This weekend marks 96 years since the arrest & liberation of Rabbi Y"Y Schneersohn in the Soviet Union. My new story @Chabad focuses on some important details of the story that are commonly overlooked. A thread 1/ https://t.co/l6ZcwZexoxchabad.org/library/articl…
Destroying religion was a fundamental for Lenin. “Millions of sins, filthy deeds, acts of violence and physical contagions … are far less dangerous than the subtle, spiritual idea of a [G‑d] … ,” Lenin wrote. In the 1920s the Bolsheviks decimated religious life in the USSR 2/

Can’t spend day playing whackamole with “enlightened” bigots, but it’s amazing the piece came out today, exactly 125 years since Yeshivas Tomchei Temimim Lubavitch was founded. T”T was designed to produce graduates like Mendel Futerfas, seen here in his 1947 KGB mugshot. 1 The Rebbe Rashab envisioned a Chassidic vanguard to stand against the overwhelming, violent forces of modernity represented by the revolution. There was a war on and the young people who’d be on the frontlines needed chassidus to face it head on. 2

Michael Steinhardt's hitpiece in the @nypost attacks me (& @HaMeturgeman) by name, illustrating the deep pockets & bullying behind Yaffed & anti-yeshiva forces, & what happens to parents like me who choose yeshiva education for their children & open their mouth in their defense.1 Whether or not this is Steinhardt’s attempt at refurbishing his tarnished image, he reiterates Yaffed’s goals: to get the state to *coerce* yeshiva parents to teach children what billionaire Steinhardt wants them to be taught. nytimes.com/2019/03/21/nyr… 2

I know it's not in vogue anymore, but maybe Jews still shouldn't drive German cars? This: "The Porsches have never publicly addressed the activities of their patriarchs during the Third Reich." and much much more in @davidthejong eye-opening piece. nytimes.com/2022/04/19/opi… More: "Take the Quandts. Today, two of the family’s heirs [are worth] $38 billion, control BMW, Mini & RollsRoyce... The family’s patriarchs, Günther Quandt & his son Herbert Quandt, were [Nazis] who subjected as many as 57,500 people to forced or slave labor in their factories."

In '96 Al Sharpton called the Crown Heights Jewish community "Ft. Apache in the black ghetto." As the 30th anniv. of the riots approached, it made sense to ask a simple question: Why indeed were the Jews still in Crown Heights? Thread of my @Chabad story 1
chabad.org/news/article_c… Sharpton and others always acknowledged that Crown Heights *had* once been a Jewish community, but the continued presence of Jews, most of the them Chassidic, was implied to be nefarious 2

My latest story on @Chabad is a real trip. During corona, the rabbi of Berdichev, Ukraine, decided to install heating under what was thought to be the floor of the mausoleum of the great Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev (1740-1809). Work began ... 1 chabad.org/news/article_c… With the Berdichev Rabbi Moshe Thaler's constant supervision, workers began digging. They hit a brick wall, beautiful and very old. Rabbinic experts advised Thaler to slow down and follow the path the wall took. Soon, a tiled floor emerged. Then four horizontal gravestones 2

I have a story out on @mosaicmag this morning about Ukraine's Jews. It's best encapsulated by the subheader: Caught in the middle of Russia’s hybrid war on their country, they need serious help—and nobody is listening. mosaicmagazine.com/observation/po… @mosaicmag It's a review of @SamuelSokol's valuable book on the Ukraine saga's impact on the country's Jews. While so much of the conversation has focused on antisemitism and geopolitics, there is a simple story to be told: the Jews of Ukraine are caught in a crisis not of their making.