Rabbi Jehoshua Zelig (Seelig) Morduchovich Persitz

Burial of a Russian emigrant. A man, whose name before the World War was very important in the whole Russia, one of the greatest philanthropists, as he was reveringly called on the way to his final resting, has been carried to the grave yesterday. Mr. Seelig Persitz - so is the name of the deceased - not only an important Russian industrialist, but also a spiritual leader of the East, had come a year ago to Homburg, where he has now died. Under strong participation, his body was first brought to the synagogue, in order then to be buried in the special place of honor on the Israelite cemetery. Six rabbis - five spoke in the synagogue and two at the grave - officiated at the last service of love which could still be rendered to the deceased.

"Taununusbote" 14.11.1922

Beerdigung eines russischen Emigranten. Ein Mann, dessen Name vor dem Weltkriege in ganz Rußland Bedeutung hatte, einer der größten Philantropen, wie er ehrend auf dem Wege zur letzten Ruhe genannt wurde, ist gestern zu Grabe getragen worden. Herr Seelig Persitz - so heißt der Verstorbene - nicht nur ein bedeutender russischer Industrieller, sondern auch ein geistiger Führer des Ostens, war vor einem Jahre nach Homburg gekommen, wo er jetzt gestorben ist. Unter starker Beteiligung wurde seine Leiche zuerst in die Synagoge gebracht, um dann auf dem Ehrenplatz auf dem israelitischen Friedhofe bestattet zu werden. Sechs Rabbiner - fünf sprachen in der Synagoge und zwei am Grabe - amtierten bei dem letzten Liebesdienst, der dem Geschiedenen noch erwiesen werden konnte.

"Taununusbote" 14.11.1922 [Transcription and translation from original German is made by Yuri David Persits]

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Reconstruction of his tombstone inscription from survived fragments [by Yuri David Persits]

line 1: [%D7%A0%D7%A7%D7%91%D7%A8 פה]

line 2: [%D7%94%D7%90%D7%99%D7%A9 נכבד]

line 3: צ[%D7%93%D7%99%D7%A7 ו]נדיב

line 4: תומך [%D7%AA%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%94 ו]חסיד

line 5: הרב יהושע זליג

line 6: פרסיץ

line 7: יליד מוסקבה רוסיה

line 8: נפ[%D7%98%D7%A8] בכ' בחשון תרפג

line 9: תהי נפשו צרורה בצרור החיים

line 10: אמן

line 11: סלה

Translation

line 1: [Here is buried]

line 2: [a honorable man]

line 3: [Tzadik (righteous religious person) and] Philanthropist,

line 4: Supporter [of TORAH and] Hassid (generous person making merciful deeds)

line 5: HaRav Yehoshua Zelig

line 6: Persitz

line 7: Born in Moscow, Russia

line 8: Died on 20.Cheshwan 5683

line 9: May his soul be bound in the bundle of life.

line 10: Amen !

line 11: Selah !

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Famous rich businessman, industrialist and philanthropist from Moscow, merchant of 1st guild, owner of an oil factory in Nizhny Novgorod and a weaving factory in Moscow, director of Central Asiatic Trade Industrial Society, owner of many houses in Moscow.

He was also a Rabbi and an acknowledged Torah scholar, a descendant of Rabbinical family with several generations of Rabbis as his immediate forefathers. He has been investing a lot of his money into establishment of Yeshivot (Jewish religious academies of Torah learning) in Moscow and in Jerusalem. He was the "chief" of the whole Persitz clan of his generation, having inherited the duty of safeguarding the Persitz family archive, from the previous "chief" Avraham-Morduchai Pershitz.

During World War I, when the Lubavicher Rebbi Schneerson moved to Rostov on Don, Rabbi Zelig Persitz, who was a close friend and confidant person of the Lubavicher Rebbe, received from him the famous, now disputed Schneerson Library, which was given to him by the Rebbe for safekeeping in the Persitz warehouses in Moscow. Later the Soviet regime decided to nationalize the warehouse where the books were kept, and give the Lubavitch Collection to the Russian State Library.

After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Zelig Morduchovich Persitz was imprisoned by the Bolsheviks and has been tortured for several years, until his sons had finally success in bribing the Russians for his release from the prison. They managed to organize his escape to Germany, where he was brought to a sanatorium in Frankfurt am Main, in order to receive the health care urgently required for his rehabilitation. After that, he finally settled in the nearby German health resort Bad Homburg, where he spent his last years.

He died on 13.11.1922 in Bad Homburg, at the age of not even 58, and was buried in the Jewish cemetery of Bad Homburg Unfortunately his grave has not survived. "Leider ist sein Grab nicht erhalten geblieben", was told to us by the German authorities.

[written by Yury David Persits]

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Moskva (1-j Kazachij 4, own house)

Potomstvennyj Potchetnyj Grazdanin, Kupetz 1. Gildi, Owner of an oil factory in Nijnij Novgorod, a Weaving factory V.I. Belova in Moscow. Director of Central Asiatic Trade Industrial Society. Owner of several houses in Moscow.

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P e o p l e (A Jewish German Newspaper- the article is translated from German)

Selig Persitz o.b.m (An obituary)

Homburg, November 18, 1922

One of the best and noblest men of the Russian Jewry, Joshua Selig Persitz, from Moscow, died here on the eve of Saturday. He was not even 58 years old. His demise brings a silent end and a peaceful conclusion to a tragic chapter in the tale of suffering of our eastern brethren. A selected group of mourners accompanied the deceased to his grave… [illegible]

…During the period preceding World War, when the regime of the Czar enclosed millions of our brethren in a common bond and in common fetters, Joshua S. Persitz was certainly one of the most renowned among them. God blessed him with great wealth. As merchant of the first category, entitled to reside in Moscow, he spun the web of his commercial connections over all of Russia and even abroad, and extended the network of his personal acquaintances over a vast circle of political and social leaders. His readiness to put his fortune at disposal of others was equal to the volume of his wealth. In a country where the ruble was omnipotent, where gold was the only - albeit unerring - weapon against the arbitrariness of officials and the cruelty of the police, Persitz became a major power of unselfish help and rescue, a never-ending source of comfort and support for the Jewish subjects of the bloodthirsty czarist regime.

But the power of his wealth and that of his good hearth can not yet explain his role as benefactor within the Russian Jewry. Persitz was the true example of the Russian Jew - intelligent, gifted, able to cope in the same way with even the most contradictory domains of life. He was a master of Hebrew style, a good learner, a Hassidic enthusiast and at the same time a sober merchant. He made friends easily, and was knowledgeable in all kind of areas, clever, capable to grasp a human nature and a situation at a glance, undemanding and lavish, at home everywhere and nowhere. Humble and pious, but not submissive to authority, self-confident, but without aristocratic conceit towards others, he created an atmosphere of freedom and equality. Where was the source of the mobility and stamina of his soul? The answer to this question unveils the ultimate secret of his being: the source of his spiritual essence was the Talmud, the training ground of his strength was the Yeshiva. He remained always a student and a scholar, and we can say without exaggeration that he was a master of the Talmud. The roots of his force drew from the sacred soil that provided the eastern Jews with their noble character, and because of this he was able to communicate with the spiritual leaders of the Russian Jewry, with their Rabbis and "Geonim" and to reach with them a togetherness and understanding that put him, the merchant, on a unique level.

The home he founded as a young man with his equally-minded spouse became a בית ועד לחכמים , a focal point of the rabbinical world. He gathered there a whole community of Torah scholars, and he and his sons lived in an atmosphere of ongoing learning. He became guardian and protector of Yeshivot, and took care of all worries and needs of the Rabbis. Despite the prohibition of residence [in Moscow] he gathered hundreds of people. The hospitality in his home was truly "Abrahamitic", and he throned there "like a king in the crowd when he comforts the mourners". His home bore the seal of תורש וגדולה במקום אחד , and everybody was eager to enjoy its splendor. Everybody in Russia knew that Persitz's sons, educated in high school and university, were also the best and most diligent students in the great Yeshiva, that the חידושי תורה of the "Muscovite Gvir" had a place of honor within the rabbinical publications. They also knew that his daughter married the son of one of the most venerable German Rabbis, that the wedding in Warsaw had been attended by a great number of Russian גדולים , and that the greatest "Geonim", as Re Haim Soloweichik, Reb Itzel Petersburger, Reb Haim Grodzensky attended too because they loved Persitz like a brother, and that every סעודה שלישית in his home was equal in greatness and spirituality to one held by a Hassidic Rabbi.

Who can describe the task that J. S. Perlitz had to shoulder in the darkest years of pogroms during the Beilin trial, and during the boycott against his brethren? In order to adequately describe what he did, one would have to tell once again the sad story of these years. By his achievements, J. S. Persitz's name is indelibly inscribed in the hearts of his tormented brethren.

The first years of World War finds Persitz once again in a frantic activity on behalf of the community. But then came the devastating wave of the Bolshevist revolution, which brutally wiped out his fortune, like those of thousands of others, and shattered everything he built and created. His family was ripped apart, his property confiscated, his buildings taken away. He was taken to Kiev, tormented in body and soul, and for many months he hovered between life and death. The sad news about the fate of the Russian Jewish communities, hunger and thirst, torture and incarceration crippled his body and confused his crystal-clear intellect. He would have broken altogether without his heroic spouse who assisted him like an angel …[illegible]

… finally succeeded to have him transferred to a sanatorium in Homburg. It was perhaps a mercy of fate that he did not become aware of the collapse of the Russian Jewry and of his own fortune..

He passed away peacefully, surrounded by his children and grandchildren. On Monday, the Homburg community had the coffin posted in the synagogue for a commemorative ceremony. Dr. Wreschner, the local Rabbi, gave a magnificent eulogy. His speech was followed by those by Rabbi Carlebach (Cologne), Rabbi Horovitz (Jerusalem), Rabbi Carlebach (Leipzig), and Rabbi Rosenak (Bremen). The group of mourners who followed the deceased to the cemetery included, after his relatives, many people from Homburg and from Frankfurt, as well as many Russian friends of the deceased, and quite a few VIPs. The Homburg community buried this foreign brother in the first row of the most honorable, and many people who did not know him in person shed a tear, seeing in him the representative of the fate of our tormented nation. May Heaven console his family, and first of all his noble spouse, and comfort them with the mourners of Zion, which the deceased loved and cared for like no other person. זכר צדיק לברכה .

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A book that belonged to Jehoshua Zelig Persitz in the past was sold lately (2008) in Sothebey from the Delmonico collection.

NEVEH SHALOM, ABRAHAM BEN ISAAC BEN JUDAH BEN SAMUEL SHALOM, CONSTANTINOPLE: ELIEZER BEN GERSHOM SONCINO, 1539

5,000—7,000 USD

DESCRIPTION

192 [of 196] leaves (7¼ x 5 in.; 184 x 127 mm). collation of complete work: 1-118, 128(+a bifolium, signed 126 and bound in after 125), 13-238, 2410; this copy lacking four leaves in the second quire. Woodcut architectural title border; title strengthened at gutter margin and lower margin shaved both affecting border, top margin shaved catching a few headlines, dampstain in upper portion; quire 12 with several leaves loose. Nineteenth-century half leather over blindstamped cloth; backstrip and portion of lower cover torn.

PROVENANCE

Judah Leib ben A. Mintz-his stamp on title page; Gedalia ha-Levi Horowitz—his signature on title page; Gershon ben Joseph of Novogrudok (1818)—his note in a fine calligraphic hand pasted on to title page; Joshua Zelig Persitz (Moscow)—his signature on verso of last leaf; Jakob Klatzkin—his bookplate

LITERATURE AND REFERENCES

Vinograd, Constantinople 162; Yaari, Constantinople 127 (his collation incorrect; the complete edition comprises 196, not 194 leaves. The signed bifolium inserted in quire 12 (see collation) at the time of printing was obviously unknown to him).

CATALOGUE NOTE

Abraham ben Isaac ben Judah ben Samuel Shalom (d. 1492) was a Catalonian philosopher and translator of philosophical writings who in addition to his Hebrew book, Neveh Shalom, is known to have translated two works from Latin into Hebrew. The present work gives evidence of the author's thorough command of the fields of knowledge of his time, and is rich in quotations from Greek and Arabic philosophical literature. In its external form, Neveh Shalom is a series of homilies on various aggadic passages drawn from the talmudic tractate Berakhot. Into this framework Shalom weaves a number of philosophic discussions in which he undertakes to review the statements of his predecessors to determine if their views are in accord with Scripture and thus correct. Among all of the philosophers Shalom considers, it is clearly Maimonides whom he holds in special regard, writing that his words are, "pure, free of the dross of confusion," and that "Moses [Maimonides] is true and his Torah is true." Throughout the book, Shalom undertakes to defend Maimonides' philosophy with its particular equilibrium between Greek wisdom and scriptural teachings. His defense of Maimonides is directed both against the more radical position of Levi ben Gershom, who felt that Maimonides had compromised philosophy, as well as against the more conservative position of Hasdai Crescas, who felt that Maimonides had compromised scriptural religion.

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http://www.vedomosti.ru/lifestyle/articles/2013/01/25/neveroyatnye_...

Невероятные приключения библиотеки Шнеерсона

Спецкор «Пятницы» разбирался в скандале вокруг собрания хасидских текстов

25.01.13 Ведомости

Алексей Яблоков

«Это неделимые, неотчуждаемые фонды библиотеки. Но если будет решение правительства, значит, отдадим»

Поиски главного национального достояния России завершились. За последние две недели окончательно стало ясно, что это – библиотека Шнеерсона, собрание книг и рукописей любавичского раввина, которое находится в Российской государственной библиотеке и Российском государственном военном архиве. Для населения, обремененного проблемами модернизации, призрением сирот и кормлением уток в парке, ее ценность не поддается сомнению. Правда, как мне удалось выяснить, каждый по-своему представляет, что такое на самом деле «библиотека Шнеерсона», сколько в ней единиц хранения, зачем она нужна, кому она принадлежит сейчас и кому должна принадлежать впредь. Каталог по памяти

Я начал со специалиста по гебраистике, старшего научного сотрудника Института философии РАН Константина Бурмистрова. В свое время он работал главным библиотекарем еврейского зала РГБ. – Что такое библиотека Шнеерсона, Константин?'

– Это легенда, миф. Никогда в составе Библиотеки имени Ленина не было «коллекции Шнеерсона», «фонда Шнеерсона». Библиотека была в селе Любавичи у семьи Шнеерсонов до Первой мировой войны. Но когда эти книги в 1924 году поступили в РГБ, они поступили вместе с целой кучей других книг на еврейском языке. Их привезли со складов, вместе с книгами хозяина склада Персица. Конечно, среди них есть книги Шнеерсона, но их надо отделять – а как, никто не знает. Действительно, в библиотеке движения «Хабад-Любавич» в Бруклине есть некий каталог. Но его никогда никому не показывали. Ни разу. Насколько я знаю, он был составлен по памяти еще Йосефом Шнеерсоном, владельцем библиотеки. Это примерно как если я через 50 лет буду вспоминать, что у меня стояло в шкафу. То, что находится сейчас в Центре восточной литературы РГБ, эти 4425 книг, – то, что отобрал директор библиотеки «Хабада» Левинсон. Он приехал в Москву и единственный сделал какую-то настоящую работу. Он, безусловно, самый большой эксперт в этой области, потому что он хорошо знает, как выглядели переплеты, знает почерк Ребе и так далее. Он просмотрел часть книг и отобрал те, которые, по его мнению, принадлежали Йосефу Шнеерсону.

– Вы сказали про 4425 книг, но члены «Хабада» говорят о 12 000.

– Эта цифра вообще непонятно откуда. В 1924 году Румянцевскому музею передали 35 ящиков весом 411 пудов и 4 фунта. Сколько там было книг, мы не знаем. И потом, в двадцатые годы библиотека дробилась. Это целый детектив. 34 часа

События, связанные с этой коллекцией, действительно носят авантюрно-драматический характер. Такой вывод я сделал, поговорив с Игорем Филипповым, профессором исторического факультета МГУ. Филиппов был директором РГБ с 1992 по 1996 годы и не раз по долгу службы встречался с любавичскими хасидами.

– Раза три-четыре они устраивали бузу большую. Пикет у библиотеки был – по-моему, 19 дней. Но были и контрпикеты, которые устраивали разные люди, там были и рядовые сотрудники библиотеки, и студенты. Были там и совершенно удивительные люди, настроенные крайне националистически. Были и такие, которые верили, что в рукописях Шнеерсона полностью расшифрованы сталинские «тройки» – они, как известно, печатались без инициалов.

– А что произошло осенью 1991 года, когда телевидение передало, что хасиды захватили директора Ленинки Анатолия Волика?

– Я это знаю со слов самого Волика. Как утверждает раввин хабадской общины Ицхак Коган, им предложил пойти в библиотеку сам идеолог перестройки Александр Яковлев. То есть сказал: «Решение принято, можете идти и брать». Но я не могу себе представить, чтобы Яковлев мог такое сказать – документа ведь не было. В общем, они пришли – группа хасидов. Их, видимо, не ждали и оказались не готовы к тому, что последует. Они вошли в кабинет к директору и сказали: есть решение, отдайте наши книги. И пробыли в кабинете 34 часа! Это задокументированный факт. – Что они делали все это время?

– Препирались. Хасиды говорили: принято решение, отдайте библиотеку. Волик объяснял хасидам: «Во-первых, у меня на руках нет официального решения, а ведь я чиновник. Во-вторых, что вам отдавать? Ведь библиотека толком не описана. И наконец, она ведь не принадлежит библиотеке, это государственное имущество». Но разговор шел по кругу. В конце концов, Волик дозвонился до каких-то людей в Верховном совете, и те сами позвонили кому-то из «Хабада». И вот те уже хасидам сказали: «Вам придется уйти. Пока вы не уйдете, никаких переговоров не будет». И они уехали.

Одновременно шли и судебные процессы с «Хабадом», причем дважды Арбитражный суд выносил решение об изъятии библиотеки Шнеерсона из РГБ.

– Ходили слухи, что Госсовет СССР уже твердо решил отдать библиотеку Шнеерсона хасидам, – рассказывал Филиппов. – Тогда завотделом рукописей Виктор Дерягин заперся в отделе рукописей и сказал, что не уйдет, пока дело не начнут рассматривать по-человечески. Я его потом об этом расспрашивал: правда ли, что он собирался все сжечь? Он говорил: «Вы меня за сумасшедшего принимаете? Тут рукописи и Гоголя, и Булгакова». Он говорил, что устроил это, чтобы привлечь внимание. И привлек. Он там просидел несколько дней, смотрел в маленькое окошечко, ему еду носили туда. Тогда же он спрятал часть рукописей из собрания Шнеерсона, нарочно поместил их туда, где они не должны были стоять. Там же сам черт ногу сломит. И Дерягин сказал: без моих записей их ни за что не найдут. Уже когда я стал директором, он божился, что все вернул на место, но я полагаю, что все-таки что-то не вернул – иврит-то он толком не знал, разве что алфавит.

Наконец, 14 февраля 1992 года суд вынес новое решение: в пользу РГБ. Через три дня в библиотеке произошла драка с участием хасидов, дружинников и милиции. «В 10.30 ко входу в Ленинку подкатил автобус, из которого выскочили 30 хасидов, – писала газета «Советская Россия» 18 февраля 1992 года, – преградившего им путь постового милиционера С. Сорокина хасиды сбили на пол и стали избивать ногами, бить головой о пол и душить шарфом».

После этого драгоценную коллекцию перевели в бывший музей Калинина на Моховой. Сделали там дорогой ремонт. И пообещали хасидам, что те в любой момент могут приехать, записаться, как люди, и сесть поработать в читальном зале. Выделили даже специальное помещение для молитв. Однако это хасидов не успокоило. В 2006 году они инициировали судебный процесс в федеральном суде США, который и привел к известным результатам. Червяк XVI века

После всех этих рассказов я отправился в Центр восточной литературы РГБ, чтобы лично повидать библиотеку. Заведующая центром Марина Меланьина провела меня в хранилище. За железной дверью оказалась светлая узкая комната с температурой воздуха восемнадцать градусов и влажностью 50%. В шестнадцати обычных шкафах из ДСП стояли темные, почти черные, истрепанные переплеты – те самые 4425 книг, отобранные Левинсоном. На переплетах – бело-голубые марки с номерами. Бурмистров рассказывал мне, как Левинсон отбирал книги. «Осматривал их, листал и говорил: «Вот это наше, и вот это наше». И наклеивал на корешки бело-голубые марочки. Я смотрел книги, которые он отнес к своим, там, среди прочего, есть книги, не имеющие отношения к хасидизму, но зато очень дорогие и редкие, стоимостью в несколько десятков тысяч долларов. И я не знаю, принадлежали ли они Шнеерсону. В конце концов, его семья собирала книги для своих религиозных нужд, они не были библиофилами. А вот Персиц, хозяин склада, с которого пришли книги, был. И очень возможно, что эти редкие дорогие книги как раз его».

У меня в руках небольшая книга «О хасидизме» 1831 года, автор – Дов-Бер, второй руководитель «Хабада».

– Эту книгу часто смотрят, – поясняет Меланьина. – Она очень важна для хасидов.

Я тоже смотрю. Листаю: пятна грязи, пятна от сырости. Что с ней было за двести лет? Роняли в лужу на базаре, везли на подводах, держали на складе. А это что – вроде пятно от шоколада? Может, дети испачкали. Чьи, когда – никому не известно.

Наугад прошу показать том в голубом переплете: 1596 год, издано в Венеции. Состояние идеальное, пятен почти нет. В одном месте странная двойная прорезь, будто шпилькой царапали.

– Червячок, – констатирует Меланьина. – Они рисовую бумагу любят. Только имейте в виду, – вдруг спохватывается она, – это не наш червяк! Это шестнадцатого века червяк! У нас здесь такие условия, что ничего не живет. В смысле ничего, что может попортить книгу.

– А может все-таки отдать коллекцию? – спрашиваю я. – Как вы думаете?

– Мое мнение совпадает с мнением директора РГБ и позицией Министерства иностранных дел, – говорит Меланьина, запирая железную дверь. – Это неделимые, неотчуждаемые фонды библиотеки. Но если будет решение правительства, значит, отдадим.

Игорь Филиппов, которого я тоже спросил, можно ли отдать хасидам библиотеку, объяснил, что с моральной точки зрения книги, конечно, их и они нужны им больше всех.

– Но есть юридическая сторона дела, – добавил он. Принадлежность коллекции к РГБ подтверждена и Арбитражным судом, и федеральными законами. Я считаю, что это дело должен рассматривать наш гражданский суд. А когда хасиды давят на президента, премьера, министра культуры, на Лаврова, это странно выглядит. Им надо всего-то – обжаловать решение Арбитражного суда 1992 года, которое до сих пор в силе. Мнение созрело

Выйдя из библиотеки, я позвонил руководителю российского движения «Хабад» Ицхаку Когану.

– Раввин Коган, – сказал я. – Что, в конце концов, происходит с книгами?

– Родной, – ответил Коган, – наконец-то в связи со всем этим процессом созрело мнение в верхах, что надо передать их не американским хасидам, а русским. Ведь весь процесс происходит у нас в верхах – в России и в США.

– А почему вы не обжаловали решение суда 1992 года?

– Тогда нам пообещали, что книги вернут. И мы ждали. – До 2006 года?

– А что было делать? К тому же в 2000 году, когда открылся новый центр в Марьиной Роще, туда стали передавать книги из библиотеки. 28 передали, и процесс остановился. – Когда, по-вашему, эта история закончится?

– Не завтра. Это борьба за святыни, которая продолжается 98 лет. Люди пока не понимают, что такое отношение к духовным реликвиям. Наверное, перестройка еще не закончилась. Все, Леша, хватит.

Incredible Adventures of the Schneerson Library Friday's special correspondent understood the scandal around the collection of Hasidic texts January 25, 2013 00:22Alexey Yablokov / Vedomosti.Friday

bronnaya.ru “These are indivisible, inalienable library funds. But if there is a government decision, then we will give it away. ”

The search for the main national treasure of Russia is over. Over the past two weeks it has finally become clear that this is the Schneerson library, a collection of books and manuscripts of the Lubavitcher Rabbi, which is located in the Russian State Library and the Russian State Military Archive. For the population burdened with the problems of modernization, the care of orphans and the feeding of ducks in the park, its value is beyond question. True, as I was able to find out, each in his own way represents what the “Schneerson Library” really is, how many units there are in it, why it is needed, to whom it belongs now and to whom it should belong in the future.

Memory directory I began with a specialist in hebraistics, a senior researcher at the Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences Konstantin Burmistrov. At one time he worked as chief librarian of the Jewish Hall of the RSL.

- What is the Schneerson Library, Konstantin? - This is a legend, a myth. Never in the Lenin Library was there a “Schneerson collection”, a “Schneerson Foundation”. The library was in the village of Lubavitch at the Shneerson family before the First World War. But when these books entered the RSL in 1924, they did along with a whole bunch of other books in the Hebrew language. They were brought from warehouses, along with the books of the owner of the warehouse of Persits. Of course, there are Schneerson books among them, but they must be separated - and how, no one knows. Indeed, there is a catalog in the library of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement in Brooklyn. But they never showed it to anyone. Never. As far as I know, it was compiled from memory even by Joseph Schneerson, the owner of the library. It is about as if in 50 years I will remember what I had in the closet. What is now in the Center for Eastern Literature of the RSL, these 4425 books, is that the director of the Chabad library Levinson selected. He came to Moscow and the only one did some real work. He is undoubtedly the biggest expert in this field, because he knows well what the bindings looked like, knows the handwriting of the Rebbe, and so on. He looked through some of the books and selected those that, in his opinion, belonged to Yosef Schneerson.

- You said about 4425 books, but Chabad members talk about 12,000.

- This figure is generally not clear where. In 1924, the Rumyantsev Museum received 35 boxes weighing 411 pounds and 4 pounds. How many books there were, we do not know. And then, in the twenties, the library was crushed. This is a whole detective story.

34 hours The events associated with this collection are indeed adventurous and dramatic. I made such a conclusion after talking with Igor Filippov, a professor at the Faculty of History of Moscow State University. Filippov was director of the RSL from 1992 to 1996 and more than once on duty met with the Lubavitt Hassids.

- Three or four times they arranged a big buza. The library had a picket - in my opinion, 19 days. But there were also counterattacks that were organized by different people; there were also ordinary library staff and students. There were absolutely amazing people there who were extremely nationalistic. There were also those who believed that Stalin's “troika” were completely decoded in Schneerson’s manuscripts - they were known to be printed without initials.

- And what happened in the fall of 1991, when the television broadcast that the Hasidim seized the director of Leninka Anatoly Volik?

- I know this from the words of Volik himself. According to the rabbi of the Chabad community, Yitzhak Kogan, the ideologist of perestroika Alexander Yakovlev suggested that they go to the library. That is, he said: "The decision is made, you can go and take." But I cannot imagine that Yakovlev could say such a thing - there was no document, after all. In general, they came - a group of Hasidim. Apparently, they were not waited and were not ready for what follows. They entered the office to the director and said: there is a solution, give away our books. And they stayed in the office for 34 hours! This is a documented fact.

- What did they do all this time? - fought. Hasids said: the decision is made, give the library. Volik explained to the Hasidim: “First, I have no official decision on my hands, and I’m an official. Secondly, what do you give? After all, the library is not really described. And finally, it does not belong to the library, it is a state property. ” But the conversation went in a circle. In the end, Volik got through to some people in the Supreme Council, and they themselves called someone from Chabad. And now those Hasidim have said: “You will have to leave. Until you leave, there will be no negotiations. ” And they left.

At the same time, there were trials with “Chabad”, and twice the Arbitration Court ruled to withdraw the Schneerson library from the RSL.

“It was rumored that the State Council of the USSR had already firmly decided to give the Schneerson library to the Hasidim,” said Filippov. - Then the head of the department of manuscripts, Viktor Deryagin locked himself in the department of manuscripts and said that he would not leave until the case began to be considered like a human being. I then asked him about it: is it true that he was going to burn everything? He said: “Do you take me for a madman? Here are the manuscripts of both Gogol and Bulgakov. ” He said he arranged it to get attention. And attracted. He stayed there for several days, looked through a small window, he was carried food there. Then he hid part of the manuscripts from the Schneerson collection, deliberately placed them where they were not supposed to stand. In the same place the devil will break his leg. And Deryagin said: without my records, they would never find them. Already when I became a director, he claimed that he had returned everything to his place, but I suppose

Finally, on February 14, 1992, the court issued a new decision: in favor of the RSL. Three days later a fight broke out in the library with the participation of the Hasidim, warriors and the police. “At 10.30 a bus drove up to the entrance to Leninka, from which 30 Hassids jumped out,” wrote the newspaper “Sovetskaya Rossiya” on February 18, 1992, “the militiaman S. Sorokin, who blocked the way, dropped the Hasidim to the floor and started kicking and hitting his head against the floor and strangle with a scarf. "

After that, the precious collection was transferred to the former Kalinin Museum on Mokhovaya. Made an expensive repair there. And they promised the Hasidim that they could come at any moment, sign up as people, and sit down to work in the reading room. They even allocated a special room for prayers. However, this did not reassure the Hasidim. In 2006, they initiated a lawsuit in US federal court, which led to the well-known results.

16th century worm After all these stories, I went to the Center for Eastern Literature of the RSL to personally see the library. The head of the center Marina Melanina took me to the vault. Behind the iron door was a light narrow room with an air temperature of eighteen degrees and a humidity of 50%. In the sixteen ordinary cabinets of chipboard stood dark, almost black, frayed bindings - those same 4425 books selected by Levinson. On the covers - white and blue stamps with numbers. Burmistrov told me how Levinson selected books. "I looked at them, looked through and said:" This is ours, and this is ours. " And stuck on the roots of the blue and white marks. I looked at the books that he referred to his own, there, among other things, there are books that are not related to Hasidism, but very expensive and rare, costing several tens of thousands of dollars. And I do not know did they belong to Schneerson? In the end, his family collected books for their religious needs, they were not bibliophiles. But Persits, the owner of the warehouse from which the books came, was. And it is very possible that these rare expensive books are just his. ”

I have in my hands a small book “On Hasidism” of 1831, the author is Dov-Ber, the second head of Chabad.

“This book is often viewed,” explains Melanina. - It is very important for the Hasidim.

I look too. Leafing through: dirt spots, spots of damp. What happened to her for two hundred years? Dropped in a puddle on the market, carried on carts, kept in stock. What is it - like a chocolate stain? Maybe the kids got dirty. Whose, when - no one knows.

I ask you to show the blue bound volume at random: 1596, published in Venice. Perfect condition, almost no blemishes. In one place, a strange double slot, as if scratched with a pin.

“Worm,” Melanina states. - They love rice paper. Just keep in mind - she suddenly remembers - this is not our worm! This is a sixteenth century worm! We have conditions here that nothing lives. In the sense of nothing that can spoil a book.

- And maybe still give the collection? - I ask. - What do you think?

“My opinion coincides with the opinion of the director of the RSL and the position of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” says Melanina, locking the iron door. - These are indivisible, inalienable library funds. But if there is a government decision, then give it away.

Igor Filippov, whom I also asked if the library could be given to the Hasidim, explained that from the moral point of view of the book, of course, they need them most of all.

“But there is a legal side to it,” he added. The collection’s affiliation with the RSL is confirmed by both the Arbitration Court and federal laws. I believe that this case should be considered by our civil court. And when the Hasidim put pressure on the president, the prime minister, the minister of culture, on Lavrov, it looks strange. All they need is to appeal the decision of the Arbitration Court of 1992, which is still in force.

Opinion matured Coming out of the library, I called the head of the Russian movement "Chabad" Itzhak Kogan.

“Rabbi Kogan,” I said. - What, in the end, is happening with books?

“Native,” answered Kogan, “finally, in connection with this whole process, the opinion at the highest levels has matured that it is necessary to transfer them not to the American Hasidim, but to the Russians.” After all, the whole process takes place at our highest places - in Russia and in the USA.

- Why didn't you appeal the decision of the court of 1992?

“Then they promised us that the books would be returned.” And we waited.

- Until 2006? - What to do? Moreover, in 2000, when a new center was opened in Maryina Roshcha, books from the library were transferred there. 28 passed, and the process stopped.

- When do you think this story will end? - Not tomorrow. This is a struggle for the shrine, which lasts 98 years. People still do not understand what is related to spiritual relics. Perhaps the restructuring is not over. All Alex, that's enough.

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