From the bustling piers of New York to the White House in Washington, a group of bochurim from the Queens Yeshiva went on a fascinating journey following in the footsteps of the Frierdiker Rebbe and the Rebbe.
By Avraham Reinitz
Photos by Chaim Gottlieb
The sun was shining at the National Park in Morristown, New Jersey, as David settled into his office. As the police commissioner, responsible for all the parks in New Jersey, he was used to busy days, but not to surprise visits that would change his life.
“Sir, there’s a group of yeshiva bochurim here who want to visit the historic building,” his secretary informed him. David usually followed the protocols, which stated that this place was not open to visiting groups, and the guards at the building’s entrance made this clear to the group of bochurim. From his office window, he saw the bochurim turning away disappointedly from the building’s entrance, gathering in one of the corners of the courtyard.
The unusual scene made him very curious. He remembered that in the book describing the history of this historic building, there was a chapter about famous people who had spent some time there. One of them was a Jewish rabbi, who seemed to be connected with the same group of Yeshiva students. In a split-second decision, he took the history book in his hands and went down towards the group of students.
He stood near them, and after listening to their conversation for a few minutes, he turned to the group leader, Rabbi Menachem Mendel HaKohen Hendel, and asked about the reason for their visit. “We’re here following the visit of the Lubavitcher Rebbe to a convalescent home that was in this building, about eighty years ago. Can you tell us a bit about the history of the building?”
“Certainly,” David replied, and he showed the students the picture of the distinguished-looking Jew in the history book of the place. “That is the previous Rebbe of Lubavitch,” Rabbi Hendel answered enthusiastically, as did the rest of the bochurim who gathered in a circle around David, “That’s exactly why we came here – a journey in the footsteps of the Rebbe.”
David was touched by the enthusiasm of the students and decided to bend the rules and invite them into the building. As they entered the building, he told them that in the 1950s, the place was purchased by a gas company, which established a gas farm there. However, after a few years, when the Cold War between the United States and Russia began, the authorities feared that in case of war, the place would be bombed and cause enormous damage to the entire area. They bought the site from the gas company and transferred the police headquarters responsible for all the national parks of New Jersey to the building.
The students entered the first floor, and David informed them that this floor remained exactly as it was eighty years ago. In one of the rooms on the floor was a large hall where the Frierdiker Rebbe said a Sicha. The excited students sat down in this very hall and finished learning the Sicha that the Frierdiker Rebbe had said in this place. The Frierdiker Rebbe had said the Sicha to the Chassidim who accompanied him on the trip, and later, when he arrived at the place, he repeated the Sicha to his son-in-law, the Rebbe MHM, who had arrived at the place before him, (like the Posuk “and Yehuda he sent ahead,” to prepare the place).
Rabbi Hendel reminded the students about the Frierdiker Rebbe’s words, that one can receive a spiritual awakening, when one is in the physical place where the Rebbe stayed. In Likkutei Dibburim, the Frierdiker Rebbe writes about the place where the Alter Rebbe stopped to rest on his way to prison, and even though he was there for only one Shabbos.Years later the Chassid R’ Michoel the Elder of Nevel went to see the tree next to which the Rebbe spent Shabbos, and when he later told about it, “he had a Chayus and he was awakened in fear of Heaven and feelings of lofty qualities from seeing the tree, more than others who learn about a matter of Avodah”!
This awakening of Yiras Shamayim did not skip over the police commander either. After Rabbi Hendel told him about the Chabad connection to the place, he turned to him and said: your name, David, is the name of King David. Now the Jewish people are at war, and you can help the soldiers by putting on tefillin…
It turned out that David, who came from a Reform family, had indeed celebrated a ‘bar mitzvah’ but without putting on tefillin… In the next moments, David found himself putting on the tefillin straps for the first time in his life. Rabbi Hendel guided him patiently, explaining the meaning of each action. When the tefillin were in place, he asked David to repeat after him: “Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad.” When David repeated the words, he felt something he had never experienced before. His heart was beating with great excitement, and he almost cried. The Bochurim told him that this was his real ‘bar mitzvah’ celebration, and so they went out with him in a joyous Chassidic dance.
When the group of students left the building, David remained standing there, lost in thought. He looked again at the picture of the Rebbe, suddenly understanding the deep connection between the past and the present, between the Rebbe’s visit so many years ago and his personal discovery today.
“This is not just a visit,” he said to himself, “it’s a journey through time. A journey to the past, to the present, and maybe even to the future.”
* * *
It all started a few months ago. At Yeshivas Tomchei bochurim of Queens, a ‘Mivtza Torah’ was announced for learning Masechta Bava Basra, and to encourage the bochurim to join the Mivtza, the Yeshiva’s Menahel, Rabbi Hendel, announced a special journey for the participants of Mivtza Torah: a journey in the footsteps of the Frierdiker Rebbe and the Rebbe, in several places they visited in the eastern United States – from New York and New Jersey, through Philadelphia and Maryland, to Washington D.C.
“We educate the students in the spirit of the Frierdiker Rebbe’s well-known saying: ‘America is no different’, and now the whole world is ready for Geulah, and in fact the Frierdiker Rebbe’s spiritual revolution passed through all these places. The central place was of course 770 Eastern Parkway, which everyone knows, but there were other places where the Rabbeim visited, and they were also part of the revolution of the ‘lower hemisphere’. Such a journey is a connection of Gashmiyus and Ruchnius.
“Baruch Hashem, the students joined the mivtza with great enthusiasm, and out of about seventy yeshiva students – forty-two bochurim merited to join the special journey,” says Rabbi Hendel with great satisfaction.
First Stop: 184 Brooklyn Avenue.
Tuesday, 26 Sivan. A bright summer morning illuminated the facade of 770, as the group of yeshiva students gathered excitedly in front of the building. “Dear students,” said Rabbi Hendel, “although our journey deals with the Frierdiker Rebbe’s first visit to America in 1930, ultimately the Frierdiker Rebbe established his residence here, at 770 Eastern Parkway, and this is an excellent starting point for our fascinating journey.”
The students leafed through the journey booklet they received, compiled excelently by Hatomim Menachem Mendel Adler, which began with a ‘general background’ on the Frierdiker Rebbe’s famous journey to the United States in 1930. “To understand how significant this journey was, it’s enough to mention that it lasted almost a full year, during which the Rebbe passed through all major Jewish centers in this huge country.”
The first stop on the journey is actually not far from 770, at 184 Brooklyn Avenue, near the Brooklyn Museum, where the Frierdiker Rebbe resided during his visit. In this place, the Rebbe stayed for long periods, during which he received people for Yechidus, and said Sichos and Maamarim.
After reading the Hayom Yom of the day, brief words of inspiration and a joyous Chassidic dance, everyone boarded the bus to the next stop.
Second Stop: The Hotels on Broadway
The bus crossed the bridge towards Manhattan, and on the horizon the skyscrapers of Manhattan were visible. It’s hard to imagine, but when the Rebbe arrived here, America was a spiritual desert of Judaism. Today, on every corner there’s a Chabad House, a mikvah, or a eshiva.
They stopped near an impressive building on Broadway in the center of the city. This is the Greystone Hotel, where the Frierdiker Rebbe stayed when he came to live permanently in the United States. The Rebbe lived there from his arrival on 9 Adar 5700 until his move to 770 in the month of Elul.
The building now serves as a regular apartment building, and the bochurim entered the lobby of the building. The non-Jewish building guard was very impressed to hear about the special historical value of the building he was in charge of, and was very impressed by the excitement of the students.
From here, the students continued on foot, singing and with a Chassidic march, to Hotel Newton, where the Rebbe stayed during his first visit. Today the place serves as a shelter for the homeless, and entry is prohibited by law. The Bochurim therefore stood outside the building, and invited several Jews to put on tefillin.
In the booklet they had received, the Bochrim read that the Rebbe stayed at this hotel several times. One of them was on Shabbos Parshas Bo, 10 Shevat 5690. That day was the Yohrzeit of his grandmother, Rebbetzin Rivka, and after Mincha on Shabbos, the Rebbe said a Maamar ‘Mayan Ganim’ in the presence of three hundred Jews in the large hall of the hotel. The Rebbe returned to this hotel also in the last weeks of his stay, where he also celebrated his fiftieth birthday, and said the Maamar ‘Kol HaShoneh Halachos’.
Third Stop: The Convalescent Home in Morristown
From Manhattan, the bochurim traveled to the park near the town of Morristown, New Jersey, where they prayed Shacharis, after first learning the Maamar ‘Mayan Ganim’ that the Frierdiker Rebbe said in the hotel, as preparation for prayer.
After Davening, they drove to the convalescent home building in the park, where – as mentioned – they met the commissioner in charge of the building, who opened the gates of the historic building to them, as described at the beginning of this article.
In the journey booklet, the Bochurim read that one of the doctors who treated the Frierdiker Rebbe in Austria – Dr. Benjamin Sherman – immigrated to the U.S. and managed a convalescent home in Morristown called “Sanitarium Aurora, Physiotherapeutic Medical Center”. In the summer of 5701 (1941), the Frierdiker Rebbe traveled for several weeks to the convalescent home. Before his trip, the Rebbe traveled there to organize the place.
During those weeks, the Rebbe traveled there at least once every two days, and stayed with his father-in-law for long hours. Years later, the Rebbe related on Shabbos Bereishis 5717, that in those days the ‘Torah Ohr’ siddur was being printed, and during his visits to the Frierdiker Rebbe, he clarified many minhagim with him. Some of the minhagim were written on the letterhead of the convalescent home…
The Frierdiker Rebbe also traveled there in the summers of 5702 and 5704. About the trip in 5704, it is told that the journey was made in a car with an open roof, to allow the Frierdiker Rebbe to easily enter the car, from the wheelchair in which he moved from place to place. A rare photo from this trip was published in recent years, and it was included in the journey booklet.
Rabbi Yisroel Noach Vogel, who is IYH joining the team of Mashpi’im of the yeshiva next year, praised the booklet that was prepared with accompanying photos of the Frierdiker Rebbe in those days and places, which helped everyone to imagine the Frierdiker Rebbe’s visits. During the journey, Rabbi Vogel excelled in bringing the bochurim into the special atmosphere, by telling interesting stories in his unique style.
Fourth Stop: The Liberty Bell in Philadelphia
The bus set out towards Philadelphia, following the Frierdiker Rebbe’s journey of 13th Kislev 5690. The long journey was utilized to finish learning the Maamar ‘Mayan Ganim’ by Rabbi Dovid Kahanov, a Mashpia and Mashgiach of the yeshiva for the coming school year. Rabbi Kahanov is completely immersed in the Maamar, not noticing the hundreds of kilometers they are passing on their way.
When they arrived at the central train station of Philadelphia, Rabbi Hendel stopped the group. “Imagine the scene here 94 years ago,” he said. “Thousands of people fill the platform, all waiting to see the Rebbe. The atmosphere was electrifying”. The bochurim notice that the appearance of the place hasn’t changed since then, and the antique look adds to the authenticity of the visit.
Like the Frierdiker Rebbe, who went from the train station to Independence Hall, the bochurim are now making the same journey. Independence Hall is the building where the American Constitution was established and from which the Declaration of Independence of the United States was issued. It’s great importance in local history is evidenced by the fact, that a painting of the building’s facade still appears on $100 bills until today.
Upon arriving at Independence Hall, Rabbi Hendel tells them that in this place, the Rebbe was honored to sit on George Washington’s chair, the first president of the U.S. Rabbi Vogel adds flavor to the words when he tells that the Rebbe Rashab also once asked to sit on the German Kaiser’s chair, and wrote a Chassidic Maamar there, remarking ‘a Kluge Shtul’ (a wise chair).
The journey continued to the Liberty Bell nearby. “Here, the Rebbe was honored to lay a wreath of flowers near the bell, and said a sentence that echoed for years: ‘Freedom built on religion is the truest and strongest'”.
Each of the bochurim took a flower and placed it near the bell, repeating the Frierdiker Rebbe’s words about true freedom and broke out in a joyous dance.
From the Liberty Bell, the bochurim continued to the house where the Rebbe stayed during his stay in Philadelphia. In the past, the place served as a yeshiva, but over the years the Jews left the area, and today the place it is a residential building for non-Jews. To this day, Hebrew inscriptions remain on the building.
The bochurim Davened Mincha at the place. After the prayer, an elderly woman came out and said that she is the only Jew in the area, and she lights Shabbos candles. When she heard about the special history of the building, she was very moved to hear that the Frierdiker Rebbe had visited this street where she lives.
Fifth Stop: The ‘Tzemach Tzedek’ Synagogue in Baltimore
Towards evening, the group traveled to Baltimore and arrived at the ‘Tzemach Tzedek’ synagogue. “On 24 Teves 5690,” Rabbi Hendel recounted, “the Rebbe delivered a Chassidic discourse here in front of a huge crowd. Imagine – about 800 men and 400 women stood here, listening in silence.”
Rabbi Kahanov studied with the bochurim part of the Maamar ‘Yehi Hashem Elokeinu Imanu’ that the Frierdiker Rebbe said in Baltimore. After Davening Maariv, the bochurim traveled to the Chabad yeshiva in Baltimore, which graciously hosted the group for overnight lodging. Before retiring for the night, the bochurim went to the Chabad House, where they held a special farbrengen.
A special guest arrived at the farbrengen, Rabbi Binyamin Rothstein, one of the veteran Chabad Chassidim in Baltimore. Rabbi Rothstein, a doctor by profession, shared with the students a special event that took place in 770 on Yom Kippur 5745, when Rabbi Shmaryahu Gourary lost consciousness before Kol Nidrei, and he was called to perform CPR. He recounted how the Rebbe watched him the whole time, until they took Rabbi Gourary out to the ‘Kollel’ building where his passing was determined, so that the Kohanim wouldn’t have to leave 770.
Sixth Stop: The White House in Washington
Despite the farbrengen last night ending at 2:00 AM, the bochurim woke up at six in the morning to continue the journey. After a brief stop at a spring park by the roadside, where they Davened Shacharis and ate breakfast among the nature, the bochurim arrived in Washington D.C., the capital of the United States.
In the journey booklet, the bochurim discover that the Frierdiker Rebbe visited Washington twice – once on 27 Teves 5690, when he met with Justice Louis Brandeis, to ask him to lead the activities to save the Jews in Russia.
The second time was on 13 Tammuz, when he met with U.S. President Herbert Hoover. The visit was intended to thank the President for the freedom the U.S. gives to the Jewish people, and for the interest the government shows in the situation of Jews overseas.
The group of bochurim first visited Capitol Hill, where the U.S. Congress is located. A special tour guide welcomed the ‘Chabad group’, and explained to them about the history of the United States based on the foundations of democracy.
The Mashpi’im accompanying the journey quote from the Rebbe’s Sichos in praise of the democratic system, and of course learn from this a lesson about the power of each individual to influence their environment. They also talk about the power of the people, which is why it’s important that the people accept the kingship of the Rebbe.
From Capitol Hill, the bochurim continued on to the White House, and perused the journey booklet where a picture of the Frierdiker Rebbe standing with his son-in-law Rabbi Shmaryahu Gourary on the steps of the White House is shown. The bochurim stood for a group photo on the steps of the White House.
Seventh Stop: The Ferry Dock in Staten Island
The seventh stop on the journey was at the ferry dock in Staten Island near New York, where the ship of the Rebbe and the Rebbetzin docked when they arrived in the United States on 28 Sivan 5701. How symbolic it was that the group of bochurim arrived at the place after nightfall, exactly on the night of 28 Sivan…
When they arrived at the place, the bochurim were surprised to see Rabbi Reuven Matusof from France, who had come especially to Farbreng with them. After a brief Farbrengen at the ferry dock, where the bochurim sang the Rebbeim’s nigunim with devotion, they sailed on a boat making its way to Brooklyn.
In Brooklyn, the bochurim made their way by train to 770, and after Maariv at 770, they continued to a farbrengen in the yeshiva hall. The positive effect of the journey on the bochurim was evident from the fact that despite the farbrengen ending at a late hour of the night, the bochurim woke up the next morning for seder Chassidus.
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