For Rabbi Asher Zeilingold, independence is important. However, with vision impairment, it has proven difficult to do certain tasks. For many years, the longtime Minnesota rav and shliach has written a weekly column in the local Jewish newspaper. He has penned many articles, including his well-known sermons.
However, when he began a project of recording his memoirs, he could not do it alone. He sat for long interviews, recording over ten hours of memories, and had others sift through thousands of pages of his personal papers. The effort culminated in a seminal book, Clear Vision: Living by the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s Guidance, titled after the Rebbe’s guidance to him. Despite being blind, he still lives with that vision.
“This is one of the greatest days of my life,” Rabbi Zeilingold said after receiving the books. Despite his inability to see, he added, “I can feel the pages, the texture of the cover, and the Rebbe’s ideas and life lessons that the Rebbe gave to me, which can now be studied by others.”
Born to a Stolin-Karlin family in London as the Germans were bombing the city, Rabbi Zeilingold’s life took a decisive turn when a counselor friend invited him to attend Camp Gan Israel. From there, the now-octogenarian gained a front-row seat to the Rebbe and the remarkable growth of Chabad.
In Clear Vision, he presents a deeply personal memoir of his struggles in joining Chabad, balancing his personal avodas Hashem, and spreading Chassidus.
With careful attention to detail, he records historical events he witnessed and encounters he had with the Rebbe. He also recounts how the Rebbe directed him to become a pulpit rabbi at the Adath Israel shul in Minnesota—a position he continues to hold to this day.
During that time, he received over a hundred letters and responses from the Rebbe offering personal guidance. It is also the story of building a shul from some twenty members to hundreds in its heyday.
The book includes chapters about prominent Chabad luminaries such as Rabbi Chaim Hodakov, Rabbi Zalman Shimon Dvorkin, and Rabbi Zalman Posner.
Unique to Clear Vision, in a second volume, Rabbi Zeilingold compiled all of the guidance he received from the Rebbe, allowing readers to see the original questions alongside the responses. Together, the two books form a fascinating historical record of the Rebbe’s leadership and Chabad’s growth into one of the largest Jewish organizations of our time.
Several of the stories have been shared on Collive:
A Walk That Spanned Generations, Behind the Criticism of a Community Member, An Appointment from Above, A Chassidic Dance on the Deck, Why the Rebbe Wouldn’t Eat the Kosher Chicken, and Why the Rebbe Crossed President Street on Friday Nights
See Clear Vision: Living by the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s Guidance for the book, or click here for a discounted set at ClearVisionBook.com.
