Ancient Jewish Library Welcomed to Museum in Moscow

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Moscow's Jewish Museum and Tolerance Centre as an important collection of ancient Jewish books, the Schneerson library, arrived on Thursday. The President familiarised himself with the most valuable parts of the collection, which contains some 12,000 books and 50,000 rare documents dating from the 18th to the beginning of the 20th century.

The transfer follows years of debate with the New York City based Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic community who demand the return of the library. The movement argues they are the right owners of the books, as the author of the collection, Schneerson, headed the organisation after moving to the United States. However the transfer of the Schneerson library was welcomed by the Chief Rabbi of Russia, Berl Lazar, who called it a big day for Russian Jews.

Click Here for Aguch's (Agudas Chasidei Chabad) official statement on the matter.


Russia has maintained that it will keep the collection, saying that it is a state property and part of Russian culture. The matter got into the media spotlight in January after a US judge ordered Russia to pay $50,000 (€37,000) per day until it returns the library. The decision to move the collection to Jewish Museum and Tolerance Centre was proposed by Putin himself this year during a meeting of the Presidential Council for Interethnic Relations.

Moscow's Jewish Museum and Centre of Tolerance was opened in November 2012, with Israeli President Shimon Peres travelling to Moscow for its inauguration. It features several interactive displays regarding the Jewish peoples' long and tumultuous place in Russian history. Now home to the the Schneerson library collection, the museum's new library department operates as a part of the Russian State Library.