Paris Mourns “Head Rebbetzin”

By Chabad.org and COLlive
Photos: P. Lesgold & Elie Haouzi / hassidout.org

Thousands walked the streets of Paris on Monday, mourning the sudden passing of Rebbetzin Bassie Azimov obm.

Her funeral procession made several stops, among them the Beth Chaya Mushka Lubavitch campus on rue Petit, which includes a girls’ school and a Chabad synagogue.

Attending the funeral were Shluchim and members of the Chabad community in the Paris. Veteran Shliach in Morocco Rabbi Sholom Eidelman and Rosh Yeshiva Tomchei Tmimim of Brunoy Rabbi Yechiel Kalmenson were seen as well.

She will be buried Tuesday in the Har HaZeitim ancient cemetery in East Jerusalem, alongside her father, the legendary chossid and Shliach Rabbi Benzion Shemtov OBM.

“Whether at school or at home, she served as a role model to others, and as a communicator of the Rebbe’s message,” said her brother, Rabbi Abraham Shemtov, chairman of the international umbrella organization of Agudas Chasidei Chabad.

“Needless to say, it’s a loss that will be felt in many ways: by the family, her spiritual family, and by all those who have been beneficiaries of her efforts,” he told Chabad.org.

Among the close-knit Parisian Jewish community, Mrs. Azimov was known as the “head Rebbetzin of France.”

She and her husband, Rabbi Shmuel Azimov, have spearheaded outreach activities since 1968, eventually presiding over a network of initiatives focused on college students, tourists, schoolchildren, women, young families and residents.