For 102 years, this small village in the Smolensk region was the heart of a movement that now spans every continent. The Rebbeim lived here. The Ohel stands here. The restoration continues here.
The name "Lubavitch" comes from the Russian word for love — lyubov. For Jews in Czarist Russia it was prime real estate: one of the closest points to Moscow within the Pale of Settlement, first settled by a man named Meir, who drew hundreds of Jewish families.
The Tzemach Tzedek (1789–1866) and the Rebbe Maharash (1834–1882) are buried here. Their Ohel — rebuilt in 1989 after Soviet neglect and recently renovated — draws thousands of pilgrims each year who come to pray at the resting place of two of Chabad's greatest leaders.
In 1897, the fifth Rebbe — the Rebbe Rashab — founded Yeshivah Tomchei Temimim here. The first yeshiva to combine intensive Talmud study with the deep study of Chassidus, it defined Chabad education for all generations that followed.
In August 1941, Nazi forces occupied Lubavitch. On November 4, 1941, 483 Jews were massacred. The Jewish community that had existed for centuries was destroyed. Since 1989, memory and restoration have gradually, carefully returned.
Rabbi Gavriel Gordon, the local Chabad emissary, leads ongoing restoration work in partnership with Geder Avos. The cemetery has been systematically restored, the original shul uncovered and rebuilt, and the Ohel renovated. The work continues.
Chabad-Lubavitch today operates in over 100 countries with thousands of emissaries. Every one of them traces their movement's roots — its name, its leaders, its spirit — to this small village in the Smolensk forest.
News and restoration reports from the ongoing work in Lubavitch.
"Lubavitch is not just history — it is a living responsibility. Every stone we restore, every name we document, connects the world that was to the world that is."
— Lubavitch Heritage ProjectIf you have photographs, documents, maps, family stories, or memories connected to Lubavitch, we invite you to share them. Every image and testimony helps preserve this history for future generations. The project also welcomes researchers, sponsors, and volunteers.
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