Click here to listen to the Mammar of the Lubavitcher Rebbe
Click here to listen to the public address of the Lubavitcher Rebbe
“In connection with the terrible event that took place last week (the murder of Rabbi David Okunov), it is appropriate that we connect it with Torah. We should establish a new Torah institution, a ‘Yeshiva over his grave.’ It would be especially appropriate that the new institution be dedicated to helping those who recently came from Russia. This farbrengen and this new institution will bring the greatest pleasure to the soul of the departed and bring it to the highest spiritual state of elevation as it stands together with the Rebbeim. This will bring about a great increase in Torah study and will be connected with open and manifest good. Not hidden good, but a good that we can perceive with our own eyes, even while in Galus.”
Read the public address of the Lubavitcher Rebbe translated into English
Click here to read the Chassidic Discourse of the Lubavitcher Rebbe (PDF, Hebrew)
Click here to read the public address of the Lubavitcher Rebbe (PDF, Hebrew)
On Motzei Shabbos Parshas Noach 5740-1979, at the first Farbrengen following the horrific event, the Rebbe described the self-sacrifice of the noted Chasid, Rabbi Dovid Okunov, HYD, in a Sicha and in a Maamer.
Those who were present at the Farbrengen, witnessed the Rebbe was deeply pained and cried with deep emotion.
The Rebbe exclaimed how Reb Dovid sacrificed his whole life in communist Russia and finally came to the United States, a country that enables freedom of religion, and it was here that he was murdered for doing a Mitzvah!
The Rebbe initiated the establishment of a bi-lingual educational institution dedicated in memory of Reb Dovid, primarily for children who arrived from the [former] Soviet Union.
At the conclusion of Shiva, the Rebbe advised to name the institution “Ohel Dovid”.
Since then thousands of children passed through the doors of “Ohel Dovid” through its Preschool, Elementary and High School, under the auspices of F.R.E.E. – Friends of Refugees of Eastern Europe. For more information, or to register a child please call 718-467-0860; or email: Education@russianJewry.org.
Cong. Friends of Refugees of Eastern Europe (F.R.E.E.) was founded in 1969 by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson.
Stay informed about upcoming events and alumni reunions @F.R.E.E
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