[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 59 (Monday, April 3, 2023)] [Extensions of Remarks] [Page E289] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Date: 2023-04-03
Chamber: EXTENSIONS
Mr. JOHNSON : I rise today to recognize the life and leadership of Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, a global spiritual leader known universally as the Rebbe, and head of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. The Rebbe was born in 1902, and lived through the darkest periods of history, the evils of Russian communism, and the horrors of Nazi Germany. In 1941, the Rebbe and his wife Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, arrived safely on the shores of the United States, where he worked tirelessly to rebuild and guide a demoralized world Jewry after the Holocaust. With brilliant Talmudic and Hasidic scholarship, deep insight into the human condition, and his love for all of God's creatures the Rebbe exemplified an ideal and value that we need today: give of ourselves selflessly for the betterment of those around us. The Rebbe encouraged rabbinical students to travel across the country to visit Jewish farmers, U.S. servicemen, and those isolated from their families or larger communities. This includes Ellsworth Air Force Base, and cities and towns across South Dakota. The rabbinical students sent by the Rebbe are often the only Jewish connection locals have with their faith. The Rebbe urged all people to become ambassadors for goodness and kindness and explained that education must not be limited to the academics needed for making a good living, but rather focus on the ethics, morals, and values that have always been the basis of decent societies. One result of the Rebbe's leadership is the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, which, by following his teachings and example, became the world's largest Jewish educational organization. Today, there are more than 3,500 permanent Chabad-Lubavitch centers providing educational, religious, and humanitarian programming in all 50 States and 109 countries around the world. It is thanks to the Rebbe's vision that our state has its first rabbi in almost forty years, with the establishment of the Chabad Jewish Center of South Dakota. The Rebbe extolled America's unique role as a global superpower and had meaningful relationships with several of our nation's leaders who saw him as the moral guide of so many. For the Rebbe, America is a beacon of light to be utilized in influencing the betterment of all humanity, and he often pointed to the words in God we trust enshrined on our currency as a defining element of the great American story. For more than four decades, every U.S. president declared the annual observance of Education and Sharing Day in honor of the anniversary of the Rebbe's birth, and in recognition of his contributions to the betterment of moral education for all people. It is to the eternal merit of our country and this august body that we honored the Rebbe's outstanding and enduring contributions toward world education, morality, and acts of charity by awarding him the Congressional Gold Medal. Education and Sharing Day represents an excellent opportunity for us to reflect on the Rebbe's vision and leadership, and to take his teachings to heart, that starting with moral education, we each do our part to increase in goodness and kindness and bring the world to a state of peace for all people.