The Ukrainian Postal Service unveiled a special stamp on July 9 in honor of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, as a tribute to his lasting impact on Ukrainian and international Jewry, as well as Ukrainian society as a whole.
The stamp depicts the facade of 770 Eastern Parkway, the Rebbe’s famous synagogue in Brooklyn, N.Y., which also serves as the world headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement.
While the Ukrainian postal service has in the past issued stamps honoring the Jewish people and some prominent Jews—most notable in their 2016 “National Minorities in Ukraine” series—this marks the first time a rabbi has been honored with a commemorative stamp.
The initiative began in the winter of 2019, when the Chabad-Lubavitch Center of Kyiv, led by Rabbi Yonatan Markovitch, hosted their annual Chanukah celebration event in the Ukrainian parliament.
Impressed by the vibrancy of the Jewish community and the empowering message of Chanukah, several Ukrainian lawmakers expressed to Markovitch their amazement that Jewish life could thrive in a place not so long ago firmly stuck behind the Iron Curtain.
Markovitch, who with his wife Elka has directed the Chabad center in Kyiv for nearly 25 years, related to them that their success was due to the foresight of the Rebbe, who orchestrated the post-Holocaust renaissance of Jewish life around the world, never for a moment forgetting about the vast Jewish community living in the Soviet Union.
Upon learning about the impact of the Rebbe, who was born in Nikolaev (today, Mykolaiv), Ukraine, in 1902, and spent his formative years in the Russian Empire and the USSR, an elected official involved with the national Postal Service proposed honoring the Rebbe with a special postal stamp.
The stamp was officially commissioned by the Ukrainian parliament several months later, on the festival of Purim, 2020. Just as the tribute’s pieces finally fell into place, the Covid pandemic struck.
The stamp’s printing was postponed as the world went into lockdown and the Ukrainian Postal Service suspended regular activities.
“We were obviously disappointed that it didn’t pan out initially,” Markovitch’s son, Rabbi Ariel Markovitch, likewise a Chabad emissary in Kyiv, told Chabad.org. “We didn’t think much of it in the aftermath. There was so much to do to serve the Jews of Kyiv during the pandemic that the stamp became somewhat of an afterthought for us.”
Where There’s a Will
When the effects of the pandemic started to subside in late 2021, and government operations began resuming, the printing of the special stamp was again raised by lawmakers.
Then, in February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine and the embattled country was forced onto a war footing. Everything was devoted to the war effort, including the postal service, which began printing military-themed stamps.
The wish to honor the Rebbe, however, did not subside. It was released on July 9 because this year it coincided with 3 Tammuz on the Jewish calendar, the 30th anniversary of the Rebbe’s passing.
“It is remarkable how smooth the process of printing this special stamp was,” Ariel Markovitch said. “The postal office staff were all so friendly and accommodating. They understood the significance of this stamp. Especially considering that they weren’t doing this kind of thing during the war.”
While the Ukrainian postal service initially wished to include a portrait of the Rebbe, the Markovitches explained that the Rebbe had opposed his portrait appearing on stamps in Israel. Ukrainian officials were fully receptive to the idea, and the stamp instead depicts the facade of 770, with cover pages representing each of the seven Chabad rebbes’ books superimposed on the building’s windows. Underneath that the text reads “seven lights” in Hebrew and Ukrainian, a reference to each of the seven generations of Chabad rebbes, including of course the Rebbe himself.
“To think that a little more than 30 years ago, Ukraine was a place that was hostile to Jewish life and now they’re printing stamps honoring the Rebbe is unimaginable,” Markovitch said. “Modern Ukraine’s leaders looking to the wisdom of the Rebbe at a time like this is a testament to the Rebbe’s far-reaching vision of life in this region, both for Jews and non-Jews.”
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