A historic transition is planned for this coming Motzoei Shabbos, at Agudath Israel of America’s 86th national convention.  The mantle of the organization’s lay leadership will then pass from one rightly celebrated and accomplished askan to another.  It will be passing as well from dear friend to dear friend and from one confidant of Gedolei Yisroel to another.

Rabbi Shmuel Bloom, Agudath Israel’s executive vice president for the past decade – and faithful Agudah worker and executive for many decades prior – will be retiring from that post in January, and Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel will be assuming it.

Rabbi Bloom, who has served Agudath Israel in one or another capacity since 1975, worked side-by-side with the legendary president of Agudath Israel, Rabbi Moshe Sherer, z”l, for nearly a quarter-century, and served as Rabbi Sherer’s “right hand man” in running the organization.  Upon Rabbi Sherer’s petirah, Rabbi Bloom assumed the top executive position in the organization.

Rabbi Bloom was personally responsible for the development and administration of employment programs like Project COPE and COPE Institute; for relief projects like the Iranian Rescue Committee, Vaad L’Hatzolas Nidchei Yisroel, Operation Open Curtain, and the Overseas AID Consortium; and youth projects like Project YES (Youth Enrichment Services).

Most recently, in his role as Vice Chairman of Agudath Israel World Organization, Rabbi Bloom created Betzedek – the American Israel Center of Advancement of Justice in Israel – and Temech, a program designed to increase employment in the chareidi World in Eretz Yisroel.

Rabbi Bloom has earned the confidence of Gedolim both in America and overseas, and is expected to continue to serve Agudas Yisroel and Klal Yisroel in other roles in the future.  He is a maggid shiur of Daf Yomi in his shul, Agudath Israel of Long Island, and hopes to devote more time during his retirement to limud Torah and harbotzas Torah.

Rabbi Zwiebel, too, is highly regarded by rabbonim and roshei yeshiva, and by all who have had the honor to interact with him.  He joined Agudath Israel of America in 1984 after a career in private practice with one of the nation’s most prestigious law firms, and currently serves as the organization’s executive vice president for government and public affairs.

As a lawyer, Rabbi Zwiebel’s areas of professional experience include religious freedom, church-state relations, civil rights, private education and medical ethics.  He has authored numerous amicus curiae briefs in a variety of judicial settings, including the U.S. Supreme Court, and has testified before various legislative and administrative bodies, including committees of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives; and published widely in the fields of religion, law and public policy.

In 1988, President Ronald Reagan appointed him to the prestigious National Commission on Children; and in 2005, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice appointed him to serve as a member of the U.S. delegation to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s conference in Cordoba, Spain on anti-Semitism and other forms of intolerance.

Above all, though, Rabbi Zwiebel is a champion of the concept of k’vod chachomim and respect for Daas Torah, and those ideals are what guide him in all his activities, both within and outside the Orthodox Jewish community.

As a result of the organizational “changing of the guard,” the convention’s Motzoei Shabbos Keynote Session – like all convention sessions, open to the public free of charge – promises to be a particularly moving and enthusiastic gathering.  Rabbi Bloom will address the crowd, reflecting on his tenure and sharing his thoughts and hopes for the future of Agudath Israel; and Rabbi Zwiebel will present his inaugural address, paying tribute to his predecessor and laying out his vision for the organization.

The Motzoei Shabbos Keynote Session will be infused as well with words of Torah, hisorerus and hadrocho.  The Boyaner Rebbe, the convention’s special guest from Eretz Yisroel, will address the gathering. Greetings from the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah will be extended by Rabbi Avrohom Chaim Levin, Rosh HaYeshiva, Telshe Yeshiva, Chicago.  And an address will be delivered by the Rosh Agudas Yisroel: Rabbi Yaakov Perlow, the Novominsker Rebbe.  The session will also include a Siyum Mishnayos l’zeicher nishmas Rabbi Boruch Borchardt z”l, Agudas Yisroel’s indefatigable executive director for over fifty years, whose activities on behalf of Agudath Israel over those decades were many and are legend.

(YWN Desk – NYC)