Azriel Chaikin

Azriel Chaikin (Hebrew עזריאל חייקין ; born USSR, 1938) is a Brussels-based leader of the Chabad movement of Judaism in Ukraine. In 2003, he was proclaimed chief Chabad Rabbi of Chabad emissaries in Ukraine .[1]

Azriel Chaikin
Azriel Haikin praying in 770 Eastern Parkway synagogue in 2017
Born1931
Georgia USSR
Occupation(s)Chief Rabbi, Chabad movement in Ukraine and recognized halakhic authority
TitleChief Rabbi of Ukraine

Life

Chaikin was born in the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1931, where his father, Meri Chaim Chaikin, had served as an envoy of the sixth Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, who was known as the “Frierdiker” or “previous” rebbe. [2]

In 1955 Chaikin went on shlichus to Morocco and was the head of the Chabad Yeshiva in Agadir. Because the language taught in the schools under his auspices was Hebrew, he was accused of being a Zionist, and therefore left Morocco and moved to France. From France he moved to Denmark where he established a Chabad yeshiva.

In 1968 Rabbi Chaikin was offered a prestigious rabbinic position in Brussels, Belgium which he accepted. Because of this position he became an influential rabbinic figure in Europe.

He later on received the position of chief Rabbi of Chabad Ukraine which he attained until 2008. Afterwards he moved to the Crown Heights area of Brooklyn.

References
  1. Keating, Joshua (5 March 2014). "How Many 'Chief Rabbis' Does Ukraine Have?". Slate. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
  2. "Research Sheds Light on Secret Soviet-Era Portrait, Marking 92nd anniversary of the release of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn from Soviet imprisonment". Chabad.org.


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