The Kopust branch of the Chabad dynasty of Hasidic Judaism was founded in 1866 by Yehuda Leib Schneersohn after the death of his father Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, the third Chabad rebbe. It is named after the town of Kopys in the Vitebsk Region of present-day Belarus, where Yehuda Leib Schneersohn settled after his father's death.
History
Kopust is an offshoot of the
Chabad-Lubavitch movement which produced multiple offshoot groups through its over 200-year history. The death of the third Chabad rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneersohn led to a dispute over his succession leading to the founding of Kopust.
Founding
Following Schneersohn's death in 1866 a dispute arose among several of his seven sons over the succession. While the youngest son, Shmuel Schneersohn assumed the title of rebbe in the town of
Lyubavichi, another son, Yehuda Leib Schneersohn, assumed the title in the town of Kopys, but died less than a year later and was succeeded by his son Shlomo Zalman Schneersohn.
[Schneersohn, Yosef Yitzchak & Schneerson, Menachem Mendel. Hayom Yom. Introduction. Kehot Publication Society. Brooklyn, NY. 1946.]
Leadership
The Kopust dynasty had four rebbes:
[Loewenthal, Naftali.
Communicating the Infinite: The Emergence of the Habad School. University of Chicago Press. (1990): p. 244.]
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Yehuda Leib Schneersohn (1808-1866), known as the Maharil of Kopust. He founded the movement after the death of his father, Menachem Mendel Scheersohn.
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Shlomo Zalman Schneersohn (1830–1900), oldest son of Yehuda Leib, assumed his father’s position in Kopust. He is the author of a work on Hasidism titled "Magen Avot" ("Shield of the Fathers").
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Shalom Dovber Schneersohn (1834-1908), known as the Rashab of Rechytsa. Succeeding his brother, Shlomo Zalman, Shalom Dovber served as the Kopuster movement's rebbe in the town of Rechitsa.
[Kaminetzky, Yosef. Y. Days in Chabad. Kehot Publication Society. Brooklyn, NY. (2005): p. 19.]
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Shmaryahu Noah Schneersohn (1842–1924), known as Shmaryahu Noah of Babruysk. Succeeding his brother, Shlomo Zalman, Shmaryahu Noah served as the Kopuster movement's rebbe in the town of Babruysk.
[Kaminetzky, Yosef. Y. Days in Chabad. Kehot Publication Society. Brooklyn, NY. (2005): p. 99.][Loewenthal, Naftali.
]
Communicating the Infinite: The Emergence of the Habad School. University of Chicago Press. (1990): p. 244.
[Lowenthal, Naftali. Schneersohn, Shmaryahu Noah. Encyclopedia of Hasidism. Jason Aronson Publishers. London. 1996.][Schneerson, Shmaryahu Noah. Shemen La'moar. Vol. 1. Kfar Chabad, Israel. (1964): p. 1.
Available at HebrewBooks.org ][Schneerson, Shmaryahu Noah. Shemen La'moar. Vol. 2. Kfar Chabad, Israel. (1967): p. 1. Available at HebrewBooks.org ] He was
rabbi of the chasidim in Babruysk from 1872, and founded a
yeshiva there in 1901.
[Kaminetzky, Yosef. Y. Days in Chabad. Kehot Publication Society. Brooklyn, NY. (2005): p. 99.] He authored a two volume work on Hasidism, titled "Shemen LaMaor" ("Light for the Luminary").
Kopust today
After the death of the fourth rebbe of Kopust, the adherents of the Kopuster movement rejoined the Chabad-Lubavitch movement.
The oldest extant Chabad synagogue in Israel, the Ohel Yitzchok (אהל יצחק) synagogue in the Mea Shearim neighborhood of Jerusalem—also called the Baal HaTanya Shul (: "Baal HaTanya's synagogue")—active since 1900, was originally affiliated with Kopust.
Relationship with Chabad-Lubavitch
While the Kopust movement originally was at odds with the Chabad-Lubavitch movement over the successor to the third Chabad rebbe, the sixth Lubavitcher rebbe, Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn referred to the Rebbes of Kopust as "Admorim", or rebbes.
Works
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Magen Avos of Shlomo Zalman Schneerson
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Shemen La'Maor of Shmaryahu Noah Schneersohn vol. 1 vol. 2
Notes
