It’s been forty years since Rabbi Yisroel Daniel Levy and his wife Miriam began their operations in the Jewish community of Tucumán, Argentina and the surrounding area at the direct instructions of the Rebbe MH”M. Since then, the shluchim couple has revived Jewish life in the city, created a virtual spiritual revolution, established supportive contact with leading government officials, and have also brought (bli ayin ha’ra) nine children into the world. The story of shlichus in the capital of Argentina’s smallest province.
Translated by Michoel Leib Dobry
LEFT: Picture from the early years of Rabbi Levy’s shlichus | RIGHT: Public Chanukah lighting ceremony near the Casa Histórica de la Independencia, one of Tucumán’s most well-known national sites Tucumán is the capital of Argentina’s smallest province; however, it is also one of the most colorful cities in the country, with its nature reserves and breathtaking landscapes. In its territory are thick forests, alongside dry deserts, high snowy mountain peaks, green valleys, and lakes spread throughout the region.
The Tucumán Province is also called “El Jardin de la Republica” (the garden of the Republic) due to the lovely flowers that grow there each year during the spring. Tucumán is also a city of considerable historical importance, as it was here that independence was declared from Spanish rule.
Tucumán is one of the most bustling cities in the country. Tucumán is located at a central intersection – a crossing point between northern Argentina and the distant provinces of Salta and Jujuy, along the border with Bolivia.
At its height, the local Jewish community numbered eight hundred families. However, over the years, many of its members immigrated to Eretz Yisroel, joining kibbutzim and other settlements. According to current estimates, several hundred Jewish families still live today in Tucumán.
Since the arrival of Rabbi Yisroel Daniel Levy and his wife Miriam in the city four decades ago, the local community has been revived and invigorated. The Levy family were the pioneers, founding Chabad Houses in the provincial towns. Until then, all Chabad activities focused on the capital city of Buenos Aires. Those in the know will tell you that if it weren’t for Rabbi Levy and his activities, the Tucumán Jewish community would have died out thirty years ago. Although many Jews are leaving the city, community life in Tucumán today is quite vibrant.
With vigorous and relentless efforts, Rabbi Levy established one institution after another while he strengthened those already in existence. He built two mikvaos, a magnificent Chabad House, a synagogue, a kindergarten, a kosher store, and a Jewish medical center providing health services to Jews and non-Jews alike. Each day, the Chabad House holds Torah classes in Nigleh and Chassidus for men and women. “My greatest pride is the dozens of Jews we have been privileged to connect to the Rebbe over the years, and today, they have established their own Chassidic homes,” says Rabbi Levy, as he notes that his married children serve on shlichus, two of whom work together with him in Tucumán.
CHABAD ACTIVITIES UNDER THE MILITARY JUNTA
Rabbi Levy was born and raised in Buenos Aires in an ultra-Orthodox Sephardic family. His parents raised him according to the concept of emunas tzaddikim, and his father eventually became connected to the teachings of Chassidus. When he reached yeshiva age, his father decided to follow the path of Chabad Chassidus, and he sent his son to learn in Yeshivas “Tomchei T’mimim” in Lod and afterwards at the yeshiva g’dola in Kfar Chabad. Later, he traveled to North America and studied at the Chabad yeshiva in Montreal.
During this time, in the mid-seventies, Argentina was controlled by an unusually cruel military junta. This was a group of Argentine army officers who carried out a coup d’état and overthrew the government. They mainly fought against the members of the Communist Party. Regrettably, numerous Jews were affiliated with this party, and many of them were arrested and disappeared. It was estimated that during the period of the “Dirty War,” about three thousand Jews vanished without a trace.
“I was then learning in 770, and I remember that the Rebbe often asked and inquired about the Jews of Argentina,” recalled Rabbi Levy. “When the chief rabbi of Argentina went in for yechidus, he was asked about the conditions for Jews living in his country. The rabbi replied that the military dictators were religious men, and therefore, they don’t interfere with the country’s religious Jews when they want to pray. But the Rebbe did not settle for this answer, explaining that he is concerned for every Jew, even for those who hold leftist or Communist beliefs.
“If I’m not mistaken, the Rebbe even expressed his concern for Argentine Jewry at one of the farbrengens. In the summer of 5736, they were looking for bachurim to go out on ‘Merkaz Shlichus’ in Argentina. I was learning then in Montreal, and together with Rabbi Tzvi Yechiel Grunblatt, we submitted our names and were chosen for the mission.”
Before the two set out on their journey, there was a surprise waiting for them. They were called into the mazkirus, and Rabbi Mordechai Chadakov had an instruction for them.
“The instruction was to conduct operations not in the capital city of Buenos Aires, but to go out to the provincial towns. This was a tremendous surprise for us, as during that period of time, there was no Orthodox Judaism in any Argentine city outside of Buenos Aires – no mikvaos, no kosher food, no proper synagogues. Boys celebrated their bar mitzvahs without putting on tefillin. We realized that this instruction had come from the Rebbe himself, and we naturally carried out his orders with earnestness.”
For two months, the two young men traveled through twelve provinces in Argentina, visiting Jewish communities large and small, and their success was far greater than expected. “You have to remember that the military regime ruled then with an iron hand. One of the things forbidden in those days was growing a beard, and of course, we went around with beards. In the merit of our activities and daily group programs, many put on tefillin for the first time in their lives. You could feel that there was a tremendous spiritual thirst among the Jews of Argentina. Naturally, we submitted a detailed report to the Rebbe, and there was great satisfaction from our efforts.”
The following summer, 5737, Merkaz Shlichus was again looking for bachurim, and Rabbi Levy submitted his name this time as well. His partner from the previous year, Rabbi Tzvi Grunblatt, was already married and living in Buenos Aires. Thus, Rabbi Tzvi’s younger brother, Rabbi Natan, went in his place.
On this occasion as well, the bachurim were called in to Rabbi Chadakov, who wanted to make clear to them the purpose of their shlichus. “Last year, you were asked to conduct activities in provincial towns,” Rabbi Chadakov reminded them. “This time, you will be going to visit villages and settlements, even those places where there are only a few Jews.”
“Today, after eight Chabad Houses have opened in these small towns, and many Jewish souls residing there have become completely Torah observant, I understand the Rebbe’s instructions. It turns out that the first seeds were planted during those early days when we plowed the ground there.”
The powerful influence they had during the short period of this shlichus was mainly upon children and teenagers. In the second month of the shlichus, the two bachurim ran a Chassidic camp for about eighty Jewish kids. “We met with a very generous Jew whose surname was Grunblatt, similar to the name of my shlichus partner, and this fact apparently proved most helpful. With great joy and pleasure, he gave us a sizable contribution to cover the summer camp expenses, including for the property lease, vehicles, trips, and whatever else we needed. We held the camp in Tucumán.”
The following winter, the two returned and operated a winter camp. The success was tremendous, and as a result, they established a close connection with the children and many of the parents. “In those days, there were no fax machines or electronic mail; all contact with these Jews was through letters. They asked us to establish a permanent base in Tucumán and revitalize the community.”
SETTING OUT FOR SHLICHUS ON THE AUSPICIOUS DAY OF YUD-BEIS TAMMUZ
Back in 5741, Rabbi Daniel was a student in the Buenos Aires kollel. During this time, he received numerous shlichus offers, among them from Tucumán, where he already knew Jews from his previous activities there. However, going out on shlichus to Tucumán in those days would require tremendous self-sacrifice from the young couple. “While there were Jews living in the city and there was even a small Sephardic community, from a spiritual standpoint, the place was a virtual wasteland. No mikveh, no kosher food, and certainly no proper Jewish education. The doubts we had were great indeed,” said Rabbi Levy.
In the end, the determining factor was the Rebbe, who stated his preference for the shlichus offer in Tucumán.
After their wedding, the young Levy couple set out to prepare Tucumán to greet Moshiach. “From the very outset, we received instructions from the Rebbe to advance a building project in the city for a mikveh tahara as soon as possible. When the shliach Rabbi Tzvi Grunblatt was in 770, he received a loan for us from the Rebbe via the secretaries in the amount of $1,500 for the mikveh construction.
“An affluent Jew from Argentina, who heard about the Rebbe’s loan, asked Rabbi Grunblatt to entrust the money to him and he would match the loan tenfold. He accepted the responsibility for the mikveh project from top to bottom. The man totally dedicated himself to the task at hand until the mikveh was completely built.”
The Levy’s official departure for Tucumán was on the evening of Yud-Beis Tammuz 5742. “In fact, our flight took up both days of Redemption – Yud-Beis and Yud-Gimmel. Since then, whenever we have experienced difficulties on shlichus – and we have had our fair share of them, we recalled the great self-sacrifice of the Rebbe Rayatz. We realized that all the troubles we were going through are a drop in the bucket compared to the suffering and agony he endured.
“Of course, the first activity of our shlichus was the mikveh project, and we had money left over to build the Chabad House. On Yud-Tes Kislev, we celebrated the completion of this project as well.
“We can see how important the mikveh building project in Tucumán was to the Rebbe from the following episode: When Rabbi Shmuel Dovid Raichik from California came for a visit to Argentina, he came to me merely to ask how this project was progressing. Later, I realized that he had received instructions ‘from above’ to visit the location and get a clear report on the matter. This was the first mikveh in Argentina to be built according to the halachic ruling of ‘bor al gabbei bor’ (one pool over another) under the constant guidance of Rabbi Zalman Dworkin, mara d’asra of Crown Heights. This mikveh served us well up until eight years ago. Since then, we have built another impressive mikveh inside the medical center we founded.”
By 5746, the Levy family already had several children. In addition, there were several families who had come closer to Yiddishkait, and this gave the shluchim reason to think about the possibility of opening a Chassidic kindergarten.
Until then, Tucumán had a Jewish kindergarten and school which were totally devoid of all traditional Jewish identity. “Building and maintaining a kindergarten would require a sizable sum of money,” recalled Rabbi Levy, “and I thought about where I could possibly raise such funds. By Divine Providence, within the city’s Jewish community, a story reached its final closure during this period, and it helped our reputation immensely. As a result, I succeeded in obtaining the necessary funds to run the kindergarten very quickly.”
What was this story?
“There was a young Jewish man in the city, a member of a highly respected family, who was involved with a non-Jewish girl whom he wanted to marry. His parents were totally opposed to this, and this eventually made a great deal of tumult in the Jewish community.
“One day, I received a phone call from a Jewish bank manager, an acquaintance of this family, and he told me that this young man was sitting with him now and he wanted me to speak with him. After I immediately made clear what our position was on intermarriage, he let me speak to the young man. We set a time and place to meet face-to-face, and this meeting led to more meetings. In the months that followed, we would meet every Monday evening. During these meetings, I didn’t mention anything about his non-Jewish girlfriend, focusing instead upon explaining the value and essence of being a Jew.
“After several months had passed, and once this young man understood that a lifelong intimate relationship between a Jew and a Gentile simply wouldn’t work, he broke up with her.
“My success in this matter caused a tremendous Kiddush Sheim Lubavitch, as no one else before me had been able to make any headway in this matter. When I got to work on the kindergarten project, I was informed that the father of the bank manager, who had made the connection between me and the young man, had passed away. I told him about the establishment of this new kindergarten and then suggested that it could be dedicated in his parents’ memory. Since he felt indebted to me, he agreed and even placed in my hands a very generous sum of money for this purpose. Then, he surprised me with an interesting condition: While the kindergarten would be built in his parents’ memory, it would also be in the name of the Rebbe, whose shluchim we were.
“Before I used his money, I called Rabbi Groner and asked him about it. He said that in the past, the Rebbe had not given his consent for his name to be used except on very rare occasions. While there recently had been several institutions that received the Rebbe’s permission to have them named after him, nevertheless, he suggested that I first write him a letter.
“After some time had passed with no reply, I began to worry. I called Rabbi Groner again, and he recommended that I wait a little longer, adding that my letter was on the Rebbe’s table.
“Shortly before the dedication, we were privileged to receive the Rebbe’s consent and blessing – and the kindergarten was named ‘Gan Menachem.’ We were simply overjoyed.”
Since the kindergarten opened its doors, success shined upon all those involved in its activities. As many as forty-five children receive a proper Jewish education al taharas ha’kodesh every year. The directors of the non-religious Jewish kindergarten and day school were angered by this success, and they began to fight and make problems for the shliach and his plans.
For his part, Rabbi Daniel Levy was not affected by all this. On the contrary, in 5750, he started thinking about extending his educational programs for post-kindergarten children – with the establishment of a Chabad day school. He wrote to the Rebbe about this idea and asked for his holy bracha.
“That year on Yud Shvat, I was privileged to be in 770, and contrary to all previous occasions, I received a very prompt reply. The Rebbe’s answer: ‘It might arouse a dispute. I’ll mention it at the Tziyon.’ I sought the advice of Rabbi Groner, and he said that as he understands the answer, the Rebbe is not in favor of opening a school. Other people with whom I consulted on this matter tried to give me a variety of explanations, altering what the Rebbe meant. However, I went according to its simple meaning and followed the Rebbe’s advice without p’shetlach. I returned to Tucumán and informed everyone: By the Rebbe’s instruction, we are not opening a school.
“Even before this announcement, there was much anticipation in the city for the possible opening of a school. As numerous teachers from the non-religious school had already met with me to coordinate their transfer to our school, my decision came as a great surprise to everyone. Whenever someone asked me for an explanation, I told them about the Rebbe’s answer and how we don’t want to be the cause of a dispute. Instead, I founded a branch of the ‘Tzivos Hashem’ children’s club, with activities several times a week.
“This program proved quite successful, and within a few months after its activities began, more than one hundred students would come to us right after school. This created a close connection between many of these students and the Chabad House. As a direct result, these youngsters began coming to me for their bar/bas mitzvah lessons.
“For its part, the school administration appreciated the fact that we were not opening a day school program in order to avoid creating a dispute, and its members began cooperating with me. Before each Jewish holiday, I was invited to speak before the students about its essential meaning. When I saw the success achieved in this activity, I thought to myself, ‘How fortunate are we, how good is our portion that we work with the strength of the Rebbe. Why do I need to run a school and deal with the study of secular subjects?’ With the Rebbe’s bracha, I have dealt only with the spreading of light. Throughout the city, local Jewish residents spoke about how Rabbi Levy had agreed to give up a position of authority, all in order to prevent a dispute. This greatly increased the honor of Lubavitch.”
Rabbi Levy told us about the numerous answers that he has received from the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach over the years of his shlichus, with a theme that repeats itself again and again: Go from strength to strength and people will look favorably upon you.
CHABAD MEDICAL CENTER
A few years ago, the activities of the local shluchim intensified, and the Chabad House founded a “medical center” serving Jews and non-Jews alike.
“Two years ago, the Chabad House purchased a building for the construction of a new mikveh tahara to replace the old one located inside the Chabad House facility. Not long before this, Argentina experienced a severe economic crisis, and my heart sank every time I met Jews who had been wealthy and affluent before the crisis and had since lost all their money. One of them, a Chabad friend and supporter, became ill and required local medical services. His condition was serious and his suffering was indescribable.
“State-sponsored medical services in Argentina are such that if there’s no need to use them, it’s best to look elsewhere. Due to the fact that he had endured substantial financial losses, he had no choice except to take what was available. It was then that I decided that the Chabad House needed to provide matters pertaining to physical life as well as spiritual life, and therefore, we had to open a medical center offering proper medical treatment. I thought that it would be relatively easy to manage with the construction of the facility, as people preferred to donate for a building project – and less for building maintenance. Through a Jewish doctor, I established contact with the regional health minister and arranged for a meeting.
“The first sentence I uttered to him was that we have a great Rebbe, who had said on various occasions that if two people meet, something good must come out of it for a third person. I told him about my plans, and he immediately said in reply, ‘Let’s go out there and view the site.’ I tried to dissuade him, explaining that we had only recently purchased the property with a small and old structure on it, which I intended to demolish and build a more spacious one in its place. However, he was determined, and he invited his deputy to accompany us, later joined by leaders of the Jewish community as we went to see the area.
“The regional health minister was very enthused by the idea, and he asked then and there to sign a contract to assist in this project – not just with the maintenance, but also with the actual construction… Within two years, the expansive building, four floors high, had been completed. In the meantime, the regional health minister had been appointed as minister of health for the entire country. He came personally for the dedication ceremony, where he spoke about the statement he had heard from me at the start of our first conversation. It was this statement that convinced him to make an immediate decision.
“The fact that he was now health minister for the entire country was very helpful for us. He doubled and tripled the level of government budget allocations for our medical center, and today I hardly need to lay out any money for the center, which makes a tremendous Kiddush Hashem on a daily basis.
“A year and a half ago, we signed an agreement with the Argentine government, converting the center into a regional facility for treating people with obesity. We were taught not to be satisfied with what already exists, and a year and a half ago, we were privileged to have a visit from Rabbi Cooper of California. Together with other philanthropists, they were very impressed by what they saw and we are now preparing to expand the center.”
L’CHAT’CHILLA ARIBBER
Rabbi Levy is involved in numerous building projects, and everything is in a manner of L’chat’chilla Aribber. In addition, anyone familiar with Rabbi Levy knows that he is what is commonly called a “people person,” a very warmhearted individual who sees the good in everyone. If you ask him, his greatest pride is not from building projects, but rather from the dozens of Chabad families who began their journey along the path of Yiddishkait in his merit. He has numerous examples:
“There’s a family living in northern Eretz Yisroel – Lubavitchers in every sense of the word, parents, children, and grandchildren. When we met them for the first time, they were ostensibly very far from Torah and mitzvos. Today, the siblings are marrying off their own children and we’re talking about dozens of Chabad families!… The first one to get closer to Yiddishkait was a brother-in-law, who was then learning as a student in the local university. He started becoming observant and took his girlfriend, who eventually became his wife, along on his spiritual journey.
“Some time later, they immigrated together to the Holy City of Tzfas. She went to learn in the Machon Alte Institute, while her husband went to learn in the yeshiva g’dola.
“At the advice of the local community’s mashpiim, the couple established their residence in one of the Chabad communities in northern Israel. In the meantime, the young woman’s father, who had a business selling caskets to non-Jewish funeral homes, began his own journey along the path of traditional Judaism. He abandoned his business despite the considerable financial losses he suffered as a result. Eventually, he joined his daughter and son-in-law, immigrating together with his wife to Eretz Yisroel. His son, who worked in his father’s business, returned to his hometown and began visiting the Chabad House to learn Chassidus.
“Since he was married and had no work, I arranged a stipend for him with a local philanthropist and he devoted himself to his Torah studies. We learned half a day together, and during the other half, he assisted the Chabad House in its activities with young people. We’re talking about a very serious fellow, who today is in business somewhere in Europe together with his wife. When Rabbi Grunblatt visited us and met this young man, he was so impressed that he promised to buy his wife her first sheitel – and he kept his promise. The young couple resolved to keep Shabbos and eventually the Laws of Family Purity.
“Two years later, they too immigrated to Eretz Yisroel, joining his parents, sister, and brother-in-law. There was another younger brother in Tucumán, who remained behind because he was still learning in medical school. In the meantime, he also became observant and participated in classes on Torah and Chassidus. When he completed his studies, he joined the rest of his family in Eretz Yisroel.”
Rabbi Levy has many other examples of men and women who became closer to Yiddishkait through him and today serve as shluchim throughout the world. “We’re talking about dozens of people,” he said. “Long ago, before a shliach came to the city of Salta, I would travel there each week and give a Torah class. Salta is three hundred kilometers away and traveling there took a whole day off my schedule. This was at a time when only one young woman attended the class, yet I continued to go.
“One day, she turned to me and asked, ‘Rabbi Daniel, is all this traveling worth it, just for me?’ I explained to her that every Jew is a whole world. She was very impressed by my answer and we continued learning. She eventually became a baalas t’shuva and established her own Chabad home. Recently, I was in the town where she lives with her family and I came to her house to pay a visit. She reminded me of the answer I gave her then and told me this was what motivated her to get closer to Yiddishkait.”
Isn’t it hard for you to see all of your mekuravim, in whom you have invested so much effort, leaving Tucumán?
“It is most difficult. Every time, I ask the same question: Why are you leaving? The answer we get is – ‘We don’t know how you can stay here.’ And they’re right. Baalei t’shuva need a community. I am strengthened by what the Rebbe said about how we are similar to the captain who is the last one to leave the ship. All longstanding Jewish residents of Tucumán told me that they didn’t believe that there would ever be any Jewish future for the city. In fact, despite the waves of mekuravim leaving the city, Yiddishkait in Tucumán gets stronger from day to day. There are hundreds of Jews here who are stringent about keeping kosher, there are many who go to the mikveh, and the synagogues, thank G-d, are active and full.”
EVEN IN TUCUMÁN, PEOPLE KNOW WHERE TO TURN
One of the main aspects to the shlichus in Tucumán is writing to the Rebbe MH”M. According to Rabbi Levy, miracles and wonders abound in Tucumán at almost every step, and the stories are countless.
“I want to tell you a personal story,” said Rabbi Levy. “Thank G-d, we have been blessed with nine children – seven boys and two girls. During the pregnancies with our older children, my wife experienced some complications and required constant bed rest. Some of the births were premature and the infants had to stay in an incubator under observation for a period of time.
“When we were expecting our sixth child, I wrote to the Rebbe and asked for a bracha that the birth would go easily this time, unlike the previous births. The Rebbe replied with the traditional answer, and as it turned out, the birth went very easily. The child was born at the proper time, on Rosh Hashanah, and without any complications. It took us some time to believe that everything had actually gone so smoothly, and since then, all the subsequent births were without any difficulties.”
The Chabad House also serves as the address for Jews in distress, facing a variety of problems. These people know that there’s someone they can rely upon, and they ask for the Rebbe’s bracha with the help of Rabbi Levy. “A few months ago, we had an interesting story on the level of ‘When they have not yet called, I will respond.’
“There was a Jew living in the city whose wife had fallen ill. According to the doctor’s diagnosis, she was suffering from a very severe stomach disorder, and her life was in serious jeopardy. When he told me about this, I suggested that he write a letter to the Rebbe. A few hours later, he called to thank me. It turned out that as he was on his way home, he received a call from the hospital, informing him that his wife was no longer in danger.”
Rabbi Levy has numerous stories of this kind, and he shared another one with us:
“Several years ago, there was a serious financial crisis in Argentina, and many Jews endured economic collapse as a result. There was one Jew whose business began to fail, and he wanted to immigrate to the United States, where his uncle in California had promised to help him. In addition, his wife was in the midst of her first pregnancy after several years of marriage. He heard about writing to the Rebbe, and he wanted to compose a letter to him on these two subjects. Since I had a volume of the Rebbe’s correspondence translated into Spanish in my briefcase, he wrote his letters and placed them in the seifer.
“What happened to this Jew was most interesting: He wrote twice, each request separately, and he received precise answers. The Rebbe wrote to him about the move, suggesting that it would be better if he remained where he was and did not abandon his business. The Rebbe wrote: How do we know if a business owner has been successful? If he knows how to navigate his business during a time of crisis. Regarding the birth, the Rebbe wrote a bracha for the birth of a son. He was very excited by these answers and he decided to stay. Sometime later, they were blessed with the birth of a son, as the Rebbe had promised. In addition, his business survived the national economic crisis and began to thrive again.”
How are you preparing Tucumán for the Redemption?
“Every activity that we do is instilled with the concept of Moshiach. At every Torah class and lecture, we mention that according to all the signs, we are ever closer to the imminent Redemption.
“Look, we have been on shlichus for many years now, and there are people who remember me saying this thirty years ago. They come to me with complaints: You promised, and it still hasn’t happened! I justify their claims, explaining to them that there really is no logical reason and all indications are that Moshiach is already here, acting in this world. It’s enough to see the changes going on in the world today and realize that Moshiach is on his way.”
As veteran shluchim with four decades of experience, what advice would you give to young shluchim getting ready to prepare another place on the globe for the Rebbe’s hisgalus?
“The most important thing for them to know is that shlichus is a source of true joy, happiness, and satisfaction in both material and spiritual terms. Today, there is no other pursuit than can bring true happiness to a chassid more than shlichus. While things can be quite difficult at the outset, I beg of you: Don’t try to get smart and cut corners on the Rebbe’s instructions. Go only with the strength of the m’shaleiach and believe in him. Every morning, I daven that I should not fail, and that I should properly use the strength the Rebbe has bestowed upon me in a way that will give the Rebbe nachas.
“I always say that the Rebbe’s avoda is much harder than Moshe Rabbeinu’s. While Moshe Rabbeinu took the entire Jewish People out of Egypt as a group, led them through the desert, and brought them to Eretz HaKodesh, the Rebbe sends shluchim to gather Jews from thousands of places all over the globe to reveal their pintele yid and bring them to Eretz HaKodesh.
“The situation today is that many people are thirsting for Yiddishkait and spirituality. Don’t try to give them things they can easily obtain elsewhere.”
THE GOVERNOR FROM LEBANON MAKES
A PERSONAL CONTRIBUTION TO CHABAD ACTIVITIES
A very positive and close relationship exists between Rabbi Levy and the provincial governor, Sr. Juan Luis Manzur, who also has a good connection with other shluchim, including the shliach in Buenos Aires, Rabbi Grunblatt. This relationship has been most helpful in advancing Chabad projects in Tucumán.
“Juan is a Christian Arab whose parents emigrated to Argentina from Lebanon. It’s fair to say that he can be called a ‘righteous Gentile.’ This year, just before Gimmel Tammuz, he called to tell me that he would soon be traveling to New York, and I replied that I would be there as well. ‘I want to see the place where the Rebbe did his work,’ he requested of me. Naturally, I was most pleased to honor his request, and I arranged for him a tour of 770 and other places where the Rebbe continues to lead the world. He was very moved. Juan is a true friend of Jews and the Chabad-Lubavitch movement.
“We are now building a new community center, and he personally is one of our biggest contributors. He doesn’t settle just for his own personal donations, he also helps us through provincial government allocations. A few years ago, I came into his office, and even before we began speaking, he asked me to give him a picture of the Rebbe. I took a small picture of the Rebbe out of my wallet and gave it to him, promising him that I would send him a much larger and better picture the following day.
“To my great surprise, he placed the small photo on the pane of glass in front of him, and then he told me that he wants the Rebbe before him prior to every decision he makes. Later, I heard from people who were in his office that this is exactly what he does, he wasn’t just saying this to impress me. Before every decision he makes, he looks at the Rebbe’s picture and asks for success.
“Recently, a rabbi from California visited our region, representing a major international organization, to meet with the provincial governor, his ministers, and advisors. As the time for the visit approached, Juan asked us to be in charge of the ceremonial meal. This rabbi was stunned. He had visited many locations throughout the world, including places where they arranged kosher food for him. But here, everyone was eating kosher l’mehadrin food in the main government house – something he had never encountered before. All this was in the merit of Tucumán provincial governor Sr. Juan Luis Manzur. Juan even made certain to finance the ‘summer camp’ of the Buenos Aires yeshiva in an area within the Tucuman province. He has always been at our side.”
CHABAD HISTORY IN TUCUMÁN
“I have often asked myself why the Hand of Divine Providence brought me specifically to Tucumán,” says Rabbi Levy. “Forty years ago, there were many other Jewish communities throughout Argentina with no Chabad activities. Why did the Rebbe choose Tucumán to be the first city outside of the capital, Buenos Aires, to have a Chabad House built there?
“Just a few years ago, I got my answer. There’s a local middle-aged Jew who started coming to us each Shabbos to daven Mincha. This was the only time he visited us.
“Every once in a while, I would give him an aliya to the Torah, and he would ask to have mentioned the names of certain departed family members. When I first heard the names he gave, I was amazed – Shneur Zalman, Menachem Mendel, Sholom Dovber. These are rather unusual names in Argentina, and the man certainly didn’t look like someone with a connection to Chabad. On one occasion, I finally decided to ask him about it, and his reply stunned me. He said that the founders of the Jewish community in Tucumán one hundred and twenty years ago were his family, the Raskovskys, who had emigrated from Odessa and were chassidim of the Rebbe Rashab.
“They were people of financial means and they provided loans to Jews who came to the city to open businesses. They purchased the land where the Jewish cemetery is located and built the local synagogue. According to this gentleman, he saw with his own eyes numerous letters that family members had been privileged to receive from the Rebbe Rashab, however, they were lost over the years. It turns out that they had even built a mikveh in those days, but regrettably, their grandchildren assimilated and sold the house together with the mikveh.
“It was only after I heard his stories that I realized why the Rebbe asked for the glory of Torah to be restored first specifically in Tucumán.”