Kehot Reprints Historic Periodical

By COLlive staff

Kehot Publication Society is pleased to announce the publishing of the complete collection of the historic periodical Kovetz Lubavitch—the Lubavitch journal published in New York beginning in 1944.

Sub-titled “A Platform for Anash and Talmidei Hatmimim,” it was the official organ of the newly transplanted Chabad-Lubavitch movement, documenting the variegated activities of the sixth Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, and the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, in transforming America so that it be “no different.”

Kovetz Lubavitch reported on the global news of Chabad-Lubavitch and various columns reported on the ongoing activities of the Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch, Machne Israel, Yeshiva Tomchei Tmimim and Agudas Chasidei Chabad.

Each issue began with short excerpts from the recent talks of the Frierdiker Rebbe (and in later installments of the Rebbe), and concluded with reports on the engagements and weddings of the fledgling Chabad-Lubavitch community.

Perhaps the most unique feature of the publication was the column penned by the Rebbe, then referred to by his initials as “RaMaSh,” which featured the Rebbe’s responses to questions on all areas of Torah submitted by readers, with a special interest in Chassidic concepts and customs.

The column, entitled “Teshuvot U’Biurim,” revealed, for the very first time, the Rebbe’s erudite and vast knowledge of all areas of Torah, exoteric as well as esoteric.

Kovetz Lubavitch appeared during years 1944-46, and 1956-7. The official Lubavitch publication “Kovetz Hatomim” which appeared in Europe before WWII, contained some of the features that later appeared in Kovetz Lubavitch.

The elegant volume is a treasure trove of Chasidic History and Chasidic thought, and serves also as a sociological study of the early days of Chabad-Lubavitch in America.

The book can be purchased online at Kehot.com