[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 71 (Thursday, June 9, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 9, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
             TRIBUTE TO RABBI AND MRS. SAMUEL DAVID RAICHIK

                                 ______


                          HON. HENRY A. WAXMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 8, 1994

  Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, on June 22, 1994 the Jewish community in Los 
Angeles will pay tribute to our close friends, Rabbi and Mrs. Samuel 
David Raichik, for their enormous contributions to our community.
  Rabbi and Mrs. Raichik were among the fortunate Polish Jews who 
survived the Holocaust. Both saw the virtual destruction of their 
families. Since that time, they have pursued with all their energy the 
values reflected in the lives of their learned and pious families.
  From the time of his youth, Rabbi Raichik has been a devoted follower 
of the Chabad-Lubavitch School of Chassidism. He studied at the 
Lubavitcher Academy for Advanced Talmudic Studies near Warsaw, Poland. 
He was personally involved in the escape of the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, 
Joseph Isaac Schneerson, from German-occupied Poland in 1940. Rabbi 
Schneerson guided the entire academy eastward across the Soviet Union 
into China and finally to their city of refuge--Japanese-occupied 
Shanghai.
  Mrs. Leah Raichik--nee Rapaport--is a descendant of one of the most 
illustrious families in all of Jewish history. Her father, the late 
Abraham Abba Rapaport, was a renowned Talmudic scholar, a key figure in 
the Court of the Gerer Chassidim, a major manufacturer and wholesaler 
of textiles, and economic adviser to the prewar Polish Government. Mr. 
Rapaport died shortly after the German invasion of Poland. His wife, 
Sabina, and four Rapaport daughters spent the entire war hiding in a 
barn that belonged to friendly gentile farmers. The constant search by 
German troops for Jews placed them in perpetual danger until the 
liberation of Poland.
  Following the war, Rabbi and Mrs. Raichik settled in Brooklyn, NY. 
With the blessing and approval of the late Rabbi Joseph I. Schneerson, 
they were married in 1948. Rabbi Schneerson dispatched the young couple 
to represent him and the Lubavitcher movement on the west coast. He 
designated Rabbi Raichik as his personal emissary and entrusted him 
with a wide range of spiritual and material responsibilities.
  Within a short time, the Chabad-Lubavitch movement became familiar to 
most Orthodox Jews and many Jews of other orientations. The non-Jewish 
community came to respect the Chabad movement for its integrity, 
compassion, and special emphasis on the needs of young people.
  The Raichiks first settled in the Boyle Heights area of Los Angeles 
and subsequently moved to the Beverly-Fairfax section, where they have 
lived for 42 years.
  Rabbi Raichik has been involved in every area of Jewish communal 
life. He is universally respected for his gentle, compassionate, and 
accepting approach to matters and is renowned as a leader who ``loves 
peace and pursues it.''
  After the passing of Rabbi Joseph Schneerson, the mantle of 
leadership fell upon his son-in-law who became the Lubavitcher Rebbe, 
Rabbi Menachem Mendal Schneerson. The present Rebbe renewed Rabbi 
Raichik's appointment as personal emissary to the west coast and 
expressed his prayer and blessing that the work of Chabad Lubavitch 
would grow and flourish.
  In the ensuing years, the Chabad Lubavitch movement has indeed grown 
and there has been an even greater expansion of Chabad's work. The 
expansion program has included the founding of Cheder Menachem and the 
opening of numerous Chabad Houses throughout the State. Chabad now has 
branches in such far-flung places in California as San Diego, 
Westminster, Torrance, Santa Monica, San Fernando Valley, and the Bay 
Area.
  In all his years as an emissary, Rabbi Raichik has never recognized a 
distinction between his public and private lives. He has no office. He 
keeps no appointment book. His home is a gathering place for visiting 
dignitaries, for troubled youth, for divided families, and for 
spiritual seekers. His days are filled with service to his Creator and 
loving service to the community. To fulfill their mission, Rabbi and 
Mrs. Raichik and their family have sacrificed privacy, luxury, 
convenience, and comfort.
  Every Chabad rabbi turns to Rabbi Samuel David Raichik for guidance 
in his personal life and in his communal work. Each recognizes Rabbi 
Raichik's unique ability to put every issue in the context of Torah 
thought and the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
  All those who seek out Rabbi Raichik's well-known Edinburgh Avenue 
home are accepted and nourished physically and spiritually. Rabbi 
Raichik brings the teachings of the Torah, the wisdom of Chabad 
philosophy, and the instructions of the Lubavitcher Rebbe into homes, 
offices, and synagogues across the city. When he visits prisoners in 
California jails, he takes not only his message, but foods and baked 
goods prepared by his wife.
  Rabbi and Mrs. Raichik are the proud parents of 10 children, all of 
whom are devout Lubavitcher Chassidim and devoted followers of the 
Lubavitcher Rebbe. They are also the grandparents of many 
grandchildren, some of whom already have become Bar Mitzvah.
  We are our colleagues to join us in saluting Rabbi and Mrs. Samuel 
David Raichik for their years of service to the city of Los Angeles and 
to wish Cheder Menachem continued success in educating and guiding its 
students in the ways of the Torah. The Raichiks ask the community to 
join in prayers for their ailing leader, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, 
the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Finally, please join us in wishing Rabbi and 
Mrs. Raichik long life, good health, continued success in their 
communal roles, and spiritual satisfaction from the achievements of 
their children and grandchildren.

                          ____________________