The Rebbe’s Lawyer – Jerry Shestack Passes

Chabad-Lubavitch mourns the passing August 18, of Jerry Shestack, a distinguished attorney and outspoken activist for human and civil rights, Israel and Soviet Jewry.

A prominent Philadelphia lawyer, Mr. Shestack was active in Democratic politics and served as president of the American Bar Association (ABA). He chaired the International League for Human Rights for twenty years, and was appointed the United States Ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Council from 1979 to 1980 by President Jimmy Carter.

Mr. Shestack had a long and substantive relationship with the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson until his passing in 1994. He was co-counsel to Agudas Chasidei Chabad in the landmark case of 1987 regarding ownership of the Chabad-Lubavitch central library.

Unbeknown to many, “Jerry played a key role behind the scenes in the important missions of the Lubavitcher Rebbe on behalf of the Jewish people, and humanity at large,” said Rabbi Avraham Shemtov, Chairman of Agudas Chasidei Chabad.

Speaking to Lubavitch.com following Mr. Shestack’s funeral on Sunday, Rabbi Shemtov described the activist and advocate as an extraordinary human being, “an individual trusted and entrusted by the Rebbe in his work to advance Jewish identity, continuity and social values in general.”

“Human rights was not an issue in Jerry’s life. He lived it. And he did so with the inspiration he took from the Jewish values of his upbringing, and his exposure to the teachings of the Rebbe.”

Mr. Shestack was awarded numerous prizes for his outstanding service, among them the the American Bar Association Medal in 2006, the Gruber Prize for Justice in 2008, and in 2009 the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights’ Lloyd N. Cutler Lifetime Achievement Award.

He is survived by his wife, Marciarose, and his two children, Jennifer and Jonathan.