In memory of
Rabbi Joseph Isaac Schneersohn
On Tuesday, July 19th 2005 tens of thousands of Jews in communities around the world will observed the anniversary of the freedom of the world-wide Chassidic Chabad Lubavitch Jewish leader, Rabbi Joseph Isaac Schneersohn from prison.
Rabbi Schneersohn was born in Russia in 1880 and was commonly known as the Lubavitcher Rebbe. At the outbreak of World War II on March 19, 1940 he escaped to America on the last passenger ship, SS. Drottinig Holm. At the time of his arrival he was welcomed by thousands of followers and representatives of religious organizations as well as the civil authorities in the Department of State in Washington. This was not his first visit to the United States. In 1929 the Lubavitcher Rebbe visited the United States. During that visit he was received by President Hoover at the White House. The Rebbe represented Russian Jewry and was their main spokesman.
Prior to World War II many great Jewish leaders saw the impending dangers of Nazism but forbade their students to come to America since American Jewry did not have the universities nor Yeshivas for scholarly and religious education. This decision proved fatal for tens of thousands of students and led them to perish during the hard holocaust years in which over six million Jews perished.
However, Rabbi Schneersohn had the foresight to realize that America was a safe haven of opportunity. During his visit in America in 1929 the rabbi encouraged young Americans who were born and bred on the free land to prepare for mass immigration that would take place in the future years. In ten short years Jewish people in Europe would be persecuted and try to escape to American soil. When Rabbi Schneersohn made a decisive move in encouraging American Jews to prepare their schools and synagogues, he did this despite the non-Jewish attitude prevailing at that time. His insistence that rabbis wear full beards and not adopt the new way of American life did not fall on deaf ears for many followed his way of thinking.
This attitude brought scorn from many Jewish leaders who claimed emphatically that the rabbi was trying to turn the clock back in making Jewish people look different and distinct from Americans. However, Rabbi Schneersohn was undaunted. He had been imprisoned many times in the early years of the Russian revolution for his beliefs and wasn't going to change. In the 1920s there was a Jewish section of the communist party in Soviet Russia called the Yevesektsia. It wished to eradicate traditional Judaism from Russian Jewry. Jewish schools were closed; institutional life was disrupted and the traditional dietary laws were forbidden. The rabbi, himself, was arrested and spent many days and weeks in prison. Subsequently, he was asked to leave Russia.
Immediately upon arrival in the United States the Rebbe proclaimed that his main purpose was to expose Jewish people to observance of tradition claiming that America was no different than Europe. His priority was Jewish education. He organized a network of Jewish schools in many different cities all through the United States of America. His pioneering effort for Jewish day school is legendary. The educational system at that time was basically fragmented and bankrupt. Many, many Jewish families had now become completely devoid of Jewish studies and culture. Rabbi Schneersohn organized a group of dedicated young American rabbinical students who enrolled as many children as possible in orthodox day schools and afternoon schools. This was done in order to keep the authentic and traditional ways of Judaism. The Rebbe went on to state that there were no three branches of Judaism: reform, conservative, or orthodox but, rather, were one group of people unified by laws and some Jews practiced less than others.
This attitude was very important in establishing a harmony between the Jewish people spread across the great American land. The Rebbe discounted the concept that American Jews would have problems of dual loyalty, and stated that being educated in their traditional ways of religious practice they would make better citizens and produce undiluted loyalty.
The Rebbe's determination prevailed. Within ten years over 50 schools were established and thousands of young Americans were being educated in the tradition of European Jewry. Tens of thousands of young people had the Rebbe to thank for what may have been their first encounter with Judaism. The Rebbe's followers, called Chassidim, offered sincerity, intellectual challenge and emotional gratification in the practices of their forefathers.
In 1945 Rabbi Joseph I. Schneersohn established his refugee relief rehabilitation organization with a regional office in Paris. This helped a great population of Jewish people from DP camps to emigrate to Israel or America. The Rebbe built a village called, Chabad Village, Kfar Chabad, near Tel Aviv to accommodate the refugees.
Rabbi Schneersohn's work in America formulated ideas and networks that were to be established. After 30 years of indefatigable endeavors the rabbi passed away. Prior to his passing away he asked his son-in-law, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, to implement his plans. Today the state of California has over 50 branches of the Lubavitch Chabad movement and they will be celebrating this anniversary with sincerity as days devoted to introspection concerning the work of this saintly man.
One of the last lessons taught by Rabbi Schneersohn while still in Russia was during his impassioned speech in 1927 about his 47th birthday. The rabbi addressed the Russian government and predicted that the government that is being proposed by the communists would last no longer than 40 or 50 years. How true have his words become as we witness the dismantling of the U.S.S.R. and the establishment of the commonwealth thus re-establishing democracy and equality for the citizens.
Today there are over 1,400 branches of the Chabad Lubavitch movement. The late Rabbi M.M. Schneerson sent hundreds of his followers to Russia to establish Jewish schools and to re-educate Russian Jewry to their normal heritage. He stated that he is carrying out the wishes of his father-in-law, Rabbi Joseph Isaac Schneersohn.