Did Chabad Censor A Historic Picture Of Its Rebbe?

A rare 1936 ESTP school registration picture of the late Lubavitcher rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, was published yesterday. But did Chabad alter the picture? Was the yarmulke added in by Chabad? As you can see in the full size image posted below, it was.

This is the Rebbe's ESTP school registration photo (circa 1936, Paris, France) posted by Chabad.info yesterday. As you can see, the yarmulke was photoshopped in by Chabad. In the real photo, the Rebbe is bareheaded – and bald. Here's Chabad's doctored picture:

Chabad does this type of distortion of history to protect the "honor" of the Rebbe – and to promote the official image of him to hasidim.

What the picture shows, however, is that the Rebbe did NOT trim his beard at the time the photograph was taken. The lack of a yarmulke was mandatory. All official registration pictures were taken bare headed.

That said, I can now publish for the first time in history the photo the Rebbe had taken immediately after the official photo. It has for years been held under close guard in a vault in Chabad's main library in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. It was stolen from the Chabad library late last week. (Yudel, that isn't me in the security cam video. Really. It isn't.)

This is what the Rebbe actually dressed like in Paris. It helps explain why ESTP threatened to expel him due to poor grades, and it may also be the reason why B.G.'s diary (great reading, by the way) often refers to the Rebbe simply as "Dude":

[Hat Tip for Chabad's faked yarmulke photo: I'm A Planet!]

Comments

[Steve from Brooklyn]

Purim is around the corner.

[Eli]

I think this was the guy I identified in a police lineup after being mugged in Brooklyn.

[Korbendallas72]

And the Records Department, after all, was itself only a single branch of the Ministry of Truth, whose primary job was not to reconstruct the past but to supply the citizens of Oceania with newspapers, films, textbooks, telescreen programmes, plays, novels -- with every conceivable kind of information, instruction, or entertainment, from a statue to a slogan, from a lyric poem to a biological treatise, and from a child's spelling-book to a Newspeak dictionary.

[Hal]

It's quite funny. He's wearing the velvet yarmulka. Did they have those in the 1930s in Europe?

[Sarek]

There's your problem: the BoSox cap. If it had been a Yankee cap, all the future problems in the sect would have been avoided.

[Steve K]

How do you know the pic was doctored?
It may or may not have, since we don't see the original.In any case, I don't think it's the end of the world, obviously if the pic was bareheaded it was not out of chice

[Sarek]

oops, sorry, it's a Brooklyn cap. Same explanation.

[Steve K]

chice*
choice

[There is nothing new under the sun]

This is very old news already published in Deutsch's Larger then Life.

Who is B.G.? Ben Gurion? What is the name of the diary.

[Josh]

Big news. I hope the New York Post gets on this scandal and gives Failedmessaih the credit.

[There is nothing new under the sun]

"I hope the New York Post gets on this scandal"

Josh why do you want them to get a hold of it?! Presumably you are Jewish. Even if you are not Chabad it will still reflect badly on you. Even if you are secular many people will still include you in their stereotypical description of Jews.

[David]

To my recollection, the ones posted in Larger Than Life were different photos. Here is one of them http://failedmessiah.typepad.com/failed_messiahcom/images/rebbe_no_yarmulke.jpg

I remember him publishing another one from, IIRC, a visa application for when he visited Paris to retrieve his mother in the 40s.

[zuravitzer]

that's what happens when the idiots at chabad.info decide what is acceptable to print and what is not.
The pictures have been in the possession of Chabad for a few years now, and they are not planning on releasing them, even when the trimming the beard allegation was on the hot burner.
Shmarya, i respect you for pointing out the full beard, but I think it deserved the headline.

[Sol]

Josh why do you want them to get a hold of it?! Presumably you are Jewish. Even if you are not Chabad it will still reflect badly on you. Even if you are secular many people will still include you in their stereotypical description of Jews.

Posted by: There is nothing new under the sun | February 17, 2012 at 01:06 PM

The idea is to discredit Chabad, so I too wish the Post gets a hold of it!

[David]

I did not know that the Rebbe was bald.

[ah-pee-chorus]

I did not know that the Rebbe was bald.

thats OK , his chassidim dont know he's dead.

[Shmuly]

How do you know, Shmarya, that it was doctored??? It doesnt look doctored to me. Maybe bring some proof please! (like REAL journalists tend to do...)

[rebitzman]

@Shmuly

It's not even GOOD PhotoShop work, which shocks the heck out of me because Chabad is usually top shelf when it comes to digital media.

[KJ]

How do you know, Shmarya, that it was doctored???

To me the baseball cap one looks doctored. The entire picture is blotchy and granulated (notice the suit) but the cap looks like it was photoshoped in.

[dh]

ah-pee-chorus = hil-ar-i-ous

[Haimish McHorny]

You post a pic with a claim it's been photoshopped.

How about some supporting evidence?

Some of us are reading this on an iPad between parties. Don't frigging make me work on shabbos koidesh!

[Litvish]

What about the picture of the rebbe in the whorehouse in Paris?

He is not wearing his yarmulke there either.

[Chicago Sam]

Litvish,

He was wearing a different kind of yarmulke in the whorehouse for a different kind of head . . . (Only kidding)

[ah-pee-chorus]

dh-

thanks!!

[zoobiemanyak]

Religious Jewry is such a fucking stupid joke!

[Maskil]

Who is B.G.? Ben Gurion? What is the name of the diary.

Posted by: There is nothing new under the sun | February 17, 2012 at 12:52 PM

B.G. = Barry Gurari (the Rayatz's first son-in-law).

[Maskil]

(Correction: son of the Rashag, the Rayatz'a first son-in-law, and thus the nephew of the late Rebbe's wife.)

[Maskil]

Shmarya: this is the passport photo, not the admission photo.

[Mike W]

Rebbe's bean in the raw.

http://rabbisedley.blogspot.com/2008/01/lubavitcher-rebbe-as-real-person.html

[dan]

what's the problem to make an offical picture without headcovering?
I am disgusted from the picture with the baseball cap... since when is it ok to make fun of other people? it's fully despicable what is done here! low level journalism driven by hate feelings. it's one thing to be disapponited by a movement and to feel bad about what they did to oneself, but now to go on the way of making fun of others is really too far, it's just despicable to make fun of other people and joke about them, even if it is the Rebbe, which seemingly is not a very liked person by the owner of this blog. this went to far and its time to remove this hateful and despicable thread. Warning: i am not chabad!

[ah-pee-chorus]

Mike W-

it leads here...

http://mentalblog.com/2004/11/lubavitcher-rebbe-rabbi-meachem-mendel.html

dan -

whats despicable is when people intentionally try to mislead by photoshopping a picture without a kippah into one that does. that is deceptive and meant to create fictional history.
the baseball cap OTOH isnt meant to fool anybody and is using satire to mock the actions of those that are. and its damn funny.

[dan]

@ah-pee-chorus

of course it's also despicable to mislead people intentionally,
but anyhow

Mocking is very despicable and shows, that you actually are jealous of the other and feel yourself inferior to the one you mock ..

What anybody does, doens't make the action correct in itself.

[Eli]

ah-pee-chorus,
dan is right. What harm did fans of the Brooklyn Dodgers do to merit being mocked by such an association?
He was referring to them as the ones who should be offended, right?

[Bless Be Name of The Lord]

http://uploading.com/files/me5d5cdf/Book%2Bof%2BQestions%2Bst.Bridg

[charlie runkel]

Shmarya you are notoroious for trying to hurt people, even if they are no longer alive. As well it's pathetic that you obssess about other people's success and how to bring them down.

[Haimish McHorny]

Scotty my sun. You are worried about what's on chabad.info?

Have you actually read that shit on there? It's like being on a really heavy acid trip reading that stream of consciousness but am totally drunk posting style.

Photoshopping a picture is small beer compared to photoshopping reality...

[ah-pee-chorus]

: dan -

the pic doesnt mock him since all know its fake. it mocks the photoshoppers dishonesty. and they deserve it.

Eli -

maybe...lol

[ah-pee-chorus]

the pic also mocks those gullible enough to buy the hagiographic garbage said about the rebbe.

[Moshe MS]

Shmerel, your sense of humor is amazing! Did you actually come up with this hilarious joke yourself??

You are soooo coool!!!!!!!

Now my turn to make a funny; Shmaryah blogs while sitting ion the toilet, that is why all his posts are crap!! see we are both so hilarious!!

[Shtam a Fellow]

What a cesspool of idiots here - basically a bunch of lowlifes that have nothing of significance in their sorry lives.

So to post ridiculous jokes like litvish and chicago sam is so pathetically sick - I pity more the chosen nicknames as even a Litvish dude has 100 times more brains than you do, and admiration for Chabad - as for Chicago nn - what can I say the windy city in a firestorm is better then your horrible dribble.

I can truly say as unhappy as you guys are - it is indeed criminal to post such obnoxious and depraved comments. regardless of the motives - and nothing can justify it whatsoever. I can only picture it now - unemplyed or low low salary - def. divorced or unmarried - totally insecure around humans -- and most likely have illegal "issues" including skeltons in the closet!

I truly don't believe you guys even fathom the chilul hashem forget chilul lubavitch even - nor do you know the true meaning of it or life period.

Unfortunately Shamrya just falls into the same cesspool by allowing these comments to remain posted. Doesn't say much for an otherwise bright bulb to let this altogether be on-line but then...sensationalism sells.

Bottom line - while Chabad is far from perfect as any sect or person is - and with all its faults - I'd still rather be associated with a group that feeds on positive actions and targets 99% of time in this sorry world of mayhem to try to help you and I in a multitude of ways.

[WoolSilkCotton]

WTF is a 'Chilul Lubavitch'?

If the truth is that the Rebbe didn't wear a yarmulke and he trimmed his beard when he was younger, and his wife wasn't really orthodox, why is that a source of embarrassment for Lubavitch?

[Litvish]

Posted by: WoolSilkCotton

Why should chabad feel embarrassed?

Because they are a pathetic cult that is so out of touch with reality that they can't accept the fact that their rebbes went without head coverings, were clean shaven, went to the Sorbonne, married women who had no interest in living like them, etc.

And now that this bozo is no longer handing out dollars at 770, they are reduced to an even more pathetic state, Breslovers without a sense of humor.

[Shtam a Fellow]

Because he def had a kippa on.

Only a ninkumpoop would think otherwise.

All the rest is BS - besides who cares? Like really do you/I really care?

[WoolSilkCotton]

Shtam, you are a brainwashed fool. Take a look at this photo:

http://mentalblog.com/2004/11/lubavitcher-rebbe-rabbi-meachem-mendel.html

He is not wearing a yarmulke. His beard is neat and trim. He is dressed up for some special occasion and is posing for the photo. It's not just a passport or ID photo.

[Zalman]

Enlarging a photograph and saying "it's obvious" does not constitute evidence. I photoshop images for a living, and this one is NOT obviously photoshopped:

1. The blacks match (first thing to look for)
2. The shadow below the yarmulke is accurate (one of the most difficult elements of photoshopping)
3. The distressing of the aged photo appears on the yarmulke (icing on the cake)

Now why don't all you armchair (read: completely ignorant) photoshoppers (including Shmarya) describe why it's so obviously photoshopped.

[Levi]

You guys have lost credibility when it comes to chabad. The rebbe never trimmed his beard. That lousy book (written by a person who represented Barry Gurary by the books) is the biggest peice of crapy research I have read in a while.

[ca]

Yawn

[Sholem]

where can we find the B.Gurary's book ?

[WoolSilkCotton]

Gotta love how the frumma give themselves gangsta nicknames.
Rashbag, Douchebag, they're all the same.

[Shalom]

Here is the original doc

http://soc.qc.cuny.edu/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/ESTP-%D7%9E%D7%9E%D7%A9-%D7%AA%D7%99%D7%A7-%D7%A6%D7%99%D7%95%D7%A0%D7%99%D7%9D-1937-1936.pdf

(from the Friedman-Heilman collection)

[A DIVINE WARNING]

Marm my words and I don't use mky words lightly here. But unless Shmarya takes this off fairly imminently, he will meet with a painful Divine justice. Whether hit by a truck or shot by his own gun G-d forbid, I don't know - but it will happen. I pray it doesn't. I pray he takes this off. He is playing with fire.

[Sholem]

To "A DIVINE WARNING" :
the shituf continues in chabad, i see; you think you're god! Go back to teheran!

[ruvi]

He happens to be the Only chasidic Rebbe who did not every trim or cut his beard....

Credit is credit is due...

WOuld you think he was Makpid on a beard throughout the entire war and he would not wear a Yarmulke??

Shmaya you need to stop making fun or nonsense things..

[dh]

DIVINE- It's sort of difficult to "marm" "mky" words when we can't discern the words we're supposed to marm. Shmarya already met with divine justice: he has to deal with smegma such as yourself and your tautology...plus the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles.

Threats will only mute your voice. Marm my words.

[Eli]

DIVINE, I hereby accept to receive the full retribution, the terrible "I don't know", on behalf of Shmarya.
I'm here waiting for....
Wait, I hear a noise outside.
I'll report back later...

[Eli]

Nah, it was just the neighborhood kids kicking a trash can.
Guess there's no god (or G-d) after all.
Hahahahaha. Joke's on you!

[Eli]

DIVINE,
ps: your rebbe is not resting, pining for the fields, and he wouldn't go voom if you put 4,000 volts through him. He's a dead rebbe.

[haim bin]

I had a dream last night, in my dream I was told to pass on this message to all those who make this blog:

"We see all that you do, and we know all that you do"

[Eli]

Moron,
MLK jr had the dream.
What you have is a delusion about a dead guy.

[ZIY]

I suspect that this photo was "borrowed" (i.e. stolen) by a Lubavitcher who went through the ESTP records a while ago - for, by the time Menachem Friedman went to look at them for his (& Heilman's) book, only the documents were there but the picture was gone (see the photos & docs online relating to their book). Hence, it took some time for this picture to surface, & without clear provenance. (Was this picture obtained legally from ESTP??? One should find out...)

Photoshopping yarmulkes began with the NKVD file photos of the Rebbe's father, R' Levi Yitzchak. One photo appeared in the 1970s (I think), to which they added a clumsy yarmulke. Another surfaced right after the fall of the USSR, ca. 1991. To this image too, they added a yarmulke, though better looking. (I vividly remember the Rebbe in his car on Kingston Avenue, staring out of the window to Drimmers/Rimlers Judaica store, which had this newly revealed picture in the window, with the photoshopped yarmulke). If you look through "Lubavitch v'Chayaleha" you will find quite a few of the chasidim with added yarmulkes.

In 1958 or so, when Rabbi Gershon Mendel Garelik was preparing his travel documents to go on shlichus to Italy, the Rebbe asked him about it. When he told the Rebbe about taking his picture, the Rebbe asked, "With a Yarmulke?" & G.M. answered, "Yes." To which the Rebbe made some remark or hand gesture of surprise, meaning that the Rebbe was not familiar with the fact that the "rules" of official photo-taking changed & that one may now take a picture while wearing a head covering. [One can clarify the exact details of this with someone from the Garelik family.]

I add these comments here just to clarify details - despite the sometimes crass comments & low "humor" of some here (moderator included)....

[sruli]

what a chutzpa you have. have rispect for a nother jew please and this will bring the geula.

[sruli]

what a chutzpa you have. have rispect for a nother jew please and this will bring the geula.

[yank'l todres]

1 the proof that the rebbe never trimed or shaved is that once some one trims or shaves his beard grows faster (for those who trim or shave try it out)
to ZIY the picture of the rebbes father with a photoshop'd yarmulke was photoshopd because it is a jail picture and in the hitting and beating he lost his yarmulke on the way the reason why they added a yarmulke is because it is disrespectful
and to all those who put all those links with pictures of the rebbe with out the yarmulke the links didnt even work