Fainsod's Book Records History
Quiz on Bible Cycle Reading
'Smolensk Under Soviet Rule' Reveals
Plight of Lyubavichi Village Hasidim
(Copyright, 1963, Jewish Telegraphic
Agency, Inc.)
sought to change or to pervert
its meaning, and who quoted
"Chapter and verse." In order
that a common ground of ref-
erence be established for this
exchange of views, Jews like-
wise referred to chapter and
verse.
* * *
By RABBI SAMUEL J. FOX
Why is it that the Penta-
teuch (Five Books of Moses
Because the village of Lyuba- will liquidate all Communists of Emigrants, and the report —The Torah) is read in the
vichi, where the Lyubavicher and Jews, and establish order'." for that period states that there
course of a three-year cycle
Hasidim under the leadership of
An incident in 1921 involv- were then 205 Jewish families according to the Palestinian
in
Lyubavichi-43
classified
as
the well known Rabbi Shneyer- ing the Cheka at work is re-
custom while it is read in the
son functioned, is in the lated: "One of the chief griev- farmers, 80 as artisans, 27 as course of an annual cycle ac-
Smolensk District, "Smolensk ances of the peasantry was the merchants. The farming element cording to the Babylonian
Why do Bride and Groom
Under Soviet Rule" by Merle Communist attitude toward the was new, and an account was custom which we follow?
fast on their wedding day?
given
in
the
report
of
the
seiz-
Fainsod, published by Random churches. The bulk of the peas-
Two reasons are generally
Most authorities consider this
House as part of its Vintage ants were described as 'friendly ure by the Jews of the "Gono- variation due to the amount of advanced for this practice.
Russian Library, assumes much toward the clergy' . . . Attempts rovo" estate out of which they significance a t t a c h e d to the First, it is claimed that the
significance.
to remove gold and silver from were later driven by peasant Sermon in which the portion sins of Bride and Groom are
Fainsod, American-born and the churches were met by open claimants.
was interpreted and explained. forgiven on their wedding day
There is a breakdown of the They claim that while in Baby- so that they may begin life
-educated, who began his teach- resistance; they also served as a
ing career at Harvard, has done signal to set off anti-Semitic out- types of artisans and a descrip- lonian circles the stress was anew and afresh without any
important research work, and breaks. In one case, the Cheka tion of what. is - referred to as laid on the text, in Palestinian blemish of the past hovering
the present work is one of his reported, The commission which Hasidic "religious fanaticism," circles it was laid upon the ex- over either of them. A Day of
major accomplishments. His arrived made an attempt to the schools that were established position of interpretation of the Forgiveness, similar to the an-
findings are based on material take the gold by armed force, —the cheder system—and the text as expressed in the sermon. nual Day of Atonement (Yom
in the Smolensk Archive. He ex- but the people would not let eventual development of "re- Thus, in Palestine, where the Kippur) was always observed
plains the uniqueness of this them, declaring, "We won't give ligious disaffection" that re- desire was to emphasize the by fasting, so that a spirit of
up the gold, and if it is taken sulted in abandonment of kash- sermon, more time was needed penance would be felt with
Archive by pointing out:
"In mid-July 1941, less than away, not one Jew will remain; rut, Sabbath observance and syn- for the sermon and so the which one could be considered
a month • after Hitler launched we'll kill them all during the agogue attendance by "ad- reading of the Torah was short- deserving of forgiveness. The
ened by stretching it over a other reason advanced is that
his invasion of the Soviet Union, night." The clergy tried to per- vanced" artisans.
German army units swept into suade the people that the gold
The report, however, points three-year cycle, while in Baby- eating might lead to drinking
the city of Smolensk. The local was not theirs, but they would to a "predominantly negative" lonia, where the text was stress- and possible intoxication which
authorities were presumably un- not be convinced.' On March towards the Soviet government ed, more time was desired for would prohibit the pair from
der instructions to destroy or 29 the Cheka reported that and the Communist Party, the the text and less for the ser- entering the marriage bond
withdraw their records, but in women and boys opposing the fear of both among Jews, and mon, thus making for an annual with their full faculties. Re-
the general confusion of the confiscation of church valuables the assertion is made that
stricting the pair from food
of the Torah.
evacuation, arrangements went roamed the streets and markets "there were no Jewish Com- reading cycle
and drink would accomplish
* * *
this purpose.
awry. At Party headquarters in of Roslavl, attacked the Jews munists in Lyubavichi volost
How
did
further
subdivis-
Smolensk, where current files , and beat them, shouting, 'Beat and only 10 members of the
ions
in
the
text
come
about,
Jews,
sa Russia!' The Komsomol (Young Communist
- the ap
were kept, Party officials
save
e.g., the subdivision of every
parently managed to burn or Cheka noted, v " no one believes League)."
portion into the seven por-
that
the
gold
will
aid
the
hun-
remove all important docu-
There is a charge in the re- tions for every Sabbath?
All
think
it
will
line
the
ments; at least none of any real
nnrwr)
Most authorities agree that
pockets of the Communists and port that Jewish "nationalists
significance was found for the 1
this
subdivision
took
place
at
period 1939-1941. The back files, Jews. Rumor says that the Bol- and chauvinists" had "built
,..)4
a much later date. They base
however, covering the • period sheviks, thinking there will be themselves a nest" in the village, this contention on the fact that
1917-1938, were stored in an- war with Poland, are collecting that Hechalutz formed a club
150 -
4;vinrp tti.N
so that they can escape where Hebrew was spoken, and these subdivisions (except for
other building far from Party gold .
headquarters, and these remain- abroad'." "declassed" Jewish elements two portions) are not mention-
nin .,44 !Al
ed in the Talmudic literature.
ed largely intact. German intel- I In this struggle, in the fight ducting underground work Furthermore, the famous Gaon
among
the
youth.
ligence officers, who discovered against anti-Semitism, many
'7t//7;
"pz71Ii1
of Vilna did not follow the
Evsektsia, the Jewish section existing divisions shown in the
the collection, found it in a state I other instances of anti-Semitism
of great disarray and made a are recorded in this Archive, and of the Communist Party, began
printed text. Had these sub-
rather random selection of more the hatred against Jews spread to play its role here "to destroy divisions been fixed in Tal-
nytt, icpp4
nvnri
than 500 files containing ap- to many quarters—among stu- the power of orthodoxy and to
mudic times or Gaonic times,
proximately 200,000 pages of dents, officials, the populace.
attract the Jewish 'masses' into
Gaon would certainly not
'7r.t)7Ptg
* *
1PR
the Communist fold." Evsektsia the
documents which were shipped
have overlooked them. Ap-
back to Germany for examina- Fainsod points out that the aimed also to settle Jews on the parently the original practice
1. 21/MI Try.
tion. There at the end of the Western Oblast in 1926 had a land, but the readjustment of was to subdivide the portions at
war they fell into American Jewish population of 94,445, of "declassed" Jewish elements will having care not to inter-
`71 - 1RI '7V rit `PtP
whom 12,887 were concentrated from the villages was not easy. rupt a subject without complet-
hands."
*
in Smolensk. He explains that Meanwhile Jews were deprived of ing the verses which complete
riF14
occupational restrictions voting rights and disabilities af- a sub-topic and not to end a
Fainsod made use of "this col- i the
rirprr rrirplw.in
lection of documents (which) forced Jews into petty trades, fected parents and children portion at a point where there
alike.
.
under the title 'Records of the settling in market towns. The
was an undesirable or tragic
. -n
to -ritzp 4
nr?tp tnrr?
All-Union (Russian) Communist I majority "were devoutly or-
In the extensive report of Ev- expression. There are still some
Party, Smolensk District, Record thodox," and "the impact of the sektsia activities, it is indicated authorities who claim, however,
rri
600 - p
T
Group 1056,' is now in the cus- I October Revolution on these that "the barrier of disfranchise- that these subdivisions were
—
7t.;p
tody of the Military Records communities was profoundly dis- ment was not easily hurdled."
rr'?4r!
rat)
created by Ezra the Scribe or
Branch, Federal Records Cen- ruptive, both in a religious and
by the Gaonim who followed
"The
persistence
of
anti-Semi-
— Thin
nrN ripnr.)
ter, General Services Adimis- in an economic sense."
the Talmudic period. It is in-
tism,"
Fainsod
shows,
"created
It is at this point that the
tration," in Washington.
teresting to note that dividing
1474 101 lzpkq
The Smolensk story contains author refers to the report on still another difficult problem. the Bible in chapters, as such,
While
this
lively
relic
of
tsarist
a long record of anti-Semitism. the village of Lyubavichi in the
11 1 1 . - 1/g
was not originally a Jewish
Int74 n4;t. - '7r1
There are frequent references Smolensk uyezd prepared in days was officially condemned practice. It appears to have
..
by
the
Party
leadership,
in
prac-
to and attacks upon the "Jew— 1925. He calls it of particular
1„'? 11''?? 2074
been taken over from non-
interest "because of its exposure tice popular anti-Semitism re- Jews, originally for the pur-
ish bourgeoisie."
mstrTrrt wrrv! ton
While there was a high pro- of the plight of the village mained strong and even pene- pose of being able to debate
trated Party and Komsomol
portion of Jews in the Smolensk Jews." The report gave the Jew-
the
truths
of
the
Torah
with
rrPrr
District, "the nationality compo- ish population in Lyubavichi as circles."
those missionary sects who
sition of the Smolensk Party 967 out of a total population of
As a "not untypical example,"
rrPi L71xr.)-
organization registered the pre- 1,931, the non-Jews having be- Fainsod quotes a statement by
dominance of Great Russians in gun to increase in numbers A. Chemerisky, secretary of the Hebrew Corner
'21:ntp7 ni-rp 717 nin.jpp
the guberniya," yet there is a while the Jewish community de- Evsektsia central board, made in
1929, that workers were "in
'4 niwrinpi.
reference to Jews - having be- clined. The report states:
"Before the Revolution, the agreement with the anti-Jewish
come "very numerous," and in
nv-.144 titmp
judging the struggle for power, economy of the population of statements."
as the situation was regarded in the village of Lyubavichi rested
About 150 thousand inhabitants
Evsektsia was itself a victim
ntgzip 104
of Israel saw the 101 original paint-
non-Party circles, in 1927, "the on two bases: flax and . . the of the charge of "Jewish nation- ings
of the Dutch artist Van Gogh,
OGPU reported that some 'un- rabbi. This was an important alism" and was dissolved in that were exhibited rn Tel Aviv
:7rTTitp r!tplrn
ntrtt:
conscious' workers in Bryansk center for the preparation of 1930. Yet a Evsektsia resolu- for six weeks. This is the first
that such a large and import-
were saying that Trotky, Zino- flax, which was processed here tion reaffirmed the necessity "to time
ant collection as that of Van Gogh
ri -117.4 ri.4.17jr!
viev, Kamenev, and others were and shipped by rail. It was also intensify the strugle against any is shown in Israel, and the young
had a rare chance to
Jewish by origin and that when the residence of the famous manifestation of Jewish national- visitors
r1IL?4 cr41nri --rrN rrrt?
"meet" with a great artist who,
Lenin died, Trotsky wanted to Rabbi Shneyerson, and a center ism, which is the other side of during his lifetime made over 600
paintings. However until the day
inttpn tIkt
lead the state, that is, to take of Hasidith . . . Hasidim poured anti-Semitism, and therefore of his death, he was successful in
Lenin's place and put Jews in into the village of Lyubavichi ev- likewise a counter-revolutionary selling . . . only one picture. The
14'1?i
101 paintings that were shown in
rimtn
rinmn
all the responsible positions, but ery day from all sides, including phenomenon."
T••
::•
T:T
T
:
Tel Aviv were insured for 20 mil-
Trotsky and his opposition were a number of merchants, who sup-
lion
Israeli
pounds.
What a pity that after 1930,
ri:
p.rtiipmi
po
.fir-
Van Gogh is the most "hung"
unable to do this, and that is plied the local population. Ar- when the Godly had been re- artist
in Israel. In comparison with
why they were fighting against tisanry and handicrafts flour- duced to a tiny band," there the population, there are more re-
nr_Irri i1.7y1n! rr.;;;. .i nl1m7
of Van Gogh on the
the Central Committee of the ished, despite the scornful atti- is no further information about productions
walls of Israel than in France, and
tude toward productive work on
7tv
Party."
to a greater extent even than in
7, 1 11 11
1717.1tg
*
*
the part of the 'court' (the rabbi Lyubavichi, its Rebbe and Hasi- Holland.
dim. The completed story would
This is an actual story: An im-
1
tP1117;
aLJ
n;7p74
It may well be that the Smo- and his clique)."
portant personality who visited
There followed an undermin- have told about the flight of Israel, toured in one of the com-
lensk revelations will throw
Rabbi Shneyerson, his settle- munal settlements accompanied by
'ptri rTnr.1
some light on the anti-Semitic ing of the village's economic ment with his followers in Brook- a man from the Foreign Office. In
sentiments in Russia. For in- foundation, fl a x disappeared lyn, the establishment of a every room they entered there was
Imr tr.:NT?!
a reproduction of Van Gogh. The
rp.pr!
stance, a scandal had erupted in from the market, "the court of
visitor noted this phenomenon and
Smolensk in 1928, there was a the rabbi and the nest of Hasi- strong Hasidic movement in this quietly continued to observe it
-pry' :17t71
rittji7n
until he entered a room, the living
change of suppression of criti- dim were destroyed,' the popu- country.
quarters of a member of the set-
The
Smolensk
study
is
most
cism, a demand for a free press, lation was deprived of its source
tlement, where there was no pic-
tintgn
tr,7. okm
ture of Van Gogh. The visitor
and "one worker in Verkhni- of subsistence and impoverish- significant because it serves as turned
to
the
occupant
and
asked:
a "mirror of Soviet reality" and "Tell me, please, do you have any-
Gorod raion was even elected ment began.
* *
explains "the struggle between thing against Van Gogh? . . . l f
to the RKI (workers' commis-
Translation of Hebrew Column
(:),??;?iy r-14* rr-R, ru:t4iri4)
the old and - the new" in the
There
was
some
relief
pro-
sariat) after stating, 'Give me
published by Brith Ivrith Ola-
Soviet
orbit.
—P.
S.
mall, Jerusalem.
three days in Smolensk, and I vided by the American Society
.
nmirP.wPL7I
Van Gogh Exhibit
in Tel Aviv