Twelve years ago, Rebbe completed his mission on this earth; however, his positive influence, upbeat message lives on
Rabbi Levi Brackman
This week marks the twelfth anniversary of the passing of the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson of blessed memory. Although I feel proud and privileged to be a Hasid (follower) of the Rebbe, it did not have to be that way.
You see, none of my ancestors were rabbis or Hassidim. They were all just simple Jews who led uncomplicated lives working as shoemakers, goldsmiths and similar professions. In fact after they immigrated from Germany and Hungary to Britain in the 1930’s, my maternal grandparents raised their children in a secular lifestyle - traditional Judaism with its customs and rituals was deemed unimportant. My father’s parents were not all that different.
Previous Column
The magnum opus of Chabad / Rabbi Levi Brackman
Only few realize that core of Chabad is far more than an outreach organization - it is a philosophy with tremendous wisdom for life. Tanya 101
Full Story
It was winter of 1973 and my oldest brother was four years old. My parents were deciding which school to send him to. The rabbi of their synagogue suggested that they find a good local public school and try to enrol him there. At the same time my mother’s brother had recently become observant and was studying in a Lubavitch Yeshiva in Kfar Chabad and my mom too started to become casually involved with the recently established Lubavitch Foundation in London.
My parents’ first acquaintance with Lubavitch Chassidim was with Rabbi Mordche and Mrs. Freyda Sufrin who became close family friends. During one of his regular pilgrimages to visit the late Lubavitcher Rebbe in New York, Rabbi Sufrin mentioned that he had recently started to build a relationship with my parents and that they had a four year old child.
The Rebbe immediately told Rabbi Sufrin that he should visit with my parents to convince them to send their children to the Lubavitch School in London. He told Rabbi Sufrin exactly what to tell my parents in order to convince them and said that it would take more then one visit to achieve this.
As the Rebbe predicted, Rabbi Sufrin visited my parents several times and, sure enough, by using the argument the Rebbe had provided, he managed to convince my secularly minded parents to send their children to the Lubavitch school located an hour’s distance from their home. This is how, over thirty years later, I and several of my siblings came to devote our lives to teaching the relevance of traditional Judaism to twenty first century Jews.
Individual with an urgent mission
This very personal story encapsulates the Rebbe. To be sure, he was an outstanding scholar and an incredibly righteous man. But beyond that he was an individual with an urgent mission: to rescue post-holocaust Jewry from the religious apathy that had inevitably followed the devastation wrought by Hitler and the Nazis.
He did not do this simply by making major policy speeches or by writing many books. In fact he himself only penned a single book - the rest are his personal letters and transcripts of his talks. The Rebbe took the long view and decided to change the status quo one person and one family at a time. He recognized that a nation is made up of an amalgamation of individuals.
Major publicity was not the prize he sought. The Rebbe recognized that one small action today would have a positive ripple effect that would continue long after his physical demise. The Rebbe wanted to save entire generations from the grasp of assimilation and by encouraging one family at a time to send their children to a Jewish day schools he achieved this.
While other orthodox rabbis where lending a hand to assimilation by advising families to send their children to public schools, the Rebbe was busy building a sustainable Jewish future by convincing secular families to send their children to Jewish day schools.
Twentieth century giant
Twelve years ago this week the Rebbe completed his mission on this earth: however his positive influence and upbeat message lives on - it continues to inspire thousands to follow in his footsteps.
As we mark the passing of this twentieth century giant we continue to celebrate the vision and teachings that have played and continue to play a major part in saving Jews and Judaism from the clutches of total assimilation.
Rabbi Levi Brackman is executive director of Judaism in the Foothills and the author of numerous articles on a whole range of topics and issues, many of which can be found on his website.
Rabbi Levi Brackman
This week marks the twelfth anniversary of the passing of the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson of blessed memory. Although I feel proud and privileged to be a Hasid (follower) of the Rebbe, it did not have to be that way.
You see, none of my ancestors were rabbis or Hassidim. They were all just simple Jews who led uncomplicated lives working as shoemakers, goldsmiths and similar professions. In fact after they immigrated from Germany and Hungary to Britain in the 1930’s, my maternal grandparents raised their children in a secular lifestyle - traditional Judaism with its customs and rituals was deemed unimportant. My father’s parents were not all that different.
Previous Column
The magnum opus of Chabad / Rabbi Levi Brackman
Only few realize that core of Chabad is far more than an outreach organization - it is a philosophy with tremendous wisdom for life. Tanya 101
Full Story
It was winter of 1973 and my oldest brother was four years old. My parents were deciding which school to send him to. The rabbi of their synagogue suggested that they find a good local public school and try to enrol him there. At the same time my mother’s brother had recently become observant and was studying in a Lubavitch Yeshiva in Kfar Chabad and my mom too started to become casually involved with the recently established Lubavitch Foundation in London.
My parents’ first acquaintance with Lubavitch Chassidim was with Rabbi Mordche and Mrs. Freyda Sufrin who became close family friends. During one of his regular pilgrimages to visit the late Lubavitcher Rebbe in New York, Rabbi Sufrin mentioned that he had recently started to build a relationship with my parents and that they had a four year old child.
The Rebbe immediately told Rabbi Sufrin that he should visit with my parents to convince them to send their children to the Lubavitch School in London. He told Rabbi Sufrin exactly what to tell my parents in order to convince them and said that it would take more then one visit to achieve this.
As the Rebbe predicted, Rabbi Sufrin visited my parents several times and, sure enough, by using the argument the Rebbe had provided, he managed to convince my secularly minded parents to send their children to the Lubavitch school located an hour’s distance from their home. This is how, over thirty years later, I and several of my siblings came to devote our lives to teaching the relevance of traditional Judaism to twenty first century Jews.
Individual with an urgent mission
This very personal story encapsulates the Rebbe. To be sure, he was an outstanding scholar and an incredibly righteous man. But beyond that he was an individual with an urgent mission: to rescue post-holocaust Jewry from the religious apathy that had inevitably followed the devastation wrought by Hitler and the Nazis.
He did not do this simply by making major policy speeches or by writing many books. In fact he himself only penned a single book - the rest are his personal letters and transcripts of his talks. The Rebbe took the long view and decided to change the status quo one person and one family at a time. He recognized that a nation is made up of an amalgamation of individuals.
Major publicity was not the prize he sought. The Rebbe recognized that one small action today would have a positive ripple effect that would continue long after his physical demise. The Rebbe wanted to save entire generations from the grasp of assimilation and by encouraging one family at a time to send their children to a Jewish day schools he achieved this.
While other orthodox rabbis where lending a hand to assimilation by advising families to send their children to public schools, the Rebbe was busy building a sustainable Jewish future by convincing secular families to send their children to Jewish day schools.
Twentieth century giant
Twelve years ago this week the Rebbe completed his mission on this earth: however his positive influence and upbeat message lives on - it continues to inspire thousands to follow in his footsteps.
As we mark the passing of this twentieth century giant we continue to celebrate the vision and teachings that have played and continue to play a major part in saving Jews and Judaism from the clutches of total assimilation.
Rabbi Levi Brackman is executive director of Judaism in the Foothills and the author of numerous articles on a whole range of topics and issues, many of which can be found on his website.
No comments:
Post a Comment