I did not attend the banquet. I haven't been attending for some years now. I don't feel like I belong if I'm not out there on the front lines. Towards the end of the banquet I receive the following message via Whatsapp: ( NOTHING has been changed or altered)
I'm writing to you as I know you are very close to R Sholom Mordechai... So many of us here in Lakewood decided to watch the Shluchim Kinnus this year (something we don't usually do ) to see how Chabad would celebrate with RSM in their first opportunity to show appreciation to hashem for the nes he bestowed on one of their most publicly renowned Chassidim, and also to see how Chabad would celebrate the man who became a סמל of emunah and bitachon in the whole world , the kind of heroic bitachon the reminded us of the lubavitcher chassidim that risked everything in communist Russia ... But alas we have all been sorely disappointed. Watching the kinnus You would not know this nes ever happened . You would not know there's a giant of emunah amongst the crowd . How can Chabad ignore this . How could Chabad not give public thanks for the נס גלוי that happened to one of their own.. what am I missing. Is there some kind of nefarious politics that we don't know abt ? - עד כאן
Well. I'm not sure what to do with this. It never crossed my mind that he should be featured at the kinnus, but maybe that's because he's already sort of out of our collective minds. 11 months is a long time in 2018, when news cycles barely last 12 hours. Featured as a speaker would maybe be too much, but the guy who wrote the above comment was looking for 3 minutes of "real time joy and acknowledgment" in regards to SMR. That's all. Also, this wasn't a dinner for Lubavitch; rather it was a dinner for shluchim and their baaleibatim. Lay leaders, if you will. But I hear the טענה. I did not dismiss it out of hand. It's ironic that we all live in our little realities and bubbles. I know some people were quite upset that lawyer Gary Appel thanked President Trump for what he did for Sholom Mordechai, as well as everything else he does for the Jewish people. Shluchim that work with very opinionated Liberal Jews were worried what they would say to their college students and hippies and back home. So lots of people on either side are unhappy. The basic טענה against Chabad is they don't care about kiddush hashem or doing what's right. It's all about חנפה'נען the baaleibatim. Oligarchs and Shmoligarchs. OK. I suppose that's like Shlomo Yehuda Rechnitz speaking in front of hundreds of Roshei Yeshiva and telling "דעת תורה" what they should be doing. How they should be running their schools and Yeshivos. They're also quite because he gives them money?
I'd love to hear what your opinion is on this matter. You can also add more complaints about the banquet, if you so desire. I'm sure there are more; I know shluchim themselves have plenty. After all, they don't ask for every shliach's opinion as to how to run the banquet... In the meantime, enjoy this beautiful and heartwarming clip shown last night.
