Did you know him?

That was the most common question I got after the horrific murder of Rabbi Tzvi Kogan, one of the Chabad Lubavitch Shluchim in UAE.

I’ve read a number of responses from my colleagues and others, who were asked the same question. Some pointed out that the murder happened the same week of the International Kinus Hashluchim, when we all gather in New York, standing shoulder to shoulder. Others notedthat no one asked why Rabbi Tzvi was in the UAE – is it no longer surprising that Chabad Lubavitch are found in the most distant regions of the world. Just this week someone asked us for contacts for Chabad in Phuket, Thailand. As it happens, one of the shluchim families there is Dabrushy’s cousin, but they cater for the local community. There is another family whose Chabad House hosts tourists. Phuket and Thailand, Abu Dhabi and the UAE were not places I learnt about in GCSE Geography.

The best response to the question I saw was from a friend and colleague, Rabbi Aaron Lipsey, Rov and Shliach in Newcastle, UK.
“Did I know him?
That's a really interesting question.
I don't think we ever met, but:
I knew what his priorities were in life;
I knew what his worldview was;
I knew how he felt that fellow Jews ought to be treated;
I knew how devoted he was to his mission;
I knew how uncompromising he was in his Yiddishkeit;
I knew how accommodating he was when it came to others;
I knew how he davened and learned;
I knew where he turned for guidance in life's greatest challenges;
And the minor ones;
I didn't know him, like the left hand doesn't know the right hand.
I didn't need to know him, because just beneath the surface, we are exactly the same;
Shluchim of the Rebbe and G-d's salesmen.

I was thinking about this response yesterday as I watched the funeral of Rabbi Tzvi. The words of the speakers were predictable and will have written themselves, because, unfortunately, we have had too many occasions when we have had to look for the Rebbe’s message for times like this.

The Rebbe told the residents of Kfar Chabad after a terrorist attack there by the Fedayeen that “through continued building, you will be comforted.” He repeatedly pushed that we do all we can, adding in acts of goodness and kindness, so that we can bring the era of Moshiach.

At the beginning of this week’s parshah we read of Rebecca’s pregnancy with Jacob and Esau. We read that “the children struggled within her.” They were struggling so much that she went to seek guidance from Shem, Noah’s son who told her, through Divine inspiration, that she was pregnant with twins who were already struggling in the womb due to their vastly different world views.

Since October 7^th a lot of people have opined that “you can’t kill an ideology.” Yet the successful de-Nazification of most of Germany has shown that you can re-educate people.

Chabad, at its core, is a movement about reaching G-d through study-inspired positive actions. Lubavitch means “the village of love.” These ideals are diametrically opposed to the actions of terrorists worldwide.

Our history shows us who will win, but if we need any reminder, it will be the passion and recommitment to our mission that will be evidenced at the International Shluchim Conference this week.

You don’t need to be a shliach or even an observant Jew to join the call. Each of us can increase in our own study and actions and encourage our friends and acquaintances to do the same and give a hateful and meaningless act, a positive ending.

Visit https://onemitzvah.org/tzvi to take on your mitzvah.