Tracing the Rebbe’s Travels: In Nice, France, the bochurim visited a shul where the Rebbe had davened, a cable car station the Rebbe used, and the American consulate. They then stayed in the hotel where the Rebbe stayed, debating if they should use the same room.
By Anash.org reporter
The journey of the Netanya yeshiva tracing the Rebbe’s travels moved on to the next destination of Nice, France, one of the most beautiful regions in the world. But the bochurim didn’t come for that. They were solely interested in seeing where the Rebbe lived and operated.
In Nice, they visited a shul where the Rebbe had davened; the cable car station from which the Rebbe set out with mesiras nefesh to obtain onions for karpas; and the American consulate, integral to their rescue story.
However, the highlight was undoubtedly the hotel where the Rebbe and the Rebbetzin resided for nine whole months. The hotel still stands, and the yeshiva rented it for the bochurim. A heated debate ensued about whether to sleep on the third floor where the Rebbe and the Rebbetzin lived or whether it might be more respectful not to sleep there.
During the time when the Rebbe lived in that hotel, a minyan was held in one of the second-floor rooms where the Rebbe sometimes davened. Now, the bochurim shared and teachings the Rebbe delivered there. The famous episode with the hundred dollars that the Rebbe lent out to save many refugees also took place at this hotel.
Later, shliach of Nice Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Pinson sat with the bochurim in the Rebbe’s hotel, captivating them with a farbrengen into the night.
In general, the Rebbe’s shluchim in all these stops went above and beyond to ensure the trip’s success.
In Nice, the shluchim outdid themselves by publishing a special memento, “Kovetz Nitza,” about the Rebbe’s stay in their city. They also assisted with investigating the sites, some of which were identified now for the first time.
Also noteworthy is the shliach Rabbi Shmuel Lubecki from Paris, who extensively researched and prepared a special booklet for the journey, highlighting all the locations in France where the Rebbe and the Rebbetzin stayed.
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