UK Shliach Inspires Students

Students at Chabad Girls Academy were treated to a special gathering in honor of Rosh Chodesh Kislev. Seated around a beautifully set farbrengen table, they were greeted by a special guest.

Rabbi Shmuel Lew, shliach and educator in London, England, was invited by his former student and Principal of CGA, Mrs. Devorah Leah Angyalfi, to farbreng with the 5th-8th graders. As a young student, Mrs. Angyalfi had always been fond of Rabbi Lew as a role model and teacher who gave individual attention to each of his students. His strong and unwavering beliefs motivated her with enthusiasm to live the ways of Torah and Chassidus. She wanted her students to experience a taste of that.

Upon his arrival at CGA, Rabbi Lew greeted the students with warm smiles making an instant connection with the girls. He began by introducing himself and then opened the floor for questions which the students had prepared for him. One of the girls asked him “what attracted you to Chabad?” Rabbi Lew answered “ When I was by the Rebbe, I saw that the most beautiful thing in life was to be able to share your yiddishkeit, your simcha, with others. The Rebbe taught us that a shliach can share with many people in many different ways. It is not always easy but that is the right thing to do, even if I were a lawyer or shopkeeper or businessman, I could always share my yiddishkeit with others with a smile or a handshake or a l’chaim or a dvar torah. This had a profound effect on me, and it really attracted me to Chabad.”

Rabbi Lew, a father of fifteen children ka”h, shared humorous stories from his years in England as well as personal encounters with the Rebbe that shaped his shlichus over the years. The students were eager to hear more about his experiences on shlichus and his relationship with the Rebbe. They sat spellbound as they listened to Rabbi Lew’s accounts. Noa A, a student, shared later on, “It was very interesting to hear about his Shlichus, I’m inspired to help people more.”

One student asked “what is the best thing about being a Rabbi,” to which Rabbi Lew answered “meeting beautiful yidden!” The farbrengen gave the girls another perspective of the life of a shliach and our mission of bringing Moshiach. The auspicious month of Kislev was illuminated by so many miraculous events in our history and now this generation and these girls are making history by doing their part in bringing Moshiach.

Sara L. shared that “Rabbi Lew has a good sense of humor and got his points across so well by being open about his experiences. Luba V. mentioned that “he was very direct and seemed to be a very special person.” Gitty H. expressed how happy she was that Rabbi Lew “took the time to answer our questions and explained his answers very well”. Lebe V. was clearly inspired by the fact that “his student, Mrs. Anygyalfi was inspired by him and now she is our principal!”

There was a wonderful feeling of unity in the room and the girls sent regards to Rabbi Lew’s students in London showing how we are all connected as one family of chassidim. The farbrengen empowered the girls to examine ways in their own lives where they could share their joy and yiddishkeit with others.