Sixteen years ago, when my older kids were still toddlers, we needed a place to go for the High Holidays. So I searched the yellow pages and ended up speaking with Rabbi Uriel Rivkin. He and his wife Dvorki, Chabad shluchim (emissaries) in Tampa, welcomed us with warmth and love.
My soul felt so at ease with them, and something began to really stir within me.
Soon after, I was covering a story for the local newspaper and met Rabbi Yossi and Dina Eber with Chabad of West Pasco at a coffee shop. It was my first time ever seeing a Jewish man wearing a kippah in public. I was impressed and intrigued.
A few days later, at their home for my first-ever Shabbat meal, a large framed picture of the Rebbe peered down at us, lovingly, from the wall. The meal and overall experience were otherworldly—warm challah and wine, salads and fish, chicken and kugel. Prayers and songs and giggly children. And so many holy books. I realized this was the life I was seeking—filled with meaning and direction, inspiration and authenticity.
But what was with the picture of the Rebbe? Who was he?
In the years that have followed, I learned much more about him, and about Torah and Judaism—my legacy. I started lighting Shabbat candles, baking challah, giving up non-kosher food, keeping Shabbat.
A framed picture of the Rebbe—a gift from a friend—now hangs on the wall in our living room in Israel.
We made Aliyah nine months ago, a continuation of the spiritual journey that started in Florida, with humble emissaries sent by the Rebbe.
His picture in my home is a source of inspiration and reminds me to be a better person, a better mother and a better Jew.
Today is his yahrtzeit, an auspicious time to pray for what we want and to strive to be better humans.
There are thousands of Chabad rabbis around the world. The Rebbe sent them out to serve as beacons of love and light, to share warmth and Judaism, to invite people like us for meals and classes.
And it’s working. I see it and feel it unfolding everywhere I have lived and visited.
The Rebbe would often quote the Chasidic saying: “If you know aleph, teach aleph!” Every person can teach and influence their surroundings with spirituality, regardless how little he or she may know. You don’t have to be a scholar to teach, and you don’t have to be perfect in order to help people perfect themselves.
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Mindy Rubenstein is a professional columnist, journalist, author and entrepreneur. A mom of four originally from Florida, she lives in the mountains of northern Israel.
http://www.IsraelMindy.com
(Art by Iryna Kastsova)
Mindy Morasha 