All political roads lead to the Lubavitcher Rebbe

For New York politicians courting Orthodox Jewish votes, a visit to the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s ohel in Cambria Heights is almost a requirement.

Gov. Kathy Hochul visited on Oct. 9, accompanied by community activist Devorah Halberstam and Rabbi Motti Seligson, a Chabad-Lubavitch spokesman. Her rival, Republican candidate Bruce Blakeman, visited on Sept. 8, before Rosh Hashana.

Halberstam’s son, Ari Halberstam, was killed in an antisemitic terror attack on the Brooklyn Bridge on March 1, 1994. He was returning with a group of Lubavitchers from a visit to Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital where the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, was convalescing. The Rebbe died on June 12, 1994. 

During her visit to the ohel, Hochul lit a yahrzeit candle, left a note, gave charity, read Psalms and “reflected on the legacy of the Lubavitcher Rebbe and the impact he had on global Jewry, the Jewish community in New York State and humankind,” according to the governor’s office.

“The legacy of the Rebbe continues to be felt throughout New York State, and his profound impact will be felt for generations to come,” Hochul said.

Blakeman, who is Jewish, was accompanied by Rabbi Zalman Wolowik, Chabad’s shliach in the Five Towns. After visiting the ohel, he stopped at Ari Halberstam’s kever.

“Remember, everything we get, all the blessings we get, are from above, from Hashem,” Blakeman said. “But He gives us the strength to make decisions and to take action.

“We need to use that strength in a positive way to make a better world,” he added.