Israel's President Shimon Peres spoke of the legacy and leadership of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, and his gift to world Jewry, in video remarks for the International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries.

"I had the privilege of meeting him and was deeply impressed by the glow of his personality and the strength of his spirit. He lives within us through his great legacy to preserve the Judaism of our people," said Peres.

Speaking in Hebrew from the President's residence in Jerusalem, he described the shluchim as emissaries with a mission to ensure Jewish continuity.

"I see you, the shluchim of Chabad in many places around the world, among them, remote, forsaken and hostile places. You are mitzvah messengers of the Rebbe, of his will that the Jewish People continue and sustained as a nation."

Peres noted that Chabad shluchim reach Jews who are "widely dispersed around the world. You go as pioneers everywhere, create Jewish communities, save lives and disseminate the teachings of the Torah. "Sometimes, you do this under difficult conditions, at times even at mortal risk to yourselves, and indeed there have been sacrifices," he said, alluding to Gabi and Rivky Holtzberg, the Chabad emissaries who were murdered by terrorists in Mumbai in 2008.

Peres thanked the shluchim "in the name of the entire nation for this greatmitzvah, for this great legacy. As it says, whoever saved one life of Israel it is as if the entire world was saved. We are a nation that sees in each person a full and whole world."