Wikipedia's first sentence called it “underground chabad-lubavitch activist in the early years of the joseph stalin regime”. Today it says “rabbi and underground chabad-lubavitch activist in the soviet union in the early years of the joseph stalin reg”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “Rabbi Yaakov Zechariah Maskalik , known publicly as Reb”. It now reads “Yaakov Zechariah Maskalik , known publicly as Reb”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
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The opening as it read in 2020
Yankel Zhuravitzer (1897–1938) was an underground Chabad-Lubavitch activist in the early years of the Joseph Stalin regime. In defiance of the Soviet authorities, Reb Yankel compiled locations of usable mikvahs across the Soviet Union and distributed them in little notes to Jewish women in marketplaces.1Additionally, he informed the sixth Chabad Rebbe Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn of his activities.2In praise of Reb Yankel, the Rebbe said, "If I had twenty Yankels, I could overturn all of Russia" In the early 1930s, he resided in the Moscow suburb of Malakhovka until his arrest in 1935.3 Like many Chabad activist arrested by the authorities, he was deported to Central Asia, exiled to the village of Halkina, located 35 miles from the Kazakh city of Chimkent . Reb Yankel was arrested by the NKVD in 1935 and executed in 1938. The exact date and location of his execution is not known.
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 946425277.
The opening as it stood in 2015
Rabbi Yaakov Zechariah Maskalik , known publicly as Reb Yankel Zhuravitzer (1897-1938) was a underground Chabad-Lubavitch activist in the early years of the Joseph Stalin regime. In defiance of the Soviet authorities, Reb Yankel compiled locations of usable mikvahs across the Soviet Union and distributed them in little notes to Jewish women in marketplaces. Additionally, he informed the sixth Chabad Rebbe Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn of his activities. In praise of Reb Yankel, the Rebbe said, "If I had ten Yankels, I could overturn all of Russia" In the early 1930s, he resided in the Moscow suburb of Malakhovka until his arrest in 1935. Like many Chabad activsits arrested by the authorities, he was deported to Central Asia, exiled to the village of Halkina, located 35 miles from the Kazakh city of Chimkent . Reb Yankel was arrested by the NKVD in 1935 and executed in 1938. The exact date and location of his execution is not known.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 656492543.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Yaakov Zechariah Maskalik , known publicly as Reb Yankel Zhuravitzer (1897–1938) was a rabbi and underground Chabad-Lubavitch activist in the Soviet Union in the early years of the Joseph Stalin regime.In defiance of the Soviet authorities, Maskalik compiled locations of usable mikvahs (ritual baths) across the Soviet Union and distributed them in little notes to Jewish women in marketplaces. In the early 1930s, he resided in the Moscow suburb of Malakhovka until his arrest in 1935. Like many Chabad activists arrested by the authorities, he was deported to Central Asia, exiled to the village of Halkina, located 35 miles from the Kazakh city of Chimkent . Maskalik was arrested by the NKVD in 1935 and executed in 1938. The exact date and location of his execution is not known.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1165035873. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “underground chabad-lubavitch activist in the early years of the joseph stalin regime”. Today it says “rabbi and underground chabad-lubavitch activist in the soviet union in the early years of the joseph stalin reg”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “Rabbi Yaakov Zechariah Maskalik , known publicly as Reb”. It now reads “Yaakov Zechariah Maskalik , known publicly as Reb”. Read the current article and compare.
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2015, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
underground chabad-lubavitch activist in the early years of the joseph stalin regime
Now
rabbi and underground chabad-lubavitch activist in the soviet union in the early years of the joseph stalin reg
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
