Knesset Gushes With Praise

By Yehuda Ceitlin and Menachem Cohen
Photos by Berale Sheiner

Israel’s Knesset parliament in Jerusalem held a special meeting Thursday, March 03, 2011, to discuss “Lubavitch activity worldwide – Cooperation on the subject of Jewish Education.”

The session was called by the Knesset’s Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs, in an attempt to explore Israel’s cooperation with programs for outreach and education of overseas Jewry.

In an effort to get the meeting going, Committee Chairman Danny Danon of Likud needed to ask participants to stop the gush of praise on the Rebbe, Chabad and its work in order to concentrate on “tachles.”

“Every Jew who arrives at any remote point in the world knows that they have a place for the holidays and the Shabbos,” he said, and added with a smile, “OK, enough praising Chabad.”

Danon called to increase funding for Chabad Houses which serves tens of thousands of Israeli citizens, and to restore the budget for Jewish education in the Diaspora, which has been reduced by nearly 80 percent in recent decades.

Participating from the government were Minister of Religious Affairs Yakov Margi, Deputy Minister of Education Eliezer Moses and Chairman of The Jewish Agency Natan Sharansky.

Representing the Chabad-Lubavitch movment were Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, Vice Chairman of Merkos L’inyonei Chinuch which oversees the Shluchim activities.

Speaking on behalf of Chabad’s vast network in the former Soviet Union were Chief Rabbi of Russia Berel Lazar, Chief Rabbi of Odessa-Ukraine Avrohom Wolf and R’ Shlomy Peles, an aide to philanthropist Lev Leviev and board member of Ohr Avner Chabad Schools.

From the United States there were Rabbi Shraga Sherman, Director of Chabad of the Main Line in Merion Station, PA; and Rabbi Mendy Kotlarsky, Director of the Merkos Suite 302 department, which provides services to Shluchim.

Other Lubavitch officials at the session were Thailand Shluchim Rabbi Yosef Chaim Kantor and Rabbi Nachman Wilhelm, Cyprus Shliach Zeev Raskin, North Cyprus Shliach Chaim Hillel Azimov and Albania Shliach Yoel Kaplan.

Rabbi Kotlarsky, the first speaker at the meeting, spoke of the cooperation between the State of Israel and Chabad, which is the largest Jewish network of nonsectarian educational and social services, working even in countries without diplomatic relations with Israel.

“Every one of our 4,000 Shluchim couples is really an ambassador of G-d,” he said, explaining the devotion of Chabad rabbis and rebbetzins to every Jew regardless of background or affiliation.

Rabbi Wilhelm, often mentioned in the Israeli media for helping Israelis in times of crisis, said that “there are warnings of terror threats against concentrations of Israeli travelers, but the Chabad House’s security is carried out at our expense, at a cost of 60-80 thousand dollars per year.”

The Jewish Agency’s Sharansky said that “The cooperation between us and Chabad is not sufficient, and we are ready and happy to expand it.”

He noted that “In places where the Jewish Agency is unable to maintain an institution or an emissary, we certainly rely on the Chabad emissary. Chabad rabbis lead the struggle for Israel on campuses.”

In conclusion, Ronen Plot, Director General of the Ministry of Diaspora and Public Diplomacy, called on Chabad representatives to submit proposals for increased cooperation to his ministry.