Chabad Includes Woman in Delegation to President Obama
A Chabad delegation meeting with President Barack Obama included a veteran female educator, a nod to the president’s emphasis on the need for education for girls.
The meeting at the White House Monday was led by Rabbi Abraham Shemtov, the chairman of Agudas Chassidei Chabad, the umbrella organization for the Lubavitch movement.
Such delegations routinely meet with the president on or around the issuance of the annual Education and Sharing Day proclamation, marking an initiative launched by the late Lubavitcher rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson.
Until now, the delegations have comprised only males. This year, the nine-person group included Chave Hecht, a rebbetzin who has been teaching in the movement for more than 70 years, and Menachem Benjaminson and Chaya Goldstein, two 11-year-olds who are leaders in Chabad’s Jewish Children’s Corps.
In his March 31 proclamation, Obama made a point of noting Schneerson’s focus on educating women, saying he “worked to tear down barriers that stood in the way of girls who wanted to learn.”
In addition to education, the meeting included a discussion about Israel’s importance to Jews and about rising anti-Semitism in Europe.
The delegation presented Obama with a menorah, and he presented the delegation with a signed framed copy of his proclamation.
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
