INSIGHT

THE INNER WORLD OF CHASIDIM, PART II

A youngster, sidecuris flying, enjoys a snack. With such large families, the Chasidic
Photos by Scott Areman
population reportedly doubles every 15 years.

Looking Out
For Their Own

Chasidic groups in New York have learned to assert their
political clout while preserving their religious traditions

_LEHMAN WEICHSELBAUM

Special to The Jewish News

B

elieving Jewish survival mor-
tally imperiled by intermar-
riage and other pressures - of
the secular world, the Luba-
vitcher Rebbe, Rabbi
Menachem Mendel Schneerson — the
closest model the world has to a Jewish
pope — has sent his followers into the
streets and onto university campuses
around the world in an untiring recruit-
ment program designed to lure assimilated
Jews into the folds of Chasidic Orthodoxy.
In the sweep and sophistication of their
mission to the Jews, Chabadniks give
evangelical Christians and Hare Krishna
proselytizers a run for their money.
Worldwide, there are 250 Chabad houses.
(In the United States there is at least one
for every state.) Lubavitch has begun to bill
itself as the largest Jewish organization in
the world.
Thanks to a large pool of baalei tshuva
drawn from the professional media, the
Lubavitcher organization boasts a large
publishing arm (the largest, they claim,
among Jewish-interest houses), as well as
a state-of-the-art, high-tech media arsenal
that has made Chabad radio drama a

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feature item on the mainstream AM dial
and has aired the Lubavitcher Rebbe on
numerous cable video broadcasts.
A recent anti-drug, pro-help for the
homeless telethon out of Los Angeles
called "L'Chaim!" attracted guest
superstars Lionel Ritchie, Whoopi
Goldberg, James Caan, Carroll O'Connor,
Carole King and Chabad's most illustrious,
if intermittent hanger-on, Bob Dylan.
Much of the multimillion-dollar proceeds
from this annual Chasidism-goes-
Hollywood extravaganza is used to sup-
port Chabad's own drug rehab and
homeless aid centers in Los Angeles.
The yearly Chanukah menorah-lighting
ceremony on the White House lawn has
become a Washington tradition, and a re-
cent book published by Lubavitch
chronicles their menorah celebrations in
every state and around the world.
Recently, Chabad concluded a much
publicized celebration of the Rambam's
(Maimonides') 850th Birthday. In Israel,
the sect has set some sort of historical
precedent by attracting thousands of
young Sephardic Jews with Arabic or Iran-
ian roots into the legions of a decidedly