The year of Hakhel will forever be remembered by the countless events that united Jews worldwide. Here in Queens, Hakhel will be highlighted as the year that began a special unity amongst the esteemed shluchim that our communities are privileged to house. The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rav Menachem Mendel Schneerson zt”l, who is buried at Montefiore Cemetery on Francis Lewis Boulevard in the Cambria Heights section of Queens, often encouraged symbolic Hakhel assemblies as an opportune time to promote Jewish unity and gatherings despite the Jewish nation not all residing in Eretz Yisrael. It is apropos that such a beautiful display of harmony amongst the Rebbe’s shluchim took place during this auspicious year of Hakhel, as it resides upon the “kings,” or more accurately the leaders – rabbis, shluchim, and communal activists – of each community to make these gatherings a reality.
Moreover, the introductory Queens Kinus HaShluchim took place in the aftermath of Tish’ah B’Av, when we mourned the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash. Hakhel, occurring the year post-Sh’mitah, is a display of Jewish unity that with the coming of Mashiach will occur in Yerushalayim Ir HaKodesh on the Temple Mount, the site of the Third and final Beis HaMikdash. There, Mashiach, our king, will lein from the Torah, reinvigorating and refocusing our heterogeneous populace, giving over inspiration to tide over his nation for a sexennial stretch. Such a scene is a regular occurrence in any Chabad House. I for one have been fortunate to witness this diverse beauty weekly at the Shabbos table of my distinguished neighbors Rabbi Shaul and Tzipah Wertheimer of the Queens College Chabad on Campus.
The tasteful kinus held in Bayside at the Adria Hotel and Conference Center was organized by the “Vaad HaShluchim of Queens,” which includes Rabbis Yossi Blesofsky, Mendy Hecht, Dov Steinmetz, Zev Weinberg, and Yerachmiel Zalmanov, an elected body. Of note, the Adria’s Jewish ownership was intrinsically involved in the formative landmark expansion project at the 770 site in Crown Heights. Their participation came in the aftermath of the Rebbe’s historic hanachas even ha’pinah celebration. Known as the first businesswoman of Queens, Mary Mindel, a survivor of the Shoah, was niftar in her Great Neck home on January 13, 2019, at age 90. In 1969, she opened Bayside’s Adria Motor Inn, a hospitality center that is now operated by her survivors.
I count many of our Queens shluchim as personal friends. Their families number nearly 20 and serve the outlying regions of Queens quite well from as far East as Little Neck to Long Island City in the West, Howard Beach in the South, and Whitestone in the North. The wonderful mosaic of Queens is a beautiful spectacle embracing the various demographics of Queens Jewry, from the local Americans to Israelis and the ever-evolving Bukharian immigrants who have all found their place within the network of communal Chabad Centers. They are Rabbi Yossi and Dina Blesofsky, Chabad of Northeast Queens; Rabbi Eli and Shulamis Blokh, Chabad of Rego Park-Corona; Rabbi Aharon Chein, Chabad of Georgian Jews; Rabbi Mendy and Chaya Hecht, Chabad of Forest Hills North; Rabbi Mordechai Zev Hecht, Chabad of the Gardens-Forest Hills, and Anshe Sholom Chabad JCC based in Kew Gardens; Rabbi Sholom Ber and Channah Hecht of Forest Hills; Rabbi Yossi and Mushky Mendelson of Congregation Machane Chodosh; Rabbi Levi and Lea Osdoba, Belle Harbor Torah Center; Rabbi Avrohom and Zeldy Richter, Chabad of Howard Beach; Rabbi Nochum and Nurit Sarytchev, Chabad of Ridgewood at Congregation Beit Aharon; Rabbi Pesach and Devora Schmerling, Chabad of Far Rockaway; Rabbi Eli and Rivky Shifrin, Chabad of Little Neck; Rabbi Dovi and Chani Steinmetz, Chabad of Briarwood; Rabbi Shmuli and Mushky Tuvel, Chabad of Kew Gardens; Rabbi Zev and Rivka Weinberg, JCC–Chabad of West Queens in Long Island City; Rabbi Shaul and Tzipah Wertheimer; Chabad on Campus – Queens College; Rabbi Shraga and Sarit Zalmanov, Chabad of Flushing; and Rabbi Yerachmiel and Chanie Zalmanov, Chabad of Eastern Queens in Hollis Hills.
The admired shluchim and shluchos were treated to a series of shiurim and workshops on matters pertaining to the enhancement and enlargement of their commendable and altruistic shlichus. The informative lectures were followed by a sumptuous banquet that was graced by the presence of Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, Vice Chairman of Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch, the educational arm of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement that oversees over 5,000 religious and educational institutions worldwide. Kotlarsky, the driving force behind all kinusim, shared warm words about the call of the hour: to bring the g’ulah.
Rabbi Shmuel Butman, Director of Tzach (Tzirei Agudas Chabad) Lubavitch Youth Organization, together with his fellow Board Members, participated in the kinus, conveyed chizuk, and farbrengened with the shluchim.
The kinus was an astounding success, with the shluchim and their wives coming away with a renewed sense of purpose and energy to fulfill their noble mission, while pledging to continue with events that unite the family of Queens shluchim.
By Shabsie Saphirstein
