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..."

Underground education and yeshiva network

The book details an extensive underground network of Tomchei Temimim yeshivas operated by Chabad in the Soviet Union from 1918 to 1946. This network maintained Torah study despite severe persecution, operating in small hidden groups across approximately 40 towns to evade authorities.

The yeshivas frequently relocated after raids and arrests, with students and teachers facing imprisonment, exile, and hardship. They continued in places including Lubavitch, Kremenchug, Kharkov, Nevel, Rostov, Poltava, Georgia, and Samarkand.

Extensive quotes on extent and challenges:

1. Introduction to the network (p.3 / intro): "חלק מיוחד הוקדש בספר הזה (פרקים נט-אח) לסיפור רשת הישיבות המחתרתיות, תומכי תמימים, שנלתה עשרות גלויות במשך שלשים השנים הללו. הישיבה התחלקה למחלקות קטנות בעיירות שונות כדי להתמק מעיני הבולשת. לאחר שנאתרו, כמה וכמה מהמשגיחים והתלמידים נאסרו ונשלחו לגלות והשאר גורשו מהעיר, ברחו הנשארים לעיר אחרת ופתחו בה מחלקה חדשה במחתרת." Translation: "A special part of this book (chapters 59-88) is dedicated to the story of the underground yeshiva network, Tomchei Temimim, which wandered dozens of exiles over these thirty years. The yeshiva was divided into small departments in various towns to hide from the secret police. After being discovered, several mashgichim and students were arrested and exiled, and the rest were expelled from the city; the survivors fled to another city and opened a new underground department there."

2. Overall scope (p.15): "כך התקיימה רשת הישיבות, תומכי תמימים בכארבעים עיירות, במשך השנים תרע"ח-תש"ו." Translation: "Thus the Tomchei Temimim yeshiva network existed in about forty towns during the years 1918-1946."

3. On relocations and persistence (p.348): "בשעת חירום זו, כשהיו התלמידים וראשי הישיבות בורחים ממקום למקום, קשה לידע ברור היכן ומתי התקיימה כל ישיבה וכמה תלמידים למדו בה, שכל המחלקות היו גולות ממקום למקום, ממאסר אחד לשני, וביני לביני היו לומדים כמה תלמידים יחד בסתר." Translation: "In this time of emergency, when the students and yeshiva heads were fleeing from place to place, it is difficult to know precisely where and when each yeshiva operated and how many students studied there, for all the departments wandered from place to place, from one arrest to another, and in between several students would study together in secret."

4. On Samarkand branch (p.353): "במשך שלש שנים היתה נמצאת ישיבת תומכי תמימים בעיר סאמארקאנד. ארבעים בחורים לערך למדו בסדר הזאל. ועוד צעירים מהם מאה נערים בערך היו שם וחמשים מהם..." Translation: "For three years the Tomchei Temimim yeshiva existed in the city of Samarkand. About forty bachurim studied in the main hall. In addition, about a hundred younger boys were there and fifty of them..."

5. On challenges and arrests (p.318): "לקבל רק אחר שהראה האדם שיש לו עבודה קבועה. תלמידים אלו הוצרכו לצייד עצמם בניירות עבודה, להשיג רשיון ישיבה במוסקבה, מקום לינה, והמבוגרים גם בפטור מעבודת הצבא. מזמן לזמן היתה המשטרה מוצאת בחורים בביהכ"נ, אוסרת אותם..." Translation: "Only after proving he had steady employment. These students had to equip themselves with work papers, obtain a yeshiva permit in Moscow, housing, and the older ones also exemption from army service. From time to time the police would find bachurim in the synagogue, arrest them..."

Aid efforts from abroad and emigration assistance

Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (Rayatz) coordinated extensive aid from abroad for Chabad communities in the USSR, including financial support, food parcels, matzah shipments, and efforts to facilitate emigration, particularly after his departure in 1927/1928 and intensifying post-WWII.

Key figures involved included the Rebbe himself directing operations from Latvia, Poland, and the US; Mordechai Dubin (sent on a special mission); activists like Israel Dzyakobson handling correspondence and funds; and committees such as Va'ad HaEzra (Aid Committee) in Paris and Poland. Aid helped sustain communities during famine and repression. Emigration was extremely difficult; only limited numbers succeeded after years of petitions, often via bribes, foreign passports, or high-level interventions. Many Chabad members left in the late 1940s amid post-war opportunities.

Quotes

1. On Mordechai Dubin's mission (p.360): "כעבור שנתיים מאז שרבינו יצא מרוסיה לריגא, הגיע ללנינגרד ר' מרדכי דובין, מי שהיה חבר הסיים בריגא... הוא סיפר, כי מיום בואו של רבינו לריגא היה מפציר בו לנסוע לרוסיה בכדי להוציאנו משם." Translation: "Two years after our Rebbe left Russia for Riga, Rabbi Mordechai Dubin arrived in Leningrad, who had been a member of the Sejm in Riga... He recounted that from the day the Rebbe arrived in Riga he urged him to travel to Russia in order to bring us out from there."

2. Dubin's report on emigration difficulties (p.360): "נוכח הוא לדעת... כי צדק רבינו, ואילו היה בא לכאן לפני שנתיים היה המצב שונה בתכלית... כי חלק מהאנשים שהכיר החליפו תפקידיהם וחלקם התנהגו אתו בבחינת 'אשר לא ידע את יוסף'." Translation: "He realized... that the Rebbe was right, and had he come here two years earlier the situation would have been entirely different... for some of the people he knew had changed positions and others treated him as 'who did not know Joseph'."

3. On the challenges of obtaining exit permits (p.370): "כך או כך היתה מלאכה זו קשה ביותר. היו כאלו שעסקו בזה במשך כמה שנים, אבדו את ביתם ופרנסתם... עד שזכו להושע בחתימתו של קליינין." Translation: "In any case this work was extremely difficult. There were those who engaged in it for several years, lost their homes and livelihood... until they merited salvation with Kalinin's signature."

4. On petitions and waiting (p.370): "בד"כ כשהיו פוגשים אותו ומבקשים ממנו לאשר את נתינת הפספורט היה משיב בסבר פנים יפות... אך רק לעתים רחוקות היה יוצא לעיני העם, וכדי לפגשו היו רבים באים בכל יום לצפות לבואו." Translation: "Usually when they met him and asked him to approve the passport he would respond with a pleasant countenance... but only rarely did he appear before the public, and in order to meet him many would come every day to wait for his arrival."

5. On post-mission impact (p.360): "מאז ואילך הרבה רבנו להורות, באופן כללי ובאופן פרטי, להשתדל להגר מרוסיא." Translation: "From then on the Rebbe greatly instructed, in general and in private, to endeavour to emigrate from Russia."

Involvement of Mossad, Israeli government, Zionist movement, or Western intelligence agencies

According to the book, there is no mention or evidence of involvement by the Mossad, the government of Israel, the broader Zionist movement, or Western intelligence agencies in Chabad's underground activities, aid efforts, or emigration assistance in the Soviet Union during 1917–1950.

Aid and emigration support came exclusively through Chabad's own networks, committees like Va'ad HaEzra in Paris and Poland, and personal interventions coordinated by Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn and his emissaries. Efforts relied on petitions to Soviet officials, personal connections, and self-funded operations rather than external governmental or intelligence support. The book covers the period to 1950.

See also

Chabad-Lubavitch Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn Tomchei Temimim