Habad rejects Putin's idea

Suddenly. The American Jewish community Khabad rejected the idea of Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding the fate of the Schneerson library - a collection of Hebrew books and manuscripts, which was nationalized by the Bolsheviks in 1918 and the return of which was required by the Khabad (on January 16, the court appointed 50 thousand dollars of a fine for each day of production in the execution of this decision).

Putin on Tuesday stated that the library belongs to the Russian state, but suggested placing it in the Jewish Museum and the Center for Tolerance in Moscow.

The Chairman of the Board of the Museum Borukh Gorin said yesterday that this is a compromise that opens the opportunity for negotiations (although he stipulated a huge number of difficulties). At the same time, Gorin believed that the American community could agree to this compromise and withdraw a lawsuit.

But now, it turns out, this is not so. Nathan Levin, a lawyer of the American community of Khabad, sent a statement by the Associated Rress that the organization he represents is the full owner of the Schneerson library and that Putin’s idea is unacceptable: "The collection should return to the library at the headquarters of the Khabaklin international movement in Brooklyn, New York."

Tomorrow we will continue to understand what this turn means in the fate of Schneerson's long -suffering library.