Yarchei Kallah Begins at the Ohel

By COLlive reporter
Photos by Mendy Kurant

The Global Yarchei Kallah, the annual scholarly gathering of Chabad’s Rabbonim, Roshei Yeshiva and Mashpiim, began this year with a joint prayer at the Ohel of the Rebbe in Cambria Heights, Queens.

The group of rabbis went in together to recite Tehillim for their communities and institutions accompanied by Rabbi Avraham Shemtov, Chairman of Agudas Chassidei Chabad International and organizer of the Yarchei Kallah.

It was a timely visit on Wednesday as the Jewish world marked the yartzeit of Rabbi Levi Yitzchok Schneerson, of blessed memory, father of the Rebbe and the fearless Chief Rabbi of Ekaterinoslav (today Dneper) in Soviet times.

To honor his pious memory, Rabbi Shemtov organized the first Yarchei Kallah gathering of Torah learning 45 years ago in 5734 at Camp Gan Israel, the Chabad boys summer camp in Parksville, NY.

The plan was accepted and approved by the Rebbe and the Rebbe himself identified with this initiative. Once, in the midst of a farbengen held on the same Shabbos as Yarchei Kallah, the Rebbe referred to the gathering, saying “This is my project.”

And when Mexico’s Chief Rabbi Avraham Mordechai Hirschberg mentioned that he had participated in Yarchei Kallah, the Rebbe highlighted the connection to his father, explaining that the mitzvah of honoring one’s parents continues after their passing and that the most consummate honor that can be paid is the study of the Torah.

In this spirit, the participants of this year’s Yarchei Kallah later gathered on the day of the yartzeit for a Chassidic farbrengen at a tent in the courtyard of Ohel Chabad-Lubavitch.

From there, they traveled to the Catskill Mountains where they will be spending the next few days in deep study and discussions, alongside the staff members and campers of Gan Israel, directed by Rabbi Yossi Futerfas.

The gathering will culminate with a Grand Melave Malka on Motzoei Shabbos, 10:30 PM, at the Main Shul of the camp. Open for the pubic, with a program for men and women, the event will feature speeches by the Rebbe’s Choizer, Rabbi Yoel Kahn; Rabbi Shemtov and Rabbi Moshe Wolberg, a Rosh Yeshiva in Manchester, England.