Ramash, Menachem Mendel Schneerson and His Mission
By Sholem Aleichem
On the subject of GULAG Victims of the Schneerson Family and Sound No. 3 - Sholem Aleichem: On Cultural Memory.
No doubt in my mind that Ramash wanted to downplay disasters of 20th century Holocaust, Gulag and Ukrainian pogroms. He didn't think US Jewry could handle this. Boy was he dead wrong. The holocaust was the greatest shot in the arm for Jewish identity in the US. More than Israel.1 In the long run Israel has little effect on most US Jews under 40.
As such, he also wanted to forget secularization of ALL of East European Jewry but especially White Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, and even without regard to the Soviet rule. Though, the Soviet rule added coercion to this. Of course, these were the very Chabad playing fields. In 1918, the key ideologies in the above places were Marxism, Zionism, mixtures of both, and ideologies like Territorialism, Folkism, Anarchism and assimilation. Orthodox Judaism was strong among the older generation and Yeshivish world and the large number of clerics, but even there men like Rabbis Reines, Tamares, Kook, Alexanderov and others lesser known who saw the need for reimagining Judaism. A quick perusal through lexicon of Religious Zionists reveal hundreds of such men like Rabbi Glasner in Romania.
Ramash wanted to start all over and wipe the slate clean. But in fact, how can we wipe the slate clean? The elders of Chabad knew the truth that this was not Chabad but a one-man show business of American PR and Propaganda. They were powerless.
Long speeches, constant new missions and goals to keep the troops busy and upbeat. Bobe mayses to keep the morale high and bittul of all other Orthodox modes of life like Yeshivas, Lakewood, other Chasidic modalities. Men like Rabbis Hutner and Soloveitchik were treated with humor. PR picked up TV, radio, computer and worldwide travel of conscripts. Chabad history was heavily redacted2, and no one knew better. Frankly, the Rebbe didn't want classic Chabad people around. Unlike Gerer Rebbe in Israel 1949-1977 who searched for survivors with Ger connection, Ramash was looking for the young, the brave and the gullible. Chabad theology was changed, no stress on meditative prayer or spiritual mission of the individual, rather the cookie cutter method and all hiskashrus.
See Sound No. 3 - Sholem Aleichem: On Cultural Memory.
I'm not saying that it should have happened, but once American Jews were made aware around 1978 by Weisel, Gerald Green miniseries, etc. Colleges are full of Holocaust curriculums. We all know anti-Semitism is the greatest fuel for Jewish identity. Most large communities have museums teaching institutes memorial programs, speakers, scholars in-residence. Every college, even 3rd rate, have Holocaust programs that are well subscribed. Most non-Orthodox young Jews either hate Israel, or at best harbor mixed feelings.
Let my critics read what Jewish life was in Germany after 1933 and better yet after 1936 a million times stronger than before 1933. Persecution generates Jewish identity. If Communists had not persecuted Jews, few Jews would remain. Besides anything I write, I lived through this era and I met dozens of fellow students, grad and undergrad, who got a Jewish identity because of Holocaust. It's a sad commentary on modern Jewish civilization, but true!
Rayatz played a bigger role in the redacted history, he might have created one.