10 short days after the Frierdiker Rebbe’s Histalkus on Yud Shevat 5710, the Rebbe penned a letter to Rabbi Michael Lipsker, Shliach to Meknes, Morocco, about the Frierdiker Rebbe’s initiative to strengthen the Moisdos Chinuch in Africa. The Rebbe wrote:
One of the things that my father-in-law the Rebbe began to speak to me about in the days before the Histalkus was in the realm of the Chinuch of Jewish children in the countries of Africa – to establish there with Hashem’s help, a branch of his educational work, with the purpose of helping our Jewish brethren who live in Africa to establish and conduct proper educational institutions, and for this purpose to train a group of teachers amongst them…
30 years later, the Rebbe received a letter from Mr. I. Abramowitz, Chairman of the South Africa Board of Jewish Deputies. He had complained of Chabad’s large investments in the Moisdos Chinuch of the country, since he felt that South Africa had a “dwindling Jewish community” with little resources to spend on such large educational projects. The Rebbe responded with a lengthy letter communicating his foresight on South Africa being a country with thriving Chinuch and Yiddishkeit. The Rebbe surely shocked him when he wrote:
With all due respect to your expertise and intimate knowledge of the S.A. Jewish community, I must take issue with your premise that a dwindling Jewish community must inevitably curtail itseducational facilities. In most Jewish communities, including
JHB, there are hundreds of Jewish children who are going astray and on the road to total assimilation for lack of adequate Jewish education. They constitute an untapped reserve, for whom existing facilities should not only be sustained, but also expanded.
The Rebbe’s vision of South Africa being an untapped reserve where education should be expanded couldn’t be more than true. Rabbi Yossi Rosenblum, Head of school at Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh, shares how he had the Zechus of being sent as a Shliach to South Africa in 1984, and that Rebbe told that initial group of Shluchim that he sent the Kochos of each of the Rebbeim with them. Today, the Chabad communities of South Africa take tremendous pride in their Moisdos, and extend their time, energy and resources into giving the children there the highest quality Chinuch.
After recently visiting South Africa for a simcha, Rabbi Zalman Shneur, Director of the Menachem Education Foundation spent a week touring Jewish schools across the country, where he encouraged Mechanchim, Mechanchos and leaders as they begin the new school year, and spoke with groups of students on the special privilege they have as lamplighters in the land that the Rebbe had so much belief in.
Rabbi Shneur reflects that what he saw there was truly incredible: a community solely focused on growth, where the dedicated Mechanchim and Mechanchos are concerned with bringing each and every child to their fullest potential as Yidden today.
As he traveled across the country, Rabbi Shneur met with a number of noted educators in both Johannesburg and Cape Town, whose dedication for Chinuch serve as an inspiration for all. Their Chayus and passion for the Shlichus they do, especially as they embark on a new school year, is unique.
Rabbi Shneur also spoke and farbrenged with the community and with groups of students in the preschools, primary schools and high schools, where he raffled off dimes distributed by the Rebbe, and Kisvei Yad. To each group he highlighted to them the special Zechus they have as lamplighters in the country that the Rebbe had so much belief in.
“The community in South Africa is thriving, and it’s amazing to see a vibrant and passionate Chabad community where the children are really connected to the Rebbe,” Rabbi Shneur reflects.
It’s truly the heartfelt dedication of fulfilling the Rebbe’s vision for the country, and lighting the Neshama of each and every child who is growing up there, that creates the powerful community and future for the Yidden and Chassidim there.
To find out more about the global work of the Menachem education Foundation, follow MEF on Instagram and Whatsapp Status and visit mymef.org.
