Mission to Redeem the Chabad Library

Historic Treasures — Episode 21: "Mission to Redeem the Chabad Library" ### ז' בכסלו תש״פ

Welcome to our weekly program, The Inside Story of Chabad in America, through the Mindel Archives.

Since we are less than a month away from the great Yom Tov of Didan Notzach, the Yom Tov of Hei Teves, I want to share with you what Rabbi Mindel wrote about the trip the Rebbe sent him on to Russia. He was the senior member of the group. The Rebbe also sent two younger men, Rabbi Berel Levin and Rabbi Sholom Kunin, to bring back the sefarim that the Frierdiker Rebbe had left behind in Russia. There were approximately 12,000 sefarim to be brought back to New York. To this day, the sefarim remain "imprisoned" in Russia, and the mission has not yet been accomplished.

I want to point out why the Rebbe sent Rabbi Mindel specifically. First of all, he was born in Russia, he lived in Russia, and he understood the mentality there — he had experience dealing with the government. He was also part of the tremendous effort to rescue the Frierdiker Rebbe from Russia. When he came to America, the Rebbe sent him to Washington, where he dealt with the president and with senators, so he knew how to work with government officials. He was the senior shliach of the three.

They left for Russia on January 10, 1988. Rabbi Mindel was there only a few weeks, and he returned two days before Yud Shevat, Tashmach (1988). He gave a duch — a report — to the Rebbe. The Rebbe wanted to see him, so he went into the Rebbe's room for yechidus. He was there forty-five minutes and gave the Rebbe a report of the entire trip. This was a very, very important yechidus. His two colleagues, Rabbi Levin and Rabbi Kunin, remained behind in Russia.

I want to mention that Rabbi Mindel was sent on shlichus by both the Frierdiker Rebbe and the Rebbe to Paris, England, Germany, Eretz Yisrael, Argentina, and Morocco. I have in my possession many letters that the Frierdiker Rebbe and the Rebbe wrote to people in Eretz Yisrael and in Paris instructing them on how to give Rabbi Nissan Mindel a proper kabbalas panim — describing his character and his yiras shamayim, and that he was worthy of being received well. I'm not going to show all these letters here, but I do have them. As a matter of fact, he also received dollars — shekalim from years back — that the Rebbe gave him as "shlichus mitzvah" money.

Our Rebbe sent him to Russia five times. One time was in May 1958, and it was a great hatzlacha. In 1961, he also went to bring back manuscripts from the Frierdiker Rebbe, and he was matzliach. A few months ago, in our Thursday night program, we spoke about the miracles he witnessed on his missions for the Rebbe. He also went in 1963 and in 1967, and one more time which he does not specify by date. In all of these, he writes, there was great hatzlacha.

Rabbi Mindel writes that this trip, in 1988, to Russia, was the most painful trip he ever experienced in all those years. He writes that he came back, simply put, not well — he had agmas nefesh, which we will discuss in our next program, in a few weeks, as a continuation of this one, perhaps before Hei Teves. We will also discuss the report he gave to the Rebbe, as well as what Rabbi Berel Levin wrote in his own report to the Rebbe. That will be for another time.

I also want to share that as soon as he returned that day, Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka called him and asked him to please come to her — she wanted to hear a report from Russia. He told her that his colleagues were not yet back, and perhaps they should wait until they could all come together. She said no — that was enough, she wanted to hear the report only from him. That is what she said, and he wrote this down.

He says he was not feeling well at the time, and that was the reason — he needed, in his words, yishuv hadaas, to compose himself. So he told her, "In a couple of weeks, when I feel better, I will come to you." Unfortunately, a few weeks passed, and the Rebbetzin passed away on Chof Beis Shevat.

As an aside, I want to note that she wanted to hear the report from him specifically. Rabbi Mindel and Rabbi Hodakov were both members of Agudas Chassidei Chabad ("Aguch") and of Merkos. Rabbi Mindel attended many meetings of Aguch — when he took dictation, he went every week. The head of Aguch would write a duch to the Rebbe reporting on what happened at each meeting. As a matter of fact, I have recorded many of these meetings, and, b'ezras Hashem, in the future we will share some of the Aguch meeting reports — not now. But when Rabbi Mindel came before the Rebbe, the Rebbe said, "I already received a duch, but I want to hear it from you." The Rebbe very much wanted to hear Rabbi Mindel's own account — that is how much he trusted him, that whatever he said was accepted as completely accurate.

Now I want to share what Rabbi Mindel wrote. A few weeks after returning, he wrote a letter to someone. I am going to read that letter — he wrote it in Yiddish, and I will try to translate it into English.

"Our shlichus was to find and investigate the Lubavitcher library. Because of the outbreak of the First World War, the sefarim were moved from Lubavitch to Moscow in the year 1915. They then fell into the hands of the Communist regime — 12,000 sefarim, among them extremely rare sefarim. We went officially as guests of the Ministry of Culture, thanks to the intervention of Dr. Armand Hammer, for whom all doors are open in the Soviet Union. We were promised by the Minister of Culture, Zakharov, that if the Lubavitcher collection were found, they would allow it to be taken out and returned to its rightful owner — that is, to the Rebbe Shlita, back in America, to Agudas Chassidei Chabad in America." He underlined "Agudas Chassidei Chabad in America."

"Aside from some unofficial help from within the Ministry of Culture, no doors were truly opened for us. But we did know where the library should be — in the main branch in Moscow, called the Lenin Library. With Hashem's help, through hashgacha pratis, we discovered that the entire collection was intact, not scattered — which was good — though, not as they tried to convince us, it was catalogued under another name, not under 'Schneerson' or 'Lubavitch.'" He writes that when he sees the recipient in person, he will discuss it further.

"We were also in Leningrad. When we completed our shlichus in Moscow and Leningrad, I, Rabbi Mindel, returned to New York. The other two, Rabbi Kunin and Rabbi Levin, remained in Russia. They traveled to Kiev and to Odessa, and elsewhere, to search for more sefarim and kisvei kodesh."

He continues: "The stressful, impossible bureaucracy — and all with a smile — was unbelievable." He notes that on his previous five trips, he had always gone under an assumed identity, not as someone connected to Lubavitch, but this time was different — this time he had to deal directly with Russian bureaucracy as himself. He concludes by writing that he davened with a minyan in Moscow, and that he read the Torah both in Leningrad and in Moscow.

B'ezras Hashem, in a few weeks, there will be a continuation of today's program clarifying this not-so-well-known and painful episode in the history of Chabad in America. I will draw on material from the Mindel Archives to shed light on it.

Reflecting on what Rabbi Mindel wrote and reported to the Rebbe in that yechidus — it is truly mind-boggling. I don't believe Rabbi Mindel ever shared this with anyone — not with Aguch members, not with Merkos members — only with the Rebbe. I want to say that it is important for the current heads of Aguch and Merkos to know what he wrote. If they are interested, they may call me, and I can show them what Rabbi Mindel recorded. It is very important to know exactly how everything unfolded.

B'ezras Hashem, in the future — I don't know exactly when, in a few weeks — we will continue discussing the trip to Russia. B'ezras Hashem, next Thursday night, we will continue our weekly program.

Thank you.