last Satmar Rebbe died, his nephew, Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum became the next Satmar Rebbe and when Rabbi Aharon Rokeach the previous and fourth Belzer Rebbe died, there was a serious division of opinion within Belz, but ultimately his nephew Rabbi Yissachar Dov Rokeach the present Rebbe took over. This did not happen in Lubavitch due in small part to Barry's above mentioned tendency to go against the Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law)(even though Rabbi Menachem Schneerson was himself a son-in-law to the previous Rebbe, a distant cousin) and Barry Gurary, as a direct grandson of the sixth Rebbe, was neither a candidate nor did anyone move to make him Rebbe after the passing of the last Rebbe in Chabad-Lubavitch. On the contrary, over the years, and culminating with a final legal battle, Barry Gurary became persona non grata and cast out by the movement which his ancestors had headed from its inception, and which his father had helped build in America.
A family dispute arose about the library of the sixth Rebbe which also brought an internal family rivalry between Barry Gurary (supported by his mother) and his uncle the seventh Rebbe (supported by the "Rashag", Barry's father) into the public spotlight. Barry Gurary's grandfather, the sixth Rebbe, collected a vast library of Judaica, which included several rare volumes. As the sixth Rebbe's grandson, Barry believed he was entitled to a portion of the library and was supported in this belief by his mother and Rabbi Chaim Lieberman (the sixth Rebbe's librarian) as well as the will of his grandmother (the sixth Rebbe's wife).
In 1984, some 34 years after his grandfather's passing, Barry Gurary entered the library and clandestinely removed numerous Jewish books, including a first edition Passover haggadah worth over $50,000, founder of Hasidism, and began selling the books. One illuminated Passover Haggadah dating back to 1757 was sold for $69,000 to a Swiss book dealer who soon found a private buyer to pay nearly $150,000 for it. He claimed to have both his mother's permission, as well as the permission of his aunt, the seventh Rebbe's wife, to take the books. However, his uncle, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the seventh Chabad Rebbe, was infuriated by these actions. He demanded that the volumes be returned. When Barry refused, also refusing his uncle's summons to Beth Din, Rabbi Chaim Yehuda Krinsky consulted rabbinic authorities on Jewish law who advised him that appeals can be made to a secular governmental court if justice cannot be effectuated in a Jewish court.[3] On legal advice the Lubavitchers decided to obtain a temporary restraining order in the hope that this would resolve the matter.
Rabbi Schneerson argued that the volumes were not the "personal possession" of Gurary's grandfather, but the "communal property" of the Lubavitch Hasidim. In making this argument, basing himself on a letter from his father-in-law indicating that the books were the heritage of the entire Jewish community [4] he implied that possession of the books legitimized a succession claim; therefore Barry's alleged theft constituted a challenge to his long-undisputed leadership of the Chabad movement. The organizational body that represents Lubavitch Chassidim - Agudas Chasidei Chabad (ACC), filed suit to retrieve the books.
During the court hearing, Gurary's father supported his uncle's side, while his mother supported her son, Barry Gurary.
In 1986, the court ruled in favor of ACC, and that ruling was upheld on appeal in 1987. The volumes were returned to the library.
This day was accepted as a special time of rejoicing for Lubavitch, which they called Didan Notzach (which basically means "our case won," implying that it was God who helped them win).
When it came time for Chana Gurary to make arrangements for her final resting place, she and Barry negotiated a burial place with the Munkatcher Rebbe of Borough Park, Brooklyn. Chana was laid to rest in the cemetery of the Munkaczer Kehilla in Deans, New Jersey.
Barry Gurary studied and did research as a physicist at Columbia University and Johns Hopkins University. He also published research papers mostly in physics that are also available on the Internet, in some instances more than fifty years after their publication: