Philanthropist Mouli Cohen aids Jewish cemetery, tomb of famed Hasidic rabbi, Dov Ber Schneuri

The Jewish cemetery in the town of Nizhyn, Ukraine, home to the tomb of the second Lubavicher rebbe, Dov Ber Schneuri, will now have electricity, heat and guest facilities, thanks to philanthropists Mouli and Stacy Cohen.

The town, located northeast of Kiev in northern Ukraine, was once an important center of Hasidic Judaism.

Rabbi Dov Ber was buried at the cemetery in 1827, and his grave has long been a place of pilgrimage. But access to the cemetery has been difficult, particularly in winter. A new synagogue and place for study have been built at the site, and electrical lines were recently installed.

So who exactly was Reb Dov Ber?
 
According to Chabad, he was most famous for being the son of an even more famous rabbi, Schneur Zalman, the founder of Chabad, and of the distinguished line of the Schneerson family of Lubavitcher rabbis.

Rabbi Dov Ber was the oldest of three sons, and he succeeded his father as the head of the Chabad Hassidim. He settled in a small town in White Russia called Lubavitch, which continued to be the center of Chabad for more than 100 years.

"This is how the heads of Chabad became known as "Lubavitcher" rabbis, and the Chassidim as 'Lubavitcher' Chassidim," the groups website explains. Dob Ber "adopted the family name of 'Schneuri,' after his father, but succeeding generations changed it to 'Schneersohn,' or 'Schneerson.' "

The famous lineage aside, Rabbi Dov Ber earned his own name as well. He was known for being a very eager student as a small child, and began learning Mishnah and Gemara by the age of 7. His becoming a bar mitzvah was such a celebration, hundreds of Chassidim from all parts of Russia came for the event. By the age of 16, he was already teaching other students at his father's yeshiva.

Rabbi Dov Ber lived at a time when the Chassidic movement was at a crossroads, as  some other Jewish factions feared it would lead Jews away from Torah and tradition. His father (Rabbi Schneur Zalman,) was arrested on several occasions by the Tzarist government on "false charges," and the date of his first release from prison (Kislev 19) became a Chassidic festival that is still observed today.

Reb Zalman relocated the center of Chabad to Liadi, but 12 years later, that town lay directly in the path of Napolean's invading army. As many of the people fled southward, in a bitter cold winter, the rabbi died. His son, Dov Ber, was named his successor at the age of 39. His decision to settle in Lubavitch made the town the "capital" of the Chabad Chassidim up until the First World War. He built a yeshiva there, which was headed by his son-in-law, Rabbi Menachem Mendel, who eventually became his successor.

Conditions worsened for the Jews of Russia in 1825, when Tzar Nicolas I took the throne and forced all Jews to reside and work only in the Pale of Settlement. Rabbi Dov Ber began a campaign to urge Jews to learn trades and skilled factory work.

"He urged Jewish communities to organize trade schools where Jewish boys, especially of the poorer classes, would be able to learn a trade," Chabad explains. "He also called on his fellow-Jews to learn agricultural work, dairy farming, and the like, reminding them that once upon a time, when the Jewish people lived in their own land, they were a people of farmers, fruit growers and herdsmen. He urged that boys who did not show promise of becoming Torah scholars, should, after the age of 13, devote part of their time to the learning of a trade, or work in the fields, to help support the family."

He also organized and helped finance colonies of Jewish farmers.

Rabbi Dov Ber wrote many works on Chabad and Kabbalah, including a commentary on the Zohar. About 20 of his works have been published, many during his lifetime.

As for the Cohen family, which has so generously helped preserve this small but valuable piece of Jewish history, kol hakavod to you! Visit Mouli Cohen's website for more information on his entrepreneurial work and philanthropy, which spans the spectrum from children's charities to food programs, to medical research and the arts.