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Podcast: North Star with Ellin Bessner
Episode: Coping with loss and optimism: One Chabad rabbi's reflections on COVID
Description: The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, died on June 13, 1994. Each year, to commemorate his death, his Chabad followers visit Scheerson’s gravesite outside New York—it's known as the Ohel—where they leave letters and prayer notes for him. This year, a large celebration features guest speaker Elie Wiesel’s son, Elisha, and a musical performance by Itzhak Perlman.
One prominent Canadian Chabad leader yearned to go. But due to COVID restrictions, Rabbi Mendel Kaplan of the Thornhill Flamingo congregation spent the day on this side of the border, teaching and spreading his beloved rebbe’s wisdom—vir...