Second Schneerson Will Boding Ill for Top Aides
Secret, Unsigned Document Now Emerges
By Jeffrey Goldberg
The Forward, June 24, 1994
NEW YORK — In what may prove to be a devastating blow to the fortunes of two of the late Lubavitcher Rebbe’s closest aides, a second, secret will left by the Rebbe has emerged that names a previously obscure rabbi as the top administrator of the Lubavitch movement.
There’s just one problem — for reasons still unclear, the Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, never signed the will, a copy of which was obtained by the Forward. Even though the Rebbe didn’t sign the 1988 document, any writings believed to come from the Rebbe himself are sure to be taken seriously by his thousands of followers, Crown Heights rabbis say.
The implications of the two-page, Hebrew document are startling: Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, the member of the Rebbe’s secretariat who has taken control of the movement in the days since his Rebbe died, is given only a minor role in the running of the Lubavitch movement. Also, the name of Rabbi Krinsky’s bitter rival in the fight for control of the movement, Rabbi Leib Groner, is nowhere to be found.
Mystery Figure
Though the will does not name a successor as Rebbe, the man designated by the will to be the most powerful administrative figure in Lubavitch is a rabbi unknown even to many Lubavitchers — Nissan Mindel, a Long Beach, Long Island, Chasid in his 80s who came to America in 1940 together with the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe — Rabbi Schneerson’s predecessor and father-in-law. Rabbi Mindel is largely unknown to the masses of Chasidim, even though he was one of the Rebbe’s closest confidantes, having helped him draft letters and writings and having translated the Rebbe’s work into several languages.
An aide to Rabbi Krinsky confirms the authenticity of the will but says that the copy in the Forward’s possession is a “very preliminary” draft. The aide, Zalman Shmotkin, says the will was later revised by the Rebbe, who then set it aside without completing it. Mr. Shmotkin refused to release the “revised” copy or discuss the exact nature of the revisions. Allies of Rabbi Groner, who could not be reached for comment, also say the will is authentic.
Rumors of the will’s existence have been percolating in Crown Heights for months, and rabbis are in a mad scramble to locate the signed copy many believe exists. Rabbi Groner’s allies are trying most strenuously to find a signed will, hoping to block Rabbi Krinsky’s so-far unimpeded rise to power.
Sources say that Rabbi Schneerson’s safe-deposit box in a Crown Heights bank has been emptied; no will was found, they said. Groner allies apparently believe that the son of one of the now-deceased rabbis who helped Rabbi Schneerson write the will is in possession of a signed copy. The only problem, sources say, is that the son is a member of the rival Gerer Chasidim and is resisting pleas to search his father’s papers.
It’s been almost two weeks since Rabbi Schneerson died, and although the widely expected battle for control of his movement is materializing, it hasn’t been much of a fight so far. Rabbi Krinsky landed the first blow — a public reading last week of the Rebbe’s “secular” will, an English-language document that names Rabbi Krinsky as executor of his personal estate. Being named executor is not the same thing as being named Rebbe, of course, but in the vacuum left by the Rebbe’s failure to name a successor, being named executor was better than getting nothing, which is what Rabbi Groner got.
Opening Salvo
Now, however, comes the second document, and scholars who follow Lubavitch’s Byzantine workings agree that Rabbi Groner’s allies are using it as their opening salvo against Rabbi Krinsky.
“The basic message is, ‘keep Krinsky out,’” says one expert, Professor Menachem Friedman of Bar-Ilan University in Israel. The Forward provided Mr. Friedman with a copy of the will.
In the simplest terms, the fight between Rabbi Groner and Rabbi Krinsky is a fight between the Lubavitch past and the Lubavitch future. While Rabbi Krinsky has opposed Messianic strains, Groner, while muted in his support of the movement that held that Rabbi Schneerson was Moshiach, was said to be sympathetic. Unlike Rabbi Krinsky, Rabbi Groner agreed to place a “Moshiach” bumper-sticker on his car.
The savvy Rabbi Krinsky has consistently outflanked Rabbi Groner in financial and administrative matters, and he has assiduously courted the press as well as Lubavitch’s well-heeled donors, even marrying his son off to the daughter of one of the movement’s most generous supporters, Joseph Gutnick, an Australian mining magnate.
Rebbe’s Vision
According to several sources, the will, or Shtar Tsava, was prepared with the help of the three rabbis who were closest to the Rebbe; Rabbi Chaim Hodakov, the Rebbe’s former chief-of-staff; Rabbi Isaac Piekarski, who headed the central Lubavitch yeshiva, and Rabbi Mindel. Only Rabbi Mindel is still alive, and it is he who is emerging as a crucial figure in the organization.
The will is written in a melange of rabbinic and modern Hebrew, and it is set out as an “as-told-to” letter; in essence, the document is a lengthy quotation from the Rebbe, as reported by the three rabbis.
In the will, the Rebbe lays out his vision of the group’s organization. He states that the three bodies that oversee all Lubavitch activities — Machane Yisrael, the social-service arm, the Mercaz L’inyanei Chinuch, or education branch, and the Agudas Chassidei Chabad, the central Lubavitch organization, or council — should continue to operate in the direction laid out by the Rebbe.
At Machane Yisrael, the Rebbe states that Rabbis Hodakov, Mindel and Krinsky should be in charge; at the education branch, he appoints Rabbis Hodakov, Mindel and a third rabbi, Menachem Mendel Simpson; at Agudas Chassidei Chabad, he names Rabbi Hodakov, along with two rabbis still living in Crown Heights — Rabbis Shneur Zalman Gourary and David Roskin. Rabbis Simpson, Roskin and Gourary could not be reached for comment.
The document also states that the “ma’amad,” monies collected by the organization, be split equally among the education branch, the social-service branch and the “secret bureau,” a subsection of the social-service branch that is believed to have run Lubavitch activities behind the Iron Curtain. It is not known whether the “secret bureau” still exists.
At the end of the will, Rabbi Schneerson states that should disputes arise over his meaning, “I empower Rabbi Hodakov, Rabbi Mindel and Rabbi Piekarski to solve the doubt, and so it shall be established.” Rabbi Mindel could not be reached for comment.