750 Join Los Angeles Farbrengen

By COLlive reporter
Photos: Yossi Percia

Twenty one Chabad Houses in the greater Los Angeles community joined together to host a city-wide unity farbrengen in honor of Yud Tes Kislev this past Thursday night.

“This year we wanted to do something a little different by showing several video segments of the Rebbe’s farbrengen with Rabbi Simon Jacobson discussing the Rebbe’s talk,” said Rabbi Shimon Raichik. It was a break from the traditional approach of just having a speaker for 1-2 hours. This turned out to be a fantastic way of bringing the Rebbe’s farbrengens to life and providing some fresh insights along the way.

This was the 5th year in a row that Chabad houses throughout southern California brought hundreds of people together for Yud Tes Kislev and this year was by far the largest turnout, topping 750 people.

“It’s challenging to captivate a large audience of people for an extended period of time and the video segments proved to be a great way for participants to stay interested and engaged,” Raichik said.

“The shluchim in California coordinate a large event once or twice a year for the extended Jewish community that both men and women can participate it and find some inspiration and this program worked great,” commented Rabbi Avraham Zajac of Chabad of Sola.

This is an easy way for communities to join together and co-host an event that they would otherwise have to do on their own; “Pooling our resources makes this a cost effective way to create something memorable and beautiful for the entire community,” said Rabbi Zalmy Solomon of Bais Bezalel.

Rabbi Jacobson helped shape the program by preparing some of the clips ahead of time and introduced each sicha clip and nigun clip with some insightful remarks and context.

The niggunim — which were all presented via projected video clips of them being sung at the Rebbe’s actual Farbrengens — ranged from Podeh V’Sholom Nafshi, Shalosh Tenuos, Tzomo Lecho Nafshi, Anim Zemiros, the Niggun hachona, followed by the Alter Rebbe’s Niuggun and Nye Tzeurtizi Chloptzi. As the crowd was glued to the songs sang at these gatherings, they broke out in song accompanying the tunes in a surreal fusion of years past with the evening.

The sicha clips covered the themes of “Yud Tes Kislev”, “What is Chassidus”, “Chassidic Coal Miners”, and “A Light Unto Nations.” Each sicha was followed by resonating explanations by Rabbi Jacobson, explaining in his inimitable style the personal relevance of Yud Tes Kislev, Chassidus and applying it all in practical terms. “All of us today,” said Rabbi Jacobson, “are the ‘arms and legs’ of the Rebbe, and of the Rebbeim going back to the Alter Rebbe.

“The Alter Rebbe sat in prison; the Rebbeim all sacrificed their hearts and souls for us to live up to our calling. The pressing questions we have to ask ourselves today are: Was the Alter Rebbe’s imprisonment and liberation worth it? Are we living up to the Rebbeims’ expectations of us? Only we hold the answers.”

Citing the Rebbe’s talks in these clips, Rabbi Jacobson went on to elaborate on one of the primary contributions of Chassidus, namely, to be more than mechanical Jews by activating a dynamic Yiddishkeit filled with vitality in which our inner lives are aligned with our outer lives. “Are we living duplicitous lives, double lives, in which we project one thing on the outside and another on the inside?! Chassidus teaches us how to live seamless lives even in the face of our inner struggles and challenges. A Chassid is an extension of the Rebbe,” explained Jacobson.

The audience was particularly taken by the Rebbe’s words that the Rambam rules that every Jew will be a Chassid, as he writes at the end his magnum opus, that every Jew will be involved only in knowing G-d, which is through the study of Chassidus.

The unique combination of the Rebbe speaking, chassidim singing under the Rebbe’s lead, punctuated by Rabbi Jacobson’s powerful and emotional applications, created an unforgettable evening. As one attendee said: I have been to many chassidish farbrengens, this was in another league entirely.

Hopefully this program style will see wider adoption in other communities the world over. After all, you can’t go wrong with the Rebbe’s farbrengen.

The participating organizations that co-hosted the event included:
Bais Bezalel
Chabad Israeli Center
Chabad of Beverly hills
Chabad of Beverlywood
Chabad of Brentwood
Chabad of Cheviot Hills
Chabad of Los Feliz
Chabad of Malibu
Chabad of North Beverly Hills
Chabad of North Hollywood
Chabad of Sherman oaks
Chabad of Sola
Chabad of the Palisades
Chabad of the Valley
Chabad Persian Youth
Chabad Russian Center
Chabd of Larchmont
Congregation Ahavas Yisroel
Congregation Levi Yitzchok
Lubavitch Center of Long Beach
Shaarei Tefila