Obituaries Obituaries are updated regularly and archived on JN Online: www.detroitjewishnews.com A Compassionate, Passionate Pioneer Rabbi Kagan's death, 250 individuals, including 30-35 Detroiters, had gath- ered for a graveside service. Jewish Outreach Rabbi Yitschak Meir Kagan SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN Staff Writer Ilt abbi Yitschak Meir Kagan spent his last day — his last Shabbos — in Jewish outreach, teaching and inspiring, doing what he liked to do most," says his friend and colleague, Rabbi Levi Shemtov. Rabbi Kagan, of Oak Park, associate director of the Lubavitch Foundation of Michigan, died May 13, at age 59, the result of an automobile accident in Queens, N.Y., where he had spent the weekend as rabbi-in-residence at a Shabbaton for a group from the Montreal Torah Center. The rabbi was on route to John F. Kennedy International Airport to return home at 6:25 a.m. Sunday when his rental car collided with a van. The other driver, Glenn* Hunter, 46, of St. Albans, N.Y., was given a summons for speeding and was treated for minor injuries, according to Det. Nancy Yule, a New York police spokeswoman. The group had been staying in a guesthouse outside of the Montefiore Cemetery, to be in close proximity to the resting-place of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who died in 1994. Rabbi Kagan visited the grave over the week- end. Burial for Rabbi Kagan was held Sunday evening at the same cemetery. The rabbi's funeral procession began at the Chabad-Lubavitch World Headquarters in Crown Heights, N.Y., where more than 500 people waited in the streets. A Lubavitch fax system, several Lubavitch Web sites and a phone squad were used to contact individuals throughout the world. Within hours of 5/18 2001 132 " Rabbi Kagan was known for his deter- mination in establishing Chabad Houses throughout Michigan. "He was always the trailblazer, the pio- neer behind them," says Elimelech Silberberg, rabbi of West Bloomfield's Sara Tugman Bais Chabad Torah Center, referring as well to Chabad facilities in Flint, Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids. "He was the front man, the one who laid the groundwork to allow these insti- tutions to be established." "He singlehandedly pioneered those places," says Rabbi Levi Shemtov, who directs the West Bloomfield-based Friendship Circle with his wife, Bassie. "He went out there with the people in those communities and now they are each run by their own shlichim (emis- saries). He was a mentor to many young shlichim, including myself." Rabbi Kagan was among the founders of the Friendship Circle, a counseling center that evolved into an organization that now also serves children with special needs. It was through the Jewish student out- reach movement that Leonard Baruch of Southfield first met Rabbi Kagan. "He worked on college campuses with kids involved with drugs and cults," says Baruch, who was then on the board of directors of the Conservative Congregation Shaarey Zedek, where he says Rabbi Kagan often attended com- munity-sponsored events. "He was unusual and striking, reaching out, counseling kids." • Born in London, it was campus out- reach that brought Rabbi Kagan to Oak Park in 1965. "If anyone ever epitomized the true meaning of outreach, it had to be Rabbi Kagan," Baruch says. "With his beauti- ful smile, his gracious and welcoming demeanor, he became the individual who could nurture true love and corn- passion amongst those he encountered." Touching The Communi ty "He acted as a bridge to various factions of the Jewish community," says Penny Blumenstein, president of Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit. "He helped to bring us all together. A humble and extremely wise man with such great respect for all parts of the community, he felt a special warmth and caring about Jews no matter who they were or what their beliefs were." Baruch says: "Rabbi Kagan's personality was so genuine. He was so at-ease and very, very gracious. He always had a smile, a good word and was very, very friendly. And this was not manufactured for the moment. This was his calling." Rabbi Mordechai Friedman, Rabbi Kagan's son-in-law, says, "He was a gener- ator — he generated happiness and made you feel happy and excited to do what you had to do." "He was one of the good guys," says Robert Aronson, the Federation's chief executive officer. "He cared about every- body. He was a force for unity and for tolerance for different groups. He believed in the totality of the Jewish peo- ple and lived his life for them every day. He was an unusual man of great dignity and great humility." Gary Torgow, president of the Southfield-based Yeshiva Beth Yehudah and a dose friend of Rabbi Kagan, calls him "a wonderful advocate for Jewish causes and in the community at large. He was a man of vision and great vitality whose dedication to the Jewish people was legendary." Making An Impact "He was a multitalented man," Rabbi Silberberg says of Rabbi Kagan who, just two months agO, published the first of his English translations of Rabbi Schneerson's analysis of Rashi, a Chabad International project. Rabbi Kagan's "A Thought for the Week" was published for many years as a weekly series of English insights into Torah readings, based on the teachings of the Rebbe, mailed to Jews worldwide and printed in Jewish newspapers. He translated into English Hayom Yom, Rabbi Schneerson's book of 365 Chassidic thoughts of the previous Rebbe, and he ran his own weekly Jewish radio program. He wrote for many publications and played a major role in the compilation of The Lamplighters (Brooklyn, New York: Merkos EInyonei Chinuch, 1988 a book including a history, photos, lette reproductions and description of pro- grams of Chabad-Lubavitch internation ally. Rabbi Kagan was among those closel involved in the 10-year development of the 40-acre Campus of Living Judaism in West Bloomfield, a multimillion-dol lar religious and educational center, expected to open next year. "The last several years he also travele around the country supporting Chaba helping out at new centers," says his son-in-law, Rabbi Friedman. This week, a large group of those wh met with Rabbi Kagan in New York wi travel to Detroit from Montreal. "He had been brought there to inspire the and he did that," Rabbi Shemtov says. The evening before Rabbi Kagan's death, one of the men called Rabbi Shemtov. "He told me how beautiful and inspiring Rabbi Kagan was and ho lucky Detroit was to have him." Rabbi Kagan is survived by his wife, Rochel Kagan; mother, Esther Kagan Oak Park; sons and daughters-in-law, Rabbi Chanoch and Chana Kagan of Brooklyn, Rabbi Levi and Elka Kagan and Yosef Kagan of Oak Park; daught and sons-in-law, Chaya Devorah and Rabbi Mordechai Friedman of St. Pa Minn. and Leah, Chana and Fraida Kagan. of Oak Pak; brothers, Rabbi Moshe Kagan of Los Angeles, Rabbi Chaim Dovid Kagan and Rabbi Send Kagan of Oak Park and numerous grandchildren. Contributions may be made to the Lubavitch Foundation of Michigan, 6890 West Maple Road, West Bloomfield, MI 48322. ❑ A community memorial gather- ing in tribute to Rabbi Yitschak Meir Kagan will be held at noon, Sunday, June 3, at the Michigan Inn, 16400 J.L. Hudson Dr., Southfield. For information, call (248) 592-4444.