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CHABAD.ORG

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Jewish Continuity

Rabbi Berel Shemtov was the Rebbe’s first U.S. emissary;
his granddaughter and her family complete the circle.

A

lmost 60 years ago, a young New York rabbi and his wife
came to Oak Park to start the country’s first Chabad-
Lubavitch outpost. Now the movement has come full circle,
as the granddaughter of those original emissaries and her husband
launch a new program in Sioux Falls, S.D., the last
U.S. state to have a permanent Chabad presence.
Rabbi Berel and Batsheva Shemtov were dis-
patched to Michigan from the organization’s
New York headquarters at the behest of the late
Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel
Schneerson, whose mission was to spread Judaism
to every corner of the world, no matter how remote.
Today, Chabad centers can be found in more than
3,500 locations worldwide.
Former Brooklynites Rabbi Mendel Alperowitz,
27, and his wife, Mussie, 26, who is the Shemtovs’
granddaughter, are enthusiastic about their new
endeavor. Having recently moved with their
18-month-old and 2-month-old daughters in tow,
they are busy setting up their home and getting to
know their new community.
“We feel privileged and fortunate to be able to
participate in the global vision of the Rebbe … to
reach every Jew and transform the world with
ABOVE: In this historic photo: Irwin Cohn,
Torah and mitzvahs,” Mendel Alperowitz said.
Rabbi Berel Shemtov and
Both Mussie and her husband grew up in Chabad
Gov. William Milliken.
households.
Mendel’s parents co-direct a Chabad
TOP: Mussie and Rabbi Mendel Alperowitz
and their two young daughters have created house in England, but this will be the young cou-
a Jewish outpost in South Dakota, the last ple’s first time serving a congregation of their own.
state to get Chabad emissaries. The undertaking comes with its own set of chal-

RONELLE GRIER
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

16

March 2 • 2017

jn

lenges, including the fact that fewer than 500 Jews live in the entire
state of South Dakota, according to a 2010 U.S. Census survey.
Only a small number of these Jews are observant; most partici-
pate in Reform and Conservative congregations served by “roving”
rabbinical students. The area has not had its own full-time rabbi in
many years. Kosher meat and other Jewish foods are hard to come
by; finding the necessary products can require 200-mile trips to
Omaha or Minneapolis.
None of this fazes the Alperowitzes. They are enthusiastic about
helping the people they serve celebrate their Judaism in a variety of
ways.
“We just completed a very successful Chanukah in South Dakota,
with two public menorah-lighting events and many home visits and
tin menorahs distributed,” said Mendel Alperowitz, who plans to
offer a wider variety of religious services and Jewish education for
children and adults than was previously available in the area.
Berel Shemtov is proud to see the Rebbe’s dream become a real-
ity, prouder still that his granddaughter and her family are playing
such an important part.
“While rabbis and Chabad leaders have historically sent mes-
sengers and representatives to various places with specific missions
and goals, the idea the Rebbe created by sending out shluchim
[emissaries] was revolutionary and something never done before,”
Shemtov said.
Mendel Alperowitz is honored to be carrying on the tradition and
looks forward to serving a small congregation, even if the members
are spread across the state.
“The Rebbe taught that no place is too far and no Jew is too
small,” he said. “Each was a diamond that had to be reached
and handled with love and care.” •

