Last week in Paris, France, Rabbi Shmuel Azimov, the director of Chabad of France for over 40 years, passed away. I was saddened when I heard the news, but when I found out that he was just 69 years old I was in shock. As a young child in England I already remember hearing about the legendary Rabbi Azimov, and as I grew older and met many French friends it became more clear why this man was such a special leader, he was loved by thousands and had inspired tens of thousands. Yet after all these years, I was convinced that a man with so many accomplishments and having touched so many people, must be in his late eighties or more.
Over the course of some 40 years, he setup the groundwork of Chabad in France and left a network of schools that have thousands of students enrolled, many dozens of synagogues and Jewish Centers across Paris and France, and literally tens of thousands of people who were deeply touched by his influence and teachings.
As a teenager, I remember hearing after he had a stroke in the nineties that he probably wouldn’t make it, but instead over the years, he made a tremendous comeback and worked for another 20 years leading and developing Chabad of France and touching the lives of thousands of his brethren.
To me, besides his humility, lacks of airs, and unique style of leadership, one of the touching aspects of his life, was the fact that throughout his years of leading Chabad in France, he continuously spent a few hours each day teaching Torah to young children. In earlier years this was in a classroom setting and in later years after the stroke, he used to tutor kids individually each day. His reasoning for doing this despite running an organization with hundreds of employees and many dozens of centers, was due to guidance he had received years earlier from the Lubavitcher Rebbe, who encouraged him to build these teaching hours into his daily routine.
When I think about what this man accomplished and legacy of thousands of inspired people he has left in his wake, and I combine it with the fact that somehow he found the time to learn with young children each day, I find it almost mind boggling and amazing at the same time. Most CEO’s don’t find such time and certainly not to do it on a consistent basis, yet here was a man, who did it, loved doing it and succeeded at the same time.
As I was reading the portion of Torah that we will be reading this Shabbat and reading the verse that describes Abraham, I was reminded of Rabbi Azimov and what it means to use time wisely. The verse in this week’s portion (Chapter 24,1) states “And Abraham was old, advanced in days, and the Lord had blessed Abraham with everything.” The sages explain that the double message of “old” and ”advanced in days”, means two different aspects of life. The “old” refers to the age factor, and being “advanced in days” means, that Abraham used out each day to the fullest amount possible. The Torah is telling us that Abraham embodied this unique aspect of life in that he tried to use out every single day and opportunity in his life for the right purpose and productive reasons.
Rabbi Azimov was someone who over the course of his 69 years embodied this value to a great extent. He was a CEO who made time to teach young children each day, he was a Director of an organization with many dozens of centers, yet he gave individual attention to all of his students and brethren, he ran an organization with a multimillion dollar budget, yet the small details in life were given the utmost importance. Rabbi Azimov showed that in the 21st century, living life in a full, meaningful and productive manner, is totally possible and attainable and if there is a will, there is certainly a way!
Perhaps, attempting to copy Abraham to the utmost degree may appear and actually be very hard, yet perhaps on a smaller scale, by trying to learn how to approach the individual moments, opportunities and challenges, as G-d given opportunities and part of our life mission, might be a good medium to go about fulfilling the message of this verse. The more we incorporate purpose and meaning into the daily events and activities that make up our day, the more that the basic meaning of this verse will begin to have a deeper and more meaningful impact on our lives and on the world around us.