Statement by Chabad on Anti-Semitic Attack in Moscow

MOSCOW, Russia—We are outraged by the vicious anti-Semitic attack against Agudas Chasidei Chabad of the Former Soviet Union and those gathered in its Moscow Headquarters and Synagogue.

We join in with people of conscience around the world in condemning this hateful act, and send our prayers to those injured during the assault.

Victims of the despicable attack include Rabbi Isaac Kogan, who testified in April, 2005 before the U.S. Helsinki Commission about Chabad’s efforts to retrieve the Schneerson Collection of sacred texts from Moscow. Rabbi Kogan is a famous refusenik appointed by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, to be part of Agudas Chasidei Chabad of the Former Soviet Union. The other leaders of the organization are Rabbi Yosef Aronov, Rabbi Boruch S. Cunin, and Rabbi Sholom Ber Levin, who are now en route to Moscow.

Among those seriously injured and hospitalized is Rabbi Kogan’s son-in-law, Rabbi Michoel Mishulovin, who had emigrated with his family from Russia to Los Angeles in the 1970s, but recently returned to Russia to assist the Jewish community there. Rabbi Avraham Berkowitz of the Federation of Jewish Communities of the Commonwealth of Independent States has been aiding efforts to secure medical care for the wounded, with the assistance of Lev Leviev. Russia’s Chief Rabbi, Rabbi Berel Lazar, has been in touch with police authorities to ensure that justice is done.

Sadly, this assault is not the first instance of violence committed at the Agudas Chasidei Chabad Headquarters and Synagogue, which is located just 2 miles from the Kremlin on Bolshaya Bronnaya street. In April of 1992, the Synagogue was firebombed in middle of night while leaders of Agudas Chasidei Chabad were staying there, and numerous anti-Semitic attacks have occurred since then.

Today’s hateful crime only strengthens our resolve to carry on the Rebbe’s work in the former Soviet Union. We will redouble our efforts to win the release of the Schneerson Collection of sacred texts, and will not stop until it is returned to its rightful owners in the United States. Bottom of Form