In 1907, a five-year-old Jewish boy comforted his friends while hiding during a pogrom in his birthplace of Nikolaev, Ukraine. Their fears, and the dangers that filled their lives, formed one of his earliest memories.
Now, almost 100 years later, as a result of the lifetime work of that five-year-old, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who grew to become the seventh Lubavitcher rebbe, the Chabad Lubavitch movement has almost finished building a yeshiva in Nikolaev. That project joins some 2,400 Lubavitch centers around the world, including Milwaukee’s Lubavitch of Wisconsin, that were founded by the rebbe’s emissaries to reach out to Jews wherever they may live.
“I don’t want to make light of the current situation in this country,” Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) told some 200 people gathered at Brynwood Country Club on May 19 to celebrate the centennial of the rebbe with Lubavitch of Wisconsin. “But Lubavitch has a stronger worldwide organization than the CIA.”
“They always stumped the Secret Service during my campaign as Democratic vice presidential candidate [in 2000],” Lieberman recalled with a chuckle. “My location was always supposed to be a secret, but kosher meals kept showing up, thanks to the efforts of Lubavitch and its emissaries.”
“The rebbe and his emissaries continue God’s work on earth,” Lieberman continued. “They are the most tolerant of observant Jews, taking us mitzvah by mitzvah to a better place. They don’t focus on what we don’t do, but on what we do do.”
“And we see this in Wisconsin’s own ‘Shmotkin mitzvot conglomerate,’” Lieberman said, referring to Rabbi Yisroel Shmotkin, executive director of Lubavitch of Wisconsin; his wife, Rebbetzin B. Devorah Shmotkin, director of the Children’s Lubavitch Living and Learning Center; and their children and children’s spouses, who run numerous programs serving the local community.
“Lubavitch of Wisconsin is a representation of the rebbe’s love for every Jew, and his impact is seen right here in this room,” Rabbi Yisroel told the attendees. “Just look around you, and at me. Would we have made a connection without the rebbe? His inspiration is engraved in the lives of each one of us and in the bridges he built among Jews.”
“I have a sukkah and I send misloach manot at Purim,” said emcee Bruce Arbit, who began delivering shmurah matzah locally for Lubavitch as a teen. “Why? Because Lubavitch taught us to…. There are new shuls here because of the Shmotkins. There are more Jewish children per capita enrolled in day schools here than in any other city in the country, but not before the Lubavitch preschool was here.”
“Lubavitch reaches out to the community to perform acts of loving kindness,” said Lieberman. “And in our difficult times, both here and in Israel, we can look to the Lubavitch movement and how they serve with joy. This is not a time to be pessimistic; we must be strong. Please be strengthened by the extraordinary bi-partisan support of Israel in the Congress…. Just as we are strengthened by the spirit of Lubavitch, as we all work toward that inevitable victory of righteousness and goodness.”
In addition to celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of the rebbe in 1902 and his life work until his death in 1994, the event also marked the completion of Lubavitch of Wisconsin’s $2.6 million “Visions” fundraising campaign.
It also honored some of the campaign’s supporters, including the Helen Bader Foundation, which was represented by event co-chair and foundation president Daniel Bader; and Joseph M. Bernstein, also event co-chair, who said he was “proud of Lubavitch and the central role it plays in his family’s life.”
Also honored were Dr. Alfred and Isabel Bader (who were unable to attend), Mark Brickman, Joseph Chudnow, Tracy Ellis, Lorraine Hoffman, Armin Nankin, Linda Gale Sampson, Bradley Shovers and Roger Siegel.
The completion of the Visions campaign, said Shmotkin, “helps local programs that carry on the rebbe’s work and serves as a springboard for our future, particularly in the area of youth, children, teens and young families.”
In addition to those programs already mentioned, Lubavitch of Wisconsin programs include Camp Gan Israel, the Jewish Youth Foundation, the Beis Hamidrash, Chabad of Downtown and Chabad House at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
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