Lubavitcher

The Chabadnikim, or Lubavitchers as they are sometimes called, are the largest Chassidim Jewish group in the world, thanks primarily to the efforts of the last rabbi in the Chassidim lineage, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, known to the Lubavitchers simply as “the Rebbe” (the Rabbi).

According to Hasidic lore, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the first Lubavitcher Rebbe, once visited the city of Shklov known for its brilliant, wise and erudite scholars.

But two men who said they spoke with some of those who broke through the synagogue wall said the motive was to hasten an expansion of 770 — a move that they say the Lubavitcher movement’s leader, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, known as the rebbe, called for more than three decades ago.