By COLlive reporter
“Samarkand: the Underground that Affected the Masses,” recently published in Hebrew in Israel, has hit the shelves this week at leading Judaica and book stores in New York.
The book by Rabbi Hillel Zaltzman tells the story of the Lubavitch underground based in Uzbekistan’s second-largest city while it was part of the Soviet Union. Its influence reached even the most remote Russian communities.
The book contains more than 570 pages of moving stories of mesiras nefesh, and some 240 unpublished photos of chassidim and their lives.
Yet, Samarkand is more than just history.
In more ways than one, it is a personal account of a chossid who lived through that area and continued to live with its results until today. It’s a heartfelt recollection of one who survived the bitter days of Soviet oppression and fought to keep the fires of Yiddishkeit burning.
Born in Kharkov in 1939, Rabbi Zaltzman’s family fled to Samarkand during WWII. Rabbi Moshe Nisselevich involved him community work at the age of 16 with the underground organization Chamah. He now heads Chamah which serves Russian immigrants.
Rabbi Berel Levine, Director of Agudas Chassidei Chabad Library and author of “Chabad History in Tsarist Russia,” commented that Zaltzman’s account offers a previously undiscovered tale of Chabad which was not documented or written.
Upon being presented the book, Rabbi Yoel Kahn, head choizer of the Rebbe’s talks, recommended that it be read by the younger generation, so they understand the meaning of mesiras nefesh for Yiddishkeit.
PREVIEW:
+ Introduction
+ Chapter about R’ Mendel Futerfas
For more information, contact the author at [email protected]
The english version is on the way. I hope it will be ready for kinus hashluchim Rosh cohdesh Kislev
In any bookstore in crown heights.
for shluchim there’s a special price. $25 inc. shipping.
for orders cantact [email protected]
Mazal Tov!
It should have lots of success!
Mishulovin’s from MN
Rabbi Zaltzman is a beautiful man who blends the kedusha of the past with the menchlichkite of today’s world.
My husband would love this but we don’t live in Crown Heights. I’d like to either order online or tell a friend to buy in CH. Any web address? Any good store in CH for these things?
would love to see this in English!
I’m also hoping it will be in English soon. I think It is so important to share these stories with our children so they can have much needed perspective when they deal with their type of mesirus nefesh.
Any chance of it being published in english?
My wife and I always enjoyed reading Rabbi Zaltzman’s amazing memoirs and read them to our children to be inspired as well. We are so happy he has published his book and have no doubt that it will very soon be translated in to English and will become instant best sellers! Hatzlocha rabbo !