History of Chabad in the USSR - 1989

Book detailing the history of the Chabad movement in the Soviet Union from 1917 to 1950

History of Chabad in the USSR (Hebrew: Toldot Chabad be-Rusya ha-Sovietit) is a 1989 historical work documenting the struggles and activities of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement in the Soviet Union between 1917 and 1950.

The book covers the period from the Bolshevik Revolution through the leadership of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (Rayatz), focusing on resistance to religious persecution by the Yevsektsiya (Jewish Section of the Communist Party), underground yeshivas, and efforts to sustain Jewish observance.

Background

Compiled by Rabbi Shalom Dovber Levin based on letters, documents, and oral testimonies, the work was published by Kehot Publication Society in Brooklyn, New York.

It details the Rebbe Rayatz's campaigns, arrests, exile, and support networks for Chabad communities, including the network of underground Tomchei Temimim yeshivas that operated across dozens of locations despite repression.

Content overview

The volume is structured chronologically and thematically, with sections on:

• Early Soviet years and economic conditions
• Dispatch of emissaries
• Underground education and yeshivas
• Persecutions, arrests, and escapes
• Aid efforts from abroad, including matzah shipments and emigration support

Extensive appendices include indexes of topics, institutions, people, and places, plus photographs and maps.

The book highlights the secret "underground language" used in correspondence to evade censorship.

Publication

Published in 5749 (1989) as part of a series on Chabad history in various countries. It draws from archives, including those of Rabbi Israel Dzyakobson, and interviews with survivors.

Network of emissaries

Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn dispatched several emissaries (shlichim) across the Soviet Union, primarily in the 1920s (תרפ"ו–תרפ"ז), to strengthen Jewish observance, establish underground cheders, yeshivas, and ritual facilities amid severe persecution.

Most emissaries operated from within the USSR, often Chabad students or local activists sent by the Rebbe while he was still in Russia (until 1927) or coordinating from abroad afterward. Key regions included Volhynia, Ukraine, Georgia, Crimea settlements, and Central Asia.

Key individuals included:

• Ben Zion Shemtov
• Benjamin Gorodetsky
• Simon Yakobashvili (Jacobson)
• Shmcha Gorodetsky
• Mordechai Dubin
• Others such as Shmuel Levitin and regional messengers.

These efforts involved secret travel between towns, often under great personal risk.

Quotes with English translations

1. On Ben Zion Shemtov (p.80): "מתחלת שנת תרפ"ו שלחתי ב' נוסעים חדש... והיו נוסעים מעיר לעיר בחבל ואהלין לעוררי ע"ר חדרים..." Translation: "From the beginning of 1926 I sent two new travelers... and they traveled from town to town in the Volhynia region to arouse regarding cheders, fixed times for Torah study..."

2. Rebbe's description of Shemtov's work (p.80): "בשנת תרפ"ד... ניתן לו פלך ואהלין... ושתי שנים ומחצה עבר בעוה"י בחולזצות גדולה, וייסד הרבה הרבה עשיריות חדרים..." Translation: "In 1924... he was given the Volhynia province... and for two and a half years he traveled with great self-sacrifice and established many dozens of cheders..."

3. On Simon Yakobashvili's activities in Georgia (p.84): "אני בפקודת כ"ק נתמנתי בכל המחוז... ועשיתי פעולה גדולה עד אשר אין עיר ועיירה וכפר... שלא יהיה נשמע קול מצפצפים ומרננים על טהרת הקודש." Translation: "I, by order of the Rebbe, was appointed in the entire district... and I carried out great work so that there is no city, town or village with a Jewish minyan where the sound of those studying and singing about the purity of holiness is not heard."

4. On Shmcha Gorodetsky in Samarkand (p.88): "בשנת תרפ"ו... שלחני רבינו בשליחות לסמרקנד... יסדתי שם תלמוד־תורה גדול... בו למדו כאלף ילדים, ו־25 מלמדים..." Translation: "In 1926... the Rebbe sent me on a mission to Samarkand... I established there a large Talmud Torah... where about a thousand children studied, and 25 teachers..."

5. On Mordechai Dubin's mission (p.360): "כעבור שנתיים מאז שרבינו יצא מרוסיה לריגא, הגיע ללנינגרד ר' מרדכי דובין... הוא סיפר, כי מיום בואו של רבינו לריגא היה מפציר בו לנסוע לרוסיה..." Translation: "Two years after the Rebbe left Russia for Riga, Rabbi Mordechai Dubin arrived in Leningrad... He recounted that from the day the Rebbe arrived in Riga he urged him to travel to Russia..."

See also

Chabad-Lubavitch Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn Tomchei Temimim