He was a sight to behold: A rabbi with a flowing beard riding by helicopter from Midtown Manhattan—where he had just presided over the kindling of the “World’s Largest Menorah”—to Brooklyn, N.Y., in a frantic effort to make it home before the onset of Shabbat.
To the countless men, women and children who participated in the yearly lighting of the World’s Largest Menorah at Manhattan’s Grand Army Plaza, he will forever be remembered for his prominent role in the annual event, his booming voice announcing the participating dignitaries, and encouraging the crowd in joyful singing from high-atop the cherry-picker.
“May the lights of the Chanukah menorah that everyone is putting up throughout the world,” he would commonly sign off, “usher in the eternal lights of Moshiach and the great redemption for all.”
Rabbi Butman passed away late on Monday, July 22 (17 Tammuz), 2024. He was 81 years old.
SCION OF A DISTINGUISHED FAMILY
Shmuel Menachem Mendel Butman was born in the Soviet Union on 24 Shevat, 5703 (Jan. 30, 1943), to Rabbi Shneur Zalman and Yehudis Butman.
Yehudis was the daughter of Rabbi Mendel Schneersohn—a great-grandson of the Tzemach Tzedek, the third Chabad Rebbe—after whom he was named. Rabbi Shneur Zalman Butman was a member of the Chabad “underground” and worked tirelessly to ensure that Jews were able to live observant Jewish lives, to the extent that Communist authorities exiled him to Siberia for four years.
In 1946, the family joined hundreds of other Chabad Chassidim who were prying their way out of the Soviet, eventually making it to the west and settling in Paris.
It was there that young Shmuel first met the Lubavitcher Rebbe—Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson—who would become a guiding figure in his life. The Rebbe was there to accompany his mother, Rebbetzin Chana, who had recently escaped the Soviet Union, to the United States.
Since Rebbetzin Chana was living in the Butman home, the Rebbe became a frequent visitor, coming to see his mother twice daily. Years later, Rabbi Butman wrote a Hebrew book, Harabbi BePariz (“The Rebbe in Paris”), documenting the Rebbe’s years in the city.
In 1954, the family moved to Brooklyn, and Shmuel was enrolled in the central Chabad yeshivah there. In 1962, while still a teen, he was dispatched by the Rebbe to serve as his emissary to the Chabad yeshivah in Lod, Israel.
IMMERSED IN COMMUNAL ACTIVITIES
With the Rebbe’s blessing, following his marriage in 1966 he joined the staff of the fledgling Lubavitch Youth Organization. The Rebbe had founded the organization in 1955 to lead many of Chabad’s outreach efforts, and it was under the direction of Rabbi Dovid Raskin.
In the course of his activities, Rabbi Butman was in close contact with the Rebbe, often submitting notes with questions. The Rebbe, in turn, would often reply with brief jottings, showing a keen interest in even the smallest of details.
THE WORLD’S LARGEST CHANUKAH MENORAH
One of his highest-profile projects was one of the most recognizable Jewish events in the world: The “World’s Largest Menorah,” situated outside the iconic Plaza Hotel on Fifth Avenue and 59th Street in Manhattan.
Rabbi Butman first placed a giant menorah in that location in 1977. The gleaming 32-feet-high sculpted bronze structure that Rabbi Butman faithfully lit every year since 1986—36-feet including “shamash”—was designed by Yaacov Agam, Israel’s most collected artist.
“This menorah stood in miniature on the Rebbe’s desk,” Rabbi Butman would remind the gathered every year that “The menorah stands as a symbol of light and determination for all people regardless of race, religion, color and creed,” Hundreds of news outlets cover its kindling, bringing the message of the Chanukah lights to millions more.
Additionally, one of Rabbi Butman’s most public events—one greatly treasured by the Rebbe—was the annual Siyum Harambam, the completion of the study cycle of Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah.
THE WEEKLY L’CHAIM PUBLICATION
After the passing of the Rebbes wife, Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, Rabbi Butman established the weekly L’chaim publication in her memory which is personally distributed every Friday by Lubavitch students around the world, to thousands of readers, as part of the Rebbe's Mitzva campaign.
Over the years the Rebbe showed great appreciation for the L’chaim publication. The diverse content of L’chaim has made it a most treasured publication, which is read by tens of thousands around the world every week.
Also at the Rebbe’s behest, Rabbi Butman headed an association of all descendants of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, the first Rebbe of Chabad.
Another one of the projects he spearheaded was the first Jewish Children’s Sefer Torah, an initiative of the Rebbe to unite all Jewish children through the symbolic purchase of a letter in a special Torah scroll.
DAYS OF EDUCATION
It was Rabbi Butman who led the effort in New York State, where the governor traditionally declares a series of days, corresponding to the years since the Rebbe’s birth, dedicated to education.
Another one of Rabbi Butman’s many initiatives was hosting a sukkah at the United Nations. In fact, that sukkah was the place where in 1984 he first met an aspiring young Israeli diplomat named Benjamin Netanyahu. Following their meeting in the sukkah, Netanyahu came to celebrate Simchat Torah with the Rebbe in 770, and a connection was formed.
As a Chabad representative, he would often bring elected officials to the Rebbe for blessings and advice. In one instance, he recalled in his interview, in 1990 he brought New York Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan to visit the Rebbe. The Rebbe asked him to make accommodations for the Chinese-American community, who needed help learning English and acclimating themselves to American life.
Following the meeting, Moynihan expressed his amazement at the religious leader who cared for other communities as if they were his own, asking why that would be the case.
“Why?” reflected Rabbi Butman. “Because the Rebbe cared, the Rebbe cared for everyone.”
