American Friends of Lubavitch
Washington-based Chabad-Lubavitch organisation founded in 1975, which runs the movement's relations with the US government and its events in the capital
| American Friends of Lubavitch
| |
|---|---|
| Type | Religious non-profit; US 501(c)(3) public charity |
| Founded | 1975 (founding ceremony in Philadelphia) |
| Founder(s) | Abraham Shemtov |
| Registration ID | EIN 52-2193738 (US Internal Revenue Service, exempt since December 1999) |
| Headquarters | 2110 Leroy Place NW, Washington, DC 20008 |
| Location | Washington, DC |
| Services | Chabad representation to the US government and diplomats; the National Menorah; TheSHUL synagogue and campus centres in Washington |
| Key people | Abraham Shemtov (founder, national director); Levi Shemtov (executive vice-president); Ronald Perelman (chairman, per Fishkoff, 2003) |
American Friends of Lubavitch (AFL), also styled American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad), is the Chabad-Lubavitch organisation in Washington, DC. It handles the movement's relations with the White House, Congress and foreign embassies.[1][2] Sue Fishkoff calls it "a prestigious supporters' organization created by his father in 1975 and chaired by Revlon magnate Ronald Perelman".[1] Since the early 1990s it has been run by Levi Shemtov, son of the founder, Abraham Shemtov.[3] Its best-known events are the National Menorah lighting on the Ellipse near the White House and the annual Lamplighter Awards dinner.[3]
History
Fishkoff writes that President Gerald Ford came to Philadelphia in 1975 "to attend the founding ceremony of American Friends of Lubavitch". It was "the first time an American president showed up at a Chabad event".[4] In 1984 the White House described Abraham Shemtov as "national director for the American Friends of Lubavitch in Philadelphia".[5] Fishkoff notes that his son took over Chabad's work in Washington in 1993, aged 25, with the title of Washington director of AFL.[1] JTA reported in 2005 that Levi Shemtov "established the Washington office, called the American Friends of Lubavitch".[2]
The Jerusalem Post says Chabad in Washington started in "one small townhouse on Capitol Hill" and by 2025 had six branches. These included its main building, home of TheSHUL (the Shul of the Nation's Capital), and four centres on Washington campuses.[3] Fishkoff listed "$2 million for American Friends of Lubavitch headquarters in Washington, D.C." among Chabad building projects of the early 2000s. She described Levi Shemtov's family as living on the top floor of AFL's headquarters "on Embassy Row".[6][7] JTA wrote in 2005 that Shemtov called the office on Dupont Circle "Chabad's embassy", and that "the building even has its own flag".[2]
Lobbying and state access
Congress and the White House
Fishkoff's chapter on Washington, "Friends in High Places", traces the relationship from 1927. That year Chabad asked President Herbert Hoover to press the Soviet government to release Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn.[8] In 1977, for the Rebbe's 75th birthday, Senator Hubert Humphrey and Representative Tip O'Neill hosted 66 senators and 134 representatives at a reception. Fishkoff says this "began a tradition of near-yearly events organized by Chabad in D.C."[4] Abraham Shemtov lobbied for the 1978 congressional resolution behind what became Education and Sharing Day. In 1982, according to Heilman and Friedman, he ran "what the papers called a 'well-oiled [political] machine'" that won close to two hundred co-sponsors in a week for a National Day of Reflection.[9][10]
Under Levi Shemtov, Fishkoff writes, the office's "mandate extends way beyond the usual limits of Chabad outreach". She calls him "a lobbyist-without-portfolio" who button-holes "senators on issues of concern to Chabad headquarters".[1] Rabbi David Saperstein of the Reform movement told her that "Doors are open to" religious representatives in Congress and "Conversations take place that otherwise would not".[11] Abraham Shemtov told Fishkoff that Chabad's closest presidential relationship was with Ronald Reagan. Chabad delegations were "the first visitors to the White House when Reagan was elected and his last visitors on his final day in office".[4] The Post credits Levi Shemtov's bipartisan approach for the 1995 Congressional Gold Medal awarded to Menachem Mendel Schneerson, sponsored by John Lewis and Newt Gingrich. AFL's annual dinner, the Post reported in 2025, "is attended by leaders of both political parties", with awards given across party lines.[3]
Foreign governments
JTA described in 2005 how AFL's work included "lobbying for Chabad's entry in force into vulnerable Jewish communities in Europe and Asia". Shemtov "assiduously cultivated Washington-based diplomats from those regions". Because a Washington posting is often a stepping stone to a senior post at home, it wrote, "the ties Shemtov cultivates translate into greater influence for Chabad abroad". Nathan Diament of the Orthodox Union told JTA that while most emissaries have a territory, "Levi exists more on a virtual geography."[2] Fishkoff records AFL's Hanukkah receptions for the diplomatic community, one held at the International Monetary Fund and another co-hosted by the Inter-American Development Bank. "When people get an invitation to an American Friends of Lubavitch Chanukah party at the IMF building, it's pretty impressive," Shemtov told her. He was then trying to get Chabad projects in Brazil and Argentina into the bank's anti-poverty programme for Latin America, after a dinner with the bank's president.[12]
The National Menorah
Stuart Eizenstat, Jimmy Carter's domestic policy adviser, helped Abraham Shemtov get permission for the first national menorah in Lafayette Park in December 1979.[4] A photograph in Fishkoff's book shows Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz helping both Shemtovs light the menorah on the Ellipse in 2001.[13] JTA called the lighting "a brazen mark of influence", because it "claims to speak for an American Jewish community that traditionally has been uncomfortable with displays of belief on public land".[2] In December 2025, less than a day after the shooting at a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney, AFL ran the National Menorah lighting and events at the White House, the Capitol, the Pentagon, the Justice Department and the vice-president's residence.[14]
Finances
AFL is registered with the IRS as a 501(c)(3) public charity under EIN 52-2193738, with exemption dated December 1999. Its address is 2110 Leroy Place NW, Washington, care of Levi Shemtov.[15] Its Form 990 returns report the following:[15]
| Year | Revenue (all contributions) | Expenses | Total assets | Net assets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | $1,241,600 | $1,219,734 | $2,448,859 | $295,014 |
| 2015 | $1,518,972 | $1,518,134 | $3,312,896 | $209,165 |
| 2019 | $1,958,047 | $1,957,771 | $4,526,777 | $232,679 |
| 2022 | $2,423,215 | $2,507,375 | $5,307,184 | $117,212 |
| 2023 | $2,625,117 | $2,629,967 | $4,907,059 | $112,362 |
| 2024 | $2,824,519 | $2,847,554 | $4,991,583 | −$10,812 |
Levi Shemtov, listed as vice-president, received $79,147 in 2024. The 2024 return was filed on 5 February 2026.[15] Other charities with the name include American Friends of Lubavitch-Haifa in Teaneck, New Jersey, and American Friends of Lubavitch Brazil in Brooklyn.[16]
See also
- Levi Shemtov
- Abraham Shemtov
- Education and Sharing Day
- Agudas Chasidei Chabad
- Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Sue Fishkoff, The Rebbe's Army: Inside the World of Chabad-Lubavitch, New York: Schocken, 2003, p. 185.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Jewish Telegraphic Agency, In D.C.'s political maelstrom, Chabad man makes his mark CrownHeights.info (reprint of JTA), December 2005, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Alan Rosenbaum, A Global Rabbi in the Capital of Power The Jerusalem Post, 9 July 2025, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Fishkoff, The Rebbe's Army, 2003, pp. 193–194.
- ↑ Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Appointments, February 28, 1984 Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, 28 February 1984, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ Fishkoff, The Rebbe's Army, 2003, p. 13.
- ↑ Fishkoff, The Rebbe's Army, 2003, p. 187.
- ↑ Fishkoff, The Rebbe's Army, 2003, pp. 191–192.
- ↑ Chaim Miller, Turning Judaism Outward: A Biography of the Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Brooklyn: Kol Menachem, 2014, ch. 13.
- ↑ Samuel C. Heilman and Menachem M. Friedman, The Rebbe: The Life and Afterlife of Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2010, p. 213.
- ↑ Fishkoff, The Rebbe's Army, 2003, pp. 186–187.
- ↑ Fishkoff, The Rebbe's Army, 2003, p. 188.
- ↑ Fishkoff, The Rebbe's Army, 2003, photograph section.
- ↑ Zoe Bell, After Sydney shooting, loud, proud Chanukah across DC Washington Jewish Week, 24 December 2025, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, American Friends Of Lubavitch, EIN 52-2193738 ProPublica, Form 990 data for 2011–2024, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, Search: "american friends of lubavitch" ProPublica, accessed 10 November 2026.