F

or six weeks this 
summer, three young 
and newly ordained 
rabbis put into action the 
teachings of the late Chabad 
Rebbe Menachem Mendel 
Schneerson — that every 
Jewish soul matters, no matter 
where they live — by hitting 
the road and traveling to the 
farthest reaches in Michigan on 
a mission to locate and connect 
with other Jews. 
Embarking on a first-of-its-
kind outing in many years for 
Michigan, the young men were 
taking part in a decades-old 
tradition known as the roving 
rabbis. 
On the road in Michigan this 
year were Yisroel Shemtov, 23, 
whose family leads The Shul 

in West Bloomfield; Mendel 
Slonim, 23, who grew up as the 
son of the Chabad couple who 
have run the Chabad center 
in Binghamton, New York, for 
the past 40 years; and Yankel 
Glukowsky, 22, an Israeli with 
family roots in Metro Detroit 
who spent the latter part of the 
summer working at the Chabad 
Center in Cusco, Peru. 
“The Roving Rabbis project 
was created by the Rebbe for 
whom I was named, to give 
rabbinical students a break 
from their studies over the 
summer, hit the road, and 
bring Jewish connections and 
mitzvot to Jews who may be 
geographically disconnected 
from larger Jewish centers,” 
Slonim said in a recent 
interview with the JN as he 
traveled with Shemtov on 
a two-hour ride between 
Houghton and Marquette. 
Earlier in the summer, Slonim’s 
roving took him around 
Arizona for three weeks.
He continued: “The people 
we found, whether they were 
Jewish or not, were thrilled 
to see us and connect with 
us. And for the Jewish people 
we met, there was this thirst 
to have such a connection 
with rabbinical students and 
with Judaism. Some had 
questions for us that they 
had been struggling with. 
Some, unfortunately, had bad 
experiences with the Jewish 
community in the past and 
they had been unaffiliated for 
years.” 
Slonim said that some whom 
they encountered made the 
mistake of calling themselves 
“bad Jews” or “not good 
enough Jews.” 
“But when we spoke with 
them, we saw the revival of 
their neshamah, their inner 
Jewish soul. This goes beyond 
any external labels we put on 
ourselves. And so no matter 

Rabbis
Roving
The

OUR COMMUNITY

Three rabbis hit the road 
in search of Jewish souls.

STACY GITTLEMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

PHOTOS COURTESY OF MENDEL SLONIM

Rabbi Yankel Glukowsky 
(wearing black hat) and Rabbi 
Yisroel Shemtov (on right)
Hanging with some young 
people in Charlevoix.

20 | SEPTEMBER 28 • 2023 
J
N

