Chabad-Lubavitch Escorts Professor’s Body for Israeli Burial
National Response to Tragedy to Include Librescu Family’s Cherished Mitzvah of Shabbat Candle Lighting
Joshua Runyan
Chabad.edu
As the body of Professor Liviu Librescu made its final journey to Israel aboard El Al Flight No. 2, Rabbi Motti Seligson sat next to his widow, Marlena Librescu, and discussed how best to honor his courage and self-sacrifice. When he informed her of the Chabad on Campus International Foundation’s plans for a national Shabbat candle lighting campaign on hundreds of college campuses this Friday, she “was very touched.”
“This was the one mitzvah, or good deed, beloved by Professor Librescu above all others,” explained Seligson, who traveled to Israel as a representative of Chabad of the Virginias. “Every Friday night, he would remind Mrs. Librescu when to light the candles to usher in the holy day of Shabbat.”
The candle lighting effort – a joint project with FridayLight.org – will usher in Chabad on Campus’ national “Hearts to Hokies” campaign, a weeklong push to get students to donate a good deed in the merit of the 32 students and faculty members of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Va., who were killed on April 16. The attack by fellow student Cho Seung-Hui, who later took his own life, was the deadliest shooting in American history. p>
Seung-Hui’s brutality and the randomness of his crime has captivated audiences around the world, as has the tremendous bravery of Librescu, a mechanics professor and Holocaust survivor who sacrificed his life so that the members of his class could escape the carnage. According to witness accounts, the 76-year-old educator and Holocaust survivor barricaded the door to his classroom as the gunman roamed the corridors of the university’s Norris Hall and opened fire. As his body absorbed the ammunition through the door, Librescu’s class escaped through windows to safety.
For his widow – who moved to Israel with her husband from their native Romania in 1978, and again to the United States in 1986 – the idea of students uniting in memory of a man who literally dedicated his life for their betterment has been comforting. That Jewish students will especially be taking part has been all the more powerful.
“The unity of the Jewish people is very important to Mrs. Librescu,” said Seligson. “She’s honored that in the coming days thousands of students will bring light to a troubled world through their good deeds.”
Chabad on Campus’ latest efforts comes on the heels of its work in the first hours following the tragedy to ensure that Librescu’s body, for one, was treated according to Jewish law and that the community of Virginia Tech was cared for.
Soon after news of the massacre broke, Rabbi Yossel Kranz of the Richmond, Va.-based Chabad of the Virginias and Rabbi Shlomo Mayer of the Chabad House of the University of Virginia and Charlottesville, quickly made their way to Blacksburg. While there, they counseled students and Kranz arranged for the quick transport of Librescu’s body to Israel. Mayer, a Romanian native, was able to converse with Marlena Librescu in her native tongue.
“In the midst of their mourning, the family recognizes the tremendous self-sacrifice of their husband and father,” said Mayer, who returned to Charlottesville on Wednesday. “He made the ultimate sacrifice so that others might live.”
Librescu’s burial is scheduled for 10:30 Friday morning in the Israeli coastal city of Ra’anana.
