Chabad of Hackensack commemorated the 25th anniversary of the passing of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, by inviting the public to partake in a spellbinding presentation by Rabbi Dr. Joseph Telushkin, the well known author whose book “The Rebbe” was on the New York Times bestseller list for 14 weeks. A large crowd of approximately 200 people sat enraptured by the many stories that Telushkin shared about the Rebbe, who became Rebbe in 1951.
Chabad Houses are now located in 106 countries and, as Telushkin explained, although there are officially 4,200 shluchim scattered throughout the world there are really 8,400 emissaries, as the wife of each shliach serves an equal role to her husband, fulfilling the needs of so many different tasks in the communities in which each is participating in outreach.
An interesting note is that the only ad that was ever allowed on the front page of the New York Times was the small box on the bottom of the page each Friday encouraging Jewish women and girls to light Shabbos candles. Not since then has any ad appeared on the front page of the paper. Dignitaries from across the world sought the Rebbe’s wisdom as did local government officials. Shirley Chisholm, representing the 12th district, which included her own neighborhood of Crown Heights, was disappointed by her role in Congress. She was assigned to the Agriculture Committee, which she felt was an affront to her intelligence. The Rebbe called her to his office and offered her solace. His advice to her was that she could use this new role on the committee as a means of diverting so much of the surplus food in the various states to the use of many hungry people. It was Chisholm, following the wisdom of the Rebbe, who worked to establish many programs to help feed the hungry by using surplus food from farmers, and today, thanks to her, more than 8 million people receive WIC benefits each month. She often attributed her success and the success of the program to the vision of the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
Chabad of Hackensack, located at 280 Summit Avenue, offers classes, speakers and Shabbos minyanim. Contact Rabbi Mendy Kaminker at (201) 503-3770 for further information.
By Nina Glick
