By COLlive reporter
The Jewish cemetery in the Russian village of Lubavitch, home to the holy gravesites of the Tzemach Tzedek and the Rebbe Maharash, has undergone extensive and much needed renovations.
The renovations include the conservation of the gravestones, as well as the addition of fencing and lighting, and the building of a new access road and bridge to the cemetery.
A special event and visit to the site took place on the 15th of Elul, the day on which the fifth Rebbe, the Rashab, founded the Yeshiva “Tomchei Temimim Lubavitch” in 1897, the first to integrate the esoteric teachings of Chassidism in a formal study program.
During World War I, the Chassidic leadership left the village now known as Lyubavichi. The Jewish population of the village gradually declined and during World War II, the Nazis and their collaborators massacred 483 local Jews.
The mass grave where those Jewish victims were buried was visited on Sunday by a group of visitors from around Russia, Israel and the United States, who came to mark the completion of the first stage of renovations of the cemetery.
Rabbi Levi Mondshine, Shliach and Rabbi of the Smolensk region, spoke about the uniqueness of the building of the fence around the cemetery, which in the past received the attention of the Rebbe Rashab who asked for it to be built as a deed of true kindness to the deceased.
At the emotional event, philanthropist Yossi Popack, who is supporting the renovation effort, spoke of his grandfather, who was a graduate of Tomchei Tmimim in Lubavitch. Rabbi Yitzchak Shapiro of London, head of ESJF which is coordinating the renovations, described his organization’s work in preserving cemeteries.
Historical background about the cemetery was provided by Holon’s Chief Rabbi Yochanan Gurary and Rabbi Leibel Altein, Director of Heichal Menachem in Boro Park, Brooklyn.
Participants continued to the Ohel of the Tzemach Tzedek and Rebbe Maharash for a joint prayer for their families and Jews around the world. They then sat down for a seudas mitzvah meal and heard from Rabbi Yitzchok Yehuda Yaroslavski, head of Beis Din Rabbonei Chabad in Israel.
The project is being coordinated by the ESJF organization, in collaboration with the Geder Avos organization, and is being overseen by Rabbi Gavriel Gordon. Also thanked were R’ Moshe Rubin and R’ Mendel Levin of Crown Heights, for their assistance in organizing this effort.
Yossi Popack, thank you for your kind and large heart!
May Hashem continue to give you in abundance as is your generous heart and hand.
God bless Yossi Popack Such an incredible Jew!!
כל כבוד להשליח הרה״ח ר׳ לוי שי׳ מונדשיין יאריך ימים על ממלכתו. והרבה נחת מיו״ח.