Rabbi Caters to GOP Delegates

By COLlive reporter

Instead of a highly disciplined and scripted Republican Convention in Tampa, Florida, participants are facing the tropical storm Isaac and Ron Paul‘s ire for not giving him a platform.

One aspect that is going smoothly, however, is the Kosher meals.

GOP delegates, convention participants and members of the media who adhere to Jewish dietary laws are being helped by Chabad since last week.

“Since this past Friday, we delivered over 150 sandwiches of all sorts,” said Rabbi Mendy Dubrowski, co-director of Chabad Lubavitch of South Tampa.

Dina’s Kitchen, run by his wife Nechama Dina Dubrowski and the only kosher service in town, has sent out made-to-order wraps, fruit and vegetable platters and salads to many hotel rooms.

“The Jewish community in Tampa is very spread out,” Rabbi Dubrowski told COLlive. “Until today, all kosher restaurants or establishments that have opened here were short lived.”

Traditional and Orthodox Jews that will be attending the 2012 convention from around the country have been calling him inquiring about food and minyanim.

Rabbi Dubrowski provides the kosher food, offering a menu which includes deli, sushi and knishes among other fare, and visitors can attend Bais Temple David, an Orthodox shul in the Hyde Park area led by Rabbi Lazar Rivkin, for prayer services.

LUBAVITCHERS ON SCOOTERS

Monday’s convention opening was cancelled due to Tropical Storm Isaac which didn’t directly hit Tampa but prompted the Republicans to postpone the events for fear of heavy rains and high winds.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the convention stakes are high because Mitt Romney trails President Barack Obama in both national polls and polls in most of the crucial swing states.

Chabad bochurim will be driving around the crowded Downtown Tampa on scooters doing Mivtzoim with pairs of Tefillin and pamphlets.

VIP entrance to the convention headquarters at the Tampa Bay Times Forum was given to Rabbi Dubrowski and his father Rabbi Yossi Dubrowski, Head Shliach of Tampa who had ties to officials in the administration of George W. Bush.

In fact, the young Dubrowski has already met Romney’s Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan at a Republican fundraiser 9 months ago in New York City.

“I was there to give the invocation and he was a guest speaker,” Mendy Dubrowski recalled. “As I was walking over, I see him with his assistants, looking lost. I approached them and offered to come along.”

“As we walked over, I told him about Chabad and what I do and he was very cordial. At my invocation, I pointed out what the Rebbe always said, that government and the rule of law is one of the 7 Noahide Laws.

“Ryan then spoke and joked that ‘religion has shown me the way,’ and explained how a rabbi helped him find the event’s venue.

“He then said ‘the rabbi is right,’ and remarked that the problems in Washington, DC stem from the fact that most people are all about themselves, not the public.

According to Dubrowski, the Wisconsin Congressman proceeded to suggest: “Perhaps we should all attend a synagogue once or twice to remind ourselves why we are here in the first place.”

FOR DEMOCRATS TOO

Rabbi Levi Shemtov, Shliach in Washington, DC and Executive Vice President of American Friends of Lubavitch, is planning to attend, COLlive has learned.

Other Lubavitchers heading to Tampa are Chanina Sperlin, intergovernmental liaison for the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council; Mendy Hecht of the Hamodia, and Rabbi Mendy Carlebach, Chaplain in the Port Authority Police of NY & NJ.

Dubrowski states the obvious, that Chabad is a non-political organization and as a non-profit does not endorse a candidate or party.

“I have just spoken to Rabbi Bentzi Groner of Chabad in Charlotte, North Carolina, to share ideas on how he can serve the Jewish delegates at the Democratic National Convention next week,” he says.