OUTPOURING continued from page 1

Jack and Miriam Shenkman of Farmington Hills on a recent visit with the rebbe.

"Your adrenaline just races,"
he said. He began to pray.
When the news of Rabbi
Schneerson's death came, he
joined the crowds of other
Detroiters — who eventually
made it to New York on three dif-
ferent flights — making last-
minute arrangements to attend
the rebbe's funeral.
Rabbi Schneerson left a
profound impression on the
many Detroiters he met. Some
have mystical tales of how he
gave a bracha, blessing, and
they suddenly became pregnant
after years of trying; others
say the rebbe offered insight-
ful warnings about bad mar-
riages.
"He advised me to consult with

a friend before I married my fi-
ance — which everyone agreed
was a strange message," one
woman said. "I did, then asked
for a blessing again. He didn't re-
ply."
Finally, as the woman pressed,
the rebbe returned with, "I see
you are very determined."
Less than two months after the
wedding, the woman was di-
vorced.
Rabbi Kagan described Rabbi
Schneerson as a man of tremen-
dous vision and insight, yet who
remained profoundly humble.
Before his wife died, the rebbe
made it a point to spend time
with her every afternoon, Rabbi
Kagan said.
"He would come home, take off

TOP RIGHT
The rebbe with
Emma Lazaroff
Schaver.

RIGHT

Dr. Jerry Kasle
of Beverly Hills
and the rebbe.

his shoes and put on his slippers,
then have a cup of tea with his
wife.
"Here was someone who met
with leaders, all kinds of impor-
tant people from around the
world, but he always said that
time with his wife was the best
half-hour of his day.
"Everybody asks, 'What was so

different about him?"' Rabbi
Kagan continued. Tor me, it was
this:
"Most leaders, with each lev-
el of greatness, become more
aloof, more separated from the
masses. It's not necessarily that
they intend it — but their great-
ness in and of itself elevates
them," he said.

`The rebbe combined many
levels of greatness. He
was universally recognized
by friend and foe alike as a
great in Torah knowledge
and for his uncanny wisdom
in the esoteric, his teach-
ings in Chassidus and phi-
losophy.
"He also was recognized
as a leader, representing his
own community and, at
times, speaking out on behalf
of the entire Jewish commu-
nity.
"You would definitely
imagine the ordinary person
would have no chance to
get near him. But in fact
it was absolutely the
opposite. He was at ease with
everyone, from the street
sweeper who wasn't Jewish
to prominent leaders world-
wide."
Unlike previous leaders,
Rabbi Schneerson was
outspoken in his determina-
tion that women be fully
involved in Jewish life.
He called for women and
girls — not just men and boys
— to receive a Jewish educa-
tion.
Miriam Shear of Oak Park
discovered that firsthand.
When she brought her daugh-
ter, Hadassah, to meet the
rebbe in New York, he asked,
"Are you giving her a good
Jewish education?"
Rabbi Kagan said it will be a
long time before he will come to
terms with the rebbe's passing.
"It's a major change in our
lives," he said. "The realization of
what it really means and how it
impacts the world is difficult to
know." 0

Rabbis Respond To Rebbe's Death

LESLEY PEARL STAFF WRITER

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24

W

hen Rabbi Menachem
Mendel Schneerson
died, the Chasidic
community was un-
derstandably upset. But
Chasidim are not the only Jews
speaking of the rebbe's passing
as a loss.
"When a great teacher dies,
it's sad for the entire Jewish
community. We react in differ-
ent ways, though. We (non-
Chasidic Jews) didn't anticipate
him as the Messiah," said
Temple Israel Rabbi Paul
Yedwab.
Rabbi Dannel Schwartz of

Temple Shir Shalom disagreed
with Rabbi Schneerson's views
on many issues, especially the
"Who is a Jew?" debate in Israel.
(Rabbi Schneerson opposed
Israeli acceptance of Reform con-
verts.)
"It doesn't take away from
his genius or greatness as a
leader, though," Rabbi Schwartz
said. "He was a phenomenon.
He made the Lubavitch
movement what it is today.
He internationalized it, struc-
tured it and saved it from
anonymity."
"There are points on which I

disagree with Mother Theresa,
too," said Congregation Shaarey
Zedek Rabbi William. Gershon.
He said of the 92-year-old
Rabbi Schneerson, "He definite-
ly earned his place in our histo-
/T.

"He made the
movement what
it is today."

— Rabbi Dannel Schwartz

'Be captured the imagination
of 250,000 of his own movement
plus many others. He took
a movement which was almost
wiped out and catapulted it
into something exciting, influ-
ential and sometimes contro-
versial."
Rabbis Yedwab, Schwartz
and Gershon expect the
Lubavitch movement will face a
healing and transformation pro-
cess in choosing its next leader
and reorganizing (Rabbi
Schneerson had no heir to suc-
ceed him), but will remain a vi-
tal presence in American Jewry.

As to the belief by some
Chasidim that Rabbi Schneer-
son was the Messiah, Rabbi
Schwartz said, "He didn't
make himself the Messiah, his
followers did. His followers put
perfect faith in him. The poten-
tial is there for all rabbis, doc-
tors, lawyers — those in a
position to make life-affecting de-
cisions.
"There's a saying, 'a rabbi's
only as good as his next
miracle.' Obviously Schneerson
was good. People followed
him."

