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Abraham Shemtov (born February 16, 1937) is an American Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi and a shaliach ("emissary") of the Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson.
He is chairman of the board of Agudas Chasidei Chabad, the movement's umbrella organization, and was entrusted by the Rebbe with various missions, among them as the movement's envoy to the White House and Capitol Hill. He is the founding national director of American Friends of Lubavitch, Lubavitch activities in Greater Philadelphia, PA, and director of the first Camp Gan Israel in Parksville, NY.
On February 28, 1984, Shemtov was appointed by President Reagan as one of the five members of the National Advisory Council on Adult Education. Under Shemtov's influence, the U.S. Senate declared the Education and Sharing Day, U.S.A., on Schneerson's Hebrew birthday. The proclamation is signed yearly by the President of the United States.
In addition, Shemtov had successfully lobbied for a Congressional Gold Medal given to Rabbi Schneerson in September 1995 after his death on June 12, 1994, at 92. At a White House ceremony, Shemtov received the award on behalf of the Rebbe. Schneerson was the first religious leader ever awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.
At the end of 1977, the books were placed in the Library of Agudas Chassidei Chabad.
A similar menorah is set up by Shemtov on the White House lawn, being called by President Reagan "the National Menorah."
In 1984, on the eve of Hanukkah, Shemtov hosted a visit to the White House by a delegation of rabbis from "The American Friends of Lubavitch." The group recounted that they were surprised that, when the time had come for them to leave, the President invited them to remain a little longer, so that he could tell them a story about a rabbi serving as a Navy chaplain. He shared with them the story of Rabbi Arnold Resnicoff, whose kippa, skullcap, had to be discarded after the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing, because it was covered in blood after being used to wipe the faces of wounded Marines, and so a Catholic chaplain tore a piece of his camouflage uniform off, to be used as a temporary replacement for the kippa. The President asked the group about the tradition for Jewish men to cover their heads, and Shemtov replied, "Mr. President, the kippa to us is a sign of reverence." A colleague in the group, Rabbi Feller, continued, "We place the kippa on the very highest point of our being -- on our head, the vessel of our intellect -- to tell ourselves and the world that there is something which is above man's intellect -- the infinite Wisdom of G-d.""Rabbis Explain 'Top to Top'," Wellsprings, No. 12 (Vol 2, No. 7), August–September 1986," Lubavitch Youth Organization. Reagan later thanked the group in an official February 12, 1985, White House letter to Shemtov, ending with the prayer: "May the light of the menorah always be a source of strength and inspiration to the Jewish people and to all mankind."
Shemtov has accompanied Perelman in his meeting with the Lubavitcher Rebbe at the Lubavitch World Headquarters in Brooklyn. Showing the merchant rare praise, the Rebbe has called him "my partner" in charitable activities.
Perelman generously donates to Shemtov and Lubavitch causes. He is National Chairman of American Friends of Lubavitch and chief benefactor of Campus Chomesh - home of Associated Beth Rivkah Girls Schools, named after Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson, wife of the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
On June 21, 2006, Shemtov and Perelman established a fund under the auspices of Agudas Chassidei Chabad to financially assist new Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries. “You are terribly important to us as Jews, to us as parents, and to us that know the importance of keeping Judaism alive,” Perelman has told the grantees - 20 enthusiastic Lubavitch couples.
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