How 10,734 People Got to the Rebbe this Month
Have you noticed the snow piles around Crown Heights this past month? The mountains to climb to reach your car, the curbs of slush to hack your stroller through, the black ice that makes a quick errand turn treacherous.
Yet this month, lots of important dates came and went. Yud Shevat. The Kinus. Chof Beis Shevat. While Crown Heights floundered in snow, over 9,600 Yidden seamlessly traveled to and from the Ohel.
How?
Gamechanger
For decades, getting to the Ohel was a “project.” If you didn’t own a car, your day was a puzzle: navigate multiple trains and buses for two hours, coordinate carpools on the corner of Kingston and Eastern Parkway,
From Manhattan? The trip was virtually unheard of.
Today, that barrier has vanished. What used to be a logistical nightmare is now as simple as hopping on a bus.
And in the process, the Ohel Bus changed the way thousands of Jews relate to the Rebbe.
The Power of “No matter what”
The real story lies in the consistency.
“The bus drives even if there is only one person on it,” the organizers explain. Rain, snow, or heat, the schedule is an ironclad promise. This reliability has shifted the communal mindset from “Can I get there?” to “The bus is leaving at 11:00, I’m going.”
One rider, Dana from Manhattan, experienced this firsthand during a particularly challenging time in her life. Facing a critical medical test, she needed to be at the Ohel. Despite being the only passenger on a new Manhattan route, the bus showed up.
“I was shocked when the bus showed up,” Dana recalls. “The driver told me, ‘My boss said there is one woman who needs to go to the Ohel, so this is why I’m here.’ I was so moved, I cried the whole way there.”
Deeply moved by this commitment, Dana later filled an entire bus with her own group of friends as a thank-you. She’s done it multiple times since, creating a ripple effect of connection that continues to grow.
Now she goes once a month, a schedule virtually impossible before the bus began. “I just have the peace of mind that if I want to visit the Ohel, I can always hop on the bus.”
A High-Demand Item
The expansion into Manhattan and Borough Park has proven that the hunger for connection isn’t limited by zip codes. From Manhattan alone, buses now run four times a week.
“When you see a bus going four times a week, it tells you this is a high-demand item,” notes Rabbi Wilhelm, a shliach in Manhattan who has seen his community’s relationship with the Ohel transform. “It’s not just about the technicality of the ride. It’s about awareness. It normalizes the idea that the Rebbe is the address for everything in life: for happy times, for struggles, for every neshama.”
Rabbi Wilhelm’s community formed an “Ohel Crew,” about 20 young professionals and community members who go monthly. One local man travels from the Upper West Side every single week.
To deepen the experience, the Ohel Bus ensures a Farbrenger is on board every Manhattan route, transforming the commute into a space for learning and connection.”We go as strangers and come back as friends,” one participant shared.
Who’s Using I?
One bochur in 770 says the bus completely changed his year. “It made consistent connection possible. I felt responsible to answer to the Rebbe for my year.”
For mothers in Crown Heights, it’s about spontaneity. A child’s birthday comes up? Hop on the bus. Need to say a quick tefillah between school drop-off and errands? No stress, no planning, just go.
“Whenever I pass Eastern Parkway and see the bus filling up, I feel a longing to go daven at the Ohel,” one resident shares.
Even the visiting groups changed. Out-of-towners who used to fill their free time shopping on Kingston Avenue now spend it at the Ohel. “It became a time of true hiskashrus,” one visitor notes. “Instead of shopping, it’s now: wake up, go to the Ohel, daven, learn.”
Revealed Good
The stories emerging from these rides reflect a truth the Rebbe taught: when we take a step to connect, we open ourselves to revealed good. For one woman, that good was immediate; she davened at the Ohel about a job situation and received a call about a significant bonus before she even stepped back off the bus. Another rider shared how a missed bus led to an unexpected ride that ultimately resulted in a shidduch at age 33. Even the bus drivers have been impacted. One non-Jewish driver, encouraged to ask for a blessing, requested $20,000 to help his family; ten days later, he won that exact amount in the lottery.
The Ohel isn’t about spectacular outcomes, however. For many, the “miracle” is the quiet, consistent transformation of their week. It’s about the clarity that comes from a Tuesday morning trip to Queens and the peace of mind that comes from knowing the Rebbe is always accessible.
Hop On
The sight of the bus filling up on Eastern Parkway or at a Manhattan corner is a silent reminder to every passerby.
“It’s a statement,” says one organizer. “A statement that we go to the Rebbe at all times of the day.” The bus is a constant, gentle nudge that the doors are open, the engine is running, and the connection is waiting.
This past year, 82,483 people made that connection. This month alone? 10,734.
Rain or shine. Snow or sun. One person or forty. The bus is there.
Your turn.
Visit bustoohel.com to see the full schedule.
