Crown Heights Group Shows Love to Israelis During 5-Day Visit

By COLlive reporter

A group of Crown Heights residents, businessmen, and activists and members of Bais Shmuel Chabad in Crown Heights have returned this week from a 5-day solidarity mission in Israel.

The trip was grueling and uplifting, as they traveled for hours each day to visit IDF soldiers on the front lines, injured soldiers and victims of terror, as well as Chabad Centers providing chizuk and assistance on the Gaza border. 

Throughout the trip, they put hundreds of Tefillin on IDF soldiers, distributed dozens of pairs of Tefillin and Tzitzis, and donated thousands of dollars in support for soldiers and Shluchim on the front lines, with the cost close to $50,000.

“This trip was about doing what the Rebbe asks from each of us during this challenging and difficult wartime,” said Sam Stern, one of the organizers of the trip. “Each and every one of us should do what we can to put a group together to bring support and chizuk to our brothers in Israel. The incredible achdus in Klal Yisroel that is seen during this time is amazing, and we all must be a part of it.”

The group arrived in Israel on Friday, and they headed out to Chevron to spend an uplifting and memorable Shabbos. As the sun set, they walked to the holy site of Mearas Hamachpela where they gathered for Kabbolas Shabbos.

“We walked there, and it was like a ghost town,” said Stern. “It was heartbreaking to see. When we walked into the Shul at the Kever, the few locals who were there looked at us in surprise and asked us what we were doing there. This is a Shul that on a normal Shabbos not during wartime would have hundreds Davening there.”

“We told them, ‘We came to spend Shabbos with you and to bring joy and love from the Jewish people in New York,’ and we could see the tears in their eyes. They were so moved and grateful, saying they hadn’t seen anyone new in their town since the Hamas massacre on Simchas Torah.” 

The group danced with the local residents for an hour, and together they davened a most joyful and uplifting Kabolas Shabbos.

“We danced that Shabbos like it was Simchas Torah,” said Rabbi Moshe Pinson, founder and president of Bais Shmuel Chabad and one of the organizers of the trip.

They later walked to Kiryat Arba and joined the Friday night meal at a home that regularly hosts dozens of IDF soldiers for Shabbos, which is sponsored by Chabad of Chevron, led by Rabbi Danny Cohen.

About 50 soldiers joined them for Shabbos dinner, hosted by a couple who said that while they are not Lubavitchers, they feel very connected to the Rebbe, proudly displaying a large picture of the Rebbe in their home.

“We told them, you may not call yourself Chabad, but with the work you are doing here in Chevron, you can practically be called Shluchim,” Dovid Rogatsky said.

When the couple mentioned they had never been to the Rebbe’s Ohel, the group promised to sponsor them for a trip to New York to visit the Ohel in the near future.

During the Shabbos meal, they sang beautiful Niggunim for hours, joined by the soldiers. One soldier related that he had grown up in a Karlin-Stolin home, and even though he is not religious anymore, he told them his favorite Niggun, which his father used to sing. With closed eyes and tears running down his face, he joined them in singing the Niggun ‘Koh Echsof.’

On Shabbos day, they were hosted at the home of Rabbi Cohen, joined by about 35 soldiers. For Shalosh seudos, they gathered at the home of activist Baruch Marzel who recalled being one of the last people to receive a dollar from the Rebbe on 26 Adar 5752. He said the Rebbe gave him 3 dollars, one of them for Mearas Hamachpela.

Shabbos concluded with Mincha at the Kever of Rus and Maariv and Havdalah at the Kever of Rebbetzin Menucha Rochel. 

Early Sunday morning, the group headed south, visiting wounded soldiers in the Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon. The soldiers are being cared for by Lubavitchers Rabbi Avremi Lehrer and his wife, who run the beautiful hospitality center ‘Vesamachta’ for wounded soldiers in the hospital and their families.

“While we were there to bring some comfort and Chizuk to the wounded soldiers, they kept thanking us, asking, ‘Did you really just fly from New York just to say thank you?'” said Beryl Junik, one of the trip organizers. “And all we wanted to do was thank them for their incredible sacrifice for the Jewish people.”

They then visited the Chabad Center in Ashkelon, led by Rabbi Mendy Garelik, who wrote a book about the Rebbe’s father, Rabbi Levi Yitzchok Schneerson, and is a participant of the Chof Av visit to Alma Ata each year and has become close to the members of the group.  They toured his Chabad Center, and he presented his book to each of them. They also visited Chabad of Sderot, where they met with the Shliach Rabbi Asher Pizem and his son Avremi, who recently spoke at the Kinus Hashluchim banquet and heard about life under fire in the embattled city.

They then traveled to an army base a mere few meters from the Gaza border, at an entry point that’s being used for the IDF.

Accompanied by Shliach Rabbi Shloime Wexelman, they made a huge barbeque for the soldiers. Rabbi Wexelman, tirelessly and with great devotion, travels from army base to army base, which has been set up for the current war with Hamas. They are set up in tents, schools, and other centers, which are empty due to the war.

“You can see the soldiers’ love for the Shluchim, who give them love, Simcha and Chizuk,” Pinson said. They were not deterred by a siren that rang while they were on the base, causing them to run for cover.

On Monday evening, they visited the large Urim army base being used by high-ranking IDF officers and sponsored a pizza party for 400 delighted IDF soldiers.

They brought in a pizza baker who produced over 250 fresh pies. Soldiers were walking in off the battlefield from Gaza and were handed a fresh pie of pizza, as well as ice cream.

“We wanted to give them the most joy and feeling of being home as possible,” said Stern.   

Tuesday morning, they once again headed south to visit Nitzan, a re-transplanted community after their removal from Gush Katif, and joined the local Shliach Rabbi Yigal Kirschenshaft for lunch at his home.

The Shliach was grateful for the support and Chizuk as well as financial support from the Crown Heights group, and he presented them each with a rare Tanya, which had been printed in Gush Katif years ago – of which only a few remain.

The evening concluded with another Barbeque, music, and dancing with IDF soldiers. An emotional visit was paid to Kibbutz Be’eri, where they put on Tefillin with the soldiers patrolling there amidst the pain and devastation.

VIDEO

IDF soldiers greetings