The international news website 'The Jerusalem Post' has published a ranking of the 50 most influential Jews in the world - for the year 2016. In the honorable 28th place, dedicated to spiritual leaders who shape the face of the Jewish people, this year's Chabad Kollel Chairman Rabbi Shalom Duchman stands out, in line with the leader of the Lithuanian community.
Exciting international recognition of the tremendous work of the Lubavitcher Rebbe's emissaries: The international news website 'The Jerusalem Post' published ahead of Rosh Hashanah its ranking of the 50 most influential Jews in the world for 2016.
In the prestigious slot, dedicated to the spiritual leaders who shape the face of the Jewish people, Chabad Kollel Chairman Rabbi Shalom Duchman was elected this year, standing in the same row and in the same category alongside Rabbi Landau.
In a moving article in the Jerusalem Post, Rabbi Duchman writes about the revolution that he is bringing about: For nearly five decades, Rabbi Shalom Duchman has led the 'Chabad Collective' - the oldest charitable organization in the Holy Land, founded in 1888 by the elderly Rebbe, the author of the Tanya. In 1888, when Rabbi Duchman was only 25 years old, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, zt"l, entrusted him with personal responsibility for expanding the enterprise.
""Since then, Rabbi Duchman has wrought an unprecedented revolution. Rabbi Duchman transformed the organization, which at one time consisted of donor lists in a small card box, into a modern charity empire that distributes approximately $200 million annually in direct aid to those in need.
""A welfare envelope for the entire life cycle: Under his leadership, he operates a food security network, soup kitchens, meal systems for Holocaust survivors and the elderly, daycare centers, medical rehabilitation centers, assistance for the disabled, and support for widows and orphans throughout the country.".
""National emergency infrastructure: His central concept, according to which charity should be done while preserving human dignity and building permanent systems, proved to be especially critical after the events of October 7. Thanks to the massive logistical infrastructure he established, 'Kollel Chabad' immediately mobilized to provide assistance on a massive scale to tens of thousands of evacuees and victims of the war.".
In addition, the Jerusalem Post wrote, Rabbi Duchman serves as a member of two of the central committees of Chabad's umbrella institutions - 'Machane Yisrael' and 'Center for Educational Affairs', and he is "considered one of the pillars of the entire movement.".
Alongside Rabbi Duchman appears Rabbi Menachem Mendel Kotlarsky, CEO of 'Center 302' - Chabad-Lubavitch's global innovation, research and development incubator, as defined by the Jerusalem Post.
