By COLlive reporter
Living in Philadelphia, where he serves as Head Shliach, does not give Rabbi Abraham Shemtov many opportunities to exercise his knowledge in the Russian language.
But in a trip to Israel this week, words like “kak dela” and “kahk vahs zahvoot” proved to be most useful.
In the Holy land as the guest speaker of a large Shabbaton gathering of Chabad Yeshiva bochurim, the Chairman of Agudas Chassidei Chabad International went to daven at the Kotel on Friday morning.
Stopping at Chabad’s legendary Tefillim booth to support its activities, he encountered an immigrant from the former Soviet Union and began speaking with the fellow Jew.
Rabbi Shemtov was born in Moscow, Russia, to a distinguished Chassidic family. He grew up in the city of Tashkent in Uzbekistan, and studied there in an underground Jewish ‘cheder’ school in the Soviet years.
Chatting in Russian, the 64 year-old man told the senior Shliach that he never had a Bar Mitzvah or put on Tefillin. He was a “karkafta,” the Talmudic-coined category for a person who never put Tefillin on his head.
Exuding chassidic warmth and excitement over the opportunity, Rabbi Shemtov explained the importance of Tefillin that binds the mind with the heart and deeds, and allows reunification with G-d.
The man agreed and the milestone in his life was captured with a photograph to remember.
Also helping out with putting on Tefillin was visiting Shliach Rabbi Mendel Feller, Director of the Lubavitch House in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Rabbi Feller!