In advance of the 21st anniversary of the passing of the Rebbe—Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory—the tremendous contributions of the Rebbe and the Chabad-Lubavitch movement were recognized throughout the day in the Israeli Knesset (parliament) with speeches, displays and videos.
Deputy Minister of Education Meir Porush addressed a group of administrators of Chabad institutions from across the Holy Land, led by Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Aharonov, chairman of Agudat Chasidei Chabad B’Eretz HaKodesh.
Porush—whose father, Rabbi Menachem Porush, was one of the longest-serving members of the Knesset and was known to have a deep relationship with the Rebbe—opened the meeting by saying: “To Chabad Chassidim, there is no need to explain the meaning of public service. From the moment they are born, from the moment they begin their education, they know what it means to serve others.”
Quoting the Midrashic statement that “there is no one as dear to G‑d as an agent dispatched to do a mitzvah,” the rabbi also said that “there is no more impressive enterprise, with astonishing reach—not just here in Israel, and not just in a specific country, but in every single country—than the network of shluchim that the Rebbe established.”
The assembled also used the opportunity to focus on practical ways that the government would be able to best cooperate with the network of Chabad organizations that they represent.
A Unifying Force in Israeli Society
Then, in a broader session, a steady stream of Knesset members took to the podium to speak of their personal admiration for the Rebbe and Chabad and the positive impact on their lives.
For a house famously divided between right and left, religious and secular, and Sepharadic and Ashkenazi, the coming together of politicians from opposite poles was indeed reflective of the unifying force that Chabad has become in Israeli society.
The following Israeli political leaders, ministers and members of the Knesset spoke at today’s event:
Isaac Herzog, leader of the opposition; Minister Ophir Akunis; Minister of Science and Space Danny Danon; Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Silvan Shalom; Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked; Minister of Immigration and Absorption Zeev Elkin; Minister for Senior Citizens Gila Gamliel; Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel; Minister of Construction Yoav Galant; Yesh Atid Party leader Yair Lapid; Deputy Defense Minister Eli Ben-Dahan; Deputy Minister Ayoub Kara; Deputy Education Minister Meir Porush; Chairman of the Public Petitions Committee MK Israel Eichler; Secretary General of the Labor Party MK Yechiel Bar; Chairman of the Housing Committee MK David Bitan; MK Yaakov Peri (Yesh Atid); MK Aliza Lavie (Yesh Atid); MK Yoav Ben-Zur (Shas); MK Dov Khenin (Joint Arab List); MK Yinon Magal (Jewish Home); MK Robert Ilatov (Yisrael Beitanu); MK Oren Hazan (Likud); MK Daniel Atar (Zionist Camp); MK Miki Zohar (Likud); MK Nurit Koren (Likud); MK Anat Berko (Likud).
The meeting was also addressed by Former Chief Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, who frequently discusses his longstanding admiration of the Rebbe that dates back to the very early years of his rabbinical career.
Concurrently, the halls of the Knesset building are lined with a specially curated gallery of photos of the Rebbe and Chabad’s activities all over the world. The gallery was painstakingly created by Chassidic writer Rabbi Zalman Ruderman. The images and inspirational texts are displayed alongside a multimedia presentation of the Rebbe’s leadership and messages of empowerment.
The anniversary of the Rebbe’s passing on the third day of the Hebrew month of Tammuz begins this year on the night of June 19.
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