Marking 75 Years of Transformation

This Shabbos, the tenth day of the Hebrew month of Shevat, marks the seventy-fifth yahrtzeit of the the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, and is the date that his son-in-law, the Lubavitcher Rebbe—Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of righteous memory—assumed the mantle of Chabad leadership. The date has since been celebrated as a day of reflection on the legacies of these two great Jewish leaders.

“I’ve never met the Lubavitcher Rebbe, but my life is strongly impacted by the Rebbe,” said Rabbi Yossi Cohen of New Orleans, Louisiana.

In the Big Easy, scores of Jewish people will gather on Friday evening. Longtime community members will join Jews visiting just for the weekend in advance of Sunday’s Super Bowl. They will hear from fellow community members, Jews who lived all or most of their lives in the American South, and who never met the Lubavitcher Rebbe—but whose lives have been transformed by his leadership. 

Seventy-five years after the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe passed away and his son-in-law, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, assumed leadership of the worldwide Chabad-Lubavitch movement, there are more than 3,500 Chabad-Lubavitch institutions, staffed by some 6,000 emissary couples in more than 100 countries and territories. In the past 75 years, Chabad-Lubavitch has established Jewish communities in hundreds of cities.

This Shabbat, those Jewish communities around the world will gather to reflect on the leadership of these two giants, and the resonating impact they continue to have on Jewish life today. 

In Miami, Florida, author Rabbi Mendel Kalmenson of Belgravia, London UK will keynote what Chabad of Kendall is calling “Inaugural Shabbat,” focusing on the Rebbe’s wisdom for designing a life of purpose. After Shabbat, Kalmenson will speak to a crowd of hundreds at The Shul in Bal Harbour. A few hours north in Orlando, Chazan David Babinet will share his personal journey from his life as an opera singer to a lifestyle committed to Torah.

Chabad of Mequon, Wisconsin will host an evening titled, “This World is a Garden,” on Sunday, February 2. Drawing inspiration from the sixth Chabad Rebbe’s final chassidic discourse, titled “I Have Come to my Garden,” they will explore themes of connection, resilience, and the divine spark in every part of creation. The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra String Quartet will serenade participants with chassidic melodies.

Chabad of Charlotte, N.C. will gather to be comforted and inspired at a community Shabbat dinner at the Chabad House days after the center was the site of the funeral of beloved flight attendant Ian Epstein, who perished in the midair collision on the Potomac. 

At Chabad Flamingo in the greater Toronto, Ontario area, Rabbi Sholom Ber Hertzel of Chabad in the Golan Heights keynoted an evening honoring the Rebbe and recalling the Rebbe’s guidance and support for the Jewish people in the Land of Israel and around the world.

In Blue Ash, Ohio, the Jewish community will host guest speaker, Rabbi Mendel Block of Plano, Texas. And similar community Shabbat dinners and get-togethers will take place in cities from coast to coast paying tribute to the enduring impact of the Rebbe’s leadership. 

“World Jewry is deeply indebted to the sixth Rebbe, Rabbi Joseph I. Schneersohn, for transferring Yiddishkeit to the United States, and for laying the groundwork together with his son-in-law, the Rebbe, for the Jewish day school system and Chabad’s outreach activities,” observed Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, chairman of the educational and social services divisions of Lubavitch.