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along with literature and holiday guides.
When Diem’s office moved from
Farmington Hills to Troy, the boys found
her again, Diem says. Now she meets the
students in a hallway in her building, with
other employees passing by to put on tefil-
lin or talk as well. “I like to learn that way,
and the boys show such passion for what
they’ve learned. They reach out to every-
body,” she says. “They’re very friendly to
everybody.”
The students come for about 10 minutes,
stopping to discuss what they’ve learned
from the teachings of the late Rebbe, Rabbi
Menachem M. Schneerson,. “They visit me
on Fridays, and I look forward to their visits
and sharing their knowledge,
” Diem says
of the students. “They’re just the most wel-
coming young men. They’re full of energy
and sunshine, and when they leave I feel
their spirituality and it makes me happy.
”
Since Oct. 7, she says their work is more
important than ever. “We have to always
stay strong and, especially during these
times, we can’t back down,
” emphasizing
that she has family in Israel and her uncle
was a Holocaust survivor.
Rabbi Shmaya Shmotkin, principal of the
Lubavitch Yeshiva, says the 14- to 17-year-
old students have seen people being more
receptive to them since Oct. 7, more forth-
coming in wanting to do a mitzvah, wheth-
er it’s buying a letter in the community
Torah, putting on tefillin, lighting Shabbos
candles or hearing words of inspiration.
“Without a doubt, we’re seeing more of
that,
” he says. They’ve gone out to meet
people in the broader community for
decades, he elaborates. “The ideas that we
study and believe in are what fuel this type
of weekly effort, the belief in the power of
a mitzvah, the belief that every Jew really
belongs and wants to be connected with
their Judaism, the belief that one mitzvah
leads to another.
”
Adam Weiner, a financial adviser who
first became familiar with Chabad during
his service in the Navy, says he was happy
to see the faces of the young rabbis in train-
ing when their office suite door chimed. “I
welcomed them in, and they wrapped me
with tefillin,
” he says. “I liked the idea of
somebody keeping me honest on the week’s
parshah.
”
Weiner’s always glad to see the boys, and
says he brings them into his office, grabbing
an extra chair on the way, so they can talk.
It’s had an impact on his daily life, he says,
explaining that after several years of their
visits, he now puts on tefillin daily.
“I’ve pretty much been an every-dayer,
so that’s been a real blessing, and they are
obviously a pretty big part of helping me get
to that point,
” he says.
The boys’ centered natures and faith gave
him the inspiration to move ahead with it,
he adds. “I was absolutely surprised, and if
Berel Lipskar
facilitates a
mitzvah.
Students Berel Lipskar
and Shneur Deren hand
out challah on Fridays.