Exactly seventy years ago a 49-year-old man stood in a small synagogue in Brooklyn and embarked on a journey to change the world. In future decades his name would reverberate in Jewish homes throughout the globe. Eventually, his followers would take up posts in over 100 countries.
But, the world he was facing was nothing like the renown and ubiquity that his name now carries.
I am, of course, speaking of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson of righteous memory. The Rebbe, as he is affectionately known, accepted the leadership of Chabad-Lubavitch on the Tenth of Shevat 1951. Decimated by the Holocaust and Soviet oppression, it was a small, battered group that he addressed in his inaugural speech.
But, he set out a plan to… Read More »