* Translation by Yehoshua Siskin
Yesterday Rabbi Shalom Lipskar was brought to rest. He was 78 years old and had been a Chabad shaliach in Bal Harbour, an enclave of Miami Beach, Florida. He was one of the most influential Jews in the United States and throughout the Jewish world. His many Torah-inspired educational initiatives and volunteer projects reached hundreds of thousands of Jews everywhere, including Israel. Here is one story about him:
"Rabbi Lipskar cared about you, no matter who you were. He could meet the President of the United States one minute and a needy person asking for tzedakah the next — and treat both of them with the same respect. This was especially evident in his encounters with prisoners. He established the Aleph Institute whose mission was to promote their welfare. On any given day, he would honor these prisoners with the same respect shown to a bank manager with whom he had met that morning. He treated everyone the same since everyone was created in God’s image and everyone had special importance and a unique message to bring to the world.
He would look into the eyes of the person in front of him and ask “How are you?”. This was a sincere “how are you” that came from the heart. Afterwards he would ask, “And how is your soul?” There was never any pretense in this question, even after he had asked it many, many times. He truly wanted to know the condition of your soul. There are those who completely turned their lives around after hearing the rabbi inquire about them and their souls".
How are you, and how is your soul? You are all invited to ask these questions of yourself and others, in his memory.
