A Soviet aliya activist who became a self-taught Orthodox Jew while still in the Soviet Union arrived here last night with his wife, three children and his wife’s parents. Ilya Essas, described as a “bal teshuva,” was granted an exit visa after World Jewish Congress president Edgar Bronfman intervened with the Soviet authorities on his behalf. His parents immigrated to Israel several years ago.
Essas is the recognized leader of a Jewish religious revivalist movement which apparently is functioning in the USSR despite Soviet official opposition to all religions. His halachic knowledge, gained without benefit of formal instruction, is such that he is consulted by observant Jews all over the Soviet Union on religious matters. His following inside Russia is said to closely resemble the Hasidic sects.
Essas, who speaks Hebrew fluently, plunged into a long-standing controversy within minutes of his arrival. Speaking to reporters, he denounced fellow Soviet-Jewish emigres who choose to live in countries other than Israel.
Essas also triggered a tug-of-war between the Agudat Israel and other Orthodox parties over which would claim him as its own. The establishment Orthodox groups appealed to him not to join the non-Zionist Orthodox fringe groups.
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