By COLlive reporter
The drive to bring together feuding factions in the Chabad community has led to reconciliation meetings and introductory communication this week in Netanya and Kfar Saba in Israel, Central Africa, Mexico and Boston, Massachusetts.
Over the last 24 hours, additional meetings were held in Hadera and Zichron Yaakov where officially recognized Shluchim sat down with Lubavitcher chassidim who organize outreach work independently.
While keeping their social distance, they were brought closer by the drive for unity which Russia’s Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar has called for as a spiritual remedy to the coronavirus pandemic and the many deaths it caused.
As reported on COLlive.com, Rabbi Lazar led an hours-long farbrengen to advocate for the achdus efforts and even promised to resolve his ongoing disagreement with Kazakhstan’s Chief Rabbi Shaya Cohen. (No word yet on that front).
Rabbi Naftali Lipsker of Lubavitch Youth Organization (Tzach) in Israel, which oversees Chabad centers in the holy land, called the effort “a point of light that is expanding and will become a broad beacon to illuminate the world.”
While he praised the “great awakening to put past disagreements behind,” he wrote in a public letter to Shluchim that anything beyond interactions goodwill and especially any change in policy and structure must be done within the proper framework.
“Peace and reconciliation cannot come at the expense of keeping the principles or chalila (Heaven forbid), violating the provisions of the order that the Rebbe led in Chabad and the world of Shlichus,” Rabbi Lipsker stated.
He added, “When there is a willingness to accept the authority of a Head Shliach, the hanhalah of Tzach and the decisions of the Beis Din, it is possible and even desirable to erase precipitations from the past, to forgive the honor and to reach consensus and peace in the home.”
Rabbi Lipsker said that members of the Branches Committee of Tzach – Rabbis Zalman Garelick, Ariel Goren, Eliezer Weiner, Dovid Kurtz, Tamir Kastiel and Eliezer Shmuelevitz – were willing and available “to be of assistance to anyone seeking to advance a peace-making move.”
One should speak to a Mashpia or rav to figure out what to do . There’s some points one needs to be mevater on ( depending on situation ) to achieve Sholom . Sholom does not mean my way that you must agree or the highwaY. It includes goodwill and vatranus from ALL to be real and everlasting peace.
Wise words!
In order to ensure a peace that will last there needs to be a framework. Just like by a regular shidduch you don’t just force two people to live together but you check first if they match and after you create the conditions needed for the marriage to last. And of course sometimes it goes wrong bur most marriages last. And of course you work on sholom bayis but those are marriages that you want to save. Only a fool will advice you to marry someone if that person isn’t compatible while telling you that you can work on the… Read more »
make sure the person you are working for is a Mentch and Yerei Shamayim, who preferably has experience working well with others!!
Thank you very much for your continued coverage on this important topic!
It’s nice to hear about Israel, however, we’d love if you can reach out to Merkos here or any head shluchim (that don’t have sholom in their state) to ask for comment or what efforts are underway here in the US and write who said what and who had no comment etc.
Thank you for holding Rabbi Lazar accountable for his public pledge.
ty for sharing