By COLlive reporter
A unique photo of the Rebbe looking upwards and handing a bank wrapped roll of coins has been circulating on social networks in recent weeks.
With a golden Menorah and the Rebbe’s shtender in sight, it is clear the photo was taken from the women’s section in the main shul of 770 Eastern Parkway.
A video sent to COLlive.com shows that the moment was indeed captured on film, revealing who the lucky recipient was.
It was Chie Nishio, a Japanese photojournalist who spent several years in the late 1980s and early 1990s documenting chassidic life in the Crown Heights neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY.
The pictures she took at the time are currently on display at the Brooklyn Public Library. Some 200 black-and-white prints include photos of the Rebbe along with lively documentations of a broad range of the daily Jewish rituals.
“This wasn’t the only time the Rebbe interacted with her,” says Rabbi Motti Seligson, director of media relations for Chabad.org, about the photo that was taken following the lighting on the second night of Chanukah.
In fact, at the opening of the exhibit, Seligson presented the 84-year-old photographer with a framed photo of her receiving lekach (honey-sweetened holiday cake) 26 years ago from the Rebbe himself.
“She received items from the Rebbe a number of times, with the Rebbe calling her over,” Seligson told COLlive. “At ‘Dollars’ in the Rebbe’s house she was standing respectfully on the other side of the doorway while people were going through. But the Rebbe made a point to give her a dollar for charity as well.”
Nishio actually spent a great deal of time with Seligson’s family while she was shooting her work two decades ago; as with numerous families in Crown Heights, they opened their home to her and welcomed her requests.
Mrs. Shemtov shlucha in Yardley, PA
anyone know who the second person was?
Also, was the Rebe giving out rolls of coins to everyone?
Whose the second lady that the Rebbe gives a dollar to
the year was 1990 it was the first chanukah live
Ms. Nishio was a frequent guest of my in-laws in Crown Heights. She attended our 1996 wedding – and upon that occasion she gifted us with one of her limited edition photos of the Rebbe. It hangs prominently in our living – over my desk so that I’m looking at it as a pause while typing this.
the Rebbe gave her a full roll? was it with instructions?
Looks more like the 4th to me
Beautiful story!
Ms. Nishio is the photographer whose photo of the Rebbe was chosen as picture of the year in 1995 I believe. The picture was on the front cover of the New York Times magazine and was then later chosen as Picture of the Year. The picture is in black and white and is a closeup of the Rebbe during yechidus. I was gifted a copy of that picture purchased from Ms. Nishio.