‘Prisoner of Zion’ in 5 Towns for Shabbat

Rabbi Yosef Mendelevich, whose campaign for religious freedom from within the repressive Soviet Union inspired a generation of young Jews around the world, will visit the Five Towns this Shabbat.

The former Prisoner of Zion — he maintained Torah while surviving 11 years in the gulag of communist prisons and labor camps before emigrating to Israel — will make several public appearances on Saturday, and then participate in Sunday’s Celebrate Israel Parade on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.

Mendelevich, whose courage as a Soviet dissident in the 1960s and ’70s is described in the book, “When They Come For Us We’ll Be Gone,” will speak at three shuls, a private reception, and a Saturday night book signing.

On Sunday, he will appear on WABC77’s Religion on the Line program at 9:15 a.m., before joining with city officials and other dignitaries at the start of the parade.

The Five Towns is the first stop for Rabbi Mendelevich in a nationwide “Od Avinu Chai” (“Our Father Lives”) educational campaign designed to stimulate Yiddishkeit among young Jews, organizer Gavriel Gozland told The Jewish Star.

“Whether in full-time yeshivas, in day schools, or on college campuses, young Jews today face tough questions of identity and purpose,” Gozland said. “We must transmit spiritual strength to the younger generation, and there is no better ambassador and teacher than Rav Mendelevich.”

Rabbi Mendelevich’s Five Town appearances begin with Kabalat Shabbat davening at 7:40 p.m. in the Stahler residence, 17 Beechwood Drive in Sutton Park, Lawrence. Men and women are invited.

Shabbat morning, Rabbi Mendelevich will daven with Congregation Shaaray Tefila, 25 Central Ave., Lawrence, and deliver the main drasha (biblical talk) at 11 a.m.

At 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, he will speak at the seuda shlishit (third meal) at Congregation Beth Sholom, 390 Broadway, Lawrence, at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday night, Rabbi Mendelevich will greet community members at the Central Perk Café, 105 Cedarhurst Ave., where he will autograph copies of his recently published “Unbroken Spirit: A Heroic Story of Faith, Courage and Survival,” an English translation of his memoir in which he reounts his struggle and victory against the Soviet regime.

In 1970, at age 22, already a veteran of the Jewish underground, Yosef Mendelevich participated in a daring attempt to escape the Soviet Union with a group of Jews on a small civilian aircraft.

Before the group could board the plane, the KGB arrested them all. The international uproar sparked by their trial in Leningrad trial resulted in the moderation of two death sentences.

Following the sacrifices of Rabbi Mendelevich and others, more than a million Jews eventually fled the Soviet Union.

Rabbi Mendelevich will address students in several yeshivas and day schools in New York and New Jersey during his five-day visit that begins in the Five Towns this Shabbat. “Educating young Jews about the beauty and majesty of Judaism is at the core of my being,” said Mendelevich.

Glenn Richter, former national coordinator of the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry, added:

“Yosef Mendelevich is a genuine Jewish hero. Hearing him speak and reading his book is a huge inspiration to overcoming life’s obstacles, deepening Jewish identity and loving the Land of Israel.”

For more on Rabbi Mendelevich and his activities in the Soviet Union, see the Jewish Bookworm column on page 14.