Like many prominent Washington personalities, Rabbi Levi Shemtov is articulate, well-connected, and an excellent raconteur. Unlike most, however, he sports a full beard, a black hat, and is a Lubavitcher Hasid.
Shemtov has served as Executive Vice President of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad) in Washington since 1992 and is one of the last emissaries appointed by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, zt” l, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, before his death in 1994. Shemtov’s father, Rabbi Abraham Shemtov, who established Chabad Lubavitch in Philadelphia, was initially sent by the Rebbe in the 1970s to represent the organization in Washington. The younger Shemtov traveled periodically with his father to Washington to assist in his work when he was a teen, before assuming the role permanently 33 years ago.
“We moved here with three missions,” he says. “To work on behalf of Chabad Lubavitch and support the world Jewish community writ large; with the federal government, to work on an outreach basis with the Jews in the federal government, and to cater to the local Jewish community. Thank God, we’ve seen a lot of success in all of those areas.”
One of the keys to Chabad’s success, explains Shemtov, is its decidedly nonpartisan stance in Washington, a city known for its intense partisanship. “We have very deep connections with the leaders of Congress from both parties in both houses and with administrations of either side. We try to eschew partisanship and move forward in a way that brings people together.”
Shemtov says that his personal passion lies in bringing people together who would usually not mix. Each year, American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad) hosts its annual Lamplighter Awards dinner in Washington, which is attended by leaders of both political parties. Awards are given across party lines and may be presented by a Republican to a Democrat, and vice versa.
“Many people who normally wouldn’t find themselves in the same room do so at our events, not only at our annual dinner, but also at our annual celebrations of festivals, such as the National Menorah Lighting on the Ellipse across from the White House,” Shemtov shares. “It gives people a rare politically transcendent opportunity where party submits to the mission at hand or to the event theme, and that’s something that I think is very important, especially in today’s environment, where people have become even more divided than ever before. This is our hallmark, and it has allowed us to reach out to Jews and others who are on both sides of the aisle, who would not come together for any type of political event, but would come together for a Jewish event, even though they are of very different political persuasions.”
He notes that when Chabad lit the menorah last year in the Rayburn Room of the US Capitol building, the Speaker of the House, the minority leader, the Senate Majority Leader, and the Senate Minority Leader were all together in the photo – something that rarely happens.
Further evidence of the success of Shemtov’s bipartisan efforts occurred in 1995, when the late civil rights leader and Democratic congressman John Lewis from Georgia, together with Newt Gingrich, then Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, sponsored the posthumous awarding of the Congressional Gold Medal, the country’s highest civilian honor, to the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
Shemtov quips that Lewis and Gingrich sponsoring an initiative would be akin to Israeli politicians Yair Lapid and Bezalel Smotrich joining forces, and recounts what Gingrich said at the time:
“You may wonder how we’re here together. When you’re approached every day with all kinds of high-paid explanations presented by well-compensated lobbyists, and all of a sudden somebody comes to you who doesn’t have the right Gucci shoes or European suit and says for the better of the world, here’s a candle that should be lit, it doesn’t matter if you’re a conservative Republican or a liberal Democrat. You come together and you do what’s good for society.”
When Shemtov assumed his position in 1992, Chabad in Washington operated out of one small townhouse on Capitol Hill. Today, the organization has six branches throughout the city. In addition to weekday and Shabbat services that are held at the Shul of the Nation’s Capital in its main building, the organization sponsors four Jewish centers on college campuses in Washington.
Shemtov notes that for many students and young professionals who enter Chabad’s centers, it is their first exposure to organized Jewish life since they observed their bar or bat mitzvah. While he doesn’t minimize the dangers of antisemitism, he suggests that if Jews are proud of their faith, know more about it, and are not afraid to display their Jewishness, they can better overcome the antisemitic hatred they experience.
“The more I speak to young people,” says Shemtov, “the more I get the message that we rabbis and leaders in the Jewish community have to stop talking only about antisemitism. One of my main lines is that the greatest antidote to antisemitism is an informed and robust ‘semitism.’ We have to know and remember who we are. We have to give our young people pride in what it means to be a Jew, and the only way to do that is to teach them what a Jew really is.
“Too many people who suffer from antisemitism or worry about it do not know what it means to be a Jew. They know that being a Jew means you’re not not a Jew, but what does being a Jew mean in a proactive sense? Most people I speak to who come from more secular upbringings tell me that nobody ever sat them down to tell them. They told them to be kind and practice tikkun olam (repairing the world) in whatever way, but they didn’t explain to them what being a Jew means in a personal, substantial, and spiritually productive way.”
What does Shemtov tell young Jewish adults whose Jewish background is lacking? “First, I tell them that they’re part of the chosen people and there’s no reason to apologize for it. Second, my father taught me that we’re not chosen to be privileged, but we are privileged to be chosen. It comes with the responsibility to live beyond yourself and make sure the world is a better place because you’re in it, doing what you do. We have a heritage that now rests on our shoulders to carry forward like those who carried it forward before us.”
Shemtov adds that there is one additional component that he tells young people – not to be afraid. “One of our supporters once said to me, ‘Rabbi, you seem to have no fear. I replied, ‘Why should I be afraid of anyone? Both of my grandfathers sat in Soviet prisons for practicing and spreading Yiddishkeit. My great-grandparents were shot dead in the street by the Nazis. I’m not going to be afraid of anyone. Why should I ?”
“I tell people that I’m afraid only of my Creator, but other than that, I have no fear. The imperative God gives the Jewish people most often is not to love him, fear him, or do one mitzvah or the other. The one directive we receive in the Torah more often than any other is not to be afraid. I believe that overcoming fear or coming to a point where you don’t have fear other than of Heaven, is essential.”
Campaigns countering antisemitism are important, says Shemtov, but they cannot make up for Jewish ignorance among the community’s leaders. “The leaders of our people have to learn more of the language of our people. It’s not enough to be only politically active or socially present. There must be a greater awareness of Yiddishkeit within Jewish communal leadership, whether they choose to keep it all or not. Second, just as food drives are held for people who are starving, there needs to be an initiative to educate Jewish people about Jewish traditions and strengthen their Jewish identity. Would that our people could better speak the very ‘language’ of our people. The Jewish communal conversation needs to energize and pivot, quickly, to a more positive and spiritually dynamic place in order for us to better face our current challenges. As one great Jewish Federation leader once said, ‘What got us here is not going to get us there.’ A generation or two ago, leaders saw changes in society as calling for a shift away from religious practice. I believe more recent changes actually call for precisely the opposite.
“While practically speaking, Jewish people find themselves at various levels of Torah observance, and G-d allows people to choose between right and wrong, let not people be disenfranchised from Jewish life because they simply didn’t know what it’s about.”. When Jewish life is only crisis and all students knows about being a Jew is that people spit at them and berate Israel, why would they want to embrace their Judaism?”
Shemtov has adopted a similarly polite but bold position in his dealings with Washington-based Arab diplomats and leaders. His contacts with Arab leaders began in 2007, long before the signing of the Abraham Accords in September 2020.
In February 2007, five American Jewish organizations held a reception together honoring a State Department diplomat newly appointed to combat antisemitism. Members of the diplomatic corps were invited, and Shemtov recalls that the organizers were surprised to learn that the Saudi Ambassador to the United States, Prince Turki al-Faisal, was planning on attending. Members of the sponsoring organizations delivered introductory remarks, and the Saudi ambassador arrived just as Shemtov got up to speak. “I asked myself, ‘What would the Rebbe want me to do?’ I thought the Rebbe would want me to deliver a courteous yet effective message. So I put away my prepared remarks.”
“When the Saudi ambassador had entered, I said, “You will soon return to the kingdom, and I hope you take the following message from us to the Royal Court. We, the Jewish people, wish no one ill. We want to live in peace with the entire world. But what started as a Jewish problem and then became an Israeli problem, and then became an American problem, to become a Western problem, and is now a global problem [terrorism], will either be won by all of us together, or will be lost by all of us together. And it’s now shaking the feet of the very throne of your kingdom.”
The Saudi minister was duly impressed by Shemtov’s words and relayed them upon his return to Saudi Arabia.
Later that year, Sheikh Khalid bin Akhmed al-Khalifa, a member of the Bahraini royal family, issued a statement calling for Israel and Iran to live in peace. The Guardian, in its October 1, 2008, edition, reported that Al-Khalifa said that Middle Eastern countries should set up a regional organization that would include all Arab states, as well as Israel, Iran, and Turkey. “Why don’t we all sit together even if we have differences and even if we don’t recognize each other?”
Shemtov was impressed by the courage of the Bahraini leader, whose country is near Iran. A short time before al-Khalifa issued his statement, Shemtov read that the new Bahraini Ambassador to the United States was a woman named Hoda Ezra Ibrahim Nonoo. Shemtov learned that she was Jewish, and when he discussed the Torah reading in his High Holiday sermon, referring to the tensions in the House of Abraham between Isaac and Ishmael, he added that some leaders in the Arab world today wanted to befriend the Jewish people. The Ambassador mentioned his comments to the Bahraini foreign minister. The minister became interested in pursuing a dialogue, and Shemtov arranged a meeting with leaders of the American Jewish community and the Bahraini foreign minister.
Several years later, Shemtov met with Turki al-Faisal in Riyadh. The Saudi expressed the point of view that people who have a greater awareness of religion are well-positioned to help settle the Middle East conflict. “He said to me that ‘There needs to be more people like you who come with this attitude of yours, the religious context, because the more people like you are involved, the greater chances we’ll have to actually arrive at a more peaceful coexistence.’”
Shemtov adds, “I have found that an honest presentation of our essence is invariably met with respect as well as curiosity in the Muslim world. When we try to secularize our being or be overly apologetic or too impressive about how worldly we are, it doesn’t make as much of an impact as when you present things from a religious and historic perspective and the mutual benefits of peace between peoples – and I’ve been told this by many senior royals in the Gulf region and their diplomatic representatives. There’s another, better way forward besides mere territorial concession, and they’re more willing to hear it if it’s in a proper and respectfully presented historical and religious context.”
While Shemtov did not negotiate the Abraham Accords, some have speculated that he may have set the stage in the minds of at least some of the players, suggesting that the approach that was ultimately taken was the practical one.
As to the future of the Accords, Shemtov suggests that Syria might sign on next. “I think that the Saudis will sign on as well. It may take a little longer than we all would like, but I think they’ll sign on. And while it seems a bit of a stretch, and only recently seemed altogether impossible, I think that Lebanon is also not out of the question.”
Throughout his career, Shemtov has not been afraid of attempting to cause change and foster coexistence. “The bulk of my life has been dedicated to taking the environment I found and trying to change it, especially in that regard – both in an environment devoid of Yiddishkeit opportunities for Jews who work in the capital, as well as the message that people can find a way to coexist, whether it be Republicans and Democrats, or Gulf leaders and the Jewish people. We see that it can really work.”
Is Levi Shemtov optimistic or pessimistic about the Jewish future? “I sleep quite well when I think about the parts of the Jewish community that are engaged. Since they have a deep sense of who they are and why, they are more inoculated regarding the onslaught of antisemitism.” On the other hand, he says, “Those who are not affiliated, educated, or observant, I feel, are much more susceptible to the virus of antisemitism and the feeling of cancellation it brings.
“We are living in very good times in terms of our renewed strength. Our attendance numbers are through the roof, both in Washington and those of our colleagues, because many people are re-embracing who they are and thus seeking reconnection to the community to which they belong. And we offer a particularly open and non-judgmental access point. Others have sadly tucked in their chai necklace, taken down their mezuzah, and spiritually turned out the lights because their grandmother warned them it might happen again. So, I think that it is both. Clearly, our work is not yet done.”