THE MANY CHABAD GATEWAYS TO HEAVEN

What do kibbutzniks at a kibbutz clubhouse, residents of Mea Sh’arim in the Baal HaTanya shul, and Israeli tourists in a decorated hall on the beach in Mexico have in common? All of them daven in a Chabad minyan, from the same Siddur, and sing mostly the same tunes. * We spoke with gabbaim, rabbanim and shluchim who run shuls of Chabad minyanim and heard about what unites them and what sets them apart, and about the special styles of their Chabad shuls.  * How do you disperse 1500 people on Motzaei Yom Kippur without causing injuries on the way out? * Why was a Satmar Chassid jealous of the prayer of the Israeli backpacker? * Where is it forbidden to have a minyan on the second day of Rosh HaShana? * Where does the rabbi give a cooking workshop in order to attract people to a shiur before the holidays?

A Chabad shul, a Chabad minyan – what does that mean to you?

When speaking about a Chassidic shul we can assume that you will see and hear the same things in most of them.  It makes no difference whether the shul is in Arad, Ashdod or B’nei Brak.

However, the shlichus phenomenon has transformed the concept of a “Chabad shul” or Chabad minyan into something with far broader significance, ranging from the shul of those who live in the old yishuv in the heart of Mea Sh’arim market to a minyan of tattooed backpackers in the Himalayas.

The astonishing thing is that what they have in common is greater than what sets them apart.  Both groups daven from the same Siddur and they probably sing the same songs and are moved by the same piyutim.

This simple fact which perhaps people take for granted is amazing to me and reflects the Judaism revolution wrought by the Rebbe in the past generation.  Before Rosh HaShana we decided to check this out and visit a variety of Chabad houses.  We spoke with gabbaim and with those in charge, and heard from them what makes their shul unique, what they have to deal with, about their successes and moving moments.

HASHEM HU HA’ELOKIM IN A CLUBHOUSE

A CHABAD SHUL IN A SECULAR KIBBUTZ

A Chabad minyan at Kibbutz Misgav Am; sounds odd?  Well, it’s not exactly a minyan of sirtuks, but it is a shul with a proper mechitza.  The mechitza is somewhat decorative but is perfectly kosher.  There are Nusach Ari Siddurim and the davening is authentic Chabad with some popular Jewish tunes here and there.

This minyan joins many other minyanim like it, which take place on dozens of kibbutzim and moshavim around the country.  They are under the auspices of U’faratzta – Chabad on kibbutzim – directed by R’ Yaakov Tzvi Ben Ari.

How do you organize a minyan on a kibbutz? It’s not that easy.

“It’s actually very hard,” says R’ Ben Ari.  “We are in touch throughout the year with hundreds of families on kibbutzim throughout the country.  We find that sometimes, some of them are more interested in Torah and mitzvos.  It is families like these who are usually the ones who help us organize a minyan.  In the best case scenario, there is a concession in principle from the kibbutz.  In most cases though this will usually involve a far from easy challenge for all involved: for us, for the family, and for the kibbutz.”

The one who is behind the organizational and logistical end of U’faratzta is my brother, Dovber Chaviv. 

How do you arrange for the t’fillos of the Yomim Nora’im in dozens of places?

“In principle, the manpower comes from dozens of Lubavitcher families, young men, many young couples and bachurim who remained in Eretz Yisroel and want to help out.  All of the work is done on a volunteer basis, with the local family or a team sent to the kibbutz doing everything that needs to be done, starting with setting up a place to daven, chazanus, reading the Torah, delivering a speech, t’kios, explaining, and of course, connecting with the locals.

“It requires a lot of mesirus nefesh on the part of the families, especially on Rosh HaShana and especially when it’s three days, like it was this year.  You can’t cook there, so families need to prepare food for three days in advance, which is no easy task.  We help out with money to buy food and we’ve prepared lists of equipment, instructions and tips from our years of experience.  This enables families who are doing this shlichus to be properly prepared.”

The result of the hard work and mesirus nefesh of the U’faratzta chevra is dozens of minyanim on kibbutzim, including kibbutzim that are considered tough from a religious perspective. 

“There are kibbutzim that agree to have a minyan and those that are opposed,” says R’ Ben Ari.  In the first case, the kibbutz will even designate a hall, usually the library, or a clubhouse, for the minyan.  But the kibbutz will often make conditions.  For example, at one kibbutz they decided that the blowing of the shofar and the davening on Rosh HaShana are a positive thing to instill Jewish heritage and folklore.  But one day is enough.  The kibbutz insisted on not allowing a minyan on the second day of Rosh HaShana.  In this case, it was a big mesirus nefesh on the part of the volunteers who had to daven all the t’fillos of the second day on their own, without a minyan, in order to enable the residents of the kibbutz to participate in the mitzva of shofar and the t’fillos of the first day of Rosh HaShana.”

“When it’s hard, it gives them the feeling that this is an important shlichus. Every new minyan that opens on a kibbutz provides us with great satisfaction,” says R’ Chaviv.  “There is nothing in the world like the feeling of seeing a plaza or clubhouse of a kibbutz filled with men, women, and children and all of them calling out, ‘Shma Yisroel Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad.  Hashem Hu HaElokim.’”

WALLS SATURATED WITH CHASSIDIC HISTORY

A CHABAD SHUL IN MEA SH’ARIM

One of my childhood memories is of Erev Yom Kippur in the Baal HaTanya shul in Mea Sh’arim.  Every Erev Yom Kippur, early in the morning, my father would take us to bring chickens to be shechted in the market of Mea Sh’arim.  Then we would go to daven Shacharis in the Chabad Shul “Ohel Yitzchok,” which is known as the Baal HaTanya shul.

Another time we would visit the old shul was when we went to visit the mashpia, R’ Moshe Weber, in his home in Battei Ungarin.  After we received a loving and fatherly slap on the face from R’ Moshe, and after he tested us on what we learned in yeshiva, we would continue to shul for Mincha or even just a short visit.

As a child, I would stare in wonder at the magnificent drawings that decorated the ceiling, letting my imagination soar on the eagle’s wings, imagining battles between the running deer, the bold leopard, and the strong lion.

“The shul has been in existence for over 100 years,” the old gabbai told me.  “In this place lived, farbrenged, received hashpaa and in turn passed it along, the great mashpiim of earlier generations.  Here is where they held the coronation of the Rebbe on 11 Shevat 5711,” says R’ Chanun.

Every corner, every arch, every concavity and every corner of the shul is shrouded in the glory of yore, and contains within it the story of Chabad settlement in Eretz Yisroel; people like R’ Zevin, R’ Zelig Slonim, R’ Avrohom Hirsh HaKohen and R’ Moshe Weber.  They all left their mark on the ancient stone walls.

R’ Tzvi spent a long time sharing his memories and the history of the shul.  We asked him about his preparations for Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur.  “The davening on the Yomim Nora’im in Baal HaTanya is very special.  There are many young men who walk from neighborhoods all over northern Yerushalayim in order to experience the unique flavor of this shul.  We obviously make the necessary preparations to accommodate the large crowd that comes on the Yomim Tovim.  These include spiritual dignitaries alongside Lubavitch householders from Yerushalayim and of course local residents.

“Today too, the shul is active every Shabbos and every weekday.  Shiurim and farbrengens are held which attract a lot of people from the neighborhood, many of whom are becoming more involved in Chassidus thanks to the shul.”

FROM A CARAVAN TO A SIMCHA HALL

CHABAD SHUL FOR YOUTH

The Chabad community in Elad is large but young, consisting of over two hundred families, most of them young people with small children.  This explains the large and excellent Chabad schools in the area.

Although the k’hilla of Chabad is one of the oldest in the city, its shuls are still located in mobile structures. 

“We started out in a small caravan which was also a classroom in the Chabad School,” says R’ Sholom Rosenberg, one of the gabbaim in the Chabad shul ‘Derech Mitzvosecha’ in Elad.  We slowly grew and moved somewhere else.  We bought a bigger caravan and enlarged it more and more as the k’hilla grew.”

Indeed, the shul built with patches upon patches of metal sheeting corroborates what the gabbai says.  The Chassidic community, led by the rav, R’ Shneur Zalman Yaroslavsky, has acquired a good reputation which has caused it to grow even more.  Despite expansion upon expansion, the shul is packed every Shabbos.

If that’s the way it is on Shabbos, what about on Yomim Tovim?

“The truth is that lately, with the help of the mayor, R’ Yisroel Porush, we received a designated plot. We also received city permits and permits from the Interior Ministry to build a beautiful building.  Right now, the place just cannot contain the number of people who come on holidays, so we rent a big hall that has hundreds of seats.  We bring over the aron kodesh, the bima and everything we need and that is where we hold the Rosh HaShana, Yom Kippur, and Simchas Torah davening.  At least on holidays, people have a spacious, comfortable place to daven.”

Do you have new people on holidays?

“There are many people in the city who feel close to Chabad.  They would want to come every Shabbos but the main problem is space.  There is just no room in the shul and they have to daven elsewhere.  It’s because we rent a hall for the Yomim Nora’im that those people are able to join us.”

In Elad they do not import baalei t’filla; all the t’fillos of the Yomim Nora’im are led by local people. 

“We have capable young men who are wonderful baalei t’filla.  We divide the t’fillos and each of them does his part.

“Simchas Torah in Elad is something special.  The simcha is overpowering and it is all in a Chassidishe atmosphere of Ahavas Yisroel.

“In general,” R’ Rosenberg adds, “farbrengens here are an integral part of community life.  Every Shabbos after the davening we have a farbrengen with our rav which is organized by Sholom Mamu.  That’s besides the farbrengens every Thursday night, on Shabbos Mevarchim and on other special occasions.  The farbrengens contribute a lot to solidifying the community, to creating a Chassidishe atmosphere, and to strengthening darkei ha’chassidim.

“To take a recent example, there was great excitement in the community about going to the Rebbe for Tishrei.  Some men arranged a raffle among all the members of the community.  The winner flew to the Rebbe as a representative of us all.”

THE MAGICAL ATMOSPHERE OF THE OLD CITY

THE TZEMACH TZEDEK SHUL

One of the special Chabad shuls is the Tzemach Tzedek shul.  It is a shul that was founded in the time of the Tzemach Tzedek by the wealthy Sassoon family of Bombay, for the Chabad community in the Old City of Yerushalayim.  It contains within its walls long chapters of Chabad history, which are interwoven with the history of the Jewish people and the history of the Jewish settlement in Yerushalayim.

During the War of Independence, this shul was in the center of the battle but it was not damaged and remained standing.  After the Six Day War and the liberation of the Jewish Quarter, Chabad Chassidim returned and renovated the place as the Rebbe told them to do.

The atmosphere in Tzemach Tzedek is unique.  The arching walls and the memorial wall plaques, along with the Sifrei Torah of Jewish Children nestled inside the Aron Kodesh all generate an atmosphere that you cannot find in any other shul in the world.

The one who runs the shul today is the mythological gabbai and askan, R’ Yeshaya Yuzevitz who runs Toras Emes mosdos in Yerushalayim.  His son, R’ Shneur Zalman, is his able assistant.

Despite his age, R’ Yuzevitz is gifted with unusual youthful energy. Every Shabbos he walks a long distance from his home to Tzemach Tzedek where he leads the davening as well as farbrengens.

Who comprises Tzemach Tzedek’s congregation?

“First, there are the Chabad Chassidim who live in the Rova.  Then there are the many young men who come from nearby neighborhoods and even distant ones, for they want the special atmosphere of Tzemach Tzedek.  There are also guests who are staying in Yerushalayim.”

The rav of the shul is R’ Adin Even Yisroel (Steinsaltz) who also walks a long way every Shabbos from his home to the shul.

R’ Yuzevitz: “The shul is humming all year round.  Every Shabbos the shul is full and so too on holidays.  We graciously welcome guests as we do all year.  The davening on Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur in Tzemach Tzedek is special and many people come especially for the Yomim Nora’im to daven here.”

This shul is located above the Cardo in the heart of the Jewish Quarter.  It’s a prime tourist spot.  Does the shul invest any of its resources in developing the tourism aspect?

“There is no Chabad tourist who comes to Yerushalayim, especially to the Old City, who will forgo a visit to Tzemach Tzedek.  However, we do not work to bring in tourists.  For that there’s a Chabad house in the Cardo which is run by R’ Osdoba.  He works with the hundreds and thousands of tourists who visit the area every day.  In the shul is a kollel which was founded by the Rebbe’s instruction, and so the shul is a place of Torah study and t’filla.  It is not a tourist attraction, but whoever comes is welcomed with a smile.”

(To be continued.)