Group of [14] original photographs affixed to an elegant period photo album from a special and unusual event – the establishment of the Kol Ya’akov yeshivah at the Great Synagogue in Moscow. Rare photos that are very unexpected from one of the harshest periods in Soviet Russia. 4 Shevat, 1957. We are unaware of any more remaining copies of these photos.
The photographs depict the magnificent Great Synagogue buildings in Moscow, and the yeshivah; their interiors and exteriors. They also depict the city rabbis and ritual items. The rabbis are all wearing thick beards – a most rabbinical image, to the extent that it is hard to believe that the picture was taken in the lion’s den of Moscow during the Khrushchev period, the climax of Jewish existential difficulty, just as darkness increases before dawn.
Khrushchev, who nearly started a nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis, tightened the iron curtain to the greatest possible extent – the few holes that had been in it were completely sealed. How, then, can these images show a living and vibrant Jewish community leading an exemplary social and religious life, in the midst of this dark period?
The answer is that the ‘Great Synagogue in Moscow’ seen in the photo album, the ‘Beit Yaakov yeshivah’ that was established next to it, and the event of its opening celebrations – these photos – were taken as a major part of the infamous Russian propaganda, which fictitiously presented to the world Jewish life in the Soviet Union as flourishing and vibrant, despite the terrible unbearable suffering that was the lot of the Jews there, as is well known. Admittedly, the many years of experience gained by the Russian system of propaganda and lies is evident in the photos, and indeed these are “perfect” photos in terms of their forgery.
The photographs show,
inter alia , the geonim Rabbi Shlomo Schleifer, rabbi of Moscow, who passed away about two months later, and Rabbi Yehudah Leib Levine, who succeeded him as rabbi of Moscow for many years. It is interesting to note that over the years, Rabbi Yehudah Leib Levine had been sharply criticized by Jewish figures living in free countries for his defense of the Soviet regime. The rabbi would deny the existence of antisemitism in the Soviet Union and say that “all restrictions on culture, works and similar matters have been removed, and Jews have the same rights that other nationalities have.” He said the accusations of antisemitism come from “slander and gossip” and are spread by “false prophets who try to spoil relations between governments.”
Many protested these remarks, but the Lubavitcher Rebbe, who himself suffered at the hands of the Communists, was almost the only one who understood Rabbi Levine’s motives, and the impossible situation for those inside Russia, and therefore encouraged him and ordered him not to leave his post. Dr. Nachum Goldman, President of the World Jewish Congress, also wrote that these reactions show “a lack of understanding of the delicate situation of the Jews of the Soviet Union, and especially of Rabbi Levine’s position, as he is trying to preserve Jewish life in Russia under difficult circumstances.” In this rare photo album we see what things looked like behind the scenes – behind the Iron Curtain.
[14] large original black-and-white photographs, 13×19 cm each, affixed to a photo album. A worn piece of paper is affixed to the album with Hebrew and Cyrillic script.
Very fine condition.