Rabbi Chaim Zvi Schneerson's eloquence in English, along with his uncanny knowledge of geopolitical issues, set him apart from other shadarim
“Among the callers on the President yesterday was Rabbi Sneersohn, from Jerusalem, whose lectures on the Holy Land and whose interview with the Secretary of State have been alluded to in our columns within a week past. The President rose courteously to receive the Rabbi, who addressed him in the language which follows:
“Mr. President: Permit me to give my thanks to the Almighty, Whose mercy brought me here to behold the face of the chosen by the millions of this great nation. Blessed be the L-rd, who imparted from His wisdom and from His honor to a mortal…”
Rabbi Chaim Zvi Schneerson was born in Lubavitch in 1834, a great-grandson of the Baal HaTanya, Rav Shneur Zalman of Liadi. As a young boy, he emigrated along with his family to Eretz Yisrael. As he developed into a young Torah scholar, his talents and unusual charisma became clear to all who met him. At a young age, he embarked upon a career as a shadar (shaliach d’rabbanan, a traveling fundraiser for institutions in Eretz Yisrael), representing Kollel Chabad as he traveled across Europe and as far abroad as China, Persia, India, Australia, and New Zealand.
Rabbi Schneerson was as exotic as he was intelligent and possessed a rare flair for the dramatic, as is evident in newspaper reports of his travels: “The lecturer made his appearance on the stand dressed in a long yellow gown, partly covered by a white one. He wore on his head a red worsted cap, with a large black tassel pendant behind. The rabbi is rather a small man physically, with black hair, piercing blue eyes, and a swarthy complexion.”
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