Israeli Consul General to NY Visits the Rebbe’s Ohel

By COLlive reporter

Ofir Akunis, Israel’s newly appointed Consul General in New York, visited the Rebbe’s Ohel in Queens on Wednesday.

Akunis wrote a Pan note and spent a few moments in prayer at the Rebbe’s Ohel. The visit was arranged by the CHJCC and he was accompanied by Chanina Sperlin, Executive Vice President of the CHJCC and Rabbi Eli Cohen, Executive Director of the CHJCC.

During the visit, he watched a video of Elyaḳim Rubinstein, the Former Attorney General of Israel, as he went by the Rebbe during dollars, when he served as Israel’s Cabinet Secretary.

In the meeting which took place in November of 1989, Rubinstein explained to the Rebbe how difficult it is to hold out against the pressures by US Secretary of State James Baker.

In a notable departure from his patient disposition, the Rebbe repeatedly interjects, trying to school the Israeli diplomat on the way to earn Americans’ respect.

“When Americans exert pressure, they are testing how important an issue is; how integral is it to your survival? When you cave, you are declaring that it’s not truly imperative,” the Rebbe explains.

Akunis was very inspired by the video, as well as a book which was given to him during the visit, about different lessons people learned from the Rebbe. He was especially inspired by a story in the book about the Rebbe’s words to Israeli Journalist Shlomo Shamir, that every Jew in Israel believes in G-d and in the land of Israel.

Akunis said that he would be using quotes from the Rebbe from that book in the future, he said.