New Shluchim Receive Warm Welcome from Local Jews
Rabbi Mordechai Richler has been in South Lake Tahoe, on the border of California and Nevada, for about a week, but he is already making headway on the area’s newest Jewish cultural organization.
Members of Chabad Jewish Center are working to connect with as many people as possible by hosting ceremonies, groups and classes out the rabbi’s home. The members of the center look to unify people in the community through traditional education.
Richler grew up in Long Beach where he attended a Hebrew academy in the area. He studied in Brunoy, France, and then he moved on to a rabbinical college in Montreal. After that, he studied in New York City for a year, where he met his wife, Shaina.
“The way it works is they (the rabbinical schools) send you out to different places around the world,” Richler said, adding he worked in small towns in Ukraine for a year to help people learn more about their Jewish heritage and culture. Richler said there are still tens of thousands of Jewish people living in those rural areas.
“You go to small towns, which don’t know anything; they just know that they’re Jewish, and they’re so happy to learn more,” Rabbi Richler said. “It’s changed my life.”
Shaina Richler, originally from Australia, has worked with various Jewish youth organizations around the world. She has experience with all ages of Jewish students.
The rabbi also spent a year in Jerusalem at a school to further study how to educate Jewish people on their background.
“Every person here has a mission and a goal, and every person has their own goal, and we’re all here to fulfill our goal and help each other,” he said. “We all have to work as a team.”
The newcomer rabbi said he and his wife came to South Lake Tahoe because they received messages from members of the local Jewish community.
“There’s been a request for a Chabad Jewish center to open up,” Richler said. “There are a lot of tourists who request a Chabad. We spoke to many of the rabbis in the area. It’s a gorgeous place to be close to God.”
The rabbi said Chabad is an international method of Jewish education to help foster the culture. Some of the programs Richler intends to start include elderly citizen organizations, programs for children, a “mommy and me” time for mothers and their newborns, Hebrew schools, weekly Torah classes and a women’s group.
“We’re going to be really busy, but we’re really excited about it,” he said.
Slowly but surely, Richler said he hopes the Chabad center will grow. The rabbi will host weekly Sabbath gatherings, which take place on Fridays, at his home.
On a decorated table inside his home Friday, Richler had two loafs of challah, traditional bread used in Jewish ceremonies, and kosher wine.
“The candles, which the women light, show how much light women bring into the world and how much light the Sabbath brings to the world,” he said. “We have a three-course meal every Friday.”
There also was a shofar, a small wooden instrument that is blown during the month of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, which begins the evening of Sept. 4 and ends the evening of Sept. 6. Rosh Hashanah services will take place at the center Sept. 4. A special children’s program will take place with the adult services. Services for the New Year will take place Sept. 4 at the center.
Chabad is intended to bring every person in as an equal of the Jewish faith. Its primary function is education, preserving Jewish traditions and spiritual guidance.
“We don’t label anybody in Chabad,” Richler said. “Labels, they say, are for clothing. But Chabad, everyone is the same. We’re here to unite and reach out to everybody and give their soul a little shine and bring it out.”
grammar lessons???
It’s a shame this great article loses impact because of quotes that make the speakers appear ignorant.
“You go to small towns, which don’t know anything; they just know that they’re Jewish, and they’re so happy to learn more,” Rabbi Richler said.
It’s about time our young Shluchim learned how to speak properly, especially when they are quoted in the press. This quote is not impressive to secular, educated Americans. We all know what he means, but he & his colleagues need to express themselves correctly. There are many who will think they’re ignorant poyehs, which is so far from the truth.
A better alternative: “We visit small towns where residents know they’re Jewish and that’s about it,” Rabbi Richler said. “They’re so happy to learn more about their heritage.”
Before they go on Shlichus, how about these young Rabbis (and their wives, although the women do have better skills) receive some basic instruction on speaking to the public? Sometimes, people get caught up in the bad presentation & miss the message.
yehuda
A wooden shofar??
t0 #1...speech
to #1….. about 23 years ago my niece and her friends were counselors in a CGI day camp in a popular city with Shluchim who had just arrived the year before. This is a major city known for it’s tourists plus there was a nice population of unaffiliated Jews. The Rabbi and Rebbetzin were working very hard to try to establish a Chabad presence there. My sister and her friends had a great summer…however, she did mention that the Rabbi (learned in OT) did not have a command of the English Language and it was especially noticeable when he gave his Shabbos Drasha. She wondered how he would build a community when the way he formed his sentences was sometimes laughable….Fast Forward to today-now-. This Shliach now has 5 Shluchim working under him in neighboring cities. He and his wife are very important figures in the community with a huge gorgeous Chabad center and preschool and much more!!! The Shliach’s endearing personality, sincerity, fine character and love of Yiddishkeit and doing the mission of the Rebbe is what makes him successful…not his formulation of proper speech…that’s not to say that one should not work on improving his speaking skills, It’s definitely important….but if you look around at the Shluchim today, many are OT graduates and Boruch Hashem built beautiful communities and are well respected. May the Richlers have great success in their new Shlichus in Lake Tahoe!
:)
Thanks for sharing!
Took the words out from my mouth
Number three beat me with the punch, and I wanted to say the same concept. Grammar is important but people are more interested in heart, faith, nobility of spirit, all of which can be expressed without a degree in Semantics.
A little Yinglish goes a long way.