It’s not every Shabbat that the women’s as well as the men’s sections of the synagogue of Chabad of Talbiyeh (known as Chabad Talbiya) are packed to near capacity. But when the word went out that last week’s Shabbat service would be filled with Modzitz-Chabad melodies, people who are keen on a musical service came to participate with the regular congregants. The high attendance also proved that one doesn’t need an impressive synagogue building to attract a crowd.
Chabad of Talbiyeh does not as yet have a permanent center of its own and operates out of the former President Hotel, where it has also been running numerous activities for evacuees from the South who are being temporarily accommodated at hotels in the area.
Chabad services begin later than most other congregations, but judging by those who arrived just before Mussaf, they had either slept in, walked a very long distance, or been to services at their own synagogues before joining Chabad and Modzitz congregants in the lobby of the former President Hotel.
It would be safe to say that 90% of the service was musical, as was the service at the Great Synagogue less than 10 minutes’ walk away. But whereas the Great Synagogue has an excellent permanent choir conducted by Elli Jaffe, Chabad does not. However, the singing was no less inspiring.
Chabad of Talbiyeh co-director Rabbi Eli Canterman who, together with his wife, dreams up all kinds of activities to attract and benefit increasing numbers of Jerusalemites, was the first to remove the screens separating the men’s and women’s sections once the service was over and the first to carry out trestle tables for the generous kiddush at which there were speeches by both Modzitz and Chabad Hassidim. Canterman commented that in places where there is no other Jewish entity, there is always Chabad, which may be best known for providing kosher food for travelers but does much more.
Some people were surprised at the absence of the rabbi’s wife, Chani Canterman, who was in New York City. On Thursday, at 4 p.m., she had been invited to accompany a group of mothers of hostages to the Chabad Women’s Convention in New York. Her plane ticket was organized by 8:30 p.m. while she was participating in the weekly Loaves of Love Challah Bake – with many of the women evacuees – and at 9:55 p.m. she rushed home to pack, leaving for the airport at 10:30 p.m., just in time to catch the midnight flight.
Chabad Talbiya volunteer group
■ CHABAD TALBIYA is one of many volunteer groups around the country that had set up an emergency boutique (naming it Amshelanu, “Our People”) providing clothing, toiletries, and other needs for evacuees. On a particular day last week, they were able to assist 40 families with more than 450 essential items from the boutique. Originally they were renting the premises of Amshelanu at the hotel from Tziyunei Derech, one of several organizations subletting rooms. However, Tziyunei Derech decided to resume its own activities and reclaimed its space. Chani Canterman has been unable to find an alternative, despite going so far as to appeal to the minhal kehilati (community management) who have, she says, been unwilling to make any other space available, whether on the hotel premises or nearby. Other NGOs with available space in the President Hotel building were also unable to help. The Jerusalem Municipality, which owns a nearby property that has been empty for several years and that Canterman is willing to rent, has also consistently refused to make it available for use by Ameshelanu.
Anyone with suitable premises for rent available in the area, at least until the summer, is urged to contact Chabad Talbiya, as once the free boutique is gone, this vital service will be lost, along with the friendships created between evacuees and volunteers. Israel has prided itself on the unity that has evolved since Oct. 7 and while politically, that unity is already showing signs of cracking – at least in terms of responsibility for each other’s welfare, a core Jewish value – the unity must continue.
Chabad and other organizations also feed the poor, another of the tasks that should be the responsibility of the municipality. Pantry Packers, a Chabad organization, has been feeding the poor for decades. The success of Chabad is based on their love of their fellow Jews and their non-judgmental attitude when it comes to helping. It would certainly be beneficial if more people adopted that stance.
Arutz Sheva's conference is going ahead
■ AFTER FOUR months during which the national focus has been on bringing home the hostages still in Hamas captivity in Gaza; the fallen soldiers and their funerals; and broken promises made to farmers and reserve soldiers whose livelihoods and university studies have been disrupted, life is slowly getting back to what it was before Oct. 7. To call it “normal” would be a mistake because in Israel, constantly under the threat of Iran and its proxies, life is anything but normal.
To emphasize the crisis situation, many annual events have been either canceled or postponed.
But one event that is definitely going ahead is the annual Jerusalem Conference hosted by the B’Sheva-Arutz 7 Media Group. The venue, as always, is the Vert Hotel, formerly the Crowne Plaza, where the Jerusalem Conference has been held in recent years. Before that, it was held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, which is now the Dan Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, although taxi drivers still refer to it as the Hyatt. There’s a lot of hotel name-changing in Jerusalem, in tandem with changes in ownership or management. The Vert Hotel was originally the Jerusalem Hilton – the first Hilton in the capital.
The Jerusalem Conference, scheduled for February 26-27, will include most if not all right-wing ministers, such as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, and will deal largely with Gaza and the possible return of Jewish settlements there. February 26 is also the 96th anniversary of the birth of Ariel Sharon, the prime minister who, in August 2005, in a policy of unilateral disengagement, dismantled 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza, causing untold grief to numerous families. In some cases, the move was so traumatic that many of the youth of that period have never recovered.
greerfc@gmail.com