Posted to Shlichus on

Spiritual Children of Chabad Now Reach Out To Others

R. C. Berman – Lubavitch.com
Gil Yosef and Bracha Sara Leeds.

Berkeley, CA — From the moment Chabad-Lubavitch began reaching out to unafilliated Jews, the movement set a pattern that would not only change the lives of those they reach, but also dramatically alter the demographics within Chabad-Lubavitch itself.

By now, Bracha Sara Leeds’s degree from UC Berkeley would have paved her way to medical school. But she’s chosen a different road: life as a Chabad representative on her alma mater’s campus.

Raised in the So Cal bedroom community of Woodland Hills, CA, Leeds isn’t the product of a home steeped in Lubavitch teachings. She didn’t attend a yeshiva. It wasn’t until college that she became involved with Chabad. Yet as of June 11, she and her husband Rabbi Gil Yosef Leeds landed at UC Berkeley as Chabad reps.

The Leeds ought to be an anomaly, but they are not. Out of the crop of 4000 Chabad representatives a guesstimate 10 percent grew up outside of Chabad homes. They chose Chabad leadership life not out of familial tradition but because they are the spiritual children of the Chabad movement. In some countries, like Argentina, the numbers are much higher. Chabad’s senior representative of Argentina, Rabbi Tzvi Grunblatt, told Lubavitch.com that 70% of his fourteen centers are led by couples where at least one spouse was not raised in a Lubavitch home. “Most of our shluchim are homegrown,” he said.

Alumni of Barnard, Stanford, and other prestigious universities form a plurality among this category of Chabad leaders. Before Gil Yosef Leeds earned his rabbinical degree, he was on his way to a degree in psychology from UC Berkeley, which tied with Princeton in U.S. News and World Report’s 2006 ranking of universities nationwide. For Rabbi Leeds, college was the gateway to his calling.

Article continued (Lubavitch.com)

Aviva Andrusier, with her husband and children.

Related Articles

11 Comments

  • itta g

    hey bracha congratulations on ure moving on shlichus mazel tov and much success

  • Wrong Pic?

    What is the connection with this article and the picture of the Andrusiers?

  • Itty

    Hey Bracha!
    Good to see you!
    Miss seeing u around here!
    Keep up the amazing Shluchos over there!

  • SYDNEY

    gil mazel tov! may you have much hatzlocha on your shlichus and know only health and happiness! see you see you soon bezras hashem.

  • Anonymous

    Wrong Pic?:

    Read the rest of the article (by clicking the link) and you will see the connection!

  • BRHS students

    Mazal tov Ms. Goldschen/leeds!
    We’ll miss you in Bais Rivkah!!

  • Mushky P

    Bracha!
    This is awesome…. dropping your whole medical career to go on Shluchis!
    I’m sure you have fans all over now!!!