Often described as the most phenomenal Jewish personality of our time, "the Rebbe", as he is reverently referred to by millions of followers and admirers around the world, gives direction, radiates hope, motivation and encouragement in an era often rent with confusion and despair.

       Early Years

The Rebbe was born in Nikolaev, Russia, on the 1lth day of Nissan, 1902, to Rabbi Levi Yitzchak and Rebbetzin Chana Schneerson. The Rebbe's father was a renowned Kabbalist and Talmudic scholar. The Rebbe's mother was an aristocratic woman from a prestigious rabbinic family. At the age of five he moved with his parents and two brothers to the Ukrainian city of Yekatrinoslav, now Dnepropetrovsk, where his father was appointed Chief Rabbi.

From early childhood the Rebbe displayed a prodigious mental acuity and soon had to leave the cheder (Eastern European 'Hebrew school') because he was far ahead of his classmates.

His father engaged private tutors for him and, after that, taught him himself. By the time he reached his Bar Mitzvah, the Rebbe was recognized, by the leading torah authorities of his day, as an illuy, a Torah prodigy. He spent his teen years immersed in the study of Torah.

The Rebbe met the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, in 1923, in Rostov, Russia. In December, 1928, the Rebbe married the late Rebbetzin Chaya Moussia (1901 - 1988), second daughter of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak. The wedding took place in Warsaw, Poland. The Rebbetzin is well remembered for her exceptional erudition and compassion, yet unpretentious and humble demeanor.