Twelve books that belonged to the fifth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson, were returned last week to a Lubavitch-run synagogue in Moscow, after years of pressure - and one of them was Akeidat Yitzchak, written by an ancestor and namesake of Israel's latest terrorist victim, Rabbi Yitzchak Arama, rabbi of Netzer Hazani.
The number of books in the original Schneerson collection is estimated at either 4,000 - according to the Russian State Library, the current caretaker of the books, or 12,000, according to Lubavitch. JTA reports that a group of Lubavitchers gathered in a downtown Moscow synagogue last week to celebrate the "home-coming" of the books from the Russian State Library. The books were held at the Library ever since they were seized from their owner as part of the government crackdown on religion 80 years ago. Excited singing and clapping filled the room as the pile of antique books were carried into the Bronnaya Synagogue's main hall. Three volumes were of the Babylonian Talmud, and another turned out to be a 200-year-old prayer book belonging to the first Lubavitcher Rebbe.
Eight other volumes were returned in previous years, and the Lubavitch are hoping that the rest will soon follow. State Library officials say that only books that have duplicates in the State Library's main collection were - and can be - transferred to Lubavitch. But Lubavitch leaders, even as they are unsure of whether they will be allowed to take the books out of Russia or whether they even want to, say they're confident that the rest of the precious collection will be returned.
The number of books in the original Schneerson collection is estimated at either 4,000 - according to the Russian State Library, the current caretaker of the books, or 12,000, according to Lubavitch. JTA reports that a group of Lubavitchers gathered in a downtown Moscow synagogue last week to celebrate the "home-coming" of the books from the Russian State Library. The books were held at the Library ever since they were seized from their owner as part of the government crackdown on religion 80 years ago. Excited singing and clapping filled the room as the pile of antique books were carried into the Bronnaya Synagogue's main hall. Three volumes were of the Babylonian Talmud, and another turned out to be a 200-year-old prayer book belonging to the first Lubavitcher Rebbe.
Eight other volumes were returned in previous years, and the Lubavitch are hoping that the rest will soon follow. State Library officials say that only books that have duplicates in the State Library's main collection were - and can be - transferred to Lubavitch. But Lubavitch leaders, even as they are unsure of whether they will be allowed to take the books out of Russia or whether they even want to, say they're confident that the rest of the precious collection will be returned.