By COLlive reporter
Photos by Mendy Hechtman
Young bochurim were are spending Tishrei in New York got to tour a small room with great significance to Chabad’s history.
At the end of the entrance lobby of Lubavitch Headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights is where the WLCC organization operated from.
The organization documented the Rebbe by photographing, recording and filming his talks and his daily life. It was most known for its live audio broadcasts of the Rebbe’s farbrengens.
A few days before Yud Shvat 5730, bochurim in Israel suggested to chossid R’ Itchke Gansburg OBM to organize a hook-up of the historic occasion. The Rebbe agreed and it was carried out by two bochurim, Mulik Rivkin and Chaim Baruch Halberstam.
Joining the audio hook-up were Chabad communities in Kfar Chabad, London, Chicago and Los Angeles. But when that was told to the Rebbe, he asked “why so few locations?”
From then, WLCC was established and expanded. It was given the room that served Rabbi Moshe Leib Rodshtein, secretary of the Rebbe and before that the Frierdiker Rebbe.
By 5752, when the last sichos from the Rebbe were given, there were some 500 phone lines broadcasting simultaneously from that small room.
Once, the Rebbe passed the room and commented: “Only good things come out of this room.”
Since selling his collection of photos, audio and video to Jewish Educational Media (JEM), Halberstam has been focused on his duplication and digitizing service with his longtime partner in WLCC, Shalom Ber Eber.
Last year, Halberstam renovated the room, turning it into a mini museum with old telephone equipment and photos of the WLCC work. “In this room you could actually see the history, it is alive,” he says.
Halberstam says that his office has now become a spot for visitors to come and put on Tefillin. “Everyday I get several groups to come in here and put on Tefillin. There is no other place like 770.”
And that, visitors get to see.
Can the images be updated with captions so we can bettter understand whats being shown. Thanks for the great article!
the girls in the picture are now 28, i’m also trying to figure out if it’s me.
Wow, that is incredible, thanx for sharing 🙂
Does anyone know what year is the picture of BAIS rivkah girls passing by the Rebbe? (I’m trying to figure out if its me in the picture…)
your very ingnorent
because because in the mems vechulu buchurim use to give tours to ppl that came to 770
Where is Johnny?
As a matter of fact, this year there should be 24 7 trained guards to prevent any TSFATIM terrorist acts.
you are correct in your assessment – it actually is as you say.
Once you get 770 cleaned up you will have more open to linger and come in and daven.
unfortunately 770 is a huge difference from years before gimmel tamuz and current present mayhem.
Hard to get that for you it seems – but a true issue for thousand that you just don’t get.
This was a beautiful insight and Im waiting to come in and visit this room. An amazing article and thanks COL !!!
They really should have all the rooms in 770 opened and available for tours with proper access and hours as should the library not just a fiefdom of keys
From an old roommate of yours in Kfar Chabad from the Ge’hit’er Yoren. You’re a true banshak that did and does so much for the Rebbe & Chabad.
Always at the forefront – with innovation with out making a big deal about it. But always knows how to get the job done, A real Chossid and a doer
its over? this is a museum? This has brought renewed life !Yes, tourist from all over the world coming to 770 and no one was there for them. Now there is an official place that meets and greets and you call it dead!
Rabbi Halberstam; the brains of innovation at Lubavitch from the start! He is a true chossid, mekushar and shliach!
It is very nice to have a room where people unfortunately unaccustomed to putting on tefillin can do so without the possible embarrassment of 1000s of eyes watching them.
As to the ‘museum of the past’ i think it is interesting, as is the museum next door in the rebbe’s library. The only issue one may have with the article, is where it mentions ‘the last sicha from the Rebbe’ which could be misunderstood, and which should have emphasised the last one we heard for now.
Wow so beautiful
Moshiach Now
Cbh,has been always a visionary, he has created a real chabad house out of the communication room, WLCC!
To n. 11 nothing is over, today with one button one can announce to the world that Moshiach has come, the Rebbe told several time to Rabbi Halberstam that he will announce soon that Moshiach has come. With the old technology, the new one is being implemented with new computers.
CBH has alway been ising his amazing talents all through the years to bring people closer to the Rebbe! Thank you for once again making another aspect of our rich history accessible! A real do’er kol hakavod!
I assume that you have personal memories of those days and I can understand that you find it upsetting to have these very real memories labeled as ‘history’ and shoved behind the glass of a museum. Please understand that for many of the younger people today and for many Baalei Teshuva we do not remember the Rebbe or any of these revolutionary innovations. Seeing these events, items etc displayed in a meaningful way helps us to appreciate what Lubavitch achieved in the past and why the Rebbe had so much success/ influence. I personally found this article very interesting and… Read more »
Sorry bur you’re talking the WHOLE thing out of context
Your poor grammar makes it very hard to understand what you are trying to say.
This room was A. Not the first of it’s kind and B. Not really very much like the internet. Its still very cool, it looks like something the army would have back then…;)
From 770…
We need to see you once again!!!
Moshiach now!
So now it finally happened. 770 is officially dead and has become a museum of something that existed only on the past. Amazing that people can put on tefillin in a building that houses a shul with hundreds of minyanim going on every day.
Probably the earliest and Original Form of Intercontinental Internet style Communications system in the World where every major city was connected to the Hub-770 Central!
Yasher Koach to those at collive and wlcc! one thing u both have in common is being Mezakeh Horabim through technology! Extremely inspiring to me as a computer menchee 🙂 who would like to use tech for serving Hashem! Btw there is this and more; i found a handmade circuit board which adapts telephone signals to standard audio signals, which I think my tatty A”H made for the receiving end of the hookups, in mtl.!
would love to bring my kids
and myself & spouse
to see this
lucky we have now modern technology
This is amazing historic stuff, it shows how Chabad has always been at the forefront of using technology to spread Torah.
I brought in a group to Ch over the summer. We were lucky to get a tour – The BB were amazed by this little room.
Thank you C.B. for renovating and making it available.
amazing… צמרמורת…. אוי רבי!
When there were paper speakers hanging from wires from the tops of the beams?
very cool
I was very inspired to see this right after yom kippur!
thank you collive and wlcc!