Rabbi Eliyahu Essas (, , ''Ilya Tsvievich Essas''; born 1946) is a former leader of Soviet

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ry and one of the founders of

Baal Teshuva In Judaism, a ''ba'al teshuvah'' (; for a woman, , or ; plural, , , 'owner of return God or his way]') is a Jew who adopts some form of traditional religious observance after having previously followed a Jewish secularism, secular lifestyle or ...

movement in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. He lives in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. Essas became interested in Human Rights and Jewish cause, while studying Mathematics in

Vilnius University Vilnius University ( Lithuanian: ''Vilniaus universitetas'') is a public research university, which is the first and largest university in Lithuania, as well as one of the oldest and most prominent higher education institutions in Central and Ea ...

Refusenik

In 1973 he applied to the Soviet authorities to make

Aliyah ''Aliyah'' (, ; ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel or the Palestine (region), Palestine region, which is today chiefly represented by the Israel ...

to Israel. He was refused on the grounds of his wife having a security sensitive job. While living in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, Essas spent his time building an Orthodox Jewish Community. He created a network of

Torah studies Torah study is the study of the Torah, Hebrew Bible, Talmud, responsa, rabbinic literature, and similar works, all of which are Judaism's religious texts. According to Rabbinic Judaism, the study is done for the purpose of the ''mitzvah'' ("comma ...

, children underground education and summer camps. In January 1986, after political deals between Edgar Bronfman, Chairman of the

World Jewish Congress The World Jewish Congress (WJC) is an international federation of Jewish communities and organizations, founded in Geneva, Switzerland, in August 1936. According to its mission statement, the World Jewish Congress's main purpose is to act as ...

, and the Soviet authorities, Essas' family moved to Israel.

Later activity

In 1988, Essas stood for election to the

Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...

with the Degel HaTorah party. Since 1999, Rabbi Essas works for

Aish Hatorah Aish, formerly known as Aish HaTorah (Hebrew: אש התורה, lit. "Fire of the Torah"), is a Jewish educational organization. The focus of Aish is the spread of traditional Jewish religious teachings and culture to Jews around the globe, util ...

in Jerusalem and is a founder of the Jewish Russian website evrey.com

Bibliography

* Zakon, Miriam Stark, ''Silent Revolution - Story of Rabbi Eliyahu Essas and Russian Torah Network'' (Artscroll/Mesorah, 1992) * Learn Torah, Love Torah, Live Torah: Harav Mordechai Pinchos Teitz, the Quintessential Rabbi, by Rivkah Teitz Blau, Chap. 13 (Ktav 2001)

External links

Rabbi Essas' website
1946 births Living people Politicians from Vilnius Israeli Orthodox rabbis Soviet dissidents Soviet rabbis Refuseniks 20th-century Lithuanian rabbis 21st-century rabbis in Jerusalem Lithuanian Zionists Rabbis from Vilnius Soviet emigrants to Israel 21st-century Lithuanian rabbis {{Israel-rabbi-stub