Memorial plaque to Kabbalist rabbi unveiled at Kyiv detention center

Unveiling of the memorial plaque at the Kyiv pre-trial detention center. Photo: JCC BEIT Menachem KYIV Facebook page

A memorial plaque to Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson (1878–1944), a prominent Jewish religious figure, has been unveiled on the grounds of Kyiv’s Lukyanivka pre-trial detention center. The ceremony was held on the anniversary of Schneerson’s death, according to the Chabad Lubavitch Kyiv community’s Facebook page.

Judging by the photographs, an entire room inside the detention center was allocated for the rabbi’s memorial. Mannequins dressed in NKVD uniforms were placed there, along with shelves of Jewish religious literature.

Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson served as the chief rabbi of Dnipro, was a renowned Kabbalist, and was the father of the seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson. In 1939, Soviet authorities arrested him for continuing his religious activities. The immediate pretext was his demand that the community be provided with kosher matzah for Passover. The rabbi spent 303 days in prison before being sentenced to five years of exile in Kazakhstan.

The installation of the memorial plaque was initiated by Kyiv Chief Rabbi Yonatan Markovitch and Kyiv Youth Rabbi Ariel Markovitch.

“This plaque is not merely an inscription on a wall. It is a reminder that even in the darkest times, there was a man who did not renounce his faith or his people,” Markovitch stressed.

As the UOJ previously reported, UOC clergy delivered Easter gifts to the Lukyanivka pre-trial detention center. During the Soviet era, the facility was used to hold political and religious prisoners, including members of various faiths who became victims of repression for remaining true to their convictions.

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