The rabbi who saved Soviet Jewry and reimagined American Judaism

Rabbi David Eliezrie's new biography, Undaunted, examines the life and impact of the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn. The book, discussed on JNS's "Think Twice" podcast, highlights Schneersohn's pivotal role in 20th-century Jewish history, despite often being overshadowed by his successor. Schneersohn led the resistance against Communist efforts to eradicate Judaism in the Soviet Union, enduring imprisonment and a death sentence. After escaping the Nazis, he arrived in the United States, where he championed the rescue of European Jewry and initiated an outreach approach to American Judaism, emphasizing engagement with all Jews. Eliezrie notes that Schneersohn also fostered engagement with Israeli society, stating, "We want to be engaged with that society. The previous rebbe told his followers everybody has to share in the defense of the country, that we have to go to the army."