Trailer Paying Tribute to Slain Rabbi to Travel Across U.S.

A South Florida community came together Sunday to remember Rabbi Yosef Raksin of Crown Heights, who was gunned down while visiting Miami one year ago, as loved ones prepare to embark on a mission of peace and healing across America.

From WSVN Miami:

Upbeat music played in the middle of the Northeast Miami-Dade Jewish neighborhood where the daughter of Rabbi Yosef Raksin lives with her family. Shuli Raksin-Labkowski and her family surrounded an RV trailer painted with the late rabbi’s portrait, the Seven Universal Laws and the logo “America’s Torah.” “I believe in my heart that this brings peace to all of us in the community and deters us into kindness,” said community activist Yona Lumger, a friend of Raksin’s family.

Raksin was shot dead on his Saturday morning walk to synagogue along Northeast 175th Street and Eighth Court, Aug. 9. The 60-year-old rabbi was visiting Shuli and her family from Crown Heights, Brooklyn. “Very emotional, very, very emotional; brings back old memories,” she said.

Inside the trailer, they will rewrite every letter of the Torah as it travels cross country. “This reengages the community that says, ‘From a very bad situation, we will move forward, we will educate, we will engage, we will embrace, we will be inclusive,” said Miami-Dade County Commissioner Sally Heyman.

As the trailer travels through all contiguous 48 states, those who knew Raksin hope it will work to spread his word of faith, love, and tolerance. “My father, he was was very humble. He was a very humble man, and he would smile his beautiful smile, and he would say ‘thank you,'” said Shuli.

Click here to continue reading this news report and its accompanying video at WSVN Miami.