Chabad customs and holidays

Chabad customs and holidays are the practices, rituals and holidays performed and celebrated by adherents of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement. The customs, or minhagim and prayer services are based on Lurianic kabbalah.^[1] The holidays are celebrations of events in Chabad history. General Chabad customs, called minhagim, distinguish the movemment from other Hasidic groups.

Part of a series on
Chabad
Rebbes
Shneur Zalman of Liadi (Alter Rebbe) Dovber Schneuri (Mitteler Rebbe) Menachem M. Schneersohn (Tzemach Tzedek) Shmuel Schneersohn (Rebbe Maharash) Sholom Dovber Schneersohn (Rebbe Rashab) Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (Rebbe Rayatz) Menachem M. Schneerson (the Rebbe)
Places and landmarks
Crown Heights Ohel Chabad library 770 Eastern Parkway Kfar Chabad Shikun Chabad Lyubavichi Nariman House
History
1 Kislev 10 Kislev 19 Kislev 22 Shvat 11 Nissan 3 Tammuz 12-13 Tammuz
Organizations
Agudas Chasidei Chabad Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch Machneh Israel Kehot Publication Society Lubavitch Youth Organization NCFJE Tzivos Hashem Sheloh Colel Chabad Gan Israel Chabad.org Jewish Relief Agency Jewish Learning Institute Jewish Learning Network Chabad on Campus Ohr Avner
Schools
Bais Chana Beth Rivkah Beth Rivkah Ladies College Hadar Hatorah Lubavitch Senior Girls' School Machon Chana Mayanot Ohel Chana Oholei Torah Ohr Avner Rabbinical College Tomchei Temimim Yeshivah College Yeshivah Gedolah
Chabad philosophy
Dirah Betachtonim Seder hishtalshelus
Texts
Tanya Shulchan Aruch HaRav Tehillat Hashem Maamarim Likutei Torah/Torah Or Toras Chaim Imrei Binah Derech Mitzvosecha Samech Vov Ayin Beis Hayom Yom Likkutei Sichos Igrot Kodesh Hadranim al HaRambam Hatomim
Outreach
Mitzvah campaigns Chabad house Chabad on Campus Mitzvah tank Noahide laws Public menorah Shluchim
Terminology
Chitas Mashpia Meiniach Farbrengen Nusach Ari Shaliach Choizer Chabadnitze Dira Betachtonim
Chabad offshoots
Strashelye Kopust Liadi Niezhin Avrutch Malachim
Controversies
Chabad-Lubavitch related controversies

Customs

• Forms of dress – Chabad males, starting from Bar Mitzvah age, mostly wear black fedoras. This is in contrast to other Hasidic groups who wear shtreimels, a type of fur hat. Chabad women, like other Orthodox Jews, wear clothing that conform to tzniut (Hebrew: צניות, "modesty").^[2][3]

• Speech and language – Many Chabad Hasidim in English speaking countries speak both English and Yiddish.^[4]
  • Dialects – Many American Chabad Hasidim pronounce Hebrew according to the Lithuanian dialect.^[5] However, many native Israeli Chabad Hasidim pronounce Hebrew according to the Modern Israeli Hebrew dialect.
  • Linguistic features – English speaking adherents are thought to use a cluster of linguistic features including a “/t/ release” at the end of some words, borrowed Hebrew terms, and “chanting intonation contours”. This linguistic cluster forms a unique "learned, Orthodox style” used by male adherents, and to a lesser extent, by female adherents.^[6]

• Song and music – Like many other Hasidic groups, Chabad attaches importance to singing Chabad Hasidic nigunim (melodies), usually without words, and following precise customs of their leaders.^[7][8] To Chabad followers, the niggun is a primary link between the mundane and divine realms.^[9] Chabad followers also compose songs using lyrics and contemporary styles.^[10][11]
  • Zemiros – Unlike other Orthodox communities, the Chabad prayerbook does not include Shabbos Zemiros, songs traditionally sung on the Sabbath. The Chabad community is thought to replace these songs with their own niggunim (wordless melodies), or with the recitation of Hasidic discourses.^[12]

• Daily study – Among the customs of the Chabad movement are schedules of daily study of Jewish religious works. These study schedules were often encouraged by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. They include:
  • Chitas – selected portions of the Torah, Psalms and Tanya, the central book of Chabad theology. The practice was founded by Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn.^[13][14]
  • Rambam – selected portions from either Maimonides's Mishneh Torah (Yad Hachazakah) or his Sefer Hamitzvot. The practice was founded by Menachem Mendel Schneersohn.^[15]

• Pregnancy – Chabad Hasidim refrain from publicizing a pregnancy until the woman has entered the fifth month.^[16]

• Bar Mitzvah – It is customary in Chabad communities for a child celebrating his Bar Mitzvah to recite the Chassidic discourse titled Isa b'Midrash Tehillim.^[17]

• Tefillin – The custom of Chabad males, starting from Bar Mitzvah age, is to don an additional pair of Tefillin, called "Tefillin of Rabbeinu Tam".^[18][19][20]

• The Ten Commandments – It is customary in Chabad for all family members, even infants, to attend the reading of the Ten Commandments on the holiday of Shavuot.^[21][22]

• Passover – It is customary in Chabad communities, on passover, to limit contact of matzah (an unleavened bread eaten on passover) with water. This custom is called gebrokts (Yiddish: געבראָכטס‎, lit. 'broken'). However, on the last day of passover, it is customary to intentionally have matzah come in contact with water.^[23]
  • The Four Questions – The Chabad custom for the order of the "Four Questions", a customary recitation where the child asks the parent what makes Passover unique, differs from the order in the standard Orthodox custom. The Chabad order is as follows: 1. Dipping the food 2. Eating matzah 3. Eating bitter herbs 4. Reclining.^[24]

• Chanukah – It is the custom of Chabad Hasidim to place the Chanukah menorah against the room's doorpost (and not on the windowsill).^[25][26][27]

Holidays

There are a number of days marked by the Chabad movement as special days. Major holidays include the liberation dates of the leaders of the movement, the Rebbes of Chabad, others corresponded to the leaders' birthdays, anniversaries of death, and other life events.

Some holidays overlap, as two events have occurred on the same day.

Liberation dates

The leaders of the Chabad movement were, at times, subject to imprisonment by the Russian government. The days marking the leaders' release, are celebrated by the Chabad movement as "Days of Liberation" (Hebrew: יום גאולה (Yom Geulah)). There are three such holidays celebrated each year:

• Yud Tes Kislev – The liberation of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of the Chabad movement. The day is also called the "New Year of Hasidism".^[28]
• Yud Kislev – The liberation of Rabbi Dovber Schneuri, the second rebbe of Chabad.^[29]
• Gimmel Tammuz – The initial liberation of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, the sixth rebbe of Chabad.^[30]
• Yud Beis-Yud Gimmel Tammuz – The final liberation of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, the sixth rebbe of Chabad.^[31]

Birthdays

The birthdays of several of the movement's leaders are celebrated each year:

• Chai Elul – (18 Elul) The birthday of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of the Chabad movement.^[32][33]
• Tes Kislev – The birthday of Rabbi Dovber Schneuri, the second rebbe of Chabad.^[29]
• Yud Aleph Nissan – The birthday of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the seventh rebbe of Chabad.^[34][35][36]
• Beis Iyar – (2 Iyar) The birthday of Rabbi Shmuel Schneersohn, the fourth rebbe.^[37]

Anniversaries of death

The anniversaries of death, or yartzeit, of several of the movement's leaders (and in one instance, the leader's wife), are celebrated each year:

• Chof Daled Teves (24 Tevet) – The yartzeit of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of the Chabad movement.^[38][39]
• Tes Kislev – (9 Kislev) The yartzeit of Rabbi Dovber Schneuri, the second rebbe of Chabad.^[28][29]
• Yud Shvat – (9 Shevat) The yartzeit of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, the sixth rebbe of Chabad.^[40]
• Gimmel Tammuz – The yartzeit of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the seventh rebbe of Chabad.^[40][41]
• Chof Beis Shvat – The yartzeit of Chaya Mushka Shneerson, the wife of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson.^[42]

Other events

Other significant Chabad holidays commemorate individual incidents involving the Chabad rebbes:

• Rosh Chodesh Kislev – Marking Rabbi Menachem Mendel's recovery from a massive heart attack in 1977.^[43]
• Hei Teves (5 Tevet) – Marking the outcome of the court case over the ownership of the Chabad library, and the return of the stolen books.^[44]
• Tes Vav Elul (15 Elul) – Marking the founding of Tomchei Tmimim.^[32]

See also

• Chabad
• Jewish customs

References