Last night, I went to one of the classiest events I have been to in years, and it really underscored the value of public relations and community affairs in the biggest way. Bottom line, the event was a class act, from start to finish.
Where was I?
I was at Channukat HaBayit – a dedication of a new synagogue that happens to be on the same street as where we live. Please see http://www.chabadflamingo.com/.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper was in the spotlight, wearing a blue kippah as he helped cut the ribbon at the new Lubavitch synagogue. The eloquent Rabbi Mendel Kaplan, the synagogue’s charismatic rabbi made an emotional 30 minute speech is which we thanked the almighty, his wife, parents, parents in law and the community. It was indeed both passionate and very touching to see Kaplan realize his dream in front of some 800 people, including various Chabad Rabbi’s, as well as Conservative MP Peter Kent, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and a veteran journalist.
“The Ernest Manson Lubavitch Centre will serve as spiritual, social, and educational hub for this community,” Harper said to a full-house at Bathurst Street and Flamingo Road. “Thanks to the vision and leadership of the late Rabbi Schneerson, thousands of Chabad and Lubavitch centers like this have opened their doors around the world.
"Through education and outreach programs these centers are strengthening the bonds of the faith within the Jewish community everywhere. In so doing, they signify the enduring spirit of the Jewish people.” The unapologetically pro-Israel Prime Minister received an Obama-esque rock star reception.
So where did PR enter into the equation. Simple!
Although I am not a member of the Chabad synagogue, I do visit it from time to time. Rabbi Kaplan knows how to work the room like no other Rabbi I have ever met. He is very politically connected – so much so that Canada’s PM was there … it does not get any bigger than that.
Kaplan knows how to use PR to great advantage. Now of only some of our clients were that good.
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