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ning mate.
But since when does moral authority,
or "integrity," mean caving in for the
sake of power? Once acting and think-
ing independently, Lieberman has
deferred to every party demand, relin-
quishing his stand on school vouchers, a
degree of Social Security privatization
and the gradual phase-out of affirmative
action. (Proposition 209 in California,
the senator had said, sounded like a
"basic human-rights issue.")
Lieberman's ready acquiescence
reminds me of a time when Jews
enjoyed so little security in a gentile
world and so little confidence their
views would be respected, that all they
could practice in a secular forum was
flattery and compliance. The senator
says he's open to new ideas, but
regardless of where you stand, how
can you trust a man who changes
sides on key issues with no rational
explanations or hard evidence to sup-
port his switch?
He does not have the courage of his
convictions. He does not have stability
and strength of purpose to be presi-
dent or vice president.
Esther Littman
Bloomfield Hills

Chabad Coverage
Stirred Memories

was with the greatest interest that I
read the wonderful and most compre-
hensive article regarding Chabad and
its worldwide shlichim [emissaries]
("The Rebbe's Legacy," Aug. 18, page
6).
In summer 1971, following an
international sleep researchers confer-
ence in neighboring Belgium, we
arrived in Paris and found a small
Chabad synagogue at which to attend
Shabbat services. Most of the congre-
gants were immigrants from Morocco.
This surprised me as I used to associ-
ate chasidim and chasidut with its ori-
gins in eastern Europe. However, these
were new converts to Chabad as a
result of the hard work of a chabad
shaliach from the United States.
I will never forget the young girl, a
native of Morocco, who got very excit-
ed learning that I came from the Unit-
ed States, the country of her esteemed
and most beloved rebbe [Rabbi Men-
achem Mendel Schneerson]. Her
excitement increased when she found
out that I actually had the good for-
tune to see the rebbe when we lived in
the Crown Heights area of Brooklyn, a

It

Kenneth E. Rochlen
First Vice President

Chabad bastion, in 1964. Despite the
language barrier, she managed to con-
vey to me her greatest wish to come to
the U.S. one day and to see the rebbe.
I often think of her and hope and pray
that her wish was fulfilled.
Years hence, in 1982, when we
lived in Worcester, Mass., and our two
younger sons, Udi and Avi, attended
Yeshivat Achei
I spent
whole days there as a Hebrew lan-
guage and literature teacher to the
Bais Chana girls and editing Koleinu,
the yeshiva newspaper. Rebbetzin
Rochl Fogelman, who became a dear
friend, took me with her to New York
to a Chabad women's conference. This
was a Shavuot weekend and our eldest
son Gilead was on leave from Brandeis
University. Rabbi Fogelman, the rosh
yeshiva and a Chabad rabbi, asked
him to drive the van with the Bais
Chana girls; no one says 'no' to him.
On Sunday, we, the women from all
over the United States and the world,
gathered at the famous Chabad syna-
gogue on Eastern Parkway as the
beloved rebbe addressed us in his beauti-
ful Yiddish for more than two hours.
In 1994, we happened to be in
New York when the rebbe passed on
and thousands of his admirers attend-
ed his funeral. On our way back to
Detroit, we saw a number of Chabad
chasidim with tears in their white
shirts as signs of mourning. I remem-
ber commenting sadly to my husband
that they are mourning their beloved
father who just died.
This article does justice to an amaz-
ing movement, which more than any
other contributes to the propagation
and preservation of Judaism.
Rachel Kapen
West Bloomfield

Jeffrey R. Singer
First Vice President

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