Haaretz
Tamuz 16, 5765
Documents have recently come to light proving
that the youngest son of the founder of the Chabad movement, Rabbi Shneur
Zalman of Liadi, Russia, converted to Catholicism.
For 180 years,
the conversion of Moshe Zalmanovitch (son of Zalman) has been difficult
for Chabad hassidim and the hassidic world in general to accept. Now, it
will be difficult to ignore.
Rumors of the conversion of Moshe and
conversions in other Hassidic families were rife in the 19th century,
fueled by members of the Enlightenment who, in spite of their world view,
nevertheless excoriated such moves.
Chabad denied the rumors
vehemently over the years, presenting alternative versions of the life of
the rabbi's youngest son, a married father of four. But documents, copies
of which are in Jerusalem, prove the rumors true. The original documents
are located in the national historical archives in Minsk, the capital of
Belarussia.
Five years ago, Tel Aviv University historian Prof.
David Assaf wrote an article about Moshe for the Hebrew periodical Tzion,
surveying evidence proving and disproving the conversion.
Assaf
concluded that the facts were irrefutable: a conversion indeed had taken
place. However, he expressed the hope that in the rich trove of archives
in the former Soviet Union, undiscovered documents would shed more light
on the subject.
Assaf's hopes were fulfilled. Following publication
of his article, Hebrew University Prof. Shaul Stempfer searched the
archives, and found two files of documents that had once belonged to the
Catholic Church in the area of Mohilev in eastern Belarussia. The
documents, written in Russian, Polish and Latin, are devoted to Moshe's
conversion. The files were photographed by emissaries of the Central
Archives for the History of the Jewish People at the Hebrew University,
and archivist Benjamin Lukin allowed Haaretz to look at some of
them.
Letter to a priest
One of the most important
documents is a letter written by Moshe on July 1, 1820. It was addressed
to a Polish priest named Siodlovsky, in the Polish city of Ulla, where
Moshe lived after his marriage.
The 36-year-old Moshe wrote he had
long sought to become Roman Catholic.
He said the Jews had tried to
prevent him from doing so by watching him constantly, beating him and
threatening him. However, he wrote: "I have remained steadfast in my
desire to take upon myself the true faith of Jesus Christ, to which the
holy books and all the prophets testify."
The declaration was made
before Christian witnesses, officers and clerks, whose names and
occupations are noted in the document. They signed, certifying that the
writer of the declaration was "of sound mind."
Thus, Moshe son of
Zalman became Leon Yoleivitch.
Of sound mind? Opinions are divided
on that point, to put it mildly.
Jewish sources, even those who
deny the conversion, mainly agree that Moshe had suffered from mental
problems since childhood.
On the other hand, senior Catholic
figures who examined Moshe after his conversion tended to affirm the act,
claiming he had pretended to be insane for fear of the Jews.
Mentally unstable convert
Subsequently, the recently
discovered documents reveal, even the priests realized that the new
convert was mentally unstable, and sent him to the village of Lubavitch
where his brother, the rabbinic leader Dov Baer, was living. Eventually,
Moshe-Leon announced his intention to become Eastern Orthodox.
He
was brought to St. Petersburg where he became an adviser to the Tzar,
Alexander Nicolaevich Golitzin, whose vision was to convert the Jews.
After his mental state deteriorated, he was sent to a clinic for nervous
disorders in St. Petersburg, where he apparently died.
Assaf
believes it was Moshe's mental state that led him to convert. Were there
other motives, such as anger against his older brother, or pressure from a
Christian friend?
These and other questions are the subject of a
book written by Assaf that will be published this year. In any case, the
documents and testimony, old and new, shed fascinating light on the
history of the Jewish people in Russia.