What Elena Kagan Missed

By COLlive reporter
Photos by Baruch Ezagui

An evening of inspiration in Philadelphia in tribute to the Rebbe was a chance for men, women and children to reflect – each in their own capacity – in connection with his 16th yahrzeit.

Gathered at the Crystal Tea Room in Center City, a crowd of 650 people heard several speeches about the Rebbe’s guidance in times of crisis.

The annual event commemorating Gimmel Tammuz was organized by 33 Shluchim who head 19 Chabad Houses in the Delaware Vallley.

The emcee was Rabbi Yudy Shemtov, Director of Chabad of Bucks County, PA. Tehillim was read by Rabbi Zalman Lipskar, Director of Chabad for Hebrew Speakers in the city.

The guest speaker was Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, a best-selling author who was named by Talk Magazine in 1999 as one of the 50 best speakers in the U.S.

Telushkin dedicated his talk to describing the Rebbe’s leadership based on parallel descriptions of the Torah of the first leader – Moshe rabeinu.

He also shared with the audience some personal experiences he and his family had with the Rebbe, and held the crowd attentive for over an hour.

He was introduced by Rabbi Avrohom Shemtov, regional director of Chabad in Philadelphia and Chairman of the umbrella Agudas Chassidei Chabad International.

A cross section of the entire Jewish community were present at the annual event which has turned into a cultural and spiritually uplifting event.

Among the deeply touched participants was a lady who identified herself as the niece of Elena Kagan, Solicitor General of the United States and a pending nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“We don’t see eye to eye,” the woman said about her liberal family relative. “I wish she were here and heard what the Rebbe and the Shluchim have to say.”