Rabbi Gershon Mendel Garelik (14 May 1932 - 13 February 2021) was a

Chabad Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (), is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities. It is one of the largest Hasidic group ...

rabbi in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

for more than 60 years. He was also head of Chabad institutions in Italy. He was also an active Beit Din head in that city. He was active in the Rabbinical Center of Europe and was chairman of that organisation's executive committee. He previously served as chairman of the RCE.''Barroso praises Jewish contribution to EU'', Yossi Lempkowicz, EJP, December 22, 2005
/ref>

Life

Rabbi Garelik was born in the city of

Yalta Yalta (: Я́лта) is a resort city on the south coast of the Crimean Peninsula surrounded by the Black Sea. It serves as the administrative center of Yalta Municipality, one of the regions within Crimea. Yalta, along with the rest of Crimea ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. His parents were Chaim Meir and Rivka Garelik. He learned in the underground Yeshivot (because learning religion was forbidden during the soviet rule) in Russia. In 1947 his family escaped Russia, first they were in the DP camps in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

until they finally moved to

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. In Israel he learnt in the Chabad Yeshivot there under Rebbi Shlomo Chaim Kesselman. in that period of time he also helped the Yemenites settle in Israel, with Torah education saving them from the Christian

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

. For the 1956 school year he went to the Central Lubavitch Yeshiva in

770 __NOTOC__ Year 770 ( DCCLXX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 770 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...

. There he received

Semicha Semikhah ( he, סמיכה) is the traditional Jewish name for rabbinic ordination. The original ''semikhah'' was the formal "transmission of authority" from Moses through the generations. This form of ''semikhah'' ceased between 360 and 425 C ...

. In the summer of 1958 he married Basya (Posner). The wedding took place in the courtyard of 770 and the Lubavitcher Rebbe was Mesader Kiddushin. During a visit to New York in 1971 his plane was delayed and walked 10 miles from

John F. Kennedy Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport (colloquially referred to as JFK Airport, Kennedy Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK) is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the New ...

Crown Heights, Brooklyn Crown Heights is a neighborhood in the central portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Crown Heights is bounded by Washington Avenue to the west, Atlantic Avenue to the north, Ralph Avenue to the east, and Empire Boulevard/East New Yo ...

to avoid riding in a car on the

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...

References

1932 births 2021 deaths Chabad-Lubavitch rabbis Hasidic rabbis in Europe 20th-century Italian rabbis Italian Ashkenazi Jews Italian Orthodox rabbis 21st-century Italian rabbis People from Yalta Italian people of Russian-Jewish descent {{Chabad-stub