Yated Ne'eman weighs in on Chabad's ativities in Vilna:
In 1994, Lubavitch expressed interest in sending a rabbi to
Vilna, and Mr. Alperowitz agreed. Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky
moved to Vilna, and established his own Chabad House. He
prayed in the community's Taharat Hakodesh shul on Shabbos,
and could not put together a minyan during the week. The
community did not offer him a rabbinical contract.…
After ten years of activity, his school had only 30 children
(7 of which were his own), and not one family had committed
themselves to shemiras hamitzvos. A social worker
involved for years with the community informed us that Rabbi
Krinsky had sent two girls to a Lubavitch school in London,
and mentioned that at most Rabbi Krinsky may have influenced
one or two more Vilna Jews to become slightly observant.
Rabbi Krinsky's social services were paltry in comparison to
that of the community: he sent 20 children to a Lubavitch
camp in Estonia, while the secular community sent 450
children to their own camp. Rabbi Krinsky claimed to help 150
people with his soup kitchen, while the general community was
helping 1,500 — including the same 150 helped by Rabbi
Krinsky.
Even more problematic were the scandals that hovered over his
enterprises. Rabbi Krinsky's soup kitchen was closed down
because it served contaminated food. A scandal erupted when
charges were made that he had stolen money from donors.
Creditors took over the first floor of his Chabad Center to
cover unpaid debts. (He is still embroiled in court cases
over debts.) He collected money around the world to maintain
the Jewish cemetery but never paid the $25,000 to the
community which was his share in the maintenance.
Krinsky has less than 30 die-hard followers within the
community, who are mostly beneficiaries of his food kitchen
or other activities. Of these followers, none have accepted a
Lubavitch way of life on themselves or can even be called
religious.… [Hat tip, Luke.]