Crown Heights Girls Took the Place of Israeli Guests

With very few guests in Crown Heights this Sukkos to join the women’s mivtzoim, local girls and families stepped in and filled the gap.

Mivtza Lulav 5781 saw over 100 individual girls from the Crown Heights community going out to offer NYC Yidden a chance to shake the Lulav. Lubavitch Youth Organization arranged “Branch Out This Sukkos”. The campaign called for Crown Heights girls and families to branch out and go on Mivtza Lulav. The response was enthusiastic and highly energetic.

LYO set up a welcoming center where girls came to borrow Daled Minim and pick up many other supplies they might need, and head out on mivtzoim. In line with medical advice, all individuals who went on mivtzoim this year were given hand sanitizer and masks, and some set up Lulav Stations to enable more distancing. 

With fewer guests in the neighborhood this year, organizers were not sure what to expect. Last year many of the girls who went out on Mivtzoim were Israeli and French guests. This year, their goal was to get the word out to more Crown Heights girls and families. Each day of Chol Hamoed saw tens of Daled Minim sets heading out, in the hands of determined Crown Heights girls and families. This year was undoubtedly a tougher year for mivtzoim, and finding Yidden required more patience, but the girls did it and many had beautiful stories to tell. 

One Crown Heights teacher met a young Jewish woman who was studying in the city this year. In course of the conversation, she invited Judy* to join her family for a Yom Tov meal in the Sukkah. Judy showed up, thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and the story continues to unfold. The teacher invited her new friend to come along on her weekly mivtzoim trip. One week recently, Judy joined the mivtzoim adventure, and along with a group of high school girls and their chaperones, gave out Shabbos candles, bringing light and hope to other Jewish women.

Crown Heights families made mivtzoim a part of their day, picking up a set to take along on their Chol Hamoed trips. Because you never know who you will meet. One family in South Crown Heights realized that there are many nurses and medical students who pass by their house, on their way to the nearby hospital. They picked up supplies at LYO and generously set up a Lulav and Esrog Station in their yard, inviting passing Jewish people to come shake the Lulav. 

Rabbi Shlomo Friedman would like to thank Rivky Korf and all the volunteers who invested their time to organize the project. Additionally, we thank the generous sponsors who donated Daled Minim and made this possible – Rabbi Levinson, Rabbi Lieberman, Mrs. Chana Morozov of Nshei Chabad Mivtzoim Committee, and Esrogino.

To join Mivtza Chanukah mivtzoim opportunities for girls and families, please call or message the “Chanukah Mivtzoim” office at 845 393 1951. 

Girls are invited to stop in and visit the Mivtzoim Shop at the Lubavitch Youth Org. Sundays 1-3 pm, Tue-Thu 3-6 pm, or Fri 12-2 pm, at 305 Kingston Avenue.