The Lubavitcher Rebbe was a catalyst for the launching of the Mitzvah Tank in 1973 after the Yom Kippur war.
The Following Story was a favorite of Rabbi Schneerson:
"Rabbi Sholom Dovber (the fifth Rebbe of Chabad Lubavitch) once said "A Chasid is like a street lamp lighter". In olden days, there was a person in every town who would light the street lamps with a light he carried at the end of a long pole. On the street corners the lamps were there in readiness, waiting to be lit. Sometimes, however, the lamps are not easily accessible. There are lamps in forsaken places. There must be someone to light even those lamps, so that they can light up the path of others. Jewish souls are ready and waiting to be kindled. Sometimes they are close, sometimes they are in a desert or at sea. There must be some one who will reach out to light those lamps.
This is the function of the Mitzvah Tank. With your help and support each soul we touch will bring us one should closer to the ultimate redemption, the days of Moshiach.
About Rabbi Levi Baumgarten
My name is Rabbi Levi Baumgarten and its my privilege to direct Chabad of Watermill in the Hamptons and its various programs. During the course of the year we are able to touch the lives of many thousands of Jews, spanning the the spectrum of age, background and commitment. However, what they all have in common is the need to reach out and desire to be reached.
We approach our task with love and the reward is the love we are given in return as each connection we make to another Jew in need, helps to illuminate another part of out world.