The Rayatz (Frierdiker Rebbe) — Sixth Chabad Rebbe
ריי”צ | 1880–1950
Teacher: Rashab
Students: The Rebbe
Biography
Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (1880–1950), known as “Rayatz” (Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak) or “Frierdiker Rebbe” (Previous Rebbe), was the sixth Rebbe of Chabad-Lubavitch. He was the son of the Rashab.
His leadership spanned one of the most turbulent periods in Jewish history — the Soviet persecution of religion, WWII, and the Holocaust. He heroically maintained Jewish life under the Soviet regime, clandestinely organizing underground networks of Jewish education and observance.
He was arrested by the Soviet NKVD in 1927 and sentenced to death, but international pressure led to his exile, then release. He eventually escaped to Poland (1927–1940) and then to America, settling in Brooklyn in 1940, where he established Chabad headquarters.
Major Works:
- Igros Kodesh (Rayatz) — His extensive correspondence, a treasure trove of guidance on Jewish life
- Sefer HaMaamarim (Rayatz) — Collected discourses
- Sefer HaSichos (Rayatz) — Collected talks
- Zichronosai — memoirs compiled and edited by Rabbi Shlomo Aharon Kazarnovsky (Sasonkin), a devoted Chabad chossid, based on the Frierdiker Rebbe’s oral accounts of his experiences under Soviet persecution
His son-in-law, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, succeeded him as the seventh Rebbe.
Works in This Library
Part of the Chabad Library Wiki