[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]




   HONORING THE BIRTH DATE OF THE REBBE AND REMEMBERING HIS LIFE AND 
                                 LEGACY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. DUSTY JOHNSON

                            of south dakota

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 3, 2023

  Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota. Mr. Speaker, 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.

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