Detroit Alumni honor benefactor
By Sharon Udasin
Late on Sunday night on Nov. 11, alumni of Oak Park's Lubavitch Cheder and Yeshiva collected together in Manhattan for a reunion to honor a generous benefactor, who recently pledged to revamp their beloved, but admittedly crumbling alma mater.
At 11 p.m., over 100 black-hatted men spilled out of the banquet hall at Pier 94 along the Hudson River, where they had attended the six-hour International Chabad Conference with over 3,000 of their closest friends – the Shluchim (Chabad emissaries) stationed all over the world. Together, the Detroit alumni migrated on coach buses to the historic Puck Building, downtown at New York University.
Candles decorated the rustic parlor on Lafayette Street, where white balustrades poked through aging wooden floors. Chords of Hasidic music echoed across the hall, as a violinist strummed his instrument with gentle fervor. Atop white-clothed tables sat elegant plates of fruits and desserts, ceremoniously awaiting their guest of honor. Gradually, bearded men clad in fedoras trickled into the room.
Finally, the man they had all been waiting for entered the hall and was instantly buried in a series of embraces by grateful alumni and fathers, who were eager to thank their generous benefactor.
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“It'll make the living quarters much better for them,” said Eliezer Shemtov, who sent six out of his seven children to Detroit, all the way from Uruguay. “If they are happier, they'll be more motivated to learn.”
As Zekelman walked through the entranceway, the room erupted into a swirl of spontaneous dance, and conga lines of former students instantly twisted around him.
“A lot of guys went through my house,” explained Chana Stein, principal of the girl’s school and wife of Rabbi Bentzion Stein, director of Lubavitch Cheder.
Peering around the room with pride, she noticed students from years ago – the boys who had boarded at her house and eaten Shabbat dinners with her had suddenly become married men with children.
Avraham Berkowitz, 31, is one of these graduates, born and raised in Detroit and an alumnus of the Cheder's elementary school. Currently a Shliach in Moscow, Berkowitz moved to Russia in January 2000 and now has four children.
“The Cheder has an impact on what I do today,” Berkowitz said. “It was in this Cheder – this school – that the seeds were planted, that I would devote my life to the service of the Jewish people.”
From early age, Berkowitz began participating in Jewish outreach, through the inspiration of Lubavitch Cheder. He remembers standing on the street as an eight-year-old, handing out menorahs to Jewish passers-by from his bicycle. Today, Berkowitz runs the largest Jewish federation in the former Soviet Union region.
Yossi Charytan, 30, attended the Lubavitch Cheder for both high school and rabbinical studies. He fondly remembers the school’s administration and emulates their teaching strategies in his own career today, as the principal of a Chabad day school in Seattle, Wash.
“The ideals and the drive of connecting with the Jewish families, the Jewish students – a lot of that inspiration came from those years,” Charytan said. “I consider those formative years, with an emphasis on Shlichus.”
Meanwhile, a dizzying circle had emerged around Zekelman, alumni and parents clumped together, with hands clasped on shoulder after shoulder. Sweat beads trickling down their necks after a half hour of dancing, the guests eventually found their seats, eager to hear from Zekelman himself. Asher Deren, a Shliach to Table View, South Africa, made introductory remarks before calling the guest of honor to the address the audience.
“If there's one yeshiva that deserves a world of support, then this is it,” Deren said.
Zekelman stepped up to the microphone, wearing a black yarmulke atop side-combed, peppered gray hair and a crisp, black suit and tie. Bent over slightly in humility, Zekelman stood with his mouth stretched in awe, as he received a resounding round of applause and a standing ovation. Speaking directly to the former students, he fondly remembered his first acquaintance with Lubavitch Cheder.
"This building needs a coat of paint,” Zekelman said. “This building is a bit of a nuclear reactor, a hospital – the building never sleeps. This is probably the most intensely used building in the city of Detroit, but it is also showing it.”
But the big question was, why is he doing this?
“It just begged to be done," Zekelman answered. "So I committed myself to doing it.”
And he committed funds to the school’s reparations without any hesitancy.
“So it's a bit scary, but it's the good kind of scary,” he said. “Thank you for rewarding me by showing how appreciative you are.”
After Zekelman’s speech, old friends socialized until the last few stragglers left the building. In awe of the evening’s event, Zekelman stood humbly as guests approached him in thanks.
“These people – each and every one of them – are scattered around the globe on a mission of Shlichos, bringing Yiddishkite [Judasim] to far-flung places,” Zekelman said. “So my family's investment in the yeshiva isn't just a local investment. We will have the opportunity to see the investment touch the entire world of Jewry, and Lubavitch affects world Jewry like no other Jewish institution.”
