By COLlive staff
A new address for Lubavitch.
The COLlive Media Group Inc. is launching a new website that will be providing informative resources about the Chabad community in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood.
Gegent.com, which means neighborhood and community in Yiddish, is a unique and highly informative directory of community businesses and services to help consumers’ daily activities and needs.
The database is the creation of Crown Heights resident Malka Ahern and was originally known as “Simply Lubavitch.” It aggregated names and contacts of local listings and presented them on a website and printed booklet.
COLlive Media Group, the owners and operators of community news service COLlive.com, has recently purchased Simply Lubavitch and revamped its content and mission to become Gegent.com.
“Information is available everywhere and to everyone these days, but you don’t have any assurances that what you are finding is indeed accurate or reliable,” says Mica Soffer, partner and publisher of COLlive and a long-time resident of Crown Heights.
“Because of our immense experience with covering the Crown Heights Jewish community and life in Brooklyn, we are able to map out what is current and essential and make sure it’s relevant and up-to-date,” says Soffer.
She said that COLlive.com will continue reporting on news and community happenings, along with posting upcoming events and simchas. For now, the highly popular COLlive Classifieds will continue to be manned by the staff of COLlive.
“Gegent is the place you go when you are looking for a complete list of Mesivtas or seminaries to enroll your children, or looking for a specific dish to eat, or a plumber or a good car rental,” Soffer said.
Gegent.com is geared to simplifying the Lubavitch experience, empowering consumers and strengthening the Crown Heights neighborhood by encouraging the patronizing of local businesses, shops and restaurants. It will includes reviews and discussion forums.
Crown Heights, home to Chabad’s largest community in North American and 770 Eastern Parkway, remains the most popular location choice for Lubavitch families to organize their simchas.
A detailed category will connect locals and guests with services and arrangements for their simchas. The Simcha category includes birth, kiddush, sholom zachor, bris, pidyon haben, Upshernish, Bar/Bas Mitzvah, engagement, wedding and Sheva Brochos.
To take the hassle out of the planning and searching, the Gegent.com platform will include detailed listings of shuls, mikvahs, educational institutions, gemachs,
restaurants, professional services including medical, real estate, insurance, jobs, wellness and shopping.
Asked if the directory will include other neighborhoods in New York and beyond, Soffer said: “Our forté is and has always been Crown Heights, so naturally we are first focusing on Crown Heights where ‘Kan Tziva Hashem Es Habrocha’. In the future we plan to expand to other areas as well.”
Gegent.com, welcome to the neighboorhood.
regarding the ability to rate Rabbanim and anyone else on the site, are there any halachic issues with rating someone poorly?
How does one rate a person or a business according to halacha?
in the spirit of Ahavas Yisrale (aka not speaking lashon hara)
so nice to see this service that unites the community resources and makes them accessible for us.
i hope you can easily integrate the new kimporton website into this website – very useful! highly recommended.
kol hakovod for providing this service
Read the article. it does give the idea that there is a bigger Lubavitch Community somware in the world.
Here is the Quote “Crown Heights, home to Chabad’s largest community in North American”
Is so much more than the numbers of who to call. It’s not a culture. Nice project, but please keep things in perspective. It’s a means to an end, not the goal itself.
Any way to add a section for available basements for seminary girls?
Does the article postulate that kfar chabad has more lubavitch residents then crown heights area?
געגענד
Fast and clean site. When you expanding to Boro Park?
Would be incredible to have this service.
Is it free?
Nice idea. You could start by telling all your constituents how to pronounce your name.