4 | JULY 4 • 2024 
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essay
Reflections on the Rebbe
I 

met the Rebbe face-to-face 
on Jan. 28, 1980. At that 
time, I was the new 29-year- 
old campaign director at the 
Milwaukee Jewish Federation. 
I remember it was a Monday 
morning. A man named Marty 
Stein, our cam-
paign chairman at 
the time, marched 
into my office and 
said, “Drop what 
you are doing. 
We’re flying to 
New York. You 
will not need a 
toothbrush.
” Marty had a force-
ful personality, and he was the 
boss. I followed him out the 
door.
The next thing I knew, I was 
in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, at 
770 Eastern Parkway standing 
in a long reception line. Marty 
whispered to me, “You are about 
to meet the Rebbe.
” 
At the time, I had only a 
vague idea of who this man was, 
and then the Rebbe handed me 
a dollar and looked into my eyes. 
Despite the many people in line 
that day, I felt he was looking at 
me as if I was the only person in 
the room.
I was then yanked into an 
over-crowded assembly hall 
where thousands of Chasidim 
seemed to be jumping up and 
down on bleachers, waiting 
for the Rebbe to speak. I later 
found out that this was called a 
“Farbrengen,
” which is a gath-
ering where the Rebbe would 
share his Jewish wisdom and 
insight. The Rebbe proceeded to 
speak in Yiddish, which I didn’t 
understand, for several hours. 
With all the noise going on in 
the room I couldn’t hear a single 
word, although a Chasid stand-
ing next to me tried to translate.

I returned to Milwaukee that 
same night exhausted and over-
whelmed. What I did not know 
at the time was that my life was 
about to be transformed. 
Soon after I returned, I began 
studying with Rabbi Israel 
Shmotkin, the Chabad Shaliach 
in Milwaukee. I began to search 
for the meaning in my work 
as a Jewish professional. From 
that time forward, my career 
as a Federation professional 
developed alongside my desire 
to grow as a Jew. The Rebbe and 
the Shlichim who have shared 
his teachings with me over the 
years have made this search for 
my Jewish self possible. 

THE REBBE’S WORDS
In this essay, I would like to 
describe in simple terms some of 
the Rebbe’s teachings.
Perhaps, most importantly, I 
have learned that every mitzvah 
we perform creates an eter-
nal bond between a Jew and 
Hashem. This is the essential 
idea that has guided the estab-
lishment of the Rebbe’s emis-
saries, or Shlichim, around the 
world. This teaching should also 
inspire all of us who work in 
the field of Jewish service. Quite 
simply, the performing of a 

mitzvah, or helping another Jew 
perform a mitzvah, nurtures the 
bond with Hashem and brings 
positive spiritual energy into this 
world.
According to the Rebbe, we 
each have the responsibility of 
sharing whatever Jewish knowl-
edge we possess with others. 
This can be seen as an obliga-
tion, but it can also be seen as 
a means to empower both our-
selves and those around us.
The Rebbe believed in the 
power of positivity, both situa-
tionally and personally. As Jews, 
especially these days, we often 
focus on what is missing and 
what we have lost. The Rebbe 
teaches that we should always 
focus instead on how to replace 
that loss and how to grow from 
it. 
I am sure that if the Rebbe 
could witness the antisemitism 
taking place today his answer 
would be that we must strength-
en our own Jewish identity. 
The answer is not to ignore the 
negativity around us but rather 
to empower ourselves and our 
children to grow as Jews.
The Rebbe believed in peo-
ple; he believed that people are 
essentially good. He understood 
that we all have weaknesses and 

that we are all imperfect, but 
that is not what defines us. The 
Rebbe teaches that what defines 
us is our “Neshama,
” our soul. 
This is our essential goodness, 
our true self. It is said of the 
Rebbe that he saw the positive 
potential in every person he met. 
My wife, Lisa, and I now live 
in Joshua Tree in the Hi-Mojave 
Desert of California. There is no 
organized Jewish community, 
nor is there a Chabad shaliach. 
Still, we study regularly with 
Rabbi Avraham Susskind and his 
wife, Leah, of Novi, Michigan, by 
Zoom. Lisa performs the mitz-
vah of inviting Jews who live in 
the area to Shabbat dinners and 
holiday observances, including 
our sukkah in the desert. 
We have visited the Ohel, the 
resting place of the Rebbe, on 
several occasions and we return 
there whenever we are in New 
York. Lisa states, “It’s a place 
where I feel like I belong.
” 
We always feel a deep 
personal connection with the 
Rebbe during our visit and 
return to our daily life with 
renewed spiritual energy. 
I met the Rebbe in person 
on the 30th anniversary of his 
assuming leadership of the 
Chabad movement. Now I 
write this piece to observe the 
occasion of the Rebbe’s 30th 
yahrzeit. It has been a personal 
journey for me of 44 years. In 
this time, my connection with 
the Rebbe, his Shlichim and 
my own spiritual search has 
only grown. I feel grateful and 
honored to be able to remember 
the Rebbe today. 

Robert Aronson is the former CEO of 

the Jewish Federation of Detroit. For 

more on the Rebbe and his legacy, see 

the story on page 12. 

Robert 
Aronson 

Robert Aronson (standing on far left) meets the Rebbe (center) in 1980.

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