“IT’S JUST LIKE THE REBBE’S HOUSE”

As Chassidim around the world are preparing materially and spiritually to travel to 770 to spend Tishrei with the Rebbe, it is appropriate to share some stories about Chabad Houses built to look like 770. The truth is, every Chabad house in the world is the Rebbe’s home, but with those special buildings that were modeled after Beis Chayeinu the bond with the Rebbe is felt as soon as you walk in and maybe even before that, with your first look at the building.

KIRYAT ATA – THERE IS NOBODY WHO IS UNAWARE

The Chabad House in Kiryat Ata is known to everyone who lives there. Rumor has it that there is not a single person in the city who is unconnected to this building, for either you come to donate or to receive help from there. In any case, you need to stand on line and crowd among hundreds of other people who came, like you, to either donate or receive. Like the original 770 which the Rebbe referred to as the gathering place for the whole world, this building in Kiryat Ata is bustling with people at all hours of the day.

With my own eyes, I saw hundreds of people come to get fruits and vegetables for Shabbos. The large hall in the basement looked like a market for several hours with boxes and fruit and vegetable stands. Hundreds of people come and fill their baskets, just like a market, but with one difference, it’s all free. At the very same time, as volunteers in the nearby kitchen cook hundreds of hot meals for needy families, the shul upstairs is being used for davening or a farbrengen.

R’ Chaim Shlomo Diskin, shliach in Kiryat Ata, tells of many people who have adopted this building and hold it dear, particularly because of its special look which reminds them of 770 in Crown Heights.

“One woman,” said R’ Diskin, “a Belzer, had visited the Rebbe and received a dollar from him. She suddenly noticed a building that looks identical to the one in Crown Heights, here in Kiryat Ata. She stood in the middle of the street and began to cry, she was so moved. She later told me that at that moment she felt that she was near the Rebbe again. Now and then she comes to Rechov Chankin and passes by the Chabad House just to be reminded and be moved once again.

“There are people who come into our 770 whenever they write to the Rebbe. ‘It is altogether different,’ they say, ‘to write to the Rebbe while sitting in the Rebbe’s building.’ Some of those who come in to daven or for a farbrengen or shiur will come over to me and say, ‘You have no idea what davening in this building does to us. We remember those days when we visited and davened in 770 in New York.’”

STANDING FACING THE BUILDING AND DAVENING

In addition to the many ostensible visitors there are also many “secret” visitors. Although they too are not few in number, they do not stand out in their comings and goings, but they’re there. These are people who love this special building. They know it’s not a regular building; it’s the Rebbe’s house. Someone comes, he stands facing the building, murmurs a prayer to Hashem, wipes a tear, and after a few minutes he calms down, smiles, and continues on his way.

R’ Yaakov Elias, a local Chassid with a sharp eye, has often noticed this type of person. Sometimes he goes over and asks people what they’re doing there, near the building. People have emotionally told him that they come here, some by car and some by bus, in order to stand facing this holy building and pray about their problems. In many instances they have also given him a donation for him to give to the Chabad House. Some go over just to kiss the mezuza while others walk in and pour out their prayers facing the Aron Kodesh.

A woman told R’ Yaakov that she goes to 770 regularly, since to her it is like the Kosel, the Rebbe’s court, and the gateway to heaven. The first time she went, she said, a certain problem about her children was weighing on her. She davened at 770 and everything worked out well. Since then, she hasn’t stopped going. It is her regular place for t’filla. After every such visit she feels much calmer and things always work out.

R’ Yaakov tells of a young man who completed his army service and wears dreadlocks, but comes every Shabbos to the davening at the Chabad House and sometimes even stays for the farbrengen and joins one of Anash for the Shabbos meal. He also comes thanks to the special building. Although he is not yet religious in the usual sense of the word, on his last trip to India and Thailand he visited a few Chabad Houses. Through the pictures and stories of the shluchim he got to know the original 770 and when he came back to Eretz Yisroel he visited the 770 in Kiryat Ata and became connected.

770 THANKS TO
A PESACH INVITATION

R’ Yosef Yitzchok Freiman, shliach in Zichron Yaakov, maintains that “symbols have meaning.” The Chabad House is located in a neighborhood called Chalomot Zichron Yaakov (Zichron Yaakov dreams). “It is really a dream come true. You can say it’s a gift from the Rebbe that we have a building that looks like Beis Chayeinu.

“It all began when Oded, a contractor in Zichron Yaakov, asked me whether I would let him build a building for the Chabad House that looks like 770. He said that thirty years before, he was a young tourist in Australia and Erev Pesach he still did not have a place for Yom Tov. He stood on the street when a Chassidishe bachur came over to him and asked whether he could invite him to the Chabad House for Pesach. Of course, Oded agreed. He went and enjoyed it immensely, materially and spiritually.

“The connection between Oded and the Chabad House in Australia grew stronger. Oded went on to visit dozens of other Chabad Houses in Eretz Yisroel and the world, and in each place he heard about the world headquarters – 770. In the meantime, Oded did very well financially. That is the reason that he wanted to give back to Chabad ‘at least a little,’ as he put it, of his feelings of gratitude and admiration that he owed the Rebbe.

“Oded is not just a donor. Even the word ‘partner’ is not enough to describe the relationship he has with the Chabad House. Oded regularly attends events at the unique Chabad House that he built. Sometimes he says a few words to the participants, revealing a little of his thoughts and love for the Rebbe and Chassidus.

“I had my picture taken along with about 200 shluchim in front of the building at the national Kinus HaShluchim in Eretz Yisroel. As we stood there, I saw Oded walking near the building, thrilled at the z’chus of having built such a special structure.

“At a certain point, it became hard for the professional photographer to take a wide enough picture that would include all the shluchim with 770 in the background. When Oded saw the problem, he whipped out his cell phone, called someone, and within three minutes a tractor showed up with a special lift that took the photographer up to the right height from where the picture could be taken.”

THE POWER OF A WOMAN ON SHLICHUS

A group of about 150 girls from a Chabad seminary were hosted in Zichron Yaakov’s 770 as part of their studies before getting married and shlichus. Oded showed up and had nachas from how “his” building was an attraction. Would he speak? He had not prepared to do so, but it just worked out that way.

“Dear girls,” said the contractor-donor, “I visited many countries and saw the Rebbe’s shlichus operation that he founded in thousands of locations. I am astounded and admire the mesirus nefesh of the shluchim, but I think that the most admiration goes to the woman, the shlucha. Notice that the Rebbe only sent married men on shlichus; this is no coincidence. It is because the woman brings the neshama into the shlichus. She creates the marvelous atmosphere that you feel when you walk into any Chabad House in the world. I am telling you this because I see that you came here, to a Chabad House, in the course of your learning, and surely you too will want to be shluchos. You should know how great your part is in the future of shlichus.”

“THE REBBE’S ROOM”

R’ Freiman shared some facts about the Chabad House in Chalomot Zichron Yaakov. “There are days like Yom Kippur and Simchas Torah when the shul in our 770 is full with about 400 people. During the year, the building serves as a youth center with all the students in the city coming for activities. There are also special programs when hundreds of students come to bake matza or make oil for Chanuka. The students of Chabad yeshivos come for unity Shabbasos from all over the country, there are Kinusei Shlichus, etc.”

On a regular Shabbos, about fifty people attend services. Every day there are t’fillos and shiurim. The most moving experience is when davening is over on Shabbos Mevarchim and everybody goes to farbrengs in … the Rebbe’s room. This room is the most important of all the rooms in the building and it is where shiurim and farbrengens take place.

“You can imagine,” says R’ Freiman, “how moved we all are when we enter the Rebbe’s room, learn his teachings or tell a story about him. One Shabbos, I told the people about a young man who went to the Rebbe and said he is a Kohen and does not understand why the Torah forbids him from marrying a divorcée. The Rebbe pointed at the large library that filled the walls of his office and said, ‘They say about me that I know all these holy books and yet, I do not reach the level of holiness that you have for being a Kohen. And you want to lose this holiness by marrying a divorcée!?’ The young man of course preferred to preserve the holiness that he had (which was more than the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s). The participants at the farbrengen in Zichron Yaakov looked around at the Rebbe’s library and could ‘live’ and feel the atmosphere of the place.”

THE FACADE OF 770

R’ Freiman went on to say:

“When we built the building we were not sure what direction the famous front of the building should face. We then realized that not far from the lot was the central high school of Zichron Yaakov so we decided that for the sake of the students, we would have the front of our building face their school. In fact, many students know of the Chabad House because of this and they visit and are affected by it.”

One neighbor told R’ Freiman that when he originally placed an offer to buy his apartment he was very unsure whether he really wanted the apartment, but the moment he walked around it and saw 770 from the porch, he knew that he wanted to live there. It reminded him of the Rebbe and his blessings.

Another neighbor, who regularly visits the Chabad House, was moved by something else. “What I love most about the Chabad House is seeing the Chabadnikim coming from other places and being excited by the building. We are used to it already, but when the Chabadnikim come, you can see their eyes sparkle with excitement from being in the Rebbe’s house.”

770 WITH A
DOUBLE FACADE

R’ Avrohom Kot who wrote a review about the 770 structure in Ramat Shlomo in Yerushalayim said:

“The 770 building in Ramat Shlomo was made with great precision. The Rebbe’s room was made exactly like the original, including the wood paneling, the furniture, and the bookcases. A unique feature of this building is that the 770 facade appears on both sides of the building …”

One 770 facade faces the street and the other the Yerushalayim skyline so that it is visible to tens of thousands of people. At night, the building is illuminated with a powerful orange light which adds to the majestic aura.

“Those who come from afar and see the building, especially at night, are left with a good feeling,” says R’ Avrohom Kot.

During the time that I spent there, I saw people stopping their cars and looking in astonishment. “Tell me, is the actual building so nice?” someone asks.

I couldn’t help but listen (and record) the following conversation which took place between two people standing on the pavement facing the building. They both looked like they identify as Litvish, and yet, they did not see eye to eye on this subject:

“Is there something associated with Chassidus that mandates the building of buildings that look like 770? Is this Chabad that champions p’nimius? It looks unnecessary to me.”

“What’s wrong with it? If they’re building a Chabad shul already and putting in millions, why not build it to look like the Rebbe’s house? What about, ‘and your eyes shall see your teacher?’ Obviously, the shape of the building attracts people and that is the intention of the builders.”

“Do you think ‘your teacher’ refers to buildings too?! ‘Your teacher’ is not enough for them, so they extended it to buildings too? What a pity that they waste money on cement and red bricks. Obviously, a building like this costs more than just a regular nice building.”

“Listen, the reason is very simple. 770 is the place from where the Rebbe’s shluchim, horaos and bakoshos go forth. It is the holy place where the Rebbe davened for over fifty years. Is there a more fitting design for a Chabad House? I don’t understand why Chabad Houses are built that don’t look like 770! It’s only natural that something attractive attracts people. The building, with its unique structure, will attract a Yerushalmi crowd that until now refrained from going to Chabad.”

That was the conversation, almost verbatim, that I recorded.

I was still standing there in wonderment when I saw one of the bachurim, a chassan who was getting married in three hours. He had gone in to daven the Erev Yom Kippur Mincha in the Rebbe’s room. I see his face and can just imagine the tension and emotions he is feeling.

“There are women who come especially to say T’hillim in the Rebbe’s room. For many people it is clearly more than just symbolism, it is a place of k’dusha,” says one of Anash.

“Children come here and have a ‘Yom Rebbe,’” one of the activists told us. “The children learn about Chabad, about Chassidus, and then go into the Rebbe’s room where they learn, say T’hillim, and feel the Rebbe in a more tangible way. That is the main reason that the building was made in this way – hafatzas ha’maayanos.”

At a festive Hachnasas Seifer Torah that took place with the completion of the building, R’ Rabinowitz, rav of the Chassidic community in Ramat Shlomo, spoke. He praised the design of the building as looking like the original 770. “[Yosef] saw and remembered the image of his father,” he said. “This place reminds everyone of the beis midrash of the Lubavitcher Rebbe and greatly inspires them.”

R’ Deitsch, rav of the Eida HaChareidis in Ramat Shlomo, spoke similarly. “They built a room here like the holy room of the Rebbe, but the main thing is missing,” he said sadly, referring to what everyone yearns for.

DIVINE PROVIDENCE IN THE 770 BUILDING IN BRAZIL

In the heart of Jardim America, one of the exclusive neighborhoods in S Paolo, Brazil, among the beautiful buildings, is an unusual looking structure – the central Chabad House of S Paolo. It was built to look like Beis Rabbeinu 770 and join its older “brothers” in New Jersey, Kfar Chabad, California, Italy and Australia.

R’ Shabsi Alpern is a shliach to Brazil for over fifty years. Over the decades his work expanded and the Chabad House and shul were not able to accommodate the growing work. When they decided to build a new building, they decided to design it to look like 770. The construction entailed plenty of hashgacha pratis. On the lot designated for the construction had been a building that was built forty years earlier that extended 1300 square meters. R’ Alperin’s plan was to tear down the old building and build a new structure over 2000 square meters but he was told that the city council would never allow him to do this. He was told that the S Paulo municipality never approves additions to buildings in the center of the city.

However, when they examined the municipal records they found that although the old building was 1300 square meters, over a period of forty years the owners had paid property taxes for 2000 square meters, precisely the size that they wanted for the Chabad House. In light of this discovery, the city immediately gave them permission to build as planned.

Another interesting fact is that when the owner of the land and the building, a car dealer of Arab origins, heard what his land would be used for, he lowered the price to about half of its real value. In addition, he also donated a car from his dealership for a raffle amongst the donors to the construction of the building.