Mayor Nir Barekat Remembers His Grandfather

Almost every day, Jerusalem councilor Rabbi Yaakov Halperin meets Mayor Nir Barekat. But today, their meeting took on a slightly different note.

The two held a meeting as part of a project to acquaint leading public figures with Chabad. They discussed the Rebbe and the Chabad Houses in Jerusalem.

Their discussion began on a personal note, when Rabbi Halperin remarked that the mayor’s grandfather was a Chabad Chassid, Rabbi Schneur Zalman Berkowitz. Mr. Barekat immediately pulled out his iPad and showed Rabbi Halperin a photo of his grandfather’s gravesite on Har Zaytim.

“I am actually from a Chabad family,” said the mayor with a smile. Rabbi Halperin added that he spoke recently to the mayor’s father, also called Schneur Zalman, and that he had told him that the family is related to the Lubavitcher Rebbes.

During their conversation, the mayor said that he had visited the Rebbe’s Ohel about a year ago. “First of all, I felt that I was with family, in all senses of the word,” he said. “I have always known that I am a Chabadnik, but the atmosphere was amazing.”
(SOURCE & PHOTOS: COL.ORG.IL)