The students at the Chabad-Lubavitch yeshiva in Warsaw, Poland, got a visit from an unexpected guest, Professor Israel (Robert) J. Aumann, winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize in economics.
In town for a conference at the prestigious Leon Kozminsky Academy of Entrepreneurship and Management, Aumann took his meals at the Chabad House directed by Rabbi Shalom DovBer and Dina Stambler. After a dinner attended by Polish business leaders and foreign dignitaries, he toured the yeshiva.
In his remarks at the yeshiva, the professor, an expert in game theory, touched on the Arab-Israeli conflict, which he said stemmed from a failure of Israeli leaders to value the nation's land.
He said later that he was inspired by the presence of Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries all over the world.
“I wished the bachurim success in their studies and other endeavors,” the professor said from his home in Israel.
Student Shmuel Glitzenshtein, 21, described a one-on-one conversation he had with Aumann as “enlightening.”
“He said that he really appreciates what we are doing, and that we should continue moving upwards,” said Glitzenshtein. “He wanted to know what we’re doing in Poland, and I explained that we learn during the week, and go to smaller communities on Shabbat to lead services and host meals.”
Shalom Stambler said that Aumann and the other guests were impressed at the revival of Jewish life in Warsaw, typified by the presence of the yeshiva, which was founded in 2005.
“People appreciate that once again, there’s a yeshiva here,” said the rabbi. “Our students are sitting and learning in a city that their grandfathers and great-grandfathers were evicted from.”
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