Student Arrests In Russia Ignite Charged Chabad Battle

[Ian David]

Nathaniel Popper | Wed. Nov 07, 2007

The arrest of 13 American yeshiva students in Russia last week has sparked a vigorous war of words within Russia’s most powerful Jewish organization.

The students, all said to be between the ages of 18 and 22, were arrested last Friday in the provincial city of Rostov, roughly 1,000 miles south of Moscow, and charged with not having registered properly with local authorities. They were freed the following night and flown to Israel.

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“I am puzzled as to why they would be arrested in the first place,” said Mark Levin, executive director of NCSJ, formerly the National Conference on Soviet Jewry. “From what I understand, this is the first time in 14 years that visa violations resulted in people being thrown in jail.”

The incident has prompted an exchange of letters between top Chabad-Lubavitch officials that reveals significant rifts within the movement. In one letter, Lazar countered accusations from fellow Chabad rabbis that he somehow had been responsible for the arrests.

More:
http://www.forward.com/articles/11992/

The Lubavitcher is one more disgusting religious institution that I sincerely hope implodes and dies.