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Abraham Shemtov
Abraham Shemtov (born February 16, 1937) is an American Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi and a shaliach ("emissary") of the Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson.
He is chairman of the board of Agudas Chasidei Chabad, the movement's umbrella organization, and was entrusted by the Rebbe with various missions, among them as the movement's envoy to the White House and Capitol Hill. He is the founding national director of American Friends of Lubavitch, Lubavitch activities in Greater Philadelphia, PA, and director of the first Camp Gan Israel in Parksville, NY.
Often called the "Rebbe's ambassador to DC", Shemtov developed connections in Washington. He regularly leads Chabad-Lubavitch delegations to the White House and played a pivotal role in the relationships formed between Schneerson and U.S. Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama.
On February 28, 1984, Shemtov was appointed by President Reagan as one of the five members of the National Advisory Council on Adult Education. Under Shemtov's influence, the U.S. Senate declared the Education and Sharing Day, U.S.A., on Schneerson's Hebrew birthday. The proclamation is signed yearly by the President of the United States.
In addition, Shemtov had successfully lobbied for a Congressional Gold Medal given to Rabbi Schneerson in September 1995 after his death on June 12, 1994, at 92. At a White House ceremony, Shemtov received the award on behalf of the Rebbe. Schneerson was the first religious leader ever awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.
During the Russian Revolution, the Bolsheviks confiscated the fifth Rebbe's sizable book collection and to this day, it is still in the hands of the Russian government, housed in the main library in Moscow. When the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe fled Nazi-occupied Warsaw in 1939 for the United States, the library was confiscated. Upon revealing the location of manuscripts at the government-controlled Yiddisher Historic Institute in Warsaw, Shemtov was asked to help assist Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky in pursuing its release. Through the help of the U.S. State Department, Shemtov spent three years en route Europe - U.S. in negotiation with the communist Polish government.
At the end of 1977, the books were placed in the Library of Agudas Chassidei Chabad.
Shemtov is credited for erecting the first public Chanukah menorah in the United States. This practice, which started out as a folksy phenomenon generating legal controversy, has since become a part of the public holiday scene in thousands of cities across the globe. Shemtov kindled a small menorah at the foot of the Liberty Bell at Independence Hall in Philadelphia In 1974.
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Abraham Shemtov
Abraham Shemtov (born February 16, 1937) is an American Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi and a shaliach ("emissary") of the Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson.
He is chairman of the board of Agudas Chasidei Chabad, the movement's umbrella organization, and was entrusted by the Rebbe with various missions, among them as the movement's envoy to the White House and Capitol Hill. He is the founding national director of American Friends of Lubavitch, Lubavitch activities in Greater Philadelphia, PA, and director of the first Camp Gan Israel in Parksville, NY.
Often called the "Rebbe's ambassador to DC", Shemtov developed connections in Washington. He regularly leads Chabad-Lubavitch delegations to the White House and played a pivotal role in the relationships formed between Schneerson and U.S. Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama.
On February 28, 1984, Shemtov was appointed by President Reagan as one of the five members of the National Advisory Council on Adult Education. Under Shemtov's influence, the U.S. Senate declared the Education and Sharing Day, U.S.A., on Schneerson's Hebrew birthday. The proclamation is signed yearly by the President of the United States.
In addition, Shemtov had successfully lobbied for a Congressional Gold Medal given to Rabbi Schneerson in September 1995 after his death on June 12, 1994, at 92. At a White House ceremony, Shemtov received the award on behalf of the Rebbe. Schneerson was the first religious leader ever awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.
During the Russian Revolution, the Bolsheviks confiscated the fifth Rebbe's sizable book collection and to this day, it is still in the hands of the Russian government, housed in the main library in Moscow. When the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe fled Nazi-occupied Warsaw in 1939 for the United States, the library was confiscated. Upon revealing the location of manuscripts at the government-controlled Yiddisher Historic Institute in Warsaw, Shemtov was asked to help assist Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky in pursuing its release. Through the help of the U.S. State Department, Shemtov spent three years en route Europe - U.S. in negotiation with the communist Polish government.
At the end of 1977, the books were placed in the Library of Agudas Chassidei Chabad.
Shemtov is credited for erecting the first public Chanukah menorah in the United States. This practice, which started out as a folksy phenomenon generating legal controversy, has since become a part of the public holiday scene in thousands of cities across the globe. Shemtov kindled a small menorah at the foot of the Liberty Bell at Independence Hall in Philadelphia In 1974.