The Jews of Ukraine are finding strength these days at the site of a small-town grave – the resting place of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, also known as the “Ba’al HaTanya.”
In today’s Ukraine, the clash of war has faded somewhat; but economic hardships are now the everyday reality.
The “Alter Rebbe’s” resting place in Haditch, Ukraine, has become an increasingly sought-out destination for the country’s weary Jews.
The date of the Rebbe’s passing was this Tuesday, in 1813, and he is buried in Haditch, Ukraine.
The founder of the Chabad-Lubavitch Chassidic movement authored the seminal work on Chassidic metaphysical philosophy called the Tanya. Yeshiva students around the world learn this text, some starting from grade five, and many continuing throughout their lives, either in rabbinic seminaries, or at evening symposiums.
“The crisis weighed down on me,” Eduard Zhak of Dnepropetrovsk told Chabad.org. He added that Rabbi Schneur Zalman “was buried here in Ukraine, close to us Ukrainian Jews.
“How can we not go there?”