Newark Mayor Cory Booker Says Chabad Asserts Mission of Jewish People

NEWARK, NJ — In this season of political endorsements, none was more surprised than the 700 people attending Rabbinical College of America 50th anniversary dinner last month when Newark Mayor Cory Booker endorsed not only the mission of the 51-year-old school, but also the mission of Chabad-Lubavitch and Judaism itself.

Booker spoke without notes, delivering an impassioned ten-minute speech. His words ripped right past the boilerplate that most politicos spout when they accept honorary degrees from Jewish institutions. He offered up references to Maimonides’ philosophical stance on pluralism, quoted first century sage Hillel, and described the week’s Torah portion. With ease and rhetorical flourishes, he whipped out more Jewish teachings than most American Jews can dig up – even with years of Hebrew school under their belts.

He described Chabad-Lubavitch as “a community of people that were asserting over and over again the important mission of the Jewish people.”

To achieve the mission, “to bring justice to this world,” Booker exhorted Jewish people to study Torah and its teachings. The world, he said, needs “the spirit of Divinity” that is being “instilled, that’s being fueled” through RCA.

“More than ever we need organizations that are going to fuel the Jewish people with that mission-driven ideology with an understanding that they are here for a purpose… and have the courage to stand up, to be Jewish in the fullest, the boldest, most courageous sense of the word.”

Now in its sixth decade, a degree from RCA occupies a line on the CVs of a plurality of Chabad rabbis around the world. The institution is still growing. A newly built, 500-bed dorm was filled within a year and a half. It has expanded its reach by offering programs that reach non-traditional yeshiva students all year through. This past summer, RCA ran six simultaneous study tracks for 850 students.

Article continued (Lubavitch.com)