By COLlive reporter
Rabbi Levi Shemtov, Head Shliach to Washington, DC and Director of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad), is the cover profile of this week’s Mishpacha Magazine.
“Twenty-six years after the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s passing, his shaliach in Washington is working harder than ever to represent the interests of world Jewry to presidents, congressmen, and foreign diplomats,” they wrote.
The article, appearing ahead of the Rebbe’s yartzeit on Gimmel Tammuz, was written by Gershon Burstyn with reporting by Yossi Elituv and Shimon Breitkopf, with photos taken by Eli Greengart.
“It’s a good thing he’s not easily intimidated by international power players and people in high places,” they noted, adding that “with a contact list that’s the envy of every Capitol Hill lobbyist, Rabbi Shemtov is the go-to man when problems arise for Jews worldwide.”
In the article, Rabbi Shemtov shares his experiences walking the halls of power and tells of how he straddles a bipartisan tightrope in a polarized capital.
Besides representing the Chabad-Lubavitch movement’s interests in the capital, is also the rabbi who oversees the kashering of the White House kitchen facilities for Jewish events, presides over the lighting ceremony of the enormous National Chanukah Menorah on the White House Ellipse.
He also serves as the rabbi of The Shul of the Nation’s Capital attended by members of Congress and staff at the White House, including two key members, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, Assistant Treasury Secretary Moishe Silk, Assistant Treasury Secretary David Eisner, and Assistant to the President Avi Berkowitz.
“Rabbi Shemtov is, in a sense, American Jewry’s man in Washington, and though there are others who have similar roles, none of them can say they are following in the footsteps of their father,” referring to Rabbi Avraham Shemtov, the Rebbe’s Shliach to the White House and chairman of Agudas Chassidei Chabad, the umbrella organization of the international Chabad-Lubavitch movement.
Read the full article in Mishpacha Issue 815
