Jeb Bush, Charlie Crist and Jeff Kottkamp celebrate Chanukah with Chabad
Tallahassee — Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Governor-Elect Charlie Crist and Lt. Governor-elect Jeff Kottkamp met with 18 Florida Shluchim this past Tuesday to mark the Chanukah holiday and become mutually acquainted.
The four-hour event, Florida's first-ever such meeting, brought the state's current and future governors, as well as its future lieutenant governor, together with a group of faith-based activists with Chabad, a global Jewish outreach and social-services group, which serves 118 Jewish communities in Florida alone from Key West to Tallahassee.
The meeting began at 12:00 p.m. in the governor's office conference room, with conference organizer and emcee Rabbi Schneur Oirechman of Tallahassee welcoming the assembled and handshakes all around between Bush, Crist and the Shluchim.
After each attendee introduced himself by name and city, Florida state's Chabad director Rabbi Abraham Korf spoke, mentioning that the organization's size doubled during Bush's eight years in office—and upon wishing Crist the same for his term, the Governor-elect laughed and replied, "From your mouth to G‑d's ears."
Rabbi Sholom Lipskar of Bal Harbour then rose to read several touching letters received from Jewish servicemen in Iraq, highlighting the importance of faith-based outreach to America's armed forces and their families back home.
Following Lipskar's comments, Oirechman presented Bush with an ornate dreidel, the traditional Chanukah game piece. The rabbi, who has garnered an unusually positive and personal relationship with Bush, having paid Chanukah holiday visits to his office for the past seven consecutive holidays, joked that the reason for the dreidel gift was that "after seven years of presenting you [Bush] with a menorah, there's no more room for menorahs."
However, the group did present a menorah to Crist—perhaps beginning a new tradition.
A group photo and traditional Chanukah songs then followed, after which Bush addressed the conference, mentioning the importance of faith and thanking the rabbis for their contribution to community and society. "I'm leaving you in good hands," Bush concluded, referring to Crist.
And before the Governors departed, Korf led the assembled in a festive menorah lighting ceremony looked on by both chief executives. 
The meeting then broke up and reconvened in a second conference room where the rabbis met with Lt. Governor-elect Jeff Kottkamp over lunch. Key Biscayne, Florida rabbi Yoel Caroline served as the luncheon's emcee, speaking briefly on the moral inspiration behind Chabad, namely, the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, grand rabbi Menachem M. Schneersohn, who died in 1994 having "created leaders, not followers," the rabbi said.
Tallahassee City Commissioner Allan Katz, a close Chabad supporter and advocate, followed Caroline's remarks with his own words on Chabad's contribution's to his city's Jewish life. Words on Chabad's wide-ranging Jewish women's programming were then delivered by Rabbi Rafael Tenenhaus of Hallandale, followed by Rabbi Yaakov Zucker of Key West, who wryly commented that his Jewish-chaplaincy work at a local prison proved beneficial enough to its Muslim inmates to warrant his garnering the title "sheikh."
Lt. Governor Kottkamp then delivered remarks, furthering the Crist administration's faith-friendly platform in reiterating the importance of faith and prayer, and Caroline's closing remarks effected a meeting of the minds in his assertion that Chabad and the public servants share the mission of improving the world.