After decades of intensive international efforts to retrieve the Rebbeim’s library, which remains held in Russia, an initiative is underway to enlist the support of the U.S. President, Israeli Prime Minister, and Argentine President to apply coordinated pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin, creating a “rare window of opportunity.”

By Anash.org reporter

After decades of intensive and international efforts to retrieve the archive of over 12,000 seforim and rare manuscripts of the Rebbeim, known as the “Schneerson Library,” currently held in Russia, Chabad is intensifying its efforts with a dramatic new initiative. An initiative is underway to enlist the support of U.S. President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and Argentine President Javier Milei to apply coordinated pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin, creating what is being called a “rare window of opportunity.”

The renewed push follows a recent ruling by a Washington D.C. court, which overturned a lower court’s decision that had authorized the seizure of Russian assets in the U.S. in response to Russia’s refusal to return the library. Chabad is now preparing an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Schneerson Library is no ordinary archive. Compiled over hundreds of years by the Rebbeim, it contains thousands of seforim, handwritten manuscripts, and personal letters.

Despite isolated returns of a few items – either as political gestures or recovered from black market sales – the overwhelming majority of the manuscripts remain in Russia, with some even appearing at auctions.

The Rebbe spoke passionately and repeatedly about the utmost need for these treasured seforim to return to their rightful home, and the Rebbe personally led the efforts to retrieve them. Over the years, Chabad has involved a wide array of political leaders, oligarchs, and diplomats to secure their return. At one point, 100 U.S. Senators signed a joint letter to Putin urging the release of the library. In the 1990s, Vice President Al Gore, during a visit to Russia, personally received one volume of the Tanya, which was delivered to the Rebbe. Yet the rest of the collection remains locked away.

The Kremlin, on the other hand, has long claimed the library as part of Russia’s “national heritage,” and while parts of the library were transferred to Moscow’s Jewish Heritage Museum, Russia has nonetheless consistently refused to return them to their rightful home.

Over the years, Chabad representatives and their allies have met with Russian leaders – including Boris Yeltsin, Mikhail Gorbachev, and even Vladimir Putin. More than a decade ago, a special summit was held in Helsinki, Finland, which resulted in an understanding that the library would finally be returned. However, Russia withdrew at the last minute, leaving the Chabad delegation deeply frustrated.

Agudas Chassidei Chabad has since filed a lawsuit in a Washington court, which ordered the seizure of Russian assets in the U.S. worth hundreds of millions of dollars – alongside imposing a daily fine of $50,000 on Russia until the return of the manuscripts stored in the Lenin Library in Russia.

[This was in addition to an appeal to Israel’s Attorney General, Gali Baharav-Miara, requesting a freeze on the transfer of property ownership in Jerusalem to the Russian government—including the Alexander Nevsky Church in the Old City – demanding that any such transfer be conditioned on the return of the library.]

Recently, however, the Washington court accepted the petition of the American companies holding the Russian funds that were supposed to be seized and overturned the lower court’s ruling.

Despite the recent legal setback in Washington, Chabad is moving ahead with plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court – and at the same time, is ramping up diplomatic efforts.

Activists have brought in associates of Argentine President Javier Milei and members of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s inner circle to launch a joint initiative. The goal is to coordinate a unified appeal from Netanyahu and Milei to Donald Trump, urging him to join them in pressuring Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

Working groups made up of Chabad representatives and close advisors to both leaders have already begun meeting to move the plan forward.

A rare opportunity for unity has emerged, and some are pointing out that both the U.S. president and the Argentine president have close ties with the Chabad movement. Within Chabad, there’s growing optimism that the involvement of these three leaders could mark a turning point in efforts to return the sacred manuscripts to the movement.

“A new opportunity has come up recently, which is expected to be raised during President Milei’s upcoming visit with Netanyahu,” a Chabad source said. “The meeting presents a rare chance to unite three world leaders – all of whom have past involvement, each in their own way, in the campaign to retrieve the Schneerson collection from Moscow.”

Beyond this, Chabad is activating additional channels – specifically, influential figures in Arab countries that signed the Abraham Accords. The hope is that their close relationships with the Russian leadership might help further the cause.

“Following the Abraham Accords, we’re now leveraging connections with individuals in Arab countries who have business and religious influence in Russia,” said the Chabad source. “This combination of forces hasn’t been tried before, and it’s expected to be put to the test again soon.”

“There’s no historical precedent for a struggle like this,” Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Aharonov, head of Tzach in Eretz Yisroel and very involved in the decades-long campaign, put it bluntly. “World leaders, billionaires, media figures, and influencers – all mobilizing for the sake of holy books. And yet every Russian president since the fall of the Iron Curtain has personally refused. It defies logic. This is a heavenly resistance – and therefore, the victory will be heavenly too.”

“In 2025, we’re seeing world leaders – some not even Jewish – publicly declaring that the Rebbe influences their decisions and their lives,” Rabbi Aharonov added. “That’s astonishing. These are people who never met the Rebbe, yet they feel a deep connection to his spirit, his vision, and his mission. It’s deeply moving.

“This isn’t just a collection of artifacts – it’s a living soul. The Rebbe spoke of this library as part of the very soul of the generation. The damage caused by its captivity is a wound to the entire Jewish people. We will not rest until every page is returned to its rightful place.”

“This fight is about more than books,” Rabbi Yosef Nissan Cunin, son of California’s head shliach Rabbi Shlomo Cunin and one of the figures involved in the campaign, said. “It’s a confrontation with a regime that, for generations, has tried to erase Jewish identity through theft, terror, and repression.

“These are the very books our Rebbeim were imprisoned for. The Alter Rebbe was jailed for printing Tanya. The Frierdiker Rebbe was sentenced to death by the Soviets for teaching Torah – miraculously released. And now? That same oppressive spirit continues under a different flag. They call it national heritage. We call it what it is: spiritual plunder and cultural hostage-taking.

“These manuscripts are not symbols – they are our soul. The lifeblood of generations of Jewish resilience and survival. And yet, while claiming to protect them, Russia has allowed parts of the collection to leak into black market auctions. That’s a moral disgrace.

“This fight is far from over. If anything, it’s only just begun. The latest court ruling may have slowed one path, but it opened another. We’ll pursue justice in the Supreme Court, in Congress, in every legal chamber, and world capital that will listen. These texts are not negotiable. They’re not forgotten. They’re not for sale. And we won’t stop until every single page of the Schneerson Library is home again.”