Israel’s First Lubavitcher Mayor

By COLlive reporter

Back in the day, when the late R’ Shlomo Maydanchik would visit in the United States, he would be presented as the first Chassidic Mayor in Israel.

Although he was the head of the elected council of Kfar Chabad in central Israel, that was only a village of a few thousand.

The person who does deserve the title of the first Chabad Mayor in Israel is Chaim Shteiner who was chosen Tuesday as acting Mayor of Kiryat Malachi, a city with a total population of 20,600.

Shteiner, a city council member who represents the Chabad community in the Southern Israeli city, was voted by his peers to replace Motti Malka who stepped down due to allegations of corruption and ethical misconduct.

According to the Maariv newspaper, Shteiner will have 30 days to determine whether Malka can return to his desk or offer another permanent solution, such as call for special elections.

Elected in 2008, Shteiner said his door will be open to all residents of the city and that “I’ll continue to help everyone.”

In a conversation with a COL.org.il reporter, he thanked the city’s new Chief Rabbi Yitzchok Yehuda Yeruslavsky, head of the Chabad Beis Din in Israel, “for the trust he had in me throughout.”

Kiryat Malachi is home to a sizable Lubavitch community who live in the Nachalas Har Chabad neighborhood, many of whom are immigrants from the former Soviet Union, like in other sections of the low income city.