Bochurim Send Strong Message

By COLlive reporter

46 Chabad bochurim walked into the Russian State Library, once known as the Lenin State Library of the USSR, to visit the Chabad collection in captivity Thursday.

Visiting from Israel, the students asked to view the Schneerson Library, a collection of 12,000 books and 50,000 manuscripts and documents amassed by 6th Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneerson.

The Bolsheviks nationalized part of it in 1918 and the rest was held by the Nazis and later seized by the Red Army and handed to the Russian State Military Archive.

A special prayer was said there for the release of the holy books which has been delayed for 2 decades although the Russian government has agreed more than once to have it returned.

They were accompanied on the trip by Netanya’s Head Shliach Rabbi Menachem Wolpo and Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Moshe Orenstein.

“Their visit sends a strong message that Jews from all parts of the world have the library on their minds and are eagerly waiting for its release to its rightful owners,” a source involved in the efforts told COLlive.com.

The visit was the beginning of a week-long visit to Russia for the outstanding students of the Chabad Tomchei Tmimim Yeshiva in Netanya for participating in a learning campaign.

Marina Roscha Synagogue and Jewish Community Center was their second stop in Moscow, before flying to the Smolensk province, where they will be spending Shabbos in the village of Lyubavichi, the birthplace of Chabad-Lubavitch.

They will also be traveling to St. Petersburg, where 2 Chabad Rebbes were imprisoned for spreading Judaism – the Alter Rebbe in the Petropavlovski fortress and the Frierdiker Rebbe in the Spalerno prison.