A Life of Leadership, Courage, and Jewish Revival
Rabbi Zalman Tuvia HaKohen Abelsky was born in Moscow in 1927. His father, Rabbi Shmaryahu, passed away while he was still a child. He was raised by his grandfather, Rabbi Yeshaya Zusha Shubov, the “Boyder Rav.”
As a boy, Rabbi Abelsky experienced the harshness of Soviet persecution. Still, he remained committed to Torah study. He attended underground Chabad yeshivas, where he risked everything to learn and grow spiritually.
Eventually, he left the Soviet Union and joined the Chabad yeshiva in Pocking, Germany. There, the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, gave him a mission: travel to Romania and assist Jews trying to escape communism.
In Romania, he developed a close bond with the Skulener Rebbe, who warmly called him “Zalman der Lubavitcher.” During this time, Rabbi Abelsky met Leah, who would become his wife and lifelong partner in outreach.
In the early 1950s, Rabbi Abelsky and Leah moved to Israel. They were among the first families to help establish Kfar Chabad. The couple married in 1950 and raised seven children.
Rabbi Abelsky became a driving force in Jewish education. He helped lead the Oholei Yosef Yitzchak school network and founded several Chabad schools. In 1960, the Lubavitcher Rebbe asked him to move to Kiryat Gat, a growing town in southern Israel. There, he built a strong Chabad community and opened a school, helping shape the city’s Jewish future.
In 1989, after the fall of the Soviet Union, Rabbi Abelsky began a new chapter. The Rebbe sent him—at age 62—to Kishinev, the capital of Moldova. His mission was clear: rebuild Jewish life in a place where it had almost disappeared.
He became the first Chabad emissary from a free country to serve in a former Soviet republic. He and his wife Leah moved there and began restoring Jewish identity from the ground up.
For the next 25 years, Rabbi Abelsky served as Chief Rabbi of Moldova. Under his leadership, the Jewish community blossomed. He opened synagogues, preschools, schools, a yeshiva, and a mikvah. He started community programs and published a local Jewish newspaper, Maayanot HaChaim.
People across Moldova came to know him not only as a rabbi but as a father figure. He worked with government leaders and grassroots communities alike, building trust and faith wherever he went.
On June 27, 2014 (29 Sivan 5774), Rabbi Abelsky passed away in Kishinev. His funeral began in Moldova and continued in Israel. He was buried in Jerusalem, in the Chabad section of the Har Hazeisim cemetery.
His son, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Abelsky, succeeded him as Chief Rabbi. Today, his legacy continues through his son Rabbi Zushe Abelsky and daughter-in-law Chaya, who manage Chabad’s work across Moldova. His grandson, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Axelrod, now serves as Moldova’s Chief Rabbi.
Rabbi Abelsky’s legacy lives on in every soul he touched, every institution he built, and every Jewish life he helped awaken. He restored faith where it had been lost and gave hope where none remained.
His story is not just history. It is a lasting example of what one life, guided by faith and purpose, can achieve.
