Six young tmimim — all legally minors, are caught by the NKVD at an underground 24 Teves Farbrengen in Berditchev. They claim to be orphans, and are thus sent to a Soviet orphanage to be “reeducated” as “useful” citizens…
Rabbi Yehuda Leib Mochkin who passed away this past Shabbos Chazon, the ninth of Av, was born ninety-five years ago on the fourteenth of Shvat 5684, to his father, the Chassidic mashpia, R’ Peretz, and his mother, Mrs. Henya Charshe, who were then living in the Ukrainian village of Semenivka.
Elul 5695/1935. The KGB bursts into the homes of seven Chassidim in the dark of night and arrests them. Beis Moshiach retraces the course of events of eighty-four years ago as well as the fate of the seven heroes.
Rabbi Teitz of Elizabeth, New Jersey, made twenty-two trips to Russia in the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s. Even during the height of the Communist empire and the secret police, he managed to secure permission for his visits. He had good contacts in the government, and they trusted him. Nevertheless, he was often able to utilize his visits to secretly smuggle in important Jewish paraphernalia, such as tefillin and prayerbooks, for the benefit of the oppressed Jews of the USSR.
There probably wasn’t a shliach of the Rebbe who went to Moscow in the 70’s and 80’s who did not visit the home of Alexander (Sasha) and Genia Lokatzky. * For many years, the two of them operated as lone soldiers in association with the Marina Roscha shul and endangered their lives to maintain Judaism in that city. * During the past two years, R’ Alexander suffered much due to a lung problem and he recently passed away. * Menachem Ziegelboim recalls his visit of a few years back to the Lokatzky family in Neve Daniel and heard their unbelievable story of heroism. * Part 1 of 2
In a restaurant near the Marina Roscha shul sat dozens of bachurim from Tomchei T’mimim in Ohr Yehuda. They were there with their fathers and farbrenging with their teachers and rosh yeshiva, Rabbi Sholom Ber Hendel. There were niggunim and words of chizuk to prepare them for their trip to the Rebbe. This took place this past winter.
In contrast to the cold weather that night in Moscow, in the small but pleasant restaurant near the Marina Roscha shul, the atmosphere was particularly warm. Dozens of bachurim from Yeshivas Tomchei T’mimim in Ohr Yehuda sat together with their fathers and farbrenged with the yeshiva’s teachers and the Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Sholom Dovber Hendel. They sang one niggun after another and then another inspirational talk, by way of preparing them for their trip to the Rebbe.
Both were child heroes who observed Yiddishkait under Soviet rule. They had to deal with hostile classmates, they learned Torah secretly, and had to hide in times of danger. * Beis Moshiach met with two Chazan brothers, R’ Chaim Meir and R’ Avrohom, who explained how their family kept strong despite all the threats, persecution, and surveillance in communist Russia.
Pirsum Rishon: A Budget Proposal for Chabad Lubavitch Activities in Europe, signed by the Frierdiker Rebbe * Among the budget items: The Yeshiva & the Girls’ Schools, Evening Classes, School for Shchita, Milah, Safrus, Etc. * Regarding the Jews in Russia: Supporting the undercover religious activities carried on by these people * Sixth Installment
Rosh HaShana 5726/1965 by the Rebbe was devoted to the Chabad Chassidim who were held captive behind the Iron Curtain under the oppressive communist regime. Throughout Rosh HaShana there were a number of special behaviors that were different than the usual, in which the Rebbe showed that Russian Jews are never far from his thoughts and that on these fateful days in which the Jewish people are inscribed, he was working to remember them before Hashem
On Rosh HaShana, the Rebbe called for the Chassidim who left Russia that year to come up to the bima and be near him during the blowing of the shofar. Chassidim sensed that at this time, the Rebbe was thinking about the Jews of Russia who were in distress, and was working, spiritually, on their behalf. * 51 years have passed since the Rebbe sent Rabbi Binyamin Katz on a secret mission to the Soviet Union. * He was only 25, but with ingenuity, cleverness and stealth, he was able to outwit the KGB agents who dogged his steps.
Twenty-two years have passed since we last saw the Rebbe. Many ask how we can be truly mekushar under these circumstances. * Let us go back many decades to life behind the Iron Curtain where many Chassidim were trapped without a direct connection to the Rebbe, where the bond of love and longing connected them and melted any iron curtain that threatened to separate between them and the Rebbe. * Presented for Gimmel Tammuz
During the first wave of immigration from the Soviet Union, I was the Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv-Yaffo. One day, as I sat in the beis din that does conversions, a 42 year old doctor came in. He had come from the Soviet Union the day before with his wife and two daughters. He came for documents affirming his Jewishness for all the institutions that required it. He even brought witnesses with him to testify that he was Jewish, a son of Jewish parents. His mother was a pediatrician who runs a cardiology department in Moscow and his father, who was no longer living, had been a surgeon.
November 7, 2019