Watch: Key Moments From the Living Legacy Conference in DC

From Capitol Hill and the State Department to the White House, watch a recap from the Living Legacy Conference honoring the Rebbe’s enduring impact.

By Zoe Bell reports in the Washington Jewish Week:

Thirty-two years after the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s passing, his teachings remain at the forefront of the Chabad movement, evidenced by the Living Legacy International Conference held in the nation’s capital June 8-10.

The D.C. conference brought together hundreds of Chabad shluchim, supporters, public officials and distinguished guests from across the United States and dozens of countries around the world.

Spearheaded by American Friends of Lubavitch–Chabad, the event was designed to “reflect upon, rededicate to and be inspired by the Rebbe’s legacy,” according to Rabbi Levi Shemtov, AFLC’s executive vice president.

The Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902-1994), was the seventh leader in the Chabad-Lubavitch dynasty. He is considered one of the most influential Jewish leaders of the 20th century.

“As his progeny lives, so does he live,” Shemtov told Washington Jewish Week, referring to a passage of the Talmud. “Spiritually, we are his progeny.”

The three-day conference began with a breakfast on Capitol Hill with dozens of members of Congress from both parties. Elected officials from across the political spectrum addressed the gathering.

Through presentations by Rabbi Mordechai Dinerman of the Jewish Learning Institute and Dr. Naftali Loewenthal, a highly regarded academic from the U.K., attendees learned about Jewish thoughts regarding the United States’ upcoming 250th anniversary, the role of Jewish Americans in U.S. history, Jewish values referenced by the founding fathers, and the Rebbe’s teachings connected to those historic developments.

Senior diplomats gathered for a Global Jewish Roundtable at the ornate Benjamin Franklin Room of the U.S. Department of State, where they heard from Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter.

Split into two panels, the roundtable allowed participants to tackle the issues affecting today’s Jewish communities “from a much more effective place” given the diversity in the room, according to Shemtov.

In one panel, the European Union and the Australian ambassadors to the U.S. discussed the challenges facing their respective Jewish communities and their governments’ efforts to help reinforce Jewish life. Another panel united Chabad representatives from Abu Dhabi, Paris, Bangkok and Sao Paulo.

“We tapped into the unique wisdom of the rabbis living in other countries,” Shemtov said. “When the rabbi from Kazakhstan … sits next to the Kazakh ambassador, it’s much more potent than when we sit here in Washington and just talk about it. When rabbis from Brussels and other European countries sit next to the ambassador of the EU, it’s a very powerful statement.”

Shemtov spoke to the vast differences in Jewish experience between countries.

“France and the [United Arab Emirates] could not be more different,” he said. “[The] UAE doesn’t have any antisemitism; France does.”

Rabbis and community leaders attended from as far as Abuja, Nigeria, and Anchorage, Alaska — the latter known colloquially as the “frozen chosen.”

“It was more politically interesting in the morning, then it was academically engaging, then it was globally relevant,” Shemtov said of the first conference day. “The Global Jewish Roundtable will hopefully expand and begin to find a significant place in the international Jewish conversation.”

The American Friends of Lubavitch–Chabad recently wrapped up its 50th anniversary celebration, a milestone highlighted at a gala banquet.

“At the banquet, we went through a lot of the things that happened over the [past] 50 years that were accomplished by my father who started [the organization], and the whole room exploded into a standing ovation, which no one will ever forget,” Shemtov recalled.

Rabbi Abraham Shemtov, 89, is the founding director of American Friends of Lubavitch. Fifty years ago, the elder Shemtov lived in a time where the national Chabad presence wasn’t “more than a few dozen outposts,” and he formed the organization at the Rebbe’s behest.

“Now, you can’t go anywhere that has any type of significant amount of Jews and be too far from a Chabad presence,” Rabbi Levi Shemtov said.

“Throughout history, Jews have been expelled from 109 countries,” he said. “Today, Chabad operates in 112 countries around the world. We are here to stay. We are here to continue our work and to bring more light wherever we go until our mission is done.”

To remember this event, Shemtov and Ambassador Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, the U.S. special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, inscribed the passage that says “I will grant peace in the land” into the Washington Torah at the U.S. Department of State: “That’s what the State Department does: diplomacy,” Shemtov said.

The final day of the conference involved a trip to the White House, where a large delegation met with senior administration officials, and a smaller delegation met with Vice President JD Vance. Led by Shemtov, the delegation spoke with Vance about American life and issues affecting the Jewish community.

“I found the vice president keenly interested in understanding many aspects of Jewish life and a number of issues facing the Jewish community, about which he desired to know more,” Shemtov said.

Shemtov described the whirlwind three days as “off the charts” in terms of impact: “We wish we could [host] a thousand people.”

He said he hopes his fellow rabbis, world leaders and guests left the conference with a renewed sense of strength and hope.

“Even though in many places we may seem more vulnerable than ever before, if we stick together and maintain our sense of strength in the face of fear, we will prevail as those who have come before us have done many times over the centuries,” Shemtov said. “It’s not the easiest time for the Jewish people or to be a Jewish leader, but in terms of leadership, now is probably one of the most important we’ve seen in a very long time.”

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