By COLlive reporter
Shabbos accommodations at the Rebbe‘s Ohel at the Old Montefiore Cemetery in Queens, New York, will be significantly reduced for the very first time since Gimmel Tammuz 5754 (1994).
Rabbi Abba Refson, Director of Ohel Chabad-Lubavitch Center which oversees its activity, said that they will only accommodate the Yeshiva bochurim who are regularly learning there and a few others.
“We are not closing, Chas V’Shalom,” Rabbi Refson told COLlive.com on Tuesday. “We are just limiting the number of people who will be coming and will not be providing regular food and beds.”
He said the decision was made after consultation with rabbis and medical experts because of the widespread outbreak of coronavirus.
As COLlive.com reported, the Rebbe’s Ohel itself remains open for public visitation and prayers, but visitors are asked “to be cautious and follow the health guidelines of the CDC (Centers for Disease Control & Prevention).”
Rabbi Refson asked visitors to wash hands with antibacterial soap that is available as they enter and before touching the water dispenser, coffee and tea station. Their staple cookies have all been individually wrapped.
“We are asking everyone to protect themselves and protect others,” he said, as people come to the Ohel to pray for their health and well-being.
Those not feeling well, or who live afar, can send names and requests for prayers at OhelChabad.org
