THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS — Friday, Septem ber 12, 1958-36
MR. and MRS.
WILLIAM KELLER
& FAMILY
Militant Misnagdiin Beware! Chabad Has Finally Arrived in Detroit
went as far as ex-communicating
all persons connected with the
sect. After the Gaon's death, the
differences between the Hassi-
dim and the Misnagdim grew
ever more bitter.
Judaism would have been ir-
revocably split were it not for
Shneor-Zalman, who closed the
gap between the two sects and
made it possible for them to
live in harmony. Shneer-Zalman
was a student of the Maggid, a
disciple of the Besht. Shneor-
Zalman was well-educated and
thoroughly grounded in the Tal-
mud. He was also brought up
in the Hassidic tradition.
Through him was concluded an
uneasy peace, for he took a
middle-of-the-road policy, and
his followers were known as
members of Chabad, the intel-
lectual Hassidism.
The leadership of Chabad con-
tinued on through a succession
of Lubavitcher Rebbes, until
today, when the movement is
based at 770 Eastern Parkway,
in New York, the home and
headquarters of the present
Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Me-
nachem Shneerson.
The movement came to New
York in 1940, with the present
Rebbe's predecessor and soon
became firmly entrenched in
this country, attracting thou-
sands of followers. With the
present Rebbe, the movement
has once again spread to all cor-
ners of the world. Representa-
tives are sent to remote places,
to big cities and small villages
to "Proselytize" in winning Jews
to Judaism.
Detroit has been left pretty
much alone. There were a few
followers of the Rebbe and the
Chabad ideology in town, but no
organized program.
That changed with the arrival
here of Rabbi Beryl Shemtov.
Rabbi Shemtov is 25 years old
and an American resident for
eight years. He grew up in Mos-
cow, learning the Torah from
teachers who were set to flee
out the back door, should there
be a knock on the front. Hebrew
teachers were severely punished
by the Soviet regime, and while
most organized religious groups
fled, the Lubavitcher Rebbe re-
mained to continue his work
there, and as was mentioned
in a previous Jewish News arti-
cle, he was jailed and con-
demned to be shot. Through
worldwide protests his release
was obtained, and the date on
which he was freed is still cele-
brated as a holiday by his fol-
lowers.
While all religious activity
ai was punished, there was espe-
cially severe treatment for mem-
bers of the Chabad, or "Shneer-
son's Gang" as they were called.
The Soviets considered them
incorrigible.
Shemtov's father was sent to
Siberia for his religious activi-
ties. He now is a Lubavitcher
representative in London, and
nobody is saying how he got
from Siberia to Britain. Shem-
tov himself will not say how it
was that he was able to leave
the Soviet Union. People are
still using the same method he
used, so he was understandably
reluctant to say just what that
method is.
From Russia, Shemtov trav-
eled through Poland, Austria,
I
Great Britain, finally coming to
r
this country in 1951.
Two years ago he was in Is-
rael for a month, along with
nine other Lubavitcher repre-
sentatives, to hearten a com-
munity in which five children
were killed by Fedayeen while
davening Maariv in school. The
is school was a Lubavitcher voca-
tional school, one of many main-
tained by the Chabad.
Seven months ago, Rabbi
Shemtov was married, and he
and his wife Basya were sent to
Detroit by the Rebbe to estab-
lish a foothold here. Among his
By NORMAN LEBOW
"Chabad" has arrived in De-
troit.
Of 17617 Santa Rosa
It comes in the person of
Extend Best Wishes to Their
Rabbi Beryl Shemtov.
Relatives and Friends
What is Chabad and who is
For a Joyous New Year
Rabbi Shemtov?
Chabad is made up of the in-
■1■•■ ■
■
■
■
itial letters of the Hebrew
1 "Chochmah, Binah, Da'as" (wis-
I MR. and MRS.
understanding and knowl-
iSAMUEL J. ROSSEN1 dom,
edge). It is the name given to
& Family
the following of the Lubavitcher
i Of 18460
I Rebbe. The history of Chabad
San Juan
goes back to the 18th century
Wish Their Relatives and and Rabbi Shneer-Zalman.
Friends A Happy New Year
European Jewry was torn
asunder by a new movement
i••■•■••••■•••■••••w■•0%.../ that was sweeping the Jewish
masses. It was Hassidism,
Holiday Best Wishes
founded by the Baal Shem Tov
FRANK'S
(abbreviated to "Besh"). It had
as its basis a rejection of the
STADIUM
scholasticism of the period's
rabbis. It taught that love of
SERVICE
God and joy in being his crea-
1715 Michigan
ture was above all else. It fos-
WO 4-7763
tered mysticism.
Opponents of Hassidism
charged that Hassidim were re-
gret and were foisting ignor-
SAUL & BEN
ance on the masses, rather than
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educating them. The opponents
Wish All Their
of Hassidism were known as
Customers and Friends
Misnagdim.
A Happy and Prosperous
Hassidism was a potent force
New Year
and would almost surely have
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become the dominant force of
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Orthodox Jewry had not several
other events taken place. One
was the rise to prominence of
New Year Greetings
the Wilna Gaon, whose own re-
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And he was so deeply respected
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aging blow. The fight against
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Hassidism was so bitter that it
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BEST WISHES FOR A HAPPY NEW YEAR
11:112r1 r1:11: ;13 stV g,i
May the New Year 5719
Bring Peace and Happiness
to All Mankind
Heartiest Greetings for a
HAPPY NEW YEAR
to the Jewish Communities
Throughout Michigan
FOOD FAIR MARKETS
other activities, he distributes
most of the 350 separate publi-
cations put out by the •Merkaz
Linyone Chinuch, a Lubavitcher
publishing group.
The Lubavitcher representa-
tives sent out by the Rebbe are
a disciplined regiment, brought
under the Rebbe's wishes by a
self - imposed discipline of re-
spect, devotion and love.
For Rosh Hashanah, Rabbi
Shemtov will go back to New
York, as do a thousand other
disciples scattered across the
world. There, they will "Farb.
reng" with the Rebbe and wel-
come the New Year together
with their spiritual leader.
New Year Greetings
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Our Sincerest Wishes for a
VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR
to Jewish Communities in Michigan,
Israel and throughout the world
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SAM ROSENBERG, President
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.. , The Lord hath comforted Zion;
He hath comforted all her waste
places,
And hath made her wilderness like
Eden,
And her desert like the garden of the
Lord;
Joy and gladness shall be found
therein,
Thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.
—Isaiah 51:3
We greet our relatives and friends on the
New Year 5719 with warmest wishes for
happiness.
Our prayers are that the New Year should
bring joy to all Israel and that mankind
should be blessed with peace, prosperity
and the comforts of life.
We especially greet our friends in Mizrachi,
the Bar-Ilan University Committee, the
Israel Bond Organization, the Allied Jewish
Campaign and the Jewish Welfare Federa-
tion and all our Fellow-Zionists.
A Happy New Year to All
STOLLMAN FAMILY