By COLlive reporter
Construction of a proper and secure fence around the perimeters of the historic Jewish cemetery in the city of Nizhyn, located in northern Ukraine, was recently completed.
Once a major center of Chassidic Judaism, Nizhyn is regularly visited by Jews from around the world to come to daven at the Ohel of the Mitteler Rebbe – the second Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Dovber Schneuri, who was buried there in 1827.
Born in Li’ozna, White Russia in 1773, the Mitteler Rebbe succeed his father the Alter Rebbe and assumed the leadership of Chabad in 1812. He first settled in the town of Lubavitch, which was to serve as the movement’s headquarters for the next 102 years.
In 1826, he was arrested on charges that his teachings threatened the imperial authority of the Czar, but was subsequently exonerated. He passed away on his 54th birthday in 1827, a day before the first anniversary of his liberation, the 10th of Kislev.
In addition to the Mitteler Rebbe’s Ohel, buried at the Nizhyn cemetery are his son Reb Menachem Nochum, his grandson Admor R’ Yisroel Noach Schneersohn of Nezhyn, and the local rabbi R’ Shlomo Menachem Mendel Chein who was murdered there in a pogrom in 1919.
The work was completed by the European Jewish Cemeteries Initiative (ESJF) led by Rabbi Yitzchak Shapira in collaboration with Geder Avos, and was made possible through a generous donation from R’ Joseph and Penina Popack of New York, facilitated by R’ Mendel Levin.
Is there anyone documenting the gravestones there? I found that my Great-grandfather was born in Nizhyn and I have his parents names, my 2nd great grandparents, so I am guessing they might be buried there. Who can I contact for more information?