As they returned home from a multidisciplinary series of events examining the revival of post-Holocaust Jewry and the growth of Jewish communities around the world, participants of American Friends of Lubavitch’s biennial Living Legacy conference said that what struck them most about the Washington, D.C., gathering was a guest and participants list that drew from national political leaders, international ambassadors and Jewish community representatives.
“I had high expectations, but it totally superseded everything I had imagined,” said Dayna Driscoll, a 19-year-old Binghamton University student who was one of 50 collegiate attendees whose participation was coordinated by the Chabad on Campus International Foundation and underwritten by philanthropists Manette and Louis Mayberg.
Driscoll, student vice president of the Chabad-Lubavitch Center for Jewish Student Life, was particularly moved by a question and answer session between Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel prior to the conference’s concluding banquet. She also lauded an array of presenters, who drew on the life’s work of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, to provide a backdrop to the work being done by Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries 16 years after his passing.
“All of the speakers were so distinguished and wanted to reach out,” she explained. “It really resonates with the teachings of spreading light. I’ve never experienced anything like it.”
All told, hundreds of people took part in the Living Legacy conference, from congressional leaders to Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries and lay leaders from 40 states and 40 countries. More than 30 members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives participated, as did more than 40 ambassadors and other senior diplomats. Vice President Joe Biden also addressed a select group of 120 attendees at a White House briefing June 17.
“I was particularly moved by the broad representation we had, and the impact I believe the conference made upon all those who participated,” stated American Friends of Lubavitch director Rabbi Levi Shemtov. “The conference covered a very broad range of society, all reflecting lessons that the Rebbe taught through his leadership and life.”
A Wednesday morning congressional leadership breakfast featured, among others, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.); House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio); Reps. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), the House minority whip; Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.); Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.); and Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.).
In their speeches, the speakers expressed admiration for the Rebbe and his charge to strengthen Jews in every corner of the world.
Berkley, a Jewish woman informally known around Capitol Hill as the “Yiddishe Mama” who was her state’s first-elected Democratic woman representative, admitted that she never thought that Chabad Houses would succeed in her western state, but that, much to her delight, she was proven wrong. Today, when she looks at a picture of the Rebbe, she sees G‑dliness and warmth, she added.
“When I look around the room, I see the same thing,” she stated.
Lieberman, meanwhile, spoke about his personal relationship with Chabad over the years – a relationship that has allowed him to eat kosher food on the campaign trail when emissaries have delivered meals to his hotels and events – and the movement’s worldwide reach.
“There are more Chabad Houses popping up in Connecticut than Subway franchises,” he quipped. “The Rebbe was one of the greatest leaders of all of Jewish history, and that’s a lot of history.”
The former vice presidential candidate also highlighted the Rebbe’s deep esteem for the United States and his correspondence with its leaders, such as President Ronald Reagan.
Quoting from a letter written by the Rebbe to Reagan referring to America as a world superpower in spiritual and moral values, Lieberman emphasized that the message of America’s exceptionalism could not be more relevant today.
Size of a Tree
Following the breakfast, several scholars participated in a symposium on the Rebbe’s leadership style and its lessons.
Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, who is working on a book about the Rebbe, compared his leadership to Moses holding up his hands during the Israelites’ war in the desert. Just as Moses’ hands inspired his people to carry on the fight, the Rebbe inspired his followers to continue their mission tirelessly.
“There’s an old American expression,” said Telushkin. “You can only measure the size of a tree once it’s been cut down. … In a sense, the dynamic nature of the Rebbe’s leadership has been revealed by the fact that Chabad continues to blossom.”
A following luncheon showcased another batch of high-profile personalities, including the ambassadors of France, India, Germany, Mexico, Korea, Brazil and other nations. Guest speakers included U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Jacob Lew, Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren and Israeli Chief Rabbi Yonah Metzger.
At the lunch, Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, vice chairman of Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch, the educational arm of Chabad-Lubavitch, announced the appointment of Rabbi Chanoch and Leiky Gechtman as the new directors of the Chabad House in Mumbai, India.
Wiesel delivered the keynote address at the banquet that evening, and Rabbi Avraham Shemtov, chairman of Agudas Chasidei Chabad, offered remarks on behalf of the Chabad-Lubavitch umbrella organization. Student attendees of the conference also unveiled a video presentation.
“It was very well-orchestrated,” said Elias Benarroch, the 22-year-old student president of the Chabad-Lubavitch Jewish Student Center serving the University of Florida.
Benarroch and the other 49 Mayberg Fellows joined other attendees for several portions of the conference, and also took part in special sessions with Metzger, the Maybergs and Howard Kohr, executive director of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee.
“The planning was done down to the T,” said Benarroch. “It was beautifully done.”
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