This New Calendar Is “Historic”

By COLlive reporter

What do you know about the backyard of 770 or how the Rebbe responded when the dormitory at 749 Eastern Parkway was purchased? Or which buildings the Rebbe visited in Crown Heights?

If you are not a history buff or into chassidic tales, most chances are that you won’t know the answers to these questions.

And that’s where the new COLlive Community Calendar for 5773 comes in.

The glossy publication, available now in Crown Heights stores, is dedicated to historic landmarks in the “Kan Tziva” neighborhood, home to the largest Chabad community in the world.

Photos of buildings appear on each of the 12 months in the calendar along with a brief review of when it was purchased and some interesting tidbits from their celebrated past.

The reviews were written by Rabbi Michoel Seligson, Chabad researcher and teacher of chassidus, and Rabbi Yehuda Ceitlin, Editor of COLlive.com and Shliach in Arizona.

The “chotzer” of 770, for example, is most relevant to the month of Tishrei, where the Rebbe has led Sukkos farbrengens and distrubuted Kos Shel Brocho for a complete decade, from 5720 to 5730.

On Sukkos of 5752, the last one before the dreadful day of 27 Adar I, the Rebbe stood there for 7 full hours until the last person in line had a chance to bench on his lulav and esrog.

“Everything in Crown Heights is imbued with such rich history and we wanted the calendar to share or remind people of some of that – even briefly,” says Mica Soffer, owner and Publisher of COLlive.com.

A previous COLlive Community Calendar featured “Faces of Crown Heights” – photos of 12 people positively influencing or making a difference in the community.

The 5773 calendar was printed in 2 versions – both elegantly designed by Unique Image Advertising. A soft-cover version now available in local stores for easy storing and keeping.

A hard-cover version will be sent directly to homes of the residents, as the calendar is specially geared to Crown Heights with local candle lighting times, parking dates and useful phone numbers.

“Our calendar was very well received in past years, Baruch Hashem,” says Soffer. “We are now printing an extra batch to reach even more homes. We’ve gotten requests from out of Crown Heights to receive it as well.”

With a beautiful design, relevant information and a dash of Chabad history, who wouldn’t want such a calendar hanging in their home or office.

(As in the past, with the advice of Mashpiim, a picture of the Rebbe was not included to avoid the chance of improper desecration of the Rebbe’s holy image.)