Gimel Tamuz: Chabad mourns on the 16th Yahrzeit

ג' בתמוז: חב"ד דואבת בפעם ה-16

14/06/2010

יקי אדמקר וחנן ויזנטל, בחדרי חרדים

הלילה, ליל ג' בתמוז, ימלאו 16 שנה ליום בו עלה הרבי מליובאוויטש זי"ע לגנזי מרומים • אירועי ההילולא בארץ נפתחוצאי

שבת פרשת חוקת, בו ניצחו האראלים את המצוקים, וכ"ק האדמו"ר מליובאוויטש התבקש לגנזי מרומים.

בריכוזי חב"ד בכל רחבי העולם נערכות התוועדויות ומתקיימים אירועים לצורך התחזקות בדרך אותה התווה הרבי עבור חסידיו וההולכים בדרכו.

בהתוועדות מרכזית בכפר חב"ד • רבבות ינהרו ל'אוהל' בקווינס

הלילה, ליל ג' בתמוז, ימלאו 16 שנה לאותו לילה שחור-משחור עבור כל חסידי חב"ד ורבבות יהודים בעולם, מובישראל נפתחו אירועי יום ההילולא בהתוועדות המרכזית הנערכת בשעות אלו בכפר חב"ד, בה משתתפים אדמו"רים, רבנים, אישי ציבור וח"כים, לצד אלפי חסידים מכל רחבי הארץ.

בשעות הקרובות, יחלו רבבות לנהור אל ציונו של הרבי, בבית העלמין מונטפיורי שברובע קווינס בניו-יורק - שם הוכשרו אוהלי ענק לקליטת המוני המתפללים מכל רחבי ארה"ב והעולם.

האפשרות להיכנס אל תוך האוהל בו טמון הרבי, תינתן לכל אדם למשך של 2-3 דקות, וזאת על מנת לאפשר לכולם להשתטח על חלקת מחוקק ספון.

במהלך יום ההילולא יתקיימו בבית 770 בניו יורק שיעורים והתוועדויות אותם יגישו 'שלוחים' מכל רחבי העולם שהגיעו לרגל היום הזה לניו יורק.

במקביל, באותן שעות יעבירו שלוחים התוועדויות ברחבי העולם כולו ומאות אלפי חסידי חב"ד יתחזקו בדרכו של הרבי מליובאוויטש זי"ע.

חסידי חב"ד ינהגו ביום ההילולא על פי המנהגים שקבע כ"ק אדמו"ר מליובאוויטש לאחר הסתלקות חותנו, אדמו"ר הריי"צ זצ"ל. הדלקת נר נשמה, כתיבת 'פדיון נפש', לימוד המשניות של אותיות השם, וקיום התוועדויות חסידיות בחוג המשפחה ובכל קהילה ומוסד.

Google Translate:

Tonight, the night's Go, will be 16 years that black night - black for all Jews and tens of Chabad-Lubavitch world, Saturday night affair Constitution, which won Harelym the cliffs, the Lubavitcher Rebbe was asked Ginzei deceived.

Chabad centers worldwide events are held Ahthooaedweut exist for strengthening the way it made a rabbi for his followers going on.

Israel opened Ahhilula Day events held at the Central Bahthooadot these Kfar Chabad, where participants Rebbe s, rabbis, public figures and MKs, along with thousands of followers from around the country.

The next few hours, tens of thousands flock to the start of grade Rebbe, Montefiore Cemetery in Queens in New - York - where huge tents were trained to absorb masses of worshipers from all over the U.S. and the world.

Entering into the tent where a maximum cache will be given to any person for the 2-3 minutes in order to allow everyone to lie down on a patch of legislative Spawn.

During the day Ahhilula will be held at 770 New York lessons Vahthooaedweut them submit 'emissaries' from around the world from this day pilgrimage to New York.

At the same time, those hours will pass Shluchim Ahthooaedweut worldwide and hundreds of thousands of Chabad will strengthen the path of the Lubavitcher Rebbe Rebbe.

Chabad will act on Ahhilula customs established by Lubavitcher Rebbe after the departure of his in-laws, Ahrei"c Rebbe of blessed memory. Candle lighting, writing, mental revenue, secondary schooling name letters, and conducting Ahthooaedweut hasidic in the family and community institution.

Loss becomes gain

What happens when a religious leader's spiritual guru is no longer available?

That can be a difficult road, said Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort, director of Chabad at La Costa, who was crushed when his mentor, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, died.

Schneerson, often referred to as "the Rebbe" (a highly venerated leader in the Hasidic community), is largely heralded as leading the modern Chabad-Lubavitch movement of Hasidic Judiasm to found Chabad centers and unite Orthodox Jews nationwide.

Eilfort, 43, knew him personally: It was the Rebbe who sent Eilfort to the West Coast to open a Chabad center.

"When the Rebbe passed away, that was a very difficult day, a challenging day for all of us in the chabad movement," Eilfort said of the religious leader's death in June 1994. "The Rebbe and his wife did not have any biological children, but when they passed away they left so many orphans."

Eilfort said it was hard to fathom a world without the Rebbe.

"I was saddened that I would not be able to, in a physical sense, go to him when I had a question," he said. "I wouldn't be able to go and sit at one of his Hasidic gatherings and feel the inspiration when I went, and the way he would be able to take a Torah passage and make it vibrantly relevant in today's age. A little of the shine came off the world for me."

And a burden arose.

"I would have to be the rebbe for my children," Eilfort said.

Yet since Schneerson's passing, there has been amazing growth in the Chabad movement, Eilfort said.

"When the rebbe passed away, maybe there were 1,500 Chabad centers," he said. "Everyone was saying 'Chabad was not going to grow because the rebbe's not there.'"

What his followers learned was that the rebbe's directive and approach were very much alive, he said.

"Today there are 3,500 Chabad centers around the world," he said, adding that faith in God has underscored that expansion.

"When things happen that I don't understand, it doesn't challenge my faith: It challenges my way of thinking," Eilfort said.

"I feel my relationship with God is beyond a faith relationship. It's a relationship of knowledge. Just like you know the sun is going to rise tomorrow, I feel ---- I know ---- God in my life."

Chabad rabbi gives Senate invocation

Rabbi Shea Harlig, director of Chabad of Southern Nevada, opened up Senate proceedings on June 25th with an invocation to honor the 15th anniversary of the death of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. The invitation came from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
After saying that he came in the spirit of the seven Noahide laws, Harlig said, "I beseech you, Almighty G-d, to grant renewed strength and fortitude to all who protect, preserve and help further these ideals so essential to the dignity of the human spirit. Please grant that our beloved Rebbe's vision of a world of peace and tranquility -- free of war, hatred and strife -- be realized speedily in our days.
A transcript of Harlig's prayer can be read here, and below is the video of his appearance in the Senate.

Transcript from Chabad.org
"Almighty G-d, the members of this prestigious body, the United States Senate, convene here in the spirit of one of the seven Noahide Laws which were set forth by You as an eternal universal code of ethics for all of mankind.
"These seven laws are: To worship You alone; never to blaspheme Your Holy Name; not to murder; not to commit adultery or any such aberration; not to steal or be deceitful; not to be cruel to any living creature; and that every society be governed by just laws which are based in the recognition of You, O G-d, as the Sovereign Ruler of all people and all nations.

"On this twenty-fifth day of June, 2009, which corresponds to the Third Day of the Hebrew month of Tammuz, we are 15 years - to the day - from the physical passing of our esteemed spiritual leader, The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of blessed memory, who consistently extolled the virtues of this great land as a "Nation of Kindness".
"I beseech you, Almighty G-d, to grant renewed strength and fortitude to all who protect, preserve and help further these ideals so essential to the dignity of the human spirit. Please grant that our beloved Rebbe's vision of a world of peace and tranquility - free of war, hatred and strife - be realized speedily in our days.
"G-d Bless this hallowed body. G-d Bless our troops who stand in defense of this great land. G-d Bless the United States of America."
"We, the citizens of this blessed country proudly proclaim this recognition and our commitment to justice in our Pledge of Allegiance "One Nation - Under G-d - with Liberty and Justice for All." "Grant us Almighty G-d that those assembled here be aware of Your presence and conduct their deliberations accordingly. Bless them with good health, wisdom, compassion, and good fellowship.

A Spooky Story about the Lubavitcher Rebbe

David Klinghoffer

I'm thinking of the night the Lubavitcher Rebbe died, which was exactly 15 year ago this coming Friday, June 12, 1994. I'm not Chabad -- a fellow traveler at best, and that only pretty recently -- but I have a vivid memory of being in Amagansett, New York, on a weekend beach trip with a friend. That night, which was a Saturday, we were both sticking our heads out of a skylight to catch the sound of the surf and the smell of the wind. Very strangely, we both suddenly had a feeling of being "spooked." Did you ever have an experience like that? It was a strong intuition of loss, as we mutually confirmed before we knew anything about what might have called it up. Returning to Manhattan on Monday morning, we learned that the Rebbe had died the previous day.

Of all the Jewish movements going at the movement, I consider Chabad the most successful and on balance the most admirable and appealing. My wife asked me the other day, half jokingly, why we don't put a picture of the Rebbe up somewhere in our house, as many Chabad admirers who are not Chabad themselves will do. Many, for example, is the Israeli taxi with a yarmulke-less driver and a picture of the Rebbe dangling from the rearview mirror.

Sorry. As I explained, that's not for me. I'm not a joiner and never feel quite comfortable with groups of any kind. Maybe that's why I'm a Jew. The word for Hebrew, in Hebrew, Ivri, has as one of its meanings being on the other side from something. A Hebrew is always in contrast and conflict with his surroundings. Abraham, the first Hebrew, is called that (Genesis 14:13) because he came from the "other side" of the Euphrates River. A Jew should always feel on the outs with the wider culture. When my spiritual and intellectual affiliations seem, superficially, at odds with each, that's my comfort zone. Maybe that's why the thing that initially turned me off liberalism, on arriving as a freshman at Brown, was the smug feeling shared by so many of my fellow students that only we, smarty-pants liberals, had it all figured out and three cheers for us.

But that's all an aside. Going back to my wife's question, I thought, why not put a picture of the Rebbe up on this blog? That I can handle. So here it is.