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Barry Gurary (also: Gourary, Sholom Dovber or Berke) (b. in Rostov-on-Don, Russia February 10, 1923, d. Montclair, New Jersey, United States March 14, 2005) was the only son of Rabbi Shemaryahu Gurary and Chana Gurary. He was the nephew of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the seventh Chabad-Lubavitcher Rebbe.
Family origins and history
Barry Gurary was the only son of Rabbi Shmaryahu Gurary. He married Mina Haskind, the daughter of Alter Haskind from a prominent Chabad family.
Barry Gurary's family relationship with his uncle the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, was very close and friendly, for the first part of Barry's life, until the age of 28, or approximately 1951, when Barry cut off his relationship with the Rebbe, around the time when it came clear that the consensus of the Hasidim was that they saw his uncle Menachem Mendel Schneerson rather than his father, Rabbi Shmaryahu Gurary, as the more worthy candidate to assume the senior leadership position of the movement, known as "Rebbe", as successor to his grandfather Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, who passed away less than a year earlier. Even his relationship with own father Rabbi Shmaryahu Gurary had become strained, when his father chose to publicly accept the Hasidim's preference for his brother-in-law as the new Rebbe. Years later, when Barry chose to not invite his uncle, the Rebbe Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson to his wedding, his father, Rabbi Shmaryahu Gurary, chose to not attend the wedding either. Barry Gurary's relationship with the Rebbe and his own Father proved to be a source of struggle and friction to himself, the Gurary families and around 35 years later, with the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic community as well.
Place in Chabad-Lubavitch
One year after the death of the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, his son-in-law Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson became the choice of most Lubavitchers as the seventh Rebbe of the movement, while Rabbi Shemaryahu Gurary, Barry Gurary's father, held on to the same positions he had in the past, and was loyal to his brother-in-law, who had become the seventh and was to be the last Rebbe of Chabad.
The only grandson of the sixth Rebbe
On the occasion of his Bar Mitzvah, his grandfather held a farbrengen. The farbrengen was attended by many thousands of Chassidim from across Eastern Europe and Russia. The Bar Mitzvah was seen as a milestone for the Gurary dynasty. Special photographers were invited and the speech that Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak gave was published.
Agudas Chasidei Chabad v. Gourary
A dispute arose about the library of the sixth Rebbe between Barry Gurary (supported by his mother) and the Chabad community, led by his uncle the seventh Rebbe (and supported by Barry's father, Rabbi Shemaryahu Gurary). Barry's grandfather, the sixth Rebbe, collected a vast library of Jewish texts, which included several hundred rare volumes. As the sixth Rebbe's grandson, Barry believed he was entitled to a portion of the library and was supported in this belief by his mother and Rabbi Chaim Lieberman (the sixth Rebbe's librarian).
In 1984, some 34 years after his grandfather's death, Barry Gurary entered the library and clandestinely removed numerous Jewish books and began selling them to rare book dealers. One illuminated Passover Haggadah dating back to 1757 was sold for $69,000 to a Swiss book dealer who soon found a private buyer to pay nearly $150,000 for it. Gurary was observed on a security camera taking the books.
Gurary claimed to have both his mother's permission, as well as the permission of his aunt, the seventh Rebbe's wife, to take the books. She, however, denied ever giving Barry any such permission. However, his uncle, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the seventh Chabad Rebbe, objected vehemently to these actions and demanded that the volumes be returned. When Barry refused, also refusing his uncle's summons to a Beth Din, Rabbi Chaim Yehuda Krinsky consulted rabbinic authorities on Jewish law who advised him that appeals can be made to a secular governmental court if justice cannot be effectuated in a Jewish court. Rabbi Schneerson's legal team decided to pursue a temporary restraining order that would impound the books still in Gurary's possession, and to pursue a ruling that the library was the property of Agudas Chasidei Chabad, the umbrella organization for the Chasidic movement. Rabbi Schneerson's legal team included Nathan Lewin, former ambassador Jerome J. Shestack, and future Solicitor General of the United States Seth Waxman.
Rabbi Schneerson argued that the volumes were not the "personal possession" of Gurary's grandfather, but the "communal property" of the Lubavitch Hasidim. This argument was supported by a letter from Gurary's grandfather indicating that the books were the heritage of the entire Jewish community.
During the court hearing, Gurary's father supported his uncle's side, while his mother supported her son, Barry Gurary. While Rabbi Schneerson was not deposed, his wife, Chaya Mushka Schneerson was. Included among the witnesses was Nobel Peace Prize recipient Elie Wiesel, who testified as an expert witness on Chasidic life.
In 1986, the court ruled in favor of Agudas Chassidei Chabad, and that ruling was upheld on appeal in 1987. Agudas Chassidei Chabad located and paid the various book collectors who had bought the books from Gurary and the volumes were returned to the library. In total, Agudas Chassidei Chabad paid $432,000 to buy back the various books.
This day was accepted as a special time of rejoicing for Lubavitch, which they called Didan Notzach ("our side won").
Career
Barry Gurary studied and did research as a physicist at Columbia University and Johns Hopkins University. Between 1954-1956 he did research at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab in Silver Spring, MD. There he worked together with Allen Kropf, later Julian H. Gibbs Professor of Chemistry at Amherst College. He also published research papers mostly in physics that are also available on the Internet, in some instances more than fifty years after their publication.
Later in life, Gurary worked as a management consultant.
Sources and external links
- Chmouel Lubecki: "Didan Notzach"
- Sholom Ber Levin: "Mishpat HaSfarim"
- Moshe Bogomilsky: "The story of Hey Teves"
- Pesach Burston: "Tshura - Hey Teves - South Africa"
- Shaul Shimon Deutsch, Larger than Life
- Avrum M. Ehrlich, Leadership in the HaBaD Movement ISBN 0-7657-6055-X
References
- Mindel, Nissan (Dec 2, 2015). "My Life and Times". Ami. No. 245. p. 100.
- ^ Goldman, Ari L. (7 January 1987). "JUDGE AWARDS RABBI'S LIBRARY TO HASIDIC UNIT". New York Times. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
- ^ Telushkin, Joseph (2014). Rebbe: the life and teachings of Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, the most influential Rabbi in modern history (First ed.). New York, NY: HarperWave. ISBN 978-0-06-231898-5. OCLC 859586312.
- ^ Margolick, David (18 December 1985). "SUIT ON BOOKS GIVES LOOK AT HASIDIM". New York Times. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
- "Rabbi Samarious Gourary, 91, an Educator". New York Times. 12 February 1989. Retrieved 26 May 2020.