Rice Backs Return of Chabad Religious Texts From Russia

Secretary of State nominee Condoleezza Rice said at confirmation hearings yesterday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the State Department will press the Russian
Federation to return rare and irreplaceable religious texts to Agudas Chasidei
Chabad of United States, a Jewish religious organization. "We will very much
push on those issues and issues of the Schneerson documents," said Rice. "We
need to pay attention in Russia to what is happening to individual rights as
well as religious freedom," she continued. Her comments came in response to
questions by U.S. Senator Norm Coleman about the return of Chabad's library
and archive, which are being held at the Russian State Library and the Russian
State Military Archive.

In recent weeks, Members of Congress, in a bi-partisan effort, have been
urging Russian President Vladimir V. Putin to release the religious texts to
Chabad. In a letter dated December 15, 2004, Senator Coleman urged President
Putin "to uphold the commitments made by the government of Russia" to return
the books and archive to Chabad. Similarly, on December 16, 2004, Congressman
Tom Lantos stressed that the Russian government's "unreasoning refusal" to
return the religious texts to Chabad "disregards the basic principles of human
rights, respect for religion and the pursuit of faith."

On November 9, 2004, Chabad filed a lawsuit in federal court in Los
Angeles against the Russian Federation, the Russian Ministry of Culture and
Mass Communication, the Russian State Library and the Russian State Military
Archive. The suit asserts violations of international law and seeks an order
preventing the sale or destruction of the collection and its immediate return
to Chabad's central library in New York.

Chabad is represented by attorneys Marshall B. Grossman, Seth M. Gerber
and Jonathan E. Stern of Alschuler Grossman Stein & Kahan.

Chabad is headquartered in Brooklyn, New York with over 2,700
international branches; it is the largest Jewish organization in the world
today. Founded in 1772 by Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, "Chabad" -- a Hebrew
acronym for "Wisdom, Understanding and Knowledge" -- is a philosophy of study,
meditation, and social outreach that bridges rigorous academics with proactive
community involvement. Inspired by seven generations of illustrious leaders
beginning with Rabbi Schneur Zalman, Chabad has consistently been at the
forefront of Jewish education and community activism. The work of the
Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who assumed leadership of
Chabad in 1950, is legendary. Motivated by a profound love for humanity and
spurred by boundless optimism and dedication, the Rebbe lifted the global
Jewish community from the ashes of the Holocaust, launching an unprecedented
range of Jewish institutions, outreach programs and social services.

The religious texts that Chabad seeks to retrieve consist of rare and
irreplaceable books, archives and manuscripts on Chabad philosophy, Jewish
religious law, prayer and tradition. Over 12,000 books and 381 manuscripts
belonging to Chabad are being held at the Russian State Library. In addition,
the long-lost archive consisting of over 25,000 handwritten pages is stored at
the Russian State Military Archive.

The saga of the Chabad Library goes back to the beginning of the 20th
century. The fifth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Sholom Dovber Schneerson
(1860-1920), fled the approaching German army during World War I in 1915 and
was forced to leave the bulk of the Library in Moscow for safekeeping. The
Bolshevik revolution prevented him from returning to recover the Library. In
around 1924, the USSR placed it in the Russian State Library where it remains
to this day.

The second part of the collection, the Archive, was seized around World
War II. The sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Joseph Isaac Schneerson
(1880-1950), who was arrested and sentenced to death for his commitment to
Judaism in 1927 by the Soviets, ultimately fled to Poland and was granted
permission by the Soviets to take the Archive with him. He survived Nazi
Germany's attack and capture of Warsaw in World War II and escaped to the
United States, but he was forced to leave the Archive behind. The fate of the
Archive was a mystery until a portion of it was discovered and returned by
Poland to Chabad in the 1970s. Chabad recently learned that the vast majority
of the Archive were captured from the Nazis by the Soviet Army and placed in
the Russian State Military Archive after World War II.

Despite years of political efforts, Russia has failed to return the
Library to Chabad. Notables including President Clinton, Vice President Gore,
and Senator Dole have urged the return of the Library to Chabad. In 1992, all
100 members of the U.S. Senate wrote to then-President Yeltsin urging him to
fulfill his commitment to return the Library. In Russia, Mikhail Gorbachev
and the Russian Supreme Court ordered that the Library be returned to Chabad.
After the orders were ignored by the Russian State Library, both Presidents
Yeltsin and Putin assured Chabad that the Library would be returned. However,
there has been no significant action.

Alschuler Grossman Stein & Kahan LLP is a Los Angeles-based law firm and
enjoys a national reputation for vigorous and creative advocacy in complex
business and entertainment litigation and business transactions. Established
in 1952, the firm has 100 lawyers.