By COLlive reporter
The Rotary Club of London has been graced with the presence of Prime Ministers, Lords and other esteemed personalities, including its honorary member, the Duke of Edinburgh – husband of the Queen.
Last week, for the first time, a rabbi was invited to address the Monday lunch at the prestigious club of 130 leaders in business, the arts and sciences. Its president is Doreen Miller, The Baroness Miller of Hendon.
Rabbi Yitzchak Schochet, Rabbi of the Mill Hill Synagogue and mentioned as a potential candidate to Chief Rabbi of Britain, delivered an address on the theme of “The Scourge of Individualism in the Twenty First Century.”
The Chabad rabbi addressed the concern of the younger generation not getting involved in charity and other acts of benevolence at the same level as their forebears.
Conveying a special Sukkos message, he said: “The significance of Jews leaving their homes and sitting in makeshift huts in their gardens, with flimsy roofs made from natural elements, is that there is always a moment in the year when we pause just to reflect on our vulnerability, on how flimsy life really is.”
“The challenge for this century – the challenge for the next generation is that for all the cautionary winds sweeping through our lives we need to live in the moment by adding value to life,” the rabbi said.
“The best way to do that is by building bridges – by reaching out to others and the world and just simply adhering to the very first lesson we were all taught in kindergarten: namely learning to share with someone else because you make a living by what you get but you make a life by what you give.”
The talk at the beautiful settings of The English Speaking Union at Charles Street in Mayfair, was described by the Speaker’s Chairman, Harry Simmonds as excellent and very inspiring.
