By Lazer Avtzon
In the winter of 5742, I switched Yeshivos in the middle of the year from Morristown to Oholei Torah shiur daled.
It was a radical change for me after learning three years in Lubavitch Yeshiva O.P. and almost one and a half years in Morristown.
I quickly made new friends and got heavily involved in Mivtza Sefer Torah. Although just 18 years of age, I already had a bus driver’s license and I would drive bus loads of Bachurim to Starrett City, the Bronx and other heavily populated Jewish areas for Mivtza Sefer Torah, Chanukah, etc.
Sometime that summer, I was called into Mazkirus and offered to go on Shlichus to Morocco.
Like the other 7 bachurim who were offered the same, we each answered in the affirmative, stating that we individually had our parents Haskama.
To be honest, we were an odd group of bed fellows, very different personalities, and four of us were from out of town/ overseas, while the other four were local boys and from two different classes.
Arki Deutch, Shia Morozov, Dovid Kahanov and Shimon Mockin were from Crown Heights, while Danny Kaye was from Israel, Binyomin Serebryanski from Australia. Zalman Blumenfeld from Brazil and I, Lazer Avtzon from Detroit, Michigan.
For better or for worse, it had to work as we were going to be living with each other for the next two years, and in a foreign land and language to boot.
And making it work, we did, and if I can say, we excelled.
The friendships forged over those two years were going to be for life. Or so we thought.
This past Motzoei Shsbbos we opened our phones and were shocked to learn of the sudden and untimely passing of one of our Chevre. On Friday night, HaRav Hatomim, Hashliach Reb Schneur Zalman ben HaRav Yerachmiel Blumenfeld z”l suddenly and tragically returned his pure and holy Neshoma to Hashem.
Reb Zalman, or Zeko / Uri as he was fondly called, was a stalwart of a Chosid, totally devoted to the Rebbe and his Horoas. Zalman was meticulous in following every Horaah and Tenuah of the Rebbe. Double breasted suits closing right over left, the same style socks the Rebbe wore, his davening, not to mention his dedication to Mivtzoim and learning Chitas, etc.
Zalman exemplified the epitome of a true Chosid. He was strong headed and adamant in his Hiskashrus to the Rebbe, with no room whatsoever for compromise on the Rebbe’s Inyonim.
Later this week, I will write the origins of Mivtza Rambam, an initiative of Zalman and one other Bachur. For now, suffice to say, Zalman rightfully deserves our full gratitude of initiating מבצע רמב”ם בדעת תחתון.
And perhaps once I regain my senses, I will try to write more about the many other Peulos and Mivtzoim he was involved in, unless one of my Chaveirim beats me to it.
He later came to 770 where he learned Semicha and then married his wife Sarah, daughter of Reb Moshe Slonim a”h and his Rebbetzin.
There was never a question that he and his wife would go on Shlichus, but rather where. Shortly after their wedding, they were offered to open Chabad of Peru.
For over 30 years, he and his wife Sarah dedicated their entire fiber and being to the Rebbe’s holy work. Another article will perhaps shed more details on that work.
As a close friend, and the founder and director of the Global Jewish Assistance and Relief Network, I helped Zalman over the course of many years, shipping a yearly container of kosher products for Pesach, and helping them import chicken and meat from neighboring countries. Recently, he obtained a rare and exclusive right to import products thanks to a request from our office to the Government of Peru.
Zalman was the sole fundraiser for Chabad in Peru and the only breadwinner for his family. His sudden, tragic and untimely death leaves a frail and fragile Almana to quickly figure out with her children and in-laws, how to sustain this empire of activities helping every Jew in Peru – financially, legally and spiritually.
Please help me help them. Open a team page and share with all your friends and acquaintances.
Together, we can show his family and community, that his lifetime dedication was not in vain and the great work of Chabad in Peru will continue.
You can open a team page by clicking on this link:
https://view.charidy.com/new_team_page/?campaign_id=14621
Together, let’s show our appreciation to this remarkable Chosid and give Nachas to the Rebbe.
יהי זכרו ברך
Lazer Avtzon
הרה”ח הרה”ת שניאור זלמן בן הרב ירחמיאל ז”ל
