Nechemia Vogel

Rabbi Nechemia Vogel is the head shliach to Rochester, NY since 1981.

Life History

Born in 5715 in London to his father, Rabbi Nosson Vogel "The Tzaddik of London".

As a young boy, his father began to come close to Chabad Chassidus, and at the age of 11 he first traveled to the Rebbe for Tishrei in 5727.

During the yechidus he attended with his father, the father said that as proof of their seriousness, the children paid for their own travel tickets from their savings, and the Rebbe responded with a broad smile and took a $50 bill from the drawer for each of the children as a contribution to the cost of the trip.

In 1971, he again visited the Rebbe, this time alone, as a yeshiva student. In response to his questions, the Rebbe replied that he should devote himself to his role as a yeshiva student and study diligently.

After his marriage, he went to work on the Rebbe's shlichus in Rochester, New York.

During the 1980s, he broadcast a weekly radio program called "The Jewish Sound."

After Pesach 5741, he chose to travel to the Soviet Union (along with his brother-in-law, Rabbi Berel Shur) disguised as a tourist and meet with Jews beyond the Iron Curtain.

Most of the Seforim they brought with them in their suitcases were confiscated at customs, but they later had the privilege of meeting with many Jews in Moscow who were crammed into a crowded house in the suburbs of Moscow. The participants in the farbrengen sent the Rebbe a bottle of LChaim that was on the table, and Rabbi Vogel gave it to the secretariat when he returned from Moscow along with an explanatory note. The Rebbe placed the bottle on the table the following Shabbos and referred to it at length during the farbrengen, asking that the bottle be mixed with other bottles and distributed to all those present at the farbrengen.

In 5768, he was chosen to serve as the keynote speaker at the banquet at the Kinus Hashluchim Haolami.