Major Setback in Acquiring Chabad Seforim Detained in Russia

Great disappointment as a new setback in the long legal battle being waged over the Chabad Library in Russia due to the United States Overturning the sanctions previously placed on Russia.

By Anash.org reporter

The U.S. Court of Appeals overturned financial sanctions imposed on Russia, effectively blocking Chabad-Lubavitch’s ability to hold Russia accountable and force the release of the library to the Chabad center in New York.

“The long-standing lawsuit against Russia was filed by the Chabad-Lubavitch movement in the U.S. to reclaim religious property that was unlawfully confiscated by the Russians,” wrote the Court of Appeals. “Years ago, Chabad received a judgment against the Russian Federation along with an order instructing the return of the confiscated property. The defendants ignored this order, leading the district court to impose financial sanctions against them to be paid to Chabad. The sanctions have now accumulated to over $175 million and have become enforceable through interim judgments.”

The Russian appeal against the sanctions came after Chabad attempted to collect the money from the assets of three companies that, according to the Russians, are owned by Russia.

“We rule that Chabad is prohibited from doing so,” the Court of Appeals determined. “As a foreign state, the Russian Federation has sovereign immunity from civil lawsuits unless its immunity is waived under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. The district court believed it had jurisdiction over the Russian Federation. However, our precedents establish that the confiscation is not applicable under the circumstances of this case. Therefore, the district court does not have—and never had—jurisdiction over Chabad’s claims against the Russian Federation.”

The ruling is a disappointment for Chabad in its efforts to reclaim the library for many years. It is unlikely that Russia will release the library. The sanctions against Russia were the last hope to transfer the books to New York.

The Russian treasure consists of seven manuscripts from the Schneerson Library, a historical collection of 12,000 books, and 50,000 documents bearing the name of the Frierdiker Rebbe.

The Russian State Archive holds the collection at the Jewish Museum in Moscow. In 2013, a U.S. judge ordered Russia to pay $50,000 per day as a fine for not honoring the 2010 U.S. District Court ruling in Washington, which ordered the Russians to hand over the entire library to Chabad in New York. Russia insists that the library is part of its national heritage. In 2014, a Russian court demanded that the U.S. Library of Congress return to Moscow seven valuable Jewish journals, stating that the American library must pay a hefty fine for each day they do not return the journals.