Judah Leib ben Baruch

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JUDAH LEIB BEN BARUCH

JUDAH LEIB BEN BARUCH (fl. 1800), talmudic scholar and kabbalist. Judah was the brother and disciple of *Shneur Zalman of Lyady, the founder of the *Chabad movement, and preacher at Yanovichi. He recorded his brother's teachings in Hebrew, including his homilies which appeared later as Torah Or (Kopys, 1837). Some contributions by Judah are included in the siddur of Shneur Zalman. After his brother's death, he corrected Shneur Zalman's Shulḥan Arukh and approved a new edition (ibid., 1822). There was a three-sided dispute among the latter's son, the "middle rabbi," and *Aaron of Starosielce over who was to succeed Shneur Zalman. Judah, in a letter addressed to Aaron, supported his nephew. The "third rabbi," Menahem Mendel of Lubavich (see *Schneersohn family), included several contributions by Judah in his responsa. After Judah's death, his grandson, Ze'ev Wolf, published a tract by Judah She'erit Yehudah, which contains instructions for the salting of meat as well as responsa and elucidations of his brother's teachings (Vilna, 1841).

bibliography:

H.M. Heilman, Beit Rabbi (Heb., 1965), 109f., 166f.

[Samuel Abba Horodezky]

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