Annual Chabad celebration virtually sweeps through Tel Aviv
One of the benefits of the coronavirus era is that it is possible to participate and speak at a gathering from a distance.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFPRAYING OUTSIDE the Beit Chabad house in Kathmandu, Nepal.(photo credit: NATI SHOHAT/FLASH90)Chabad held its annual 19th of Kislev celebration, which has been held for nearly 40 years in the Chabad Geulat Israel synagogue in Tel Aviv, despite COVID-19. But this year, it was broadcast to thousands of Tel Aviv residents, who participated in the joy of the holiday from their homes, Chabad.org reported.One of the benefits of the coronavirus era is that it is possible to participate and speak at a gathering from a distance. The celebration took advantage of this, with thousands of participants in the gathering getting to meet the famous emissary and lecturer from London, Rabbi Shmuel Lou, who immersed the public in the exaltation and joy of the 19th of Kislev, a holiday made in honor of the date the first Chabad rabbi, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, was freed from prison in 1798.Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv Israel Meir Lau Shlita delivered an enthusiastic speech that captivated the audience on the subject of the virtue of Chabad and its founder. Special guest Avigdor Kahalani, a former MK who was a hero of the Yom Kippur War, shared warm and personal words about his great love for Chabad's emissaries and called on the public to connect with the emissaries in order to learn what devotion and love for the people of Israel is.The chief emissary to Tel Aviv-Jaffa and the rabbi of the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Chabad community, Rabbi Yosef Gerlitzky, gave the participants a taste of the enlightening light of Hassidut theory, and called on the public to set times for in-depth study.The entire event was moderated by the renowned lecturer Rabbi Mendi Gerlitzky, the Chabad's emissary to the new northern neighborhoods of Tel Aviv.Between speeches, hundreds of participants performed "L'chaims" together, and burst into Hassidic melodies with the famous singer and cantor Rabbi Zvi Greenheim.At the end of the gathering, residents of the city thanked event organizers Rabbi Yitzhak Bir and Rabbi Yitzhak Lefkibker for hours of transcendence and a true Hassidic holiday feeling.
