By COLlive reporter
Photos by Itzik Roytman
Naftali Hertz Pawzner and Menachem Sassonkin arrived last weekend in Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland, to prepare for the public seder they will hosting for the Jewish residents of the city as well as for the Jewish tourists.
They are one of 310 additional teams of rabbinical students who arrived in hundreds of locations around the world in order to prepare for the public Seders, as part of Chabad’s Merkos Shlichus program.
Before they left, they joined a day-long Yom Iyun seminar on how to lead a public seder, reviewing comprehensive knowledge of the relevant halachos as well as the ability to create a positive Jewish experience for the usually diverse and unaffiliated crowd.
Do you have to sell your personal chometz? What are the steps to getting a kitchen ready for Pesach? Do the seder guests need to eat all the shiurim? What is the most important part of the seder? Does a hotel need an eruv?
These were some of the questions raised during the seminar held this past Sunday at the Jewish Children’s Museum in Crown Heights.
Rabbi Chaim Schapiro, head of the Rabbinic Ordination Program in Morristown, NJ, addressed these halachic issues in depth with specific suggestions for unique Merkos Shlichus situations.
He urged the bochurim to take careful notes and to consult their Merkos Shlichus guides, commenting on the urgent but barely audible phone calls he usually receives from his students attempting to make Pesach in places like Cambodia and Kazakhstan.
In his typical engaging fashion, Rabbi Mendel Samuels, Shliach in Farmington, CT, presented the bochurim with practical ideas for running an enjoyable and exciting seder, sharing vignettes culled from his many years in the field.
He stressed the importance of making everyone feel comfortable and with a sense of enthusiasm about the evening, because as Shluchim of the Rebbe, they have to potential to make it a life-changing one for some.
Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, Director of the Merkos Shlichus program, had the final words for the bochurim. While Merkos Shlichus is a great privilege, it also carries great responsibility.
He exhorted the bochurim to be cognizant of who and what they are representing at every moment of their Shlichus, and specified the standards that are expected of all participants. He reminded the bochurim not to neglect their own needs like the seder requirements and adequate nutrition.
After the group photo, a large collection of Pesach materials were distributed. With the bochurim fully prepared for the task that awaits them, the Merkos Shlichus team is currently working around the clock, handling the logistic of sending 622 bochurim to make seders literally across the globe.
BH
looking at this while sitting with my 3 eineklach in toronto & hoping that one day in the future they will be in these pix IY”H.
This is one of the greatest talks about the Seder I’ve ever heard.
Your Stress-Free Pesach Seder, by Rabbi YY Jacobson
https://www.theyeshiva.net/item/4183
(to COL editors, perhaps consider posting this as its own post, it has the potential to make many sedarim more meaningful and less stressful, it would be a great service to the community. Thank you and Chag Sameach).
The Rebbe’s foot soldiers – bringing together Am Yisroel – one yid at a time. Incredible!
Yasher koach to Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, and all those who fund it to make it happen!
Chag Kosher V’Someach.
Avraham Moshe Dyce – a tayere bochur!
Revealing the light of yiddishkeit in the land of fire and ice.
Hatzlacha Rabba!