At the end of the nineteenth century, the entire Mogilev Gubernia had 85 Jewish communities (shtetls) with a total population of about 110,000 people. It was growing like mushrooms and prospering as it only could. The greatest Jewish shtetl in the gubernia was Shklov, followed by Mogilev, Dubrovno, Gomel, Tolochin, and Smoliany. At that time, Jews were moving dynamically from shtetls to the towns of Mogilev, Orsha, Gomel, and since 1880, they began actively to emigrate abroad. America was the place, but that was not easy. It was done not out of the desire for adventure or of the search for prosperity, but of the necessity. The times in Russia changed, and Jews were not welcome any longer. And, it was increasingly becoming dangerous, no matter where you lived. Lives were more and more at stake. The royal decrees of resentment, government-sponsored pogroms, and the military drafts forced the Jewish population of the Russian Pale to get up and to start moving shtetl-by-shtetl and town-by-town. Where to? What difference did it make for as long as you knew where from? It was a general consent that anywhere would be better, but some places were better than that. America, the entire continent, was on so many minds. As many times before, the Jews were on the move in search of safety, and a maybe better life. It was never the case of the greener grass on the other side, but grass or no grass, living or not. A new exodus was in the making.
The Hasidic movement Chabad was founded in the 18th century by Shneur Zalman of Lyady. The name of the movement — Chabad has derived from the initials of the words Hokhmah (wisdom), Binah (understanding), and Daat (knowledge). Shneur Zalman was opposed by Hasidic leaders living in Volhynia, as well as the mitnagdim (the opposition to the Hasidic movement) led by the Vilna Gaon (Torah Genius — Elijah Ben Solomon Zalman). Nonetheless, the movement spread the wings out and received many followers. Many liked the idea and followed the leaders with not too many questions asked. Was it good or was it bad for the Jewish population back then and even now is still open for a discussion, and often, a spirited one. Shneur Zalman’s teaching was confined in the TANYA (Hasidic Jewish book Likkutei Amarim, published in 1797). There, he developed a theosophical doctrine based on the KABBALISTIC principles of Isaac Luria. Initially, Chabad was centered exclusively in Eastern Europe, but after the First World War, it spread out to other lands due to the Jewish migration. That migration, as many times before, was forced by the wars where the Jews had to pay the heaviest price. If things did not go right for any of the fighting factions, Jews were at fault, and they had to recompense. Blood was a universally accepted currency. Whether they were guilty of anything was not really important yet, the claims were made at will. How could you argue with that? Who could argue with that? If you win, you die, and if you lose, you also die. But, if you stay quiet, you may survive. Blood was taken for payment, but money was much better. Yet, way too often, it was money, and then, the blood. Jews were so vulnerable and thus attractive for anyone with a weapon and the desire to hurt. They were many and almost everywhere. Protectors were a few and practically nowhere. Often protectors and the persecutors were the same. Often the pogrom organizers and the followers were wearing the military and the police uniforms. Sometimes they held important positions and were highly regarded, and frequently, highborn. The persecutors were well organized, funded, mobile, armed, protected, and free to do anything they wanted. And, the Jews had nothing, and no one to defend them. No one. If they fought back and, God forbid, killed someone, they could be held responsible. Back then, Jews had no lawyers, and the law had not become the Jewish profession yet. Life in the defenseless shtetel among the scared people relying only on each other and no other place to go was becoming too hard to bare. They took it for as long as they could, and it was time to pack up and move. That was Aaron’s ancestry, and, got tsu dankenhe (thank god), he was very proud of it. They were brave. With the lineage like that, how could one go wrong?
Even though many Hasidic sects and movements still exist today, Chabad-Lubavitch is by far the most well-known. Its public profile and the determination have produced a robust presence in many areas of the world, including the United States, especially the United States. Starting in the 1950s, the group’s leader, Menachem Mendel Schneerson — the seventh Chabad Rabbi — emphasized the outreach to non-observant Jews to bring them back into religion. To increase the Jewish observance, he sent emissaries (Jewish missionaries) around the world to revitalize small Jewish communities and bring individuals to more traditional Jewish practice. They also wanted to establish Jewish communities where none existed before. That was not easy and often, proved to be impossible.
Yes, in some cases, it worked, but in most, it did not. Jews did not like to be pushed back into something they left already. Most of the modern Jews thought the religion secondary if at all. Was it needed? Was it right? Some believed that there was more harm done in trying to revive the old-style Jewish communities in Russia, Ukraine, and Belorussia during the Soviet Union times. The modern, well-educated Jews did not go for it resisting every notion of religion. They liked some of the customs but saw their lives differently. And, when the Soviet system made even the traditions hard to preserve, the modern Jews abandoned it just doing what they could. For them, to be a Jew was an ethnic issue much more than a religious one. They were Jews or, let us say Hebrews, by blood. That really worked for them considering the place and the time. But, the Hasidic emissaries and the leadership of the movement denied those issues actively trusting in the teachings of Rabbi Schneerson. After all, for them, he was like a messiah. So, they kept pushing, and, as a result, many were imprisoned, and more harmed. To most of ethnic Jews, this movement was strange and questionably acceptable. But the religious fanatics blinded by the believes, could not understand or even see it.
Aaron was one of them, the Jewish emissaries. When the Rabbis called, he went. Despite his small stature and non-impressive features, Aaron possessed a powerful mind, and was ready to fight, and even to die for the cause. He was a believer, that’s all. Twice he delivered the religious books and some artifacts to the Jews in Moscow and Leningrad. They took the books, and the artifacts, but questioned his Hasidic appearance and the religious zealot. For them, all that was a novelty, and nothing more. Some of them read the books and put them on the shelf behind the Tolstoy and the Dostoevsky, but most just put them on the shelf. It would be better if no one saw those books in the house, but no one would throw them away. Books, any books, and especially, the books from the West were so precious in the Soviet Union. The Jewish books were even rarer than that. It was like to find something that did not exist. Risk? Yes, you may take the risk for something like that. It was worth it. So, they took the offering but kept quiet about the circumstances. What was there to tell? Why tell a stranger about a funny looking visitor from America and with a rare gift? Any stranger, even the closest one, could be from the KGB. Surely, the KGB knew about those people already. The KGB was everywhere. It was so true more often than not. The KGB did not want your books, but you, your visitors, and the like thinkers. Who are they? Where are they? Who else is there? Books… They just added to your guilt and your problems. If you were not too stupid, you would hide the books until the better times, and maybe not even read them. Safety was in your hands. So, stay safe, my friend.