Editing Reb Zushe Wilmowsky (section)

== Public Activism ==

==== Establishing Tomchei Tmimim Lod ====
At the beginning of Shevat 5709, thirteen Chabad families settled at the edge of Lod city, near the train station, in a neighborhood abandoned by Arabs during the War of Independence. R' Zusha understood that they must establish a yeshiva for the children of these families and for other Chabad Chassidic families who had recently immigrated from Europe. One day he came to Lod and saw a three-story building that had previously served as a small hotel. He entered the building, locked the main door with a lock, and established a fact - here would be the "Tomchei Tmimim" Yeshiva.

Thus was founded the central "Tomchei Tmimim" Yeshiva in Lod, which R' Zusha managed from its establishment under the auspices of Agudas Chassidei Chabad in Israel under the leadership of Rabbi Eliezer Karasik and according to the instructions of the Previous Rebbe and the Rebbe. R' Zusha Wilmowsky played an important role in bringing Yemenite immigrant children closer to Chabad and integrating them into the Tomchei Tmimim Yeshiva in Lod.

R' Zusha devoted his physical and spiritual energies to bringing students, absorbing them, and maintaining the yeshiva. He took responsibility for the yeshiva's existence upon his shoulders and cared for the students' physical and spiritual welfare. During that period, he frequently visited synagogues throughout the Holy Land and raised donations for the yeshiva's maintenance and existence through his inspiring speeches.

==== Founding the Ohalei Yosef Yitzchak Network ====
R' Zusha worked among the new immigrants and sought to establish an institution that would absorb immigrant children. He wrote about this to the Rebbe, and on the 5th of Tammuz 5711, the Rebbe responded to his proposal - with a different proposal to establish the "Ohalei Yosef Yitzchak Network in the Holy Land":

"It would be worthwhile for him to investigate the possibility of establishing there (in the Holy Land) institutions that would join the educational institutions network established in Morocco and called after the Previous Rebbe - Ohalei Yosef Yitzchak Lubavitch, which includes institutions from basic alphabet learning to teachers' and rabbis' seminary."

The Rebbe appreciated his blessed and energetic activity throughout the years. But veteran activists were concerned about a young bachelor standing at the head of new institutions that were just being established, despite Chabad Chassidim in the Holy Land being a relatively small community and the financial situation being difficult. However, the Rebbe wrote to one of the activists that R' Zusha apparently has energy and maintains correspondence with the Rebbe, and proposals have already been received from him about establishing Ohalei Yosef Yitzchak Lubavitch institutions. In the continuation of the letter, the Rebbe writes that it would be worthwhile to utilize his great energy.

R' Zusha set to work, receiving instructions from the Rebbe from time to time on how to manage the institution being established. A few months after the instruction to establish the network arrived, four departments were opened where children were taught Torah in the afternoon hours.

The Rebbe firmly demanded from all Chabad activists, including R' Zusha, to obtain government approval to associate the network's institutions with the "non-stream stream." In those days, there were schools belonging to the state stream and to the state-religious stream, and the Rebbe requested that Chabad schools be recognized as a non-stream stream. However, in the relevant offices, they rejected the idea, until R' Zusha, with great sophistication, managed to obtain the appropriate approvals. Thus, the way was paved for establishing the network's schools, and at the opening of the 5713 school year, the network's four departments became proper schools, and in the following years, dozens of schools and kindergartens were established throughout the Holy Land.

In the initial period, R' Zusha was the network's director, until Rabbi David Chanzin was appointed to the position, while R' Zusha continued to serve as a member of the network's management.

==== Founding N'shei Chabad ====
The Rebbe instructed R' Zusha to work on establishing the N'shei Chabad organization in the Holy Land.

The Rebbe sent R' Zusha detailed instructions regarding N'shei Chabad's activities and also instructed to publicize the activities appropriately.

In the following period, the Rebbe instructed him that women should manage the organization, and R' Zusha transferred the management to Rebbetzin Devorah Ashkenazi.

==== Distributing Kehot Publications ====
With the Rebbe's encouragement, he distributed Chassidic books on behalf of the Central Organization for Jewish Education Israel Branch.

Thousands of Chassidic books arrived from Kehot in New York to Kfar Chabad and were under the responsibility of the Central Organization for Jewish Education Israel Branch, managed by Rabbi Avraham Paris. Notices were published that books were available for sale, but purchases were few, and the Rebbe encouraged and urged to engage in distributing the books, until R' Zusha began distributing the Chassidic books in yeshivas of all groups and communities throughout the Holy Land.

He was among the prominent activists within the framework of Tzeirei Agudas Chabad's work, all under the Rebbe's guidance and encouragement.

==== Secretary of Kfar Chabad Committee ====
In Tishrei 5721, during his first visit to the Rebbe, he entered for a private audience and told about his public work in the network's institutions and involvement in developing Kfar Chabad and its institutions, and asked the Rebbe about his future path. The Rebbe instructed him to invest himself in two main matters, the first being the position of secretary of the Kfar Chabad committee. Shortly after returning from 770, he was appointed secretary of the Kfar Chabad committee, thus fulfilling the Rebbe's instruction. The second matter in which he invested himself was the network.

He received many instructions from the Rebbe regarding Kfar Chabad, its institutions, and the conduct of the committee and residents. For example - R' Zusha was the one who received the well-known instruction not to build private houses taller than two stories.

R' Zusha worked for the development and expansion of Kfar Chabad and its institutions, according to instructions received from the Rebbe and as he explained in an interview with Kol Israel: "Generally, all the matters you see in the village are according to the Rebbe's instructions. But sometimes there were proposals from the residents and the Rebbe agreed to them. The meaning is: everything goes through the Rebbe, either directly - the Rebbe says to do something, or it comes on the initiative of the participants and they ask the Rebbe's opinion and the Rebbe gives his consent. In any case, without the Rebbe's consent - there is no such thing. Not only in Kfar Chabad, everywhere Chabad Chassidim are - without the Rebbe's consent there is no such thing."

He worked extensively to establish Kfar Chabad B and including the Beis Rivka institutions. About R' Zusha's meetings with public figures in the context of advocacy for establishing Kfar Chabad B, the director of Beis Rivka, Rabbi Shmuel Chefer, wrote in the book "The Rebbe's Engine."