Many Americans encounter Jewish life from the outside — a menorah lit in a public square or a neighbor who keeps kosher. Fewer understand the faith, practice, and centuries of tradition behind those moments. At the same time, antisemitism — what our guest calls “the oldest hatred” — is rising around the world. From the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel to last December’s attack on a Chanukah celebration at Bondi Beach in Australia, to increasing crimes against Jews in Europe and America, Jews are once again confronting attacks on their way of life and even threats to their right to exist.
Since 1968, Lubavitch of Wisconsin has worked to meet every Jew in the state with love and concern. It has grown into the state’s largest Jewish educational and outreach effort, with more than 100 programs serving Jews and Jewish families from preschool through college and beyond.
Our guest on this episode of Voices of Freedom is Rabbi Mendel Shmotkin, CEO and Executive Vice President of Lubavitch of Wisconsin and the son of its founders. After co-founding a yeshiva in Detroit, he returned home to Milwaukee as an emissary in 1997 and has since helped found or lead many of the organization’s cornerstone institutions, including the Milwaukee Community Cheder, The Shul Bayside, Bader Hillel Academy, and Bader Hillel High School. His conviction is simple: the answer to darkness is to turn on more light.
Topics Discussed on this Episode:
Growing up in the Chabad-Lubavitch movement and making his family’s mission his own
What it means to live a Jewish life, and why its virtues fit so naturally with American life
Lubavitch of Wisconsin’s work serving every Jew in the state, regardless of affiliation or observance
Why Jewish education matters, from the classroom to the college campus
Answering rising antisemitism with more light, and what gives him hope for Jews and all Americans