Lyubavichi (; ; , ''Lyubavitsh'') is a
rural locality (a
village
A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...
) in
Rudnyansky District of
Smolensk Oblast,
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
.
History
The village existed in what was the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...
since at least 1654. In 1784, it was mentioned as a small town,
['' Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland, 1880–1914'']
Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego tom V, s. 392
then a possession of the
Polish princely family the
Lubomirski.
After the
partitions of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...
, the village was annexed by the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
. During the
French invasion of Russia in 1812, the village was occupied by
Napoleonic troops for two weeks.
During the reign of the Russian Empire, the village was in Orshansky Uyezd of
Mogilev Governorate.
[Исполнительный комитет Смоленского областного совета народных депутатов. Государственный архив Смоленской области. "Административно-территориальное устройство Смоленской области. Справочник", изд. "Московский рабочий", Москва 1981. Стр. 250] In 1857, it had a population of 2,500. Another source from approximately 1880 reports a total of 1,516 inhabitants (978 Jews) with 313 houses, two
Russian Orthodox
The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...
churches, and two Jewish
synagogue
A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...
s.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Lyubavichi was the largest market within the Mogilev Governorate, with annual sales of more than 1.5 million rubles.
Jewish community
The Jewish population of Lyubavichi was 1,164 in 1847 and 1,660 in 1897. The village's economy declined after the
1917 Russian Revolution and religious Jews were persecuted by the
Yevsektsiya. The Jewish population was 967 in 1926, half of the total population. During the
German invasion of Russia, the German military entered Lyubavichi in August 1941, established a ghetto, and massacred the 483 remaining Jews on November 4, 1941.
Chabad-Lubavitch dynasty
The village lends its name to the
Chabad-Lubavitch branch of
Hasidic Judaism
Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a Spirituality, spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most ...
, where its leadership established a court and was the seat of four generations of Chabad
Rebbes between 1813 and 1915.
The second Chabad Rebbe,
Dovber Schneuri (1773–1827), moved from
Lyady to Lyubavichi in 1813. The third Rebbe of Chabad,
Menachem Mendel Schneersohn (1789–1866), and the fourth Rebbe,
Shmuel Schneersohn (1834–1882) are buried in Lyubavichi.
The fifth Rebbe,
Sholom Dovber Schneersohn (1860–1920), established the
Yeshivah Tomchei Temimim Lubavitch in the village in the summer of 1897. In the fall of 1915, the rebbe evacuated his Hassidic court to
Rostov, Russia with the onset of World War I. The central yeshivah was disbanded in 1917, and its students went into exile before its reestablishment by the Rebbe in Rostov.
The Chabad movement opened an information center in the village in 2008 called Hatzer Raboteinu Nesieinu Belubavitch. The center is in the former Jewish area of the village, and close to the graves of the two Rebbes. The European Conference of Shluchim brought 500 Chabad rabbis to the village in August 2016 to visit the graves and tour the village.
Gallery
File:Tzemachtzedek2.jpg, Menachem Mendel Schneersohn (1789–1866), 3rd Rebbe of Chabad Hasidism is buried in Lyubavichi, along with his successor Shmuel Schneersohn (1834–1882)
File:Belarus 1882.jpg, 1882 map of White Russia regions. In the Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
, Lyubavichi was a part of Mogilev Governorate (present-day Belarus
Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...
)
File:Map showing the percentage of Jews in the Pale of Settlement and Congress Poland, The Jewish Encyclopedia (1905).jpg, The Russian Empire Pale of Settlement
The Pale of Settlement was a western region of the Russian Empire with varying borders that existed from 1791 to 1917 (''de facto'' until 1915) in which permanent settlement by Jews was allowed and beyond which the creation of new Jewish settlem ...
where Jews were permitted to live. Shows Mogilev Governorate at the northeastern edge
File:Graves of founders of Lubavitchy Hasidic branch.JPG, Jewish cemetery in Lyubavichi
File:Graves of founders of Lubavitchy Hasidic branch 3.JPG, Ohel graves of Wives in the Chabad dynasty in Lyubavichi
File:Graves of founders of Lubavitchy Hasidic branch 2.JPG, Chabad dynasty grave headstone
Climate
Lyubavichi has a warm-summer humid continental climate (''Dfb'' in the
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
).
References
External links
History of Chabad in the village of Lubavitch JewishGen Locality Page: Lyubavichi, Russia
Sources
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{{Authority control
Chabad communities
Chabad in Europe
Hasidic Judaism in Russia
Rural localities in Smolensk Oblast
Shtetls
Holocaust locations in Russia