The opening of a permanent exhibit honoring the life and work of a historic Jewish leader drew many from Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, and beyond to the newly restored facade of the mystic’s home.
Presided over by Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Shmuel Kaminetzki, the city’s chief rabbi, the unveiling of a marble memorial plaque at 13 Barrikdnaya Street called attention to the life of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson, a Kabbalist and chief rabbi of Yekatrinoslav – Dnepropetrovsk’s former name – from 1934 until his 1939 arrest on false charges by Communist authorities. Father of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, Levi Yitzchak Schneerson passed away in exile in Kazakhstan in 1944.
He continued writing glosses on Torah subjects while in exile, using ink that his wife, Rebbetzin Chana, home-manufactured from grasses and roots she gathered in the fields.
Their home in Dnepropetrovsk – where a foyer now houses historic photographs and a selection of Schneerson’s manuscripts – was at one point slated for demolition to make way for an office complex. Developer Grigory Derevitsky changed his plans after an elderly Jewish man came to the construction site asking to buy and preserve the original doors.
Intrigued, Derevitsky called Kaminetzki, who explained the significance of the building, which for years was a stop among Jewish tourists.
“Of course, at this point,” Derevitsky told the crowd gathered at the unveiling, “it became obvious that the historical appearance of the facade had to be preserved, regardless of any difficulty, because of its heritage to our city and its residents.”
The doors which had set the preservation effort in motion now sit encased in glass in the foyer.
In addition to Kaminetzki, Israeli Embassy attaché Vladislav Krischanovich attended the ceremony, as did Grigory Korol, chairman of the local Jewish community, and staff from its Ohr Avner-Levi Yitzchak Schneerson Day School.
“I believe that this event is not only an act of historical justice,” said Derevitsky, “but it also demonstrates the unbreakable spiritual connection between times and generations.”
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