Ḥabad (also Chabad): A formulation of Ḥasidism shaped by R. Schneur *Zalman of Liady (1745-1813), Ḥabad is an acronym for ḥokhmah (“wisdom”), binah (“understanding”), and daat (“knowledge”). Lubavitch Ḥasidism, the major branch of Ḥabad, emerged as a dynasty in 1813 when R. Dov Ber of Lubavitch (1773-1828), the son of R. Schneur Zalman, prevailed in a succession conflict. See ḤASIDISM: EUROPE and ḤASIDISM: NORTH AMERICA.

Habakkuk is the eighth of the twelve “minor” prophetic books (see BIBLE: PROPHETS AND PROPHECY; PROPHETS). Because it mentions Chaldeans (a biblical term for *Babylonians), scholars date the book after the rise of the neo-Babylonian Empire in the late seventh century BCE. This would make the author (about whom nothing else is known) a contemporary of *Jeremiah. Like Jeremiah, Habakkuk sees the Babylonians as divinely commissioned to punish *Judah, but Habakkuk emphasizes that they attribute their might to their own god. Consequently they will be punished for their treatment of Judah (cf. *Isaiah's attitude in 10:5-19). The first section (1-2) is a dialogue between *God and the prophet, who bemoans the *suffering of the innocent - whether at the hands of corrupt Judean leaders or of Babylonians is not clear. Similarities between the prophet's questions and those in *psalms of lament are noteworthy. The critique of idolatry at the end of chapter 2 (which displays knowledge of Babylonian attitudes towards cult statues) could be intended against Judean idolaters or against the Babylonians.