[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 65 (Monday, April 15, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S2738]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                REMEMBERING RABBI MENACHEM M. SCHNEERSON

  Mr. ROUNDS. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
attached statement be printed in the Congressional Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

       On April 19, 2024, we recognize the life and leadership of 
     Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, a global spiritual leader and 
     Torah sage, known as ``the Rebbe'' and head of the 
     ChabadLubavitch 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, which he called ``a country of kindness'', and 
     worked tirelessly to rebuild and guide world Jewry after the 
     holocaust.
       During WWII, the Rebbe used his engineering skills at the 
     Brooklyn Navy Yard to supervise wiring for the USS Missouri 
     (BB-63) and launched a program for rabbinical students to 
     travel across the country to visit Jewish farmers, US 
     servicemen and others isolated from their families or larger 
     communities. This included locations like the 335th Army Air 
     Force Base Unit in Sioux Falls, Rapid City Army Air Base near 
     Rapid City (later became Ellsworth Air Force Base) as well as 
     cities and towns across South Dakota. This program exists 
     today, and these rabbinical students sent by the Rebbe are at 
     times the only connection local Jews have with their faith.
       Under the Rebbe's leadership, Chabad-Lubavitch became the 
     largest Jewish educational organization in the world. Today 
     there are more than 3,500 Chabad-Lubavitch centers providing 
     educational, religious and humanitarian services in 103 
     countries and in all 50 States. It is thanks to the Rebbe's 
     vision that my home state has its first rabbi in almost forty 
     years, with the establishment of the Chabad Jewish Center of 
     South Dakota.
       For more than four decades, every U.S. president has 
     proclaimed ``Education and Sharing Day'' in honor of the 
     Rebbe's birthday and in recognition of the Rebbe's commitment 
     to bettering the education of all people. He emphasized that 
     education should not only impart knowledge and skills needed 
     for a career, but that it must instill the moral and ethical 
     values essential for living a meaningful life of character to 
     contribute to the betterment of individuals and society at 
     large.
       The Rebbe's birthday is an appropriate time to honor him by 
     applying his teachings with diligence and increasing our acts 
     of charity, goodness and kindness for all humanity.

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