The Chabad-Lubavitch Hasid Who Became A Christian And Served As The Tzar's Chief Censor For Jewish Texts

A Chabad-Lubavitch hasid converted to Christianity out of desperation and became the Tzar's chief censor of Jewish texts and newspapers while still maintaining his Jewish identity.

The 5th Lubavitcher Rebbe Sholom Dov Ber Schneersohn, known as the Rashab

Originally published at 10:58 pm CDT 6-1-2013

His name was Rabbi Israel Landau. He was a hasid of the 5th Lubavitcher Rebbe Sholom Dov Ber Schneersohn, known as the Rashab. He was the Rashab's point man in St. Petersberg and an admirer of the famous Zionist poet Haim Nahum Bialik.

And he was two other things: an apostate who served as the Tzar's chief censor of Jewish texts and newspapers.

Ha'aretz reports.

Comments

[RWisler]

I don't know if Shalom Dov Ber Schneersohn demanded was as much of a demagogue as MM Schneersohn, but Mr. Landau probably couldn't stand the ignorance and hierarchical cultism inherent in Chabad's "court" and so became enamoured of the mysticism and intellectual scholarship inherent in Russian Orthodoxy. Alternatively, he could have been a simple opportunist!

[ah-pee-chorus]

Wow! what a crazy and fascinating story. thanks.

[Moshe]

Never saw such a clear picture of Rasha"b. Is it touched up?

[Edith]

You need to learn Chassidus to have a really clear picture.

[Shmarya Rosenberg]

Its the standard picture of him used by Chabad-Lubavitch for decades.

[SkepticalYid]

A Chabad-Lubavitcher became a Christian? That's redundant.

[Yochanan Lavie]

SY: You beat me to it!

[RWisler]

Yes Edith you really do need to learn chassidus to see what a sham idolatrous religion it really is. You can see its results in the demagogary and ignorance perpetrated by the Chabad sect. You can see its "refinement" and "intellectualism" in the deluded idolators that line up to receive dollars from an imaginary "rebbe". That's chassidus at its core.

[Gevezener Chusid]

Pretty lame apostate:

The only way he could survive in St. Petersburg, he reasoned, was to convert to Christianity. Although he became an apostate Jew, he remained, deep in his heart, a devoutly religious Hasid and continued to look the part with his short trimmed beard, earlocks, skullcap and long, broad kapota ‏(the long black jacket of members of Chabad‏); he would eat only in kosher restaurants. In fact, Landau sent his wife and only daughter, Menuha, to Switzerland so they could live as Jews without any external hindrances.

[Jake]

Lubavitch had direct connections to the Kremlin during the communist years. They were permitted to have a low key limited presence in te Soviet Union..

In fact members of the KGB would meet with the Rebbe per someone I studied with for awhile. He was waiting to meet with the Rebbe on business Israel /Mossad and he met Russian agents in the waiting room on three occasions. He actually went out to dinner with one of them.

Before I read the Gevener chassid s comment I was wondering if he was a plant by the rebbe. The conversos of Costa Rica had plenty of their sons become priests so they would know what was going on with the church .