Abraham Shemtov

Rabbi Abraham Shemtov (or Avraham) is a Chabad-Lubavitch leader, at the helm of Agudas Chasidei Chabad, the movement's umbrella organization. He was entrusted by the Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson in various missions, including his personal longtime envoy to the White House and the Capitol Hill.

He is the founding national director of American Friends of Lubavitch, chairman of the executive board of Associated Beth Rivka Schools for girls in New York and the director of Lubavitch activities in Greater Philadelphia, PA, and director of the veteran Camp Gan Israel in Parksville, NY.

Early life

Abraham Isaac Shemtov was born February 16, 1937, in Wilno, Poland, to a distinguished Chassidic family. His father, Rabbi Benzion Shemtov was a staunch adherent of the Lubavitch Rebbe and Jewish activist. Abraham Shemtov grew up in the city of Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and studied there in an underground Jewish school in the Soviet years.

He did his undergraduate and graduate work at the Central Lubavitch Yeshiva, Brooklyn, NY, and was ordained in 1960.

Activities

DC lobbying

Often called the "Rebbe's ambassador to DC", [ [http://www.chabad.org/therebbe/article_cdo/aid/142535/jewish/The-Rebbe-and-President-Reagan.htm "The Rebbe and President Ronald Reagan", Dovid Zaklikowski, chabad.org] ] Shemtov developed extensive connections and friendships in Washington. He regularly leads Chabad-Lubavitch delegations to the White House and played a pivotal role in the relationships formed between Schneerson and U.S. Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush [ [http://www.chabad.org/therebbe/article_cdo/aid/461844/jewish/Historical-Correspondence.htm "Historical Correspondence: Rebbe and Presidents", chabad.org] ] .

On February 28, 1984, Shemtov was appointed by President Reagan as one of the five members of the National Advisory Council on Adult Education. [ [http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1984/22884a.htm "Appointment of Four Members of the National Advisory Council on Adult Education", White House, February 28 1984] ]

Under Shemtov's influence, the U.S. senate declared the Education and Sharing Day, U.S.A., on Schneerson's Hebrew birthday. The proclamation is signed yearly by the President of the United States of America. [ [http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/03/20070327.html "Education and Sharing Day, U.S.A., 2007", George W. Bush, March 27 2007] ]

In addition, Shemtov had successfully lobbied for a Congressional Gold Medal given to Rabbi Schneerson in September 1995 after his death on June 12, 1994, at 92. At a White House ceremony, Shemtov received the award on behalf of the Rebbe. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE1DA113EF930A2575AC0A963958260&n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/People/C/Clinton,%20Bill "Posthumous U.S. Medal for Hasidic Rabbi", New York Times, September 13 1995] ] Schneerson was the first religious leader ever awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. [ [http://www.medalofhonor.com/MenachemSchneerson.htm "Medal of Honor: Menachem Schneerson", MedalofHonor.com] ]

Polish archive

During the Russian Revolution, the Bolsheviks confiscated the fifth Rebbe's sizable book collection and to this day, it is still in the hands of the Russian government, housed in the main library in Moscow. When the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe fled Nazi-occupied Warsaw in 1939 for the United States, the library was confiscated.

Upon revealing the location of manuscripts at the government-controlled Yiddisher Historic Institute in Warsaw, Shemtov was asked to pursue it release. Through the help of the U.S. State Department, Shemtov spent three years en route Europe - U.S. in negotiation with the communist Polish government.

At the end of 1977 the books were placed in the Library of Agudas Chassidei Chabad. [ [http://www.shturem.net/index.php?section=artdays&id=249 "The Story of Hey Teves", shmais.com, 05/01/06] ]

Chanukah phenomenon

Shemtov is credited for erecting the first public Chanukah menorah in the United States. This practice has since turned into a folksy phenomenon and legal controversy. Shemtov kindled a small menorah at the foot of the Liberty Bell at Independence Hall in Philadelphia In 1974. [ [http://joi.org/bloglinks/JTA%20NEWS%20Chanuka%20Chabad.htm "Spreading like wildfire, but public menorah lightings still controversial", JTA, December 5, 2006] ]

A similar menorah is set up by Shemtov on the White House lawn, famously being called by President Reagan "the National Menorah."

Messianism

In regard to the state of Chabad-Lubavitch after the passing of Rabbi Schneerson and the activities of Messianism, Shemtov has said: "Lubavitch went through a very difficult period, and turmoil, and what you are seeing now is the settling of the dust, and people begin to realize what are we really there for.” [ [http://www.canonist.com/?p=610 "Rabbi Shemtov On the 770 Court Decision", Steven I. Weiss, March 22 2006] ]

Family

Shemtov is married to Batsheva Shemtov (née Lazaroff), an educator and community activist. They have six children.

*Eliezer Shemtov, rabbi, author and co-director of Beit Jabad del Uruguay in Montevideo, Uruguay
*Menachem Mendel Shemtov, M.D., Cornell Urology Physician in New York
*Goldie Avtzon, co-director of Chabad of Hong Kong, China
*Yudy Shemtov, rabbi and executive director of Lubavitch of Bucks County in Newtown, PA
*Levi Shemtov, rabbi and director of American Friends of Lubavitch in Washington, DC
*Shimon Shemtov, filmmaker and frequent collaborator of Jan Švankmajer

Ronald Perelman

Industrialist Ronald O. Perelman, chairman and chief executive officer of MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings, is a friend and disciple of Rabbi Shemtov. They have met in Shemtov's Lubavitcher Center in Philadelphia and have deeply connected. Ever since, Perelman has attended prayers in synagogues, kept Kosher and the Shabbath. Shemtov regularly commutes from Philadelphia to the financier's East 63rd Street residence in New York City. "We discuss lessons from the Bible. It's a central dimension of his life", Shemtov has told the Washington Post. [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/perelman020698.htm "Perelman Power", Washington Post, February 6 1998] ]

Shemtov has accompanied Perelman in his meeting with the Lubavitcher Rebbe at the Lubavitch World Headquarters in Brooklyn. Showing the merchant rare praise, the Rebbe has called him "my partner" in charitable activities. Perelman donated an amount equivalent to every Jew in the world. [ [http://www.crownheights.info/index.php?itemid=5401&catid=22 'Perelman Supports “Very Important” Shluchim", crownheights.info, 03/06/07] ]

Perelman generously donates to Shemtov and Lubavitch causes. He is National Chairman of American Friends of Lubavitch and chief benefactor of Campus Chomesh - home of Associated Beth Rivkah Girls Schools, named after Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson, wife of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. [ [http://www.chabad.org/news/article_cdo/aid/36470/jewish/Fostering-Tomorrows-Women-Scholars.htm "Fostering Tomorrow's Women Scholars", chabad.org, 2002] ]

On June 21, 2006, Shemtov and Perelman established a fund under the auspices of Agudas Chassidei Chabad to financially assist new Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries. “You are terribly important to us as Jews, to us as parents, and to us that know the importance of keeping Judaism alive,” Perelman has told the grantees - 20 enthusiastic Lubavitch couples. [ [http://www.crownheights.info/index.php?itemid=5401&catid=22 'Perelman Supports “Very Important” Shluchim", crownheights.info, 03/06/07] ]

References

* [http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c36_a1032/News/New_York.html Row In Rostov.] New York's Jewish Week, 11/14/2007.
* [http://www.ujc.org/page.html?ArticleID=52577 Chabad's Model of Outreach Gains Favor Among Fervently Orthodox.] Uriel Heilman, JTA.
* [http://www.jonathanpollard.org/2002/010402b.htm Aguch's Chairman meets President Bush.] Jewish Press, January 4, 2002.

External links

* [http://www.afldc.org/home/ American Friends of Lubavitch]
* [http://www.bethrivkah.edu/ Associated Beth Rivkah Schools]
* [http://www.chabadlibrary.org Library of Agudas Chassidei Chabad]
* [http://www.chabad.org/centers/default_cdo/q/9318_Philadelphia_Pennsylvania_USA Lubavitch Centers in Philadelphia]

Sources