Weekly Story: Helping the Jews in Uzbekistan and Georgia
by Rabbi Sholom DovBer Avtzon
My plan was to publish a booklet and give out in the shuls in Crown Heights another chapter excerpted from the upcoming biography on the Rebbe Rashab. However, being that for the time-being the shuls are not going to be opened, this Shabbos, I decided to post it, so this way at the Shabbos Mevorchim farbrengen that will be taking place in everyone’s house, you will have something to discuss about the Rebbe Rashab, whose 100th yahrzeit is this coming Friday, Beis Nissan. The Alter Rebbe taught us that a chassidishe farbrengen can accomplish more than malach Michoel. So during this farbrengen, let us all wish every Jew whether they are from our community or even in a different country that they be healed from this epidemic and that the epidemic stops completely.
Bezras Hashem, next Friday Beis Nissan I will post another segment from the biography.
Presently 575 pages have been written (with a little more to go) and is in midst of being edited. I thank all those who have reached out and partnered in making this become a reality. If you would like to participate please contact me. Thank you.
As noted above,[2] when the Rebbe Rashab traveled, he observed and took an interest in the material and spiritual well-being of the Jews in the countries he visited. We don’t know how involved he became in the welfare of those communities, but from his activities in the Sephardic communities of Uzbekistan and Georgia (Gruzia), we can see that the purpose of his interest wasn’t just to find out information, but to see if there was any way he could help them. To him, the welfare of every Jew was important, no matter whether he was chassidish or litvish, Ashkenaz or Sephardic.
In 5652 (1892), Reb Shlomo Yehuda Leib Eliezerov,[3] who was the Rov in Chevron, was sent abroad by the local Sephardic community to raise money for the Jewish community of Chevron. One of the areas he visited was Georgia (at that time in the southwestern part of the Russian Empire), and when he was there, he informed the Rebbe Rashab about his visit. In his reply, the Rebbe asked him to evaluate the (material and) spiritual situation there and see what could be done to improve it.[4] Indeed, Reb Shlomo Yehuda Leib gave the Rebbe a detailed report.
Five years later, in 5657 (1897), he traveled once again on a fundraising mission for the Chevron community, this time going to Uzbekistan (then known as Buchara, at that time an area in Russia further east). Seeing the lack of education there, he realized that a cheder and yeshiva needed to be established. After corresponding with the Rebbe, he decided to remain there and do this himself. However, understanding that the Jewish community might be skeptical of his involvement, as he was an Ashkenazi and they were Sephardim, he turned to the Rishon L’Tzion (Sephardic chief rabbi) in Yerushalayim, HaRav Yaakov Shaul Elyashar, for assistance.
It happened to be that there was no Rov in Uzbekistan at the time, so the Rishon L’Tzion appointed him as the Rov, on condition that he would rule in accordance with the rulings of the Beis Yosef.[5]
Reb Shlomo Yehuda Leib accepted the position for three years. In addition to establishing a cheder and yeshiva in the cities of Samarkand and Tashkent, he raised the level of shechitah, making sure the shochtim didn’t just know how to sharpen a knife properly and shecht but were also well-versed in the halochos.
Satisfied that everything was now in order, when the three years were over he returned to Chevron. But then, three years later, in 5663 (1903), he came to Uzbekistan again to raise funds, and the community convinced him to stay with them for a short while.
Then, in 5666 (1906), the Rebbe Rashab suggested that he return there once again. Reb Shlomo Yehuda Leib pleaded with the Rebbe not to send him there again for a third time. However, the Rebbe replied that it was imperative for him to go, so he remained there for another year.
In 5670 (1910), he came back to Russia from Chevron and stayed in Lubavitch for an extended period of time. Knowing that the community in Samarkand needed a Rov, he asked his nephew, Reb Avrohom Chaim Naeh,[6] to take his position for two years. Afterwards, in 5674 (1914), Reb Shlomo Yehuda Leib returned to Samarkand, as Turkey expelled all Russian citizens from Eretz Yisroel during WWI. He remained there until 5682 (1922), a few years after the Communist takeover, when he returned to Chevron.
While Reb Shlomo Yehuda Leib was taking care of the Bucharian Jews, the Rebbe also focused on the Jews of Georgia. In 5672 (1912), he sent the chossid Reb Schneur Zalman Altschuler to become the shochet there.
Four years later, shortly after the Rebbe settled in Rostov, a delegation of Jews from (the Republic of) Georgia[7] traveled to meet with him.[8] They requested from the Rebbe to send a Rov who would help elevate the spiritual level of their community. The Rebbe responded[9] that he would do so, and he wrote a letter to their chacham (Sephardic spiritual leader) confirming this.[10] A short time later, the Rebbe asked Reb Shmuel Levitin, who was then the Rov in Rakshik, Lithuania, to go there and strengthen the spiritual level of the community through opening a yeshiva and other activities.
Many of Reb Shmuel’s friends were surprised at this development. They wondered how it was possible for the Sephardic community in Georgia to accept an Ashkenazi Rov who didn’t speak their language, and they advised him to take a more prestigious position in Russia itself. To them, this was something completely out of the ordinary.
Besides for opening a yeshiva in Eretz Yisroel,[11] where there were many chassidim, the Rebbe had never sent someone to live in another country, with a different language and culture, to open a yeshiva there.[12]
However, Reb Shmuel responded that he was happy to go where the Rebbe wanted, and he would do it joyfully, not merely out of obedience.
Reb Shmuel arrived in Kutaisi (one of the main cities in Georgia) before Pesach of 5676 (1916), and he was warmly welcomed by the chief chacham, ____________.[13] Seeing the honor their venerable leader was giving him, all the Jews there accepted him, and he immediately set out to establish a yeshiva.
The Rebbe wanted to make sure that Reb Shmuel would not be stymied in his efforts due to financial difficulties, so he personally made sure to cover the expenses needed for his family. He also helped him out with the additional expenses of establishing a yeshiva and his other activities.[14]
As the yeshiva expanded, the Rebbe sent some bochurim and additional married couples to help out Reb Shmuel. The first chassidim to be sent were Reb Leizer Karasik and —. Later on he also sent additional Rabbonim, and they each opened a yeshiva in another city.[15]
Their success was phenomenal. The original students learned quickly, and they became the teachers for their neighbors’ children. No longer was it necessary to have someone translate what the rabbi or teacher was saying, as these new teachers spoke in their native language. The local Jews saw that the chassidim were not trying to take over the community. Rather, they wanted to raise the leaders of the next generation from the children of the community, and this solidified their respect.
In the short span of just a few years, over one thousand boys learned in the various yeshivos. Reb Shmuel’s yeshiva was in the largest community (Kutaisi) and had four hundred students.
This transformed the entire community. As the students became knowledgeable in halachah, they politely informed their parents that certain details in kashrus and other areas needed to be enhanced. Some of these students were taught the laws of shechitah and became the shochtim of the region.
When Uzbekistan and Georgia came under Communist control, for the first few years they did not wage war against religion there as they did in Russia proper, and the community’s activities continued openly until the mid-1920s. Then, Jewish activity was forced to go underground there as well.[16]
During his stay in Rostov, the Rebbe Rashab was considering to move out of Russia, and he therefore had his picture taken for a passport. He then instructed his family to begin packing up, and he even told them to sell the possessions that were no longer needed or would be difficult to take along. Then, after almost everything was packed, he informed them that he would be staying in Rostov.[17]
Rabbi Avtzon is a veteran mechanech and the author of numerous books on the Rebbeim and their chassidim. He can be contacted at avtzonbooks@gmail.com
[1] Most of the information in the first part of this chapter (dealing with the Jews of Uzbekistan) is based on the first few chapters of Admorei Chabad V’Yahadus Buchara, while most of the information in the second part of this chapter (dealing with the Jews of Georgia) is based on the first few chapters of Admorei Chabad V’Yahadus Gruzia.
[2] See above, “===.”
[3] His father was Reb Eliezer Shimon Kazarnovsky, a grandson of Rebbetzin Menucha Rochel Slonim, making him the Rebbe Rashab’s second cousin once removed. When he became the Rov in Uzbekistan (as will be related below), following their tradition of using one’s father’s name as a surname, he changed his name to Eliezerov (which means “the son of Eliezer”).
[4] See Igros Kodesh, vol. 1, p. 164.
[5] In cases of disagreement between the Beis Yosef (HaRav Yosef Caro, author of the Shulchan Aruch) and the Rema (HaRav Moshe Isserles), Ashkenazim generally follow the Rema and Sephardim generally follow the Beis Yosef. Since he would be serving the needs of a Sephardic community, he was instructed to follow the rulings of the Beis Yosef, although he himself was an Ashkenazi.
[6] He is most famous for his works Ketzos ha-Shulchan, Piskei HaSiddur, Shi’urei Mikveh, and Shi’urei Torah (Measurements of the Torah), in which he converted biblical measurements into contemporary measurements.
[7] One of Georgia’s main cities is Kutaisi, which is around 600 miles from Rostov.
[8] They were dressed in the garments of their country, and originally, when they came to speak with the Rebbe, the chassidim were afraid that they were Cossacks.
[9] They spoke in Russian and the Rebbe responded in Yiddish. His son, HaRav Yosef Yitzchok, served as the interpreter.
[10] Igros Kodesh, vol. 5, p. 59.
[11] See above, “==.”
[12] While the Rebbe had sent his cousin Reb Shlomo Yehuda Leib to Buchara, in the eyes of many there was a difference. There, the community originally asked him to stay for three years, and the Rebbe encouraged and instructed him to stay for longer. Here, by contrast, the Rebbe was sending someone the community did not know and had never seen, and they were fearful that the differences between Ashkenaz and Sephard might clash.
[13] It should be noted that before he arrived there, another Ashkenazi Rov, Rabbi —, a talmid of Reb Chaim Brisker, as Rov of Kutaisi for many years before Reb Shmuel’s arrival. However, that Rov was now quite old, and he didn’t have the energy to go from shul to shul and community to community to offer rabbinical services, as Reb Shmuel did.
[14] Igros Kodesh, vol. 5, p. 102.
[15] The following is a partial list of the yeshivos that were opened in Georgia and their teachers:
Reb Avrohom Levik Slavin in Kulashi, with two hundred students.
Reb Yisroel Zuber in Sachkhere, with one hundred students.
Reb Eliyahu Shmuel Kahanov in Akhaltsikhe, with one hundred students.
Chacham Bavli in Oni, with ninety students.
Reb Perlow in Satshini, with sixty students.
Reb Jayanshil in Surami, with eighty students.
Reb Limerson in Sukhumi.
Reb Shmaryahu Noach Sossonkin in Batumi.
Reb Gutnik in Tiflis (Tbilisi).
[16] This took place during the nesius of the Frierdiker Rebbe and will be discussed in his biography, b’ezras Hashem. However, it is interesting to note that the seeds of the communities in Uzbekistan which served as refuge for chassidim during WWII (Samarkand, Tashkent, etc.) were planted by the Rebbe Rashab.
[17] Shmu’os V’Sippurim, p. ==.
