Chabad’s Southern Lights Meet in Houston

Imagine if a single child, one by one, along a pattern on the globe, ushered in Shabbat by lighting the candles. Moment by moment, beginning with a single light, the entire world would be aglow. This magic of light, in our mind’s eye, is the reality of the work that Chabad shluchim, emissaries, bring by sharing the messages of Torah with Jews around the world. And, the warmth of light is what washed over the community during the public portion of the July 15-16 conference in Houston of the Southern Regional Kinus Hashluchim, hosted by Chabad Lubavitch of Texas.

According to Chabad of Uptown Rabbi Chaim Lazaroff, there were a total of 43 rabbis attending the kinus, or conference, held at the Texas headquarters on Fondren Road. And, if there was one common denominator, it was camaraderie. “Everyone is together for a series of programs; one broke into smaller groups for topics that they were passionate about,” said Rabbi Chaim. Of the 32 Chabad rabbis in Texas, 25 are in the greater Houston area.

Along with the greater Houston area and five other states besides Texas, the Southern Region also includes Rabbi Mendel Zarchi, director of Chabad of Puerto Rico. He and his wife established a Chabad house there, 13 years ago, which also serves many of the Carribean islands.

On a personal level, Rabbi Zarchi said that the greatest challenge was “assuring an education for our children in a remote area, at a level my wife and I were used to.” The family takes advantage of a Chabad virtual online school, he noted, which serves Chabad rabbis’ families around the world.

Houston-area rabbis included those from Clear Lake to Sugar Land to The Woodlands, as well as campus shluchim from The University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University and Rice University. Rabbi Moishe Traxler described the campus rabbis as “powerhouses.”

Rabbi Yossi Lazaroff and his wife, Manya, established the Chabad House at Texas A&M in 2007. “Whether it’s our students who come from their communities or our students who will be going to their communities within the South, our goal on campus is to be able to strengthen the students’ Jewish identity, so that when they return to their respective communities, they’ll take an active part and get involved in a real way and in a Jewish way,” said Rabbi Yossi.

Rabbi Zev Johnson and his wife, Ariella, have been shluchim at UT at Austin for five years; the Chabad center was established in 1970. Rabbi Johnson said, “[The conference] is an incredible opportunity for shluchim to get together and reinvigorate ourselves and what we’re trying to accomplish in our respective communities, to come together as brothers in a positive focus to instill Jewish leadership and network and figure out how to move forward together. …”

Rabbi Yossi Zaklikofsky and his wife, Esty, established ‘The Shul’ of Bellaire in 2010. “[Chabad] is the largest and fastest-growing Jewish movement in the world,” the rabbi said, “and the rabbis, each in their respective cities, are at the forefront of Jewish education and Jewish outreach.”

During a festive dinner on Sunday evening, Rabbi Shimon Lazaroff spoke about the conference Houston hosted 22 years ago, dedicated to the 40 years of leadership of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of blessed memory. “By Divine Providence, we are standing here now, after 40 years of Chabad in Texas. And, we happen to have this merit that our Chabad in Texas was one of 71 institutions that the Rebbe asked for Hasidim to establish.”

Houstonian Jorge Rachman, M.D., P.A., also spoke during Sunday’s dinner. He said, “Being Jewish is not a matter of belief, but of belonging. A Jew is one who belongs to a people who have a covenant with G-d. … every individual has to be himself. Only then can we learn from each other the wisdom that we ourselves lack.”

The dinner’s keynote was delivered by Rabbi Mendel Dubrawsky, shliach of the Chabad Dallas region. He described how the shluchim “are in the forefront of reintroducing G-d back into His world, guaranteeing that His world remains a garden, not a jungle.” He described how a shliach spends hours studying and hours later teaches the Alef-Bet to children and adults, alike. He may be with a CEO at one moment and in a prison cell guiding a turbulent soul in another. The shliach raises funds, builds buildings, shuls, schools, day camps, soup kitchens, he said, and feeds the poor, clothes the homeless, mentors, counsels. He schleps tables and chairs, and after his day is done, he has a supporting shoulder to many. A Jewish holiday comes along, and his community awaits. A lamplighter, the rabbi added, that brings light to dark places. “The Lubavitcher Rebbe,” said Rabbi Dubrawsky, “did not develop followers, he developed leaders.”

When a shliach gets hit with a curve ball, Rabbi Dubrawsky explained, there is a pause. But even with success, “there is a pause before you go to the next level,” he said. Like with driving a car, he described, “If you don’t shift, you will roll backwards.”

During a “Chabad Showcase,” open to the Jewish community at large, representatives of each state gave a “state of the state” address, along with keynote speakers.

Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch, Brooklyn, N.Y., addressed the gathering. “The Rebbe was the architect and he gave us the blueprint for everything we should be doing,” said Rabbi Kotlarsky. “But how to do it? You innovate, you create. … The Rebbe’s care, concern, compassion for each and every Jew and from each and every Jewish community, he said, is what motivates the shluchim “to reach out to each and every Jew, wherever he may be. …”

Rabbi Sholom B. Lipskar, of The Shul of Bal Harbour, Fla., passionately described Chabad’s mission and of the Rebbe, in particular. Of the relationship between Creator and Creation, Rabbi Lipskar said, “the terms that often are used are light and the illuminator, the source of light, such the sun and the sun’s rays. “When the sun is in its full glory,” he described, “… it’s hardly accessible to the naked eye. … In the sun itself, there is no light, it is an illuminator. … Moses was called the light of the sun … In every generation, there is a Moses.

“…until 18 years ago,” continued Rabbi Lipskar, “it was really very difficult to talk about who the Rebbe was. We were all so totally overwhelmed by this massive light that we saw. … When the moon shines, it doesn’t mean that the sun is gone. It’s just not visible.

“To understand the Rebbe is vital because our world is going through maybe the most strenuous period ever in history. … Today, everything is connected at the speed of light. It’s a very challenging time we live in, challenging for ourselves and even more for our children. … and, as this ship of humanity tries to plow its way through these turbulent seas, there must be a captain that steers the boat. … In every generation, there is a captain of that ship,” said Rabbi Lipskar.

The rabbi described the Rebbe as someone who “impacted the world in an extraordinary way. The Rebbe’s objective was to fix the world,” said Rabbi Lipskar. “He was the first leader after Maimonides who took a national position about the Jews’ responsibility to teach the nations of the world their obligations of creating a humane society, of creating an ethical moral environment. … It’s the obligation of the Jewish nation to imbue civilization with holiness.”

Rabbi Lipskar closed with a story of a scientist questioning the Rebbe on his “wasting” his time on a child lighting Shabbat candles. The Rebbe described how a “3-year-old girl lights the candles in Auckland, New Zealand … and another little girl lights the candles in Perth,” said Rabbi Lipskar. “The Rebbe took a circumference around the whole world all the way to New York. … For 24 hours, the world is bathed in holy light.

“You are asking me if there is something more important than that?” Rabbi Lipskar addressed the shluchim. “… it’s a sacred obligation to be the recipient of the Rebbe’s trust, sending us as emissaries throughout the world. The Rebbe goes with each of us around the world, and blesses us to see the sun rise every morning.”

Reflecting after the conference concluded, Rabbi Shimon Lazaroff’s wife, Chiena Lazaroff, told the JHV how being a shlucha has enriched her 40 years in Houston. “When we came to Houston,” said the Texas Chabad matriarch, “people asked us what was our goal, our plan. We were there to create greater Jewish awareness and observances. How this was to be done, we had no idea. As needs arose, we rose to the occasion. It’s not the work of our hands, but the blessings of Hashem, conveyed to us through the Lubavitcher Rebbe and his love for each and every Jew. So many lives have been touched; it is gratifying to see the second and third generations availing themselves of the Jewish education we provide, and in turn, contributing to the community, as well. The Rebbe made us leaders, always urging us to greater heights. I feel privilege to have earned his confidence.”

Posing in the group portrait shown above:

Front row: Rabbis Sholom Lipskar, Bal Harbour, Fla; Zelig Rivkin, New Orleans; Avraham Korf, Miami; Shimon Lazaroff, Houston; Moshe Kotlarsky, Brooklyn; Yossi Groner, Charlotte, N.C.; Yossi New, Atlanta; Yisroel Spalter, Weston, Fla.

Second row: Rabbis Chaim Lazaroff, Houston; Betzalel Marinovsky, Houston; Yoseph Levertov, Austin; Eliezer Lazaroff, Houston; Moishe Traxler, Houston; Yossi Lazaroff, College Station, Texas; Lev Cotlar, Raleigh, N.C.; Chaim Block, San Antonio; Avraham Brashevitzky, Doral, Fla.

Third row: Rabbis Zvi Drizin, Dallas; Yudi Horowitz, Plano, Texas; Yossi Nemes, Metairie, La.; Yitzchok Schmukler, League City, Texas; David Kaufmann, New Orleans; Mendy Traxler, Houston; Mendel Block, Plano; Mendel Blecher, The Woodlands, Texas.

Fourth row: Rabbis: Zalman Charytan, Kennesaw, Ga.; Mendel Dubrawsky, Dallas; Moshe Naparstek, Dallas; Mendel Rivkin, New Orleans; Mendel Feigenson, Sugar Land; Mendel Zarchi, Carolina, Puerto Rico; Zalman Fischer, Augusta, Ga.

Back row: Rabbis Dovid Goldstein, Houston; Dov Mandel, Ft. Worth; Yossi Zaklikofsky, Bellaire, Texas; Sholom Schmerling, Venice, Fla; Zev Johnson, Austin; Levi Gurevitch, Arlington, Texas; Mendel Ceitlin, Metairie.