Rabbi YY Jacobson retraces the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s lasting impact
Photos: JEM, Family archives
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wenty-five years after the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s passing on 3 Tammuz, 1994, I can still hear his wise, holy words — how he ignited the Divine spark in every Jew, viewing each of us as an ambassador of infinite love, light, hope, and truth. When you walked away from an encounter with the Rebbe, you forever cast away your sense of inner mediocrity
I was four years old when I entered the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s room, before the bar mitzvah of my older brother Boruch. The Rebbe asked me if I could share a story with him — “A story about Adam, Avraham, or Noach.” I was a shy boy, and I remained silent. He asked me a few times; when I didn’t respond, the Rebbe smiled and continued to converse with my parents.
My brother still jokes with me: “You left that room, and haven’t stopped telling stories since…” Then he adds: “Maybe it’s because you were silent in that room, that you know how to tell a story…”
Twenty-five years later, I still miss the Lubavitcher Rebbe. In my mind’s eye, I can see him walking home late Friday night, one hand in his coat pocket, to eat the Shabbos meal with his wife. The Rebbe walked alone — there were no gabbaim, and no entourage. He would greet every person, Jew and African American, cordially.
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