By Simcha Poretz-Geder
I penned these thoughts at the end of the Tishrei 5769 season, and unearthed them recently.
Every Tishrei, along with many of my peers, I was turned off anew at the scene in Crown Heights. I would be disgusted at the pushy, sweaty orchim, the homeless girls sleeping in 770 and the general feeling of ‘hefker’ness.
Until one Tishrei, I decided to play Devil’s Advocate. What exactly it is that makes these Israelis tick? Let me feel what they feel, see what they see and look at the Rebbe, Chabad, 770 and Crown Heights through their eyes. I have nothing to lose.
I sat down with a few of the girls who practically live in 770. I challenged, eavesdropped and observed as they studied Sichos and Maamorim, as they Farbrenged and listened to Shiurim. I came as a cynic, scoffing, but in the end, the joke was on me.
I guess it’s true that you find what you look for. I needed these foreigners to come show me what I had in my backyard my whole life.
That Tishrei was life-changing. It was the first time I realized the holiness of where I was, and I was blown away. I was bowled over by these girls’ heartfelt passion and Chaishek for the Rebbe, and I was humbled by their sincere belief in Moshiach. I had never seen anything like it in my life.
These girls had never gone to Manhattan or done any of the typical NYC sightseeing, and had no plans for it. They had saved up a year’s worth of hard-earned Agurot of babysitting money, summer jobs and even menial labor for “Tishrei im haRabbi”, to literally sit on the benches of 770 for a month straight and store up all the inspiration they needed for the year ahead.
I gained a newfound inspiration in the familiar Tishrei scene. I squished in 770 on Simchas Torah in an exhilarating, breathless mush; I watched the pure joy of the faces of the dancing Chassidim; my breath was taken away at the sight of Tahalucha… and through it all, I felt the Rebbe with me, something I’d never experienced before.
On Isru Chag, I was inspired to the point of making life-altering Hachlatos while sobbing and thanking the Rebbe at the Ohel.
It was then that it struck me: Where there is the most potential, the Satan causes intense disharmony; he knows just what we Lubavitchers can accomplish when we stand in unity.
If we choose to stop condemning our brothers and concentrate instead on the beauty that unites us, there’s no doubt that we will change the world, and literally bring Moshiach now.
A Gut Moed.
DISCLAIMER: I am not condoning anyone’s rude and unacceptable behavior, just attempting to portray another side of the coin. Please do not turn the comments into a bash-fest. Many thanks.
Well expressed. I am glad to know there are sincere Israelis who care about the right things. I have more of a problem with the philosophy of some of these Israelis. We all know that leaving E”Y is halachically problematic, but no one bothers to talk about that. The boys who come spend their hard-earned (or borrowed, or gifted) money to hang out in 770 and learn…. cant they do that in Israel? Before encouraging these exorbitant trips to the States that few Israelis can afford, why don’t they spend time in THEIR own backyards? Learn and daven at the… Read more »
This article would be a lot more credible if there was an actual person attached to it. Why so afraid to post your name, author?
My friend who is from out of town but goes to ch for sukkos said the exact same thing last shabbos, i wonder if she wrote this article..lol
thank you for posting/writing this!!
I like what you wrote you penned my thoughts exactly
For bringing me to notice such a beutifull article 1000% correct that was really an awesome entry check it out
Just shows that you too have nothing better to do with your life keep it going
I was scrolling down reading all of your nonsense when suddenly I read 29 and after I read that one I felt like there was. Othong to talk about he hit the spot Yashir koach for bringing out your point in such a non shamefull way you should all take a lesson from him could even be a her!?
Wow Keep it up!! amazing article!
thanks to you we have so many more comments! A Yasher Koach!
Theres no doubt Israelis are pushier then the americans
i live in jerusalem and whenever i do a double take because someone is speaking extra loud on the bus or in the street, usually on his mobile, it is invariably an american! but it doesnt bother me because i dont own jerusalem i live here. i have a very different feeling towards arrogant and threatening non jewish tourists – i feel invaded. surely you can feel the same difference if your fellow jew joins you in beis hamikdash shebebavel – you dont own it, you just happen to live there. dont feel its yours and that you have been… Read more »
to call any person in the world “dirty” is….wow. wonder who u think u are. disgusted is an understatement.
Ditto!
it’s written that it’s hardest to be kind to the people closest to you but chesed starts in the HOME, meaning family comes FIRST. Everyone else is also extremely important but you can’t have pride over treating random people nicely when your own neigbors are getting smacked. the Rebbe said that the sand closest to the water is the most dry. Us Americans are used to 770 so it loses its true value in our eyes and we take it for granted. But i have friends who live 20 minutes from the kotel and go maybe once a year- while… Read more »
not all israelies are rude. a lot of them do push and shove, and maybe some of them are a little rude, but there are plenty of nice, polite and sincere girls coming to CH for tishrei!
Shame on you! I live in Israel, and yes the culture here is different. People speak louder in groups and touch each other more. Men hug and kiss each other when they meet on the street. It’s normal here to push your way onto a bus. But Israelis will bend over backwards to help a stranger.
Totally agree
sorry for you for being blind, these girls come and help there hostes and yes they are not lady like so what so are the girls here in CH, and that age, but they are sincare and Cgasidishe girls, who are givin g up Gashmius for Ruchniyus, open youe eyes and you will see the real good that is out there.
that you were smart and mature to do such a thing.
you-ve gained something that people never did.
and that you now know what you have in your backyard…
i,too,have to work hard to earn agura on agura to be able to travel to my Rebbe..
and i’m gealous of you.
yehi ratzon the author shold grow from strength to stregnth
and so should all the chasidim — whether israeli, american, russian, south-american, south-african, french, australian or brittish.
Gut Mo’ed!
A shliach!
those are the girls who afterwards go out there to the difficult, challenging shlichuios, the real tough ones, with true dedication and love for the Rebbe, ready for anything, with joy and strength. I wish my girls would have the same feelings and readiness, i have to work hard against all the stupid loshon horo, the love of chitzonius, the race after the fashion rl. and the darkness of the golus, to have my girls see the light of theese amazing Israeli girls, and yes a few tzniusdikly dressed and behaved Americans that sit and learn in 770, which is… Read more »
Glad to be of service! Anytime this topic comes up, you can count on me to make your day! Have a gutten moed.
please help at the tables when you go to eat. please help set up the tables sometimes. even offer to babysit a couple of hours. this will improve the atmosphere and is good for your own chinuch as well.
Yes Tishrei is a beautiful time its amazing to see so many good girls and boys come in yet i have to say that i have seen many of the opposite i hosted last year a group of girls and boys they just trashed my house left their garbage everywhere brought mice and lice and it took months to restore my house to its original orderly fashion. at the same time i have also seen teenage Israeli boys and girls hanging out trust me they were not siblings these were teenagers coming to the Rebbe’s Shchuna just to have fun… Read more »
btw,
if you give attention to comments which don’t deserve to be seen you make it stick out even more!
Thanks for posting an article with which I would no be embarrassed to tell the rebbe I read.
no reason they can’t come AND act like civilised people too. I’ve gone over to many groups shmoozing in too loud voices, and reminded them of what every preschooler knows – there’s an INSIDE voice and an OUTSIDE/PLAYGROUND voice. There’s no need to speak in anything louder than a whisper when you are sitting right next to one you are shmoozing with.
And if 770 is so holy in their eyes, they should go out on the porch to shmoose.
Stereotype. stereotype. stereotype. Enough said.
I read this article as soon as it posted. I was just waiting for you (or someone your type) to find something negative to say. Thanks for keeping the COLive tradition of negative feedback. It’s thanks to people like you that makes this site interesting…
I was recently in 770 and observed a group of american girls learning, It was a weekday evening and I couldnt fathom the reason for their presence. In response to my query one girl explained that they are Beth Rivkah High School girls who joined a program called Nosim LRebbe.
Though they have 770 in their backyard all year between Rosh Hashana and Shabbos Bereishis they focus on extra learning Mivtzoim, Chesed< helping at home and Shluchim. They try to feel that they are actually traveling to the Rebbe for Tishrei and try to use every opportunity to the fullest.
yes its true theyer rude and gruff and very ungrateful, but u can also learn a lot from them!!! theyre very real and pnimiyusdik
you are one hundred percent right
Reb Simcha, a beautiful article. Mamush
thank you!!!
This is what Tishrei in Crown Heights was and should be like, overflowing …b’rov am hadras melech. Yake it all in. Enjoy! May we see the Rebbe here with our own eyes NOW! And a hakoras hatov to all the those who host and help the orchim. Crown Heights is truly ‘kan yziva es ha’Bracha’, just open your eyes! 🙂
I thought the point of coming was to spend Tishrei, the holiest time with the holiest days, in a holy place?
You wave her decision like it’s the main point, and, its not. Tishrei for Tishrei, not for making Lubavitchers of non-Lubavitchers.
for this fresh article fileld with ahavas chinam and showing that its ultimately up to us to see the cup half full and take advantago of it.
A gut Gebentched yor!
Just as you just brought some light into us, may H’ bentch your year with only light of kedusha in everything you do.
I have been in 770 when there was no crazy noises, no yelling, and yet, there were quite a few groups of american girls sitting and learning. as much as it is nice that the isreali girls are learning while they make noise, the noise isnt necessary.
I was in 770 one day of Aseres Yemei Teshuva. The shul was full, at least 1500 young men davenning with feeling, many were behind the minyan because they were thinking about the meaning of their prayers
As a father of five girls (and equal amount of boys) I must say that when Bais Rivka started a program called, yes you guessed right, “Nosim Larabi” meaning that BR girls also come to the Rebbe for Tishrei, my girls grew tremendously and the atmosphere in my house became full of light of the Rebbe. Tishrei became a very inspiring time in our home. And I’m not signing my name because if you knew who wrote this you won’t believe me because I’m known to be a very not big fan of the organizers of these whateveryouwannacallit groups whom… Read more »
There was a time that i was terribly bothered by a group of yidden from another country…one day i was asked to give a talk about Jewish culture in a public school and they had invited someone from another culture (not religion) to speak to. I realized something so true…We all have a hard time with people who come from other places and every move they do we translate as rude….try to learn a little about them and you realize how wrong you are. and as the bsh”t taught if you see a fault in others it should serve as… Read more »
You must have a very hard life which makes you see only bad. I was called from the hachnosas orchim office 3 nights before Rosh Hashana asking if I could host some Israeli’s.unfortunately I was solidly booked with my own out of town and country relatives. but agreed to put up a couple until Rosh Hashana when my own guests came. This couple was the NICEST most MENTCHLICH couple I have met. I wish some of our locals were as nice. I invited them to eat with us for Rosh Hashana and in response they showed up just before yom… Read more »
Thank you for this excellent, needed and profoundly true article. Think for a moment – what would 770 be like full year, what would the Davening sound like, what would the learning look like, what would the sholosh regolim really be like – what would the tishrei scene really mean to our own children if not for the life, living, meaning, enthusiasm, devotion, self sacrifice of the men, women, young adults, teenagers and children that raise every cent of their ticket to come. say Thank You, show your Hakoros Hatov, — to those that need to bash, tattle, belittle –… Read more »
Beautiful, true article. Let’s remember, too, that some of these young people are curious and searching, and their weeks in Crown Heights can have a profound effect on their lives. I overheard a young Israeli woman tell her story: she came from a B’nei Akiva background, and someone convinced her to come for Tishrei “just stam.” By the end of the month here, she had become a full-fledged Lubavitcher. Her hostess’s tremendous emunah in Moshiach was the influence that changed her life. She went on to marry a Lubavitcher boy and is raising a chassidishe family. I also met some… Read more »
amazing if only everybody would realize this they wouldn’t feel threatened and unwelcome and wouldn’t cause that much harm.
I’m sick of all this kumbaya garbage about how pnimiusdik they are. Time for a reality check. They are rude, dirty, ignorant, unpleasant with a kumpt mir attitude. They don’t help their hostess, they push and shove and demand we move for them, physically and metaphorically. I dread Tishrei because they behave like chayas & behemas. Respect for anyone? They don’t show respect for older people, not even for Yidden. The writer must be living in la-la-land.
keep it up!
I totally agree with everything that you say, and I thank you for finally posting something positive about these girls on col
Though many years ago we did unfortunately encounter Israeli girls who left much to be desired in mentchlichkeit, these last years have produced increasingly warm Chassidishe girls who daven and learn, and want to soak up the ruach of being close to the Rebbe in the Rebbe’s Shul, who spend their time davening and learning, and feeling the closeness of the Rebbe and his teachings. If only we could accommodate them with more room and comfort to pursue their emesdike wishes to be close to our Rebbe! May we soon see the coming of Moshiach, and be transported to Yerushalayim… Read more »
beautiful. i experienced a similar event. i stopped into 770 for mincha. the noise level was waaay up but astoundingly it was from groups of girls learning here there and everywhere. downstairs someone was giving a shiur too. it was the first time i daavened Mincha without a stray thought in my brain.