Boruch Dayan Hoemes: Mr. David Chase, 86, OBM

Philanthropist Extraordinaire Mr. David Chase, OBM, who has supported Chabad institutions and chairman of the board of the Rabbinical College of America and Machne Israel Development Fund, passed away today at the age of 86.

Mr. Chase had a long relationship with the Rebbe, which is described by Dovid Zaklikowski, in his upcoming book Dear Rebbe, to be published by Hassidic Archives.

David Chase was a self-made businessman who had survived the Holocaust and built his life anew. He escaped the concentration camp at Auschwitz by dodging away from a group of prisoners being marched to the gas chambers and jumping into a ditch. He later took cover in the forest for the duration of the war. He lost his parents and siblings in the Nazi concentration camps.

When he first heard of his mother’s murder at the hands of the Nazis, “it was a sunny day in Auschwitz. I raised my hands and said, ‘My G-d, of all people, why her? She was a wonderful human being who had so much compassion and love for others—why her?’”

He learned faith from his mother, who always told him to never question G-d’s will. Following the devastation of the Holocaust and his steep personal loss, Mr. Chase, a young teen, felt that he’d either have to denounce his connection with G-d and become an atheist, or accept his limited understanding and continue believing in an unknowable G-d.

Mr. Chase chose the latter path, placing his trust in G-d entirely. He explained that following his decision, “I have never questioned the will and existence of G-d. It  has become a source of strength, belief and commitment, and the result was that I became a better person for it.”

In 1946 Mr. Chase immigrated to the United States and moved to Hartford, Connecticut. There he completed high school, and began working at his first job.

“As the story goes, every Jew is a merchant,” he says. Mr. Chase would attend school in the morning, and when class let out, he’d load his car with goods—pillowcases, sheets, and eventually mattresses—and he’d drive to neighboring towns to peddle his goods. Since he spoke several Slavic languages fairly well, he was able to communicate with many customers, and he saw much success.  “On weekends,” he added, “when I didn’t peddle goods, I was washing and scrubbing floors.”

By 1952 Mr. Chase established Chase Enterprises, which at the time was primarily engaged in real estate development and construction. His activities oversaw the development and construction of many shopping centers, office buildings, residential and industrial complexes. He was in the vanguard of the discount store movement, being instrumental in the development of initial stores for retailers such as Zayres, Food Mart, G.E. Madison, Topps and others. This led him to purchase the Kresge Department Stores, based out of Newark, in 1964, which is where the young Rabbi Herson enters the picture.

In August of 1965, Herson sent Mr. Chase a letter inviting him to be the guest of honor at the Rabbinical College’s annual dinner. Rabbi Herson extended a warm invitation, and expressed his interest in meeting with Mr. Chase, to which Mr. Chase replied that though he was not accomplished in Judaic studies, he would be willing to help in any way possible.

When the duo finally met, Mr. Chase embraced the Rabbinical College’s cause with great vigor, lending his office and utilizing his personal staff for the institution’s affairs.

When the search was on for a new college building in 1968, Mr. Chase took a leading role on the board. When plans for a building acquisition fell through, Rabbi Herson wrote to Mr. Chase: “You could probably detect from my voice [on the phone] the shock I was under when I heard the sad news that the building we had hoped to acquire in East Orange is no longer available to us. Believe me, Mr. Chase, this is a most discouraging development and one of our major setbacks in recent years. Our sole source of solace lies in the fact that you are still one of our most significant friends, and we sincerely hope that, in some way, the future will bear out the Talmudical quotation that ‘everything the Merciful One does is eventually for the best.’”

Mr. Chase was highly instrumental in maintaining morale during the arduous search for a suitable building.

A few days after a gathering in honor of the Rebbe’s 79th birthday in New York, where the Rebbe delivered several scholarly lectures accompanied by interludes of song, Mr. Chase received a letter from the Rebbe with his blessings for the coming Passover holiday: “I send you my prayerful wishes that the Festival of Our Freedom bring you and yours true freedom, freedom from anxiety, material and spiritual, from anything which might distract from serving G-d wholeheartedly and with joy, and to carry over this freedom and joy into the whole year.”

In the postscript, the Rebbe wrote that it was a pleasure to see him and say a l’chaim toast at the Hassidic gathering, and added, “Although it is not customary or proper to ask for a birthday gift…considering our special relationship, I venture to do so, being confident that you will treat it in the proper spirit.”

The Rebbe wrote:

The birthday gift that I have in mind, which I would consider an honor, as well as a great pleasure, is that you devote a quarter of an hour of your time every weekday morning and dedicate it for the sacred purpose of putting on Tefillin, with the appropriate prayer that goes with it, such as the Shema [prayer] and the like. The latter need not necessarily be recited in Hebrew. If you can manage this in ten minutes, I am prepared to forego five minutes and let it be only ten minutes of your time.

Mr. Chase asked if the Rebbe could obtain for him three sets of tefillin, one which he would use in his home in Hartford, another for his home in Florida, and a small set to use while traveling. Mr. Chase once told the Rebbe that he was proud to be “a private in your army.” The Rebbe’s response: “You are not a private; you are a general.”

“Every few years,” Chase said, “the Rebbe promoted me, first to a one-star general, then a two-star general, and so on.”

In a private audience in the 1970s the Rebbe told Mr. Chase that a human is like an engine: if overused, it can burn out; but if underused, it gets sluggish. Mr. Chase held this lesson for life, and told the Rebbe that he utilized this concept in order to “work with the best efficiency.”

In the 1990s Mr. Chase told the Rebbe that at a meeting with American ambassadors in Poland, he spoke of how proud he was to be part of the Lubavitcher movement, and a private in the Rebbe’s army.

The Rebbe said, “Don’t underestimate my appointment. I appointed you a long time ago, not as a private, but as a general, and now with four stars.”

Mr. Chase responded, “I”m a lucky man. I feel humble enough to be a private, and proud enough to be a general.”

The Rebbe told him, “May G-d Almighty bless you,” and gave him four dollars—for his four stars—to give to charity.

Handing him another dollar, the Rebbe said, “And this is for the fifth star to come in the near future.”

Mr. Chase concluded, “I am most grateful for your letter, and I will do my best not to overlook putting on tefillin in the future.”

Boruch Dayan Hoemes