Rabbi: We Live in Special Times

By COLlive reporter
Photos by Alex Gorokhov

This past Wednesday, a crowd packed Congregation Ohel Moshe – Lubavitch in Flatbush to draw inspiration from the auspicious day of Yud Shevat.

The event was jointly organized by Chabad of Flatbush, Chabad of Kensington, Cong. Ohel Moshe and PrinciplesMagazine.com and coordinated by Rabbis Moshe and Heshy Kornblit, Yehuda Levin and Levi Liberow.

Attracting both men and women from around the Midwood and Kensington areas, the Hakhel evening was titled ‘Take Charge of Your Life’.

It began with a special video presentation featuring selected moments and messages from the Rebbe focusing on the mission of our generation – to bring about the true and complete redemption.

The video was followed by Tehillim recited for our brethren around the world, lead by Rabbi Moshe Chaim Levin from Chabad of Kensington.

The keynote speaker, Rabbi Heschel Greenberg from the Jewish Discovery Centre in Buffalo, NY, then captivated the audience with a fascinating workshop providing life skills based on the Rebbe’s message of the imminent arrival of Moshiach.

Rabbi Greenberg began with describing the unique time that we live in, “the threshold between exile and redemption.” He highlighted the unprecedented freedom and prosperity that Jews enjoy the world over, yet at the same time not ignoring the unique hardships of our times.

“The time we live in is like a bridge,” described Rabbi Greenberg. “A bridge connecting the world of the past and the world of the future. A bridge between the Golus illusion and the Geulah reality. A bridge is an insecure place and hence the insecurity we feel at this time is just another indication that we are living in the time of the Geulah!”

Rabbi Greenberg explained that just as in the time of the first Beis Hamikdash, the tremendous Divine revelation was countered with the urge to pursue foreign pagan spiritual experiences; now too, on the verge of discovering the true G-dly reality, we are challenged by a deceptive ‘virtual’ reality on our smartphones and computers. The message Hashem is sending through this new Nisayon of the generation is not to flee reality – the true reality is better than it ever was!

A delicious Viennese dessert buffet prepared by the ladies auxiliary headed by Mrs. Raizel Liberow was enjoyed by all and a wide selection of Sefarim were available for purchase.

Special thanks was given the photographer Alex Gorokhov, Levi Ginsburg on the keyboard, Levi Liberow for the video equipment, and Sholom Ber Liberow for coordinating the Sefarim stand.