By Dovid Zaklikowski for COLlive and Hasidic Archives
In 1929, after being forced out of the Soviet Union, the Rebbe Rayatz, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, was in search of a place to reestablish Lubavitch headquarters. With the need to bolster Jewish life in the United States and raise funds for Jews trapped by the Communist regime, he arrived on American shores.
It would be a long visit, which included an April sprint to Detroit, Michigan. There, the Rebbe was pained by what greeted him.
“Learning among American Jews has declined and ignorance is on the increase,” the Jewish Telegraph Agency reported, “and ignorance of things Jewish is rampant in the United States. One loses all sense of refinement and becomes vulgar and boorish here.”
When the reporter asked if assimilation is on the rise, the Rebbe Rayatz explained that he views it differently.
“Spiritual matters cannot be judged in numbers,” he explained. “In physical matters, numerical strength is a factor, but this is not the case when it comes to spiritual matters. Even if only a hundred retain their devotion against a thousand who do not, the hundred will triumph, because theirs is a spiritual, and therefore superior, strength.”
A prominent member of the Jewish community in Detroit requested that the Rebbe Rayatz come to his home for a visit. Knowing that the Rebbe did not customarily make private visits, he promised to donate $25,000 (which would equate to $400,000 today) to Lubavitch charities.
The Rebbe turned him down.
When the man continued to harangue the Rebbe, saying that he would quadruple the amount, the Rebbe again responded that he could not accept the invitation. The Rebbe told him that if someone wants to support charitable endeavors, they should do so without stipulation, and he would write a letter of appreciation in return.
The Rebbe explained, “There are those who are not as wealthy who are perhaps more worthy of a visit. I do not want to differentiate between one person and another. And I cannot honor someone just because they are wealthy.”
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