Yosef mendelevich biography

Yosef Mendelevitch (or Mendelovitch) (Hebrew: 'יוסף מנדלביץ; born 1947 in Riga) is a refusenik from the former Soviet Union, also known as a "Prisoner of Zion".
Rabbi Yosef Mendelevich was a Jewish refusenik from the former Soviet Union, also known as a “Prisoner of Zion”.
Rabbi Yosef Mendelevich's tenacious struggle to keep Torah in Communist Russia is documented in his book Unbroken Spirit: A Heroic Story of Faith, Courage and.

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A TALE OF FREEDOM – HARAV YOSEF MENDELEVICH

Interview with former Prisoner of Zion, Rabbi Yosef Mendelevich, now Instructor of Jewish Studies at Yeshiva Machon Meir.

By Tzvi Fishman

As everyone knows, the Hebrew word Pesach means “to pass over.” Therefore, in
English, the holiday of Pesach is called Passover. This reminds us how Hashem
“passed over” the houses of the Jews when He smote the firstborn Egyptians in
the land of Egypt, thus bringing the Children of Israel out from oppression and
bondage to freedom. The word Pesach has another meaning as well. The Hebrew
word peh means “mouth,” and the word sach means “to speak.” Thus, on Pesach,
we speak about the miracles which Hashem performed for us at the time of our
redemption from Egypt, as He led us toward national freedom in Eretz Yisrael.
Our Sages teach that on Seder night, it is praiseworthy to recall other miracles of
our history, the times when we witnessed the “outstretched hand” of Hashem in
the life of our Nation, and in our own private lives.

In recent times, one such heroic saga of freedom is how

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Rabbi Yosef Mendelevich was a Jewish refusenik from the former Soviet Union, also known as a “Prisoner of Zion”. He was born in Riga and started his Jewish activities in the 1960s, forming a movement of underground Jewish education and becoming an editor of an underground newsletter “Iton”. Within the framework of the movement’s activities, at the age of 22, he participated in an attempt to hijack a plane, an act designed to raise awareness about the desperate plight of Soviet Jews. He was arrested before the plane ever left the ground and served 12 years in the Soviet gulag. Released in 1981, he flew immediately to Jerusalem, served in the IDF, earned a master’s degree in Jewish history, and became a rabbi. Rabbi Mendelevich teaches Talmud at Machon Meir in Jerusalem.

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Yosef Mendelevitch

Yosef Mendelevitch (or Mendelovitch) (Hebrew: 'יוסף מנדלביץ; born 1947 in Riga) is a refusenik from the former Soviet Union, also known as a "Prisoner of Zion" and now a politically unaffiliated rabbi^[1]^[2] living in Jerusalem who gained fame for his adherence to Judaism and public attempts to emigrate to Israel at a time when it was against the law in the USSR.

Biography

Mendelevich was born in Riga and started his Jewish activities in the 1960s. He formed a student group of underground Jewish Education in 1966 and became an editor of an underground newsletter Iton on Jewish issues in 1969. Being repeatably refused the right to immigration, he became one of the leaders of the Dymshits–Kuznetsov hijacking affair, recounted in his 2012 memoir, Unbroken Spirit. As punishment, he was imprisoned for eleven years. During the imprisonment he was punished for keeping Jewish precepts. In 1981, after a worldwide struggle, he was released and immigrated to Israel.

He served in Soviet prisons with famous Jewish dissident Nata