Birthday, Yartzeit Marked in Nezhin

By COLlive reporter

Kislev 9 is both the birthday and day of passing of Rabbi DovBer of Lubavitch, son of and successor to the founder of Chabad Chassidism, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi.

Rabbi DovBer was known for his unique style of “broadening rivers” — his teachings were the intellectual rivers to his father’s wellspring, lending breadth and depth to the principles set down by Rabbi Schneur Zalman.

Born in Li’ozna, White Russia in 1773, he was named after the Alter Rebbe’s mentor and teacher, Rabbi DovBer – the Maggid of Mezeritch.

The Mitteler Rebbe assumed the leadership of Chabad in 1812 and then settled in the town of Lubavitch, which was to serve as the movement’s headquarters for the next 102 years.

In 1826, he was arrested on charges that his teachings threatened the imperial authority of the Czar, but was subsequently exonerated. He passed away on his 54th birthday in 1827, a day before the first anniversary of his liberation, Kislev 10.

This week, Lubavitchers from the former Soviet Union countries and Israel visited the Ohel gravesite of the Mitteler Rebbe in the northern Ukrainian city of Nezhin.

They were hosted by Rabbi Schneur Zalman Deitsch who arranged for proper accommodations with the help of Zhitomir Chief Rabbi Sholom Wilhelm.