Guided from Above
By Dovid Zaklikowski for COLlive and Hasidic Archives
As chief rabbi of Moscow under Soviet rule, Rabbi Yehuda Leib Levin knew that his office was under constant surveillance. Therefore, he never discussed political matters with anyone. Despite the danger, he assisted the local Jewish community as best he could.
In June 1968, Rabbi Levin arrived in the United States, for the first visit of an official Russian rabbi since the rise of the Soviet Union. Rabbi Levin was accompanied by David Moissevitch Stiskin, cantor of the Leningrad Synagogue, who at the behest of the Soviets carried a tape recorder with which he was required to record all of Rabbi Levin’s meetings with Jewish leaders.
Rabbi Levin was invited to at a large event at Hunter College in New York City, where through a translator, the 74-year-old rabbi told the crowd of 1,700 that Jews in the Soviet Union enjoyed just as much freedom as other religious groups.
“Jewish people also receive their rightful place to live… and they are free to contribute to the advancement of our country and to the happiness of the Jewish people as a whole,” he said.
He described how the Soviet government was easing their restrictions: kosher meat, ritual baths, circumcisions and Passover matzah were readily available, and he hoped conditions would continue to improve in the coming years.
Suddenly, someone in the crowd shouted, “Lies! How can you, as a rabbi, say this?!” Other voices joined in, accusing the rabbi of being a Soviet agent, a traitor to his people.
At one point, Rabbi Levin raised his voice. “Let American Jews come to Russia and see for themselves,” he said.
Rabbi Levin was not, in fact, lying. He simply avoided giving the entire picture out of fear that doing so would make life even more difficult for his brethren in the USSR. As the Associated Press wrote, “What eventually got through, however, at least to those willing to hear him out, was that while he maintained there is no particular anti-Semitism in Russia, Judaism, like other religions, is nevertheless in trouble.”
The Rebbe met Rabbi Levin twice during his visit to New York: once with Cantor Stiskin, and once alone, in a clandestine visit in the middle of the night. The Rebbe was intimately involved with Soviet Jewry, sending emissaries disguised as tourists to smuggle in religious items and to train teachers. Fully understanding Rabbi Levin’s situation, he publicly voiced his disapproval of Rabbi Levin’s critics, pointing out the contradictions in their behavior.
“Of those gathered at the event [at Hunter College],” the Rebbe emotionally said at one Chassidic gathering at “770,” Lubavitch world headquarters, “many did not know how to read the Hebrew alphabet. No one who was there said, ‘Let’s make an effort to provide Jews in our country with a proper Jewish education.’ Rather, they were worried about the education of the Jews in Russia, while knowing there is nothing they could do to make it better.”
The Rebbe continued:
“There are kosher mikvahs [ritual baths] in American cities like New Haven, Connecticut; New York City; and Minneapolis, Minnesota.
“They [the protestors] should be asking, ‘What is happening on the other side of the door? Rather than worrying about what was happening on the other side of the world, are you turning to every Jew and asking if they are using the mikvah facilities? Is every Jewish child in your city receiving a Jewish education?’
“What should they have done? They should have respectfully addressed the rabbi, who has lived under an oppressive regime for the last fifty years and yet still looks like a true rabbi. In our country, where we freely practice our religion, we need to do so with pride, and thank G-d that He gives us the freedom to educate our children in a Jewish school. We have to tell those who do not yet send their children to a Jewish day school to do so immediately, so they can learn the basics of Judaism.”
According to his granddaughter, Mrs. Ella Skoblo, Rabbi Levin was offered an opportunity to remain in the United States, “but that could have gotten our family into trouble in Russia. In addition, he told us he felt that not many Russian Jews were knowledgeable in Judaism, and that he was one of the last ones. He wanted to return in order to help the Jews in Russia.”
Upon his return, he told his family that he was impressed at the sight of so many young religious Jews. “But we were young and uninterested,” said Mrs. Skoblo. “We wanted to know: how was life in America? Do they have nice boots? How long do you have to work to buy a pair of boots? Because in Russia, one would have to work an entire month to purchase a pair of boots.”
In 1973, Rabbi Levin’s daughter, Rivkah Rosenstein, arrived in Israel with her children. She told the press, “My father made me promise that I would go to Israel. He insisted.”
Mrs. Rosenstein’s daughter Mrs. Skoblo moved from Israel to New York as a young woman, eventually settling in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, headquarters of Chabad-Lubavitch.
A short time later, Ella became engaged. Before her wedding, she met with the Rebbe, who asked her, “How did you find your way to Crown Heights?”
“It just happened to be,” she answered.
The Rebbe countered, “Everything is by Divine Providence. Your grandfather was here twice, and we spoke about your family. He must have arranged from Above that you come here.”
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