Rough-hewn and unpretentiuos in his Russian cap and bushy white beard, Reb Mendel Futerfas was a legend in his own time.

He endured eight years in the Soviet Gulag and a seventeen-year seperation from his family - punishment for his work in Chabad's clandestine yeshivahs.

Released from the Soviet Union in 1963, he would eventually rebuild his life as a mentor in israel, where he drew on his experiences to inspire a new generation of Chasidim.