Rabbi's Blog

As Jews around the world observe the Rebbe’s Yartzeit this week, I have been privileged to have a front row seat to some of the commemorative events this past week, specifically  in Panama City, Panama, Bratislava Slovakia and Budapest Hungary. Ye, that’s quite a lot of mileage for a single week. My coping mechanism is , one day, one flight, one city at a time.

Truth be told, my journey this week really began twenty nine years ago, after the Rebbe’s passing. Without delving too personally into what it was like to live through that experience, suffice to say that one of my cathartic coping mechanisms, was writing songs. Some were very emotionally raw and others more reflective on the personal Rebbe’s life and his impact on the lives of so many. 

I didn’t have any intention to “do anything” with these songs, other than record them for myself and my family - they were more like personal journal entries. But as word got out about the songs, so did the calls to “do something” with them. It was Bentzy Marcus of the 8th Day band, who insisted that I put out an album that he would produce. In 2017 the album - Storm the World-  came out. Amazingly, within one week of it’s release, it rose to #7 in the world on the iTunes World Music Charts. Clearly there was a demand. 

Following the release of the album, requests came in for live performances. Though my capacity to travel is limited with my family and community responsibilities, I have traveled to over 35 cities to bring what is typically described as an evening of tribute to the Rebbe through song, story and soul. It never ceases to amaze me to see people from all walks of life, eager to be inspired by the Rebbe’s life and teachings. Typically, when I do travel for these events, it is around this time of year, as communities come together to commemorate the Rebbe’s Yartzeit. 

JUNE 15-18 : PANAMA CITY 

The first leg of the tour was Panama City where I was invited for an Evening of Soul Story and Song on Thursday night, followed by spending Shabbos with the local community and spearheading a Shabbos of spiritual preparation for Gimmel Tammuz, the Rebbe’s Yartzeit. 

Arriving in Panama City was quite the eye opener. I don’t think I’ve seen that many skyscrapers in such close proximity to each other, in any other city. This I learned later has to to with - shall we say- very liberal zoning and building codes. 

It was late afternoon when I arrived, just enough time to drop off my stuff at the newly opened “Eshel House” , a Jewish owned and operated hospitality house with multiple rooms and suites ( highly recommended), and run to Chabad House for Mincha. It’s winter now in Panama, although the weather is pretty balmy/Florida like year round. I was told that because it rains less in December/January, that’s when they have their summer vacation time. They also do not have daylight savings in Panama. This week was the latest Shabbos candle lighting time of the year, 6:10 PM.. ( What a Mechaye! Love it. Wish we could say the same…)  

After Mincha/ Mariv at the Chabad House under the leadership of  Rabb Mendyi Karniel, and predominantly serves the Iocal Israeli community, my host, Rabbi Mendy Schuchat took me to a local restaurant for dinner. The place was full and hopping - among the patrons was a lively Jewish high school group. I ordered something that looked local. It was delicious. This is one of a number of Kosher restaurants, bakeries and supermarkets that service the local community. I was starting to feel the “happening” vibes of the Jewish community of Panama. 

After dinner it was show time..! The evening’s program was on the roof top of one the skyscrapers and offered stunning views. Over 100 people came and enjoyed an hour of cocktails until the program began at 9:00 PM….  

The host a self-described “non-orthodox” religious Jew,spoke of how the Rebbe’s positivity and optimism in his world view, and in his view of the Jewish people touched him deeply and brought him into greater engagement in Jewish life. 

Having served as a student Shliach/emissary of the Rebbe in Caracas Venezuela for two years in the late eighties, I know enough Spanish to have been able to open the evening in Spanish. More importantly, the warm Jewish Latin vibe I experienced in Caracas was very much what was I feeling in the assembled crowd.  As it turns out, a lot of the local Jews in Panama today are from Caracas, which also helped create a rapport with the crowd. 

Baruch HaShem the evening was another opportunity to share  a glimpse of the Rebbe with another Jewish community that was eagerly receptive. But the night was not over yet….

On the schedule now was a Farbrengen (“after party”) with the twelve Yeshiva students who are the Shluchim to the new Kollel/Yeshiva that opened in Panama this past year. The boys are BH living it up in a beautiful quinta/villa. We sat and Farbrenged into the AM hours, in true Yeshiva style. It was an opportunity to reminisce and share memories from my days in Caracas. The Yeshiva in Panama is actually headed by the son of Rabbi Laibl Schuchat the Head of the Yeshiva from Caracas from my days there and was founded by families who are part of the migration from Caracas to Panama- families who were greatly impacted by the Yeshiva in Caracas, which introduced them to greater engagement in Jewish life and Chabad activism. So it was sort of coming full circle, witnessing the next gen. do their thing and realizing how much (often unknown) impact, Yeshiva students can have on a community. 

Friday morning I went to daven at the Beth El shul and community center, which is where the Yeshiva and Cheder school are located. It is the largest Ashkenazic Shul in Panama and one of the largest in South America. The Rabbi, Ari Laine - a few years my junior and old Yeshiva buddy, has served as the Shliach and Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi for 29 years and was instrumental in the construction of the magnificent and massive center. Charismatic and humble at the same time, Rabbi Laine and his wife Feadel have built an exciting and  vibrant hub of Jewish life, that is attracting Jews locally and from all over Latin America. 

Brunch, beautifully presented  at the Shuchat home by Rabbi Shuchats wife Nechama  included a talk to local women on the subject; Raising Children the the Age of AI, which is what I wrote about in last weeks article. With five hours till Shabbos, it was just enough time for a visit to the Panama Canal. The genius engineering of it all is a testament to the wisdom and determination gifted by G-d to man. But I must confess that the most inspiring thing I saw at the Canal was the Mezuzahs on the doors of the visitors center..! How’s that for a Jewish footprint on a country ..? Felt heimish ! 

Hundreds attended lively Friday night services at Beth El. I took  another stab at speaking in Spanish at the community Kiddush /lunch and taught them one of the beautiful Jewish Spanish songs I learned in Caracas. 

From the community kiddish/luncheon we headed to the home of one of the young Chabad families, who’s father I was close with in Caracas for the Farbrengen ( we calculated that I was at his bris 36 years ago..). I shared personal reflections, ideas and teachings of the Rebbe amid flowing L’chaims and singing and dancing to Chassidic melodies in a highly charged energetic atmosphere. The Farbrengen went until the end of Shabbos. We returned to Beth El for Mariv and from there it was straight to the airport for the return flight home. Delayed for three hours, I finally made it home 6:00 AM Sunday morning, exhausted but exhilarated…

JUNE 19 - 20,  BRATISLAVA, SLOVAKIA

Monday morning it was back to airport - destination Slovakia. Celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of their Shlichus, serving the Jewish community of Slovakia as the Rebbe’s Shluchim, I was invited by Rabbi Baruch and Chanie Meyers to bring the “Storm” to their community for a celebration Tuesday night June 20.

The six story Chabad center in the heart of downtown Bratislava is a converted hotel, that houses a pre-school, shul, social hall, hospitality rooms and the Meyers residence. Talk about convenience ..! 

Upon arrival I crashed for a couple of hours and then walked down one flight of stairs to the concert venue. Sweet! A mix of locals , Russian, Ukrainian and Israeli immigrants made for an eclectic and intimate audience. Rabbi Meyers translated the song intros into Slovak. Half way through the show, a woman offered to do the remainder of the translations in Russian. She proudly introduced her as the local Reform Rabbi’s wife and that while her husband is a Reform Rabbi, her Rabbi is Rabbi Meyers and how her children had all attended the Chabad pre-school. Born and raised in the Crimea she had attended Chabad camps there and has been a proud “Chabadnik” ever since. 

The program was followed by food prepared by a local chef who is soon opening a Kosher restaurant in the area. (Good to know in case Bratislava is on your travel list). It was a beautiful summer’s night, so I  took a stroll on the local city streets. Classically European, the streets are a blend of old and new, cobblestone and aphsalt, old world bakeries and candy stores next to chic boutiques. 

Rabbi Meyers and his wife Chanie are models of Shluchim who celebrate the presence and participation of every single individual who walks through the Chabad House doors. “We are not about big numbers” Chanie me told me, “but we are about welcoming people with a big heart”. I and and everyone there could definitely feel that.  

Wednesday morning on the way to the train station to take the train to Budapest, for the next “gig”, we made a quick stop at the grave site and the famed Chasam Sofer- Rabbi Moishe Schreiber, 1762 -1839. Based in Pressburg ( today Bratislava) he was the preeminent leader of Judaism in the Austrian-Hungarian Empire during the first half of the 19th century.

JUNE 21- BUDAPEST , HUNGARY

After a 2 ½ hour train from Bratislava, I arrived in Budapest. It doesn’t take very long to see that it is a beautiful city: the architecture, the parks and the Danube River are just some of the distinct elements that contribute to it’s beauty. My co-oridateing host, Rabbi Isaac Stiel who actually is from Coral Springs, had me ubered to grab a bite at the Tel Aviv restaurant in the old Jewish quarter, which turned out to be right next to the magnificent Shul in the Jewish Qaurter. 

On Thursday night a large gathering of people came together at the state of the art new Chabad Center right on the Danube, headed by Rabbi Menachem Gliztenstein. No expense was spared as they had a translators booth and headsets set up providing simultaneous translation as I spoke, and all the lyrics of the songs on the video were translated into Hungarian. After dinner and the concert and community Farberengen, I sat with the over 12 Shluchim in Budapest as we Farbrenged together until the wee hours of the morning. With multiple centers around the city and country , Chabad in Hungary has a tremendous and growing footprint and impact on Jewish life.

Six thirty AM was Shacharis at Shliach to Budapest, Rabbi Shlomo Koves', magnificently restored 200 year old Great Synagogue that was conveniently located right next door to the hotel I was staying in. From Shacharis it was straight to the airport for the return trip home. 

As I now sit on the plane bound for New York for a quick stop at the Ohel before returning home, and reflect on this past week, I am awed and inspired by the work of the Rebbe’s Shluchim and the eagerness of these varied communities to learn more about the Rebbe’s life, mission and vision, from which so many draw inspiration to engage more in Jewish life. 

The title of the album I recorded “Storm the World” is an english translation of a Yiddish saying oft repeated by the Rebbe - “mit a shturem” , which means that things  need to be done with the force and energy of a “storm”, until the world feels a storm of holy energy reverberating in it’s midst. Twenty nine years after the Rebbe’s physical passing and the Storm of holiness is gathering more speedy more traction, more reach than ever before.  May we soon the witness the “storm” of complete redemption”.

Good Shabbos and Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Ruvi New

PS. A BORDERLINE STORY:  At the Farbrengen Wednesday night in Budapest, I shared a story of how my mother’s family were’ being held up at a border in 1947 somewhere  between Russian and Poland, as they were escaping Russia with Polish papers, although they were Russian citizens. The Rebbe later shared  with my grandfather how at the time he and his family among other Chabad Russian families who were part of the “Great Escape”, were stuck at the border and in great danger of being caught, the Previous Rebbe, then in New York, went into this trance like state and said the prayer of “Az Yashir”, which is the song sung by the Jewish people after the splitting of the sea. When the Rebbe came to the words of the prayer : “until your people pass through” , he suddenly opened his eyes and said in Yiddish “ Thank G-d they have now safely passed through the border..” 

Here’s my personal version of this story. I am a dual US and Australian Citizen. A number of weeks ago, my US passport expired and I applied for an expedited passport in time for this trip. Alas, the passport did not arrive before I began the trip, so I figured I will just use my Australian passport and enter the US as a “tourist”, until my new US passport arrives. 

When I checked in at the airport in Panama on Saturday night, I was told that If I was using an Australian passport, I needed a tourist visa. I quickly applied on line but what should take 15 mins, to get an approval was  not coming through. I explained the situation that I am a US citizen and showed them a copy of my expired passport, my license, my Global Entry card and whatever else I could whip out. After an hour of back and forth they decided to allow me to check in, but not before the agent asked me to explain the significance of the Tzitzis dangling from under my shirt, which was pretty cool, because we read about the Mitzvah of Tziztis in that weeks Torah portion, and the Torah says “you should see the Tzitzis”. 

When I arrived at MIA at 3:00 AM, the immigration officer seemed puzzled by my situation and said, I really shouldn’t let you in without a visa. Maybe it was the late hour, but he waved me off and told me to go home and get things in order. 

By the time I left to the airport Monday morning to leave for Bratislava, the Australian tourist visa still hadn’t come in my email, so I messaged Rabbi Meyers in Bratislava to arrange an appointment at the US consulate to get an emergency passport for the return trip. They replied that if I was there by 1:30 PM it could be done. Then, as I sat on the plane taking off from FLL, the visa arrived in my email box. Rabbi Meyers determined that, that being the case, there was no need to scramble to get to the consulate etc. and I agreed. (Chabad Rabbis are also immigration experts …) As it turned out , I arrived in Bratislava after 1:30 PM.

As I was leaving Bratislava the next morning for Budapest, I got an email form the consulate inquiring as to my request for an expedited passport. I replied that in the interim I had received a visa as an Australian citizen and that I had arrived after 1:30 PM anyway. They responded that actually a US citizen cannot apply for a tourist visa as a non US citizen, and that I should come to consulate to make the passport. Only problem was, that I was already on the train to Budapest…..

I was scheduled to arrive in Budapest at 1:00 PM and guessed that I could make it to the US embassy there by 1:30.  I arrived at 1:29 PM…..  By the time I got the window and explained my situation, it was too late to get a new passport that day. Come back tomorrow I was told. Only problem was, that I was scheduled to leave early the next morning, which I explained, but to no avail. The consul worker was surprised that I had even gotten the visa by email, as dual citizens don’t qualify. I assured her that I did fill out the form correctly, stating that I am a US citizen as well. She shrugged and said her goodbyes….

At check in at the Budapest airport, the fun began. I was confusing their computer systems and the personnel of LOT airlines. A supervisor was called and he said that I’d have get a new US passport. The check in agent said, that if I want to take the risk, he can check me in only to Warsaw ( the stop over ) but not to New York and I’d have to figure things out in Warsaw. 

Here I was “stuck at a border”. My mind went to the story about the Rebbe saying the “Az Yashir”  prayer when my mother and her family were stuck at a European border. I started to pray Az Yashir myself, and repeated the verse about “when your people pass through”. 

As I was praying Az Yashir, out of the blue a burly next level supervisor arrived on the scene. After a lot of back and forth that I didn’t understand , he looked at me with a big smile and said: “all good” ! You are from Melbourne,my daughter lives in Melbourne!  I spoke to TSA and took care of it. Your good to go! The supervisor met me again at the gate and wished me well. I blessed him that G-d Almighty should repay him for his kindness with abundant blessings for him and his family. He heartily accepted my blessing. The “Az Yashir” magic, was still doing it’s thing.

I caught up on some much needed zzz’s on the flight from Warsaw to JFK.  I was scheduled to land at 3:45 PM and then on a 7:40 PM flight from JFK back to FLL, during which time the plan was to go to the Ohel, pray on this auspicious day of Gimmel Tammuz at the Ohel ,make a minyan for Mincha so I can say Kaddish for my mother and head back to the airport. The last potential hurdle was immigration in NY….

The lines at the passport control at JFK were long, real long, I have Global Entry which usually makes for a much quicker exit from the airport. The only catch was that my Global Entry is linked to my US passport, so I skipped the scanning machine to avoid the potential conflict and being sent to the back of non-US citizen line. The customs agent said , I was smart for not scanning my passport and just presenting him with my Global Entry card. He could not however let me through on his own. He was very nice and assured me that I’d be ok, but I had to get clearance from the immigration office. Time was of the essence. I sat with a colorful variety of immigrants with a variety of issues it seemed. As I sat there, my niece Chaya Hoch sent me a whatsapp message: “Hey I’m in 770 and watching a video of the Rebbe. Is that you there toward the end of the video?” Indeed it was. I took that as a pretty good sign. My name was called out and within two minutes I was out. “Az Yashir magic strikes again Baruch HaShem ! 

Baruch HaShem I managed to do what I set out to do at the Ohel, and with so many people traveling back from the Ohel on the return flight, even managed to have a Minyan for Mariv at FLL upon our arrival. 

Shacharis in Budapest, Mincha in New York, Mariv in Florida. What a world!