Posted to Crown Heights News on

Crown Heights Shul Pulls an All-Nighter, TED Style

DNA Info

While most New Yorkers were busy reveling in a balmy Memorial Day weekend, congregants at Crown Heights’ Chevra Ahavas Yisroel were hitting the books on President Street.

In Brooklyn, at least, they were hardly alone. The three-day weekend coincided with the Jewish festival of Shavuot, which celebrates the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, and is traditionally observed with an all-night marathon of religious study, lectures and other programs.

“When Hashem came to give us the Torah, everyone was sleeping,” the congregation’s charismatic leader Rabbi Chezzi Denebeim, 26, explained. “There’s a lot of Kabbalistic explanations, and more practical reasons, but the fact is we all slept in that morning — so every single Shavuos since then, we stay up all night to make up for it.”

But though almost every Jewish congregation in New York City hosted its own all-nighter, probably no other Hasidic shul in Brooklyn could boast a lecture list that included “Moshe, Rap and Freud” and a discussion on private browser settings.

“These are the richest traditions, and it would be a shame to have them wasted, with people just staying up for the sake of staying up,” said Denebeim, who helped organize “TEDShavuos”, a decidedly modern take on the ancient tradition. “The TED talks are good, because they keep your attention. You have to deliver your whole speech and all of your great ideas in 15 minutes.”

In the year and a half since it opened in a basement on President Street, Ahavas Yisroel has earned its fair share of attention for its somewhat unorthodox — if completely kosher — approach to ultra-Orthodox Judaism. It’s also built up a large following among young Lubavitchers, particularly women—more than two hundred people regularly show up for the Sabbath, while holidays draw hundreds more.

“All of the presenters are young people from our shul,” Denebeim said. “We wanted people from our community who aren’t speakers but have some kind of passion or some kind of specialty to give a presentation on that thing, in a Torah light.”

In addition to the unusual lecture series, the congregation also held a cheesecake bake-off (observant Jews eschew meat and feast on dairy during the two-day celebration) and a potluck picnic in Brower Park for the occasion.

“The cheesecake bake-off—it’s a fun thing, it promotes community, it gives people a sense of health,” Denebeim said. “If we’re healthy, than we’ll make the right decisions.”

The shul’s unique mix of playfulness and piety seems to be paying off — despite some pushback from within the community, Chevra Ahvas Yisroel has seen so much success in the past 18 months that it hopes to close on a new, larger space on Albany Avenue this week.

“Our shul is mamish,” Denebeim said, deploying a Yiddish emphatic with no true English equivalent, but which might translate to ‘real’ in the hip-hop sense of the word. “It was difficult, because our shul is full of young people,” without the same means as a more established congregation.

But the money came.

“This is the power of the people,” the rabbi said.

Related Articles

50 Comments

  • The rabbi is good

    he makes it all about the people this way they all feel part of it and he gets what he wants

  • oy vey

    since when do we make a shul for the women?

    Shul is for men, & if women want to attend they are welcome to sit in the back and follow not lead!

  • CAY!

    Best event the shul has ever put on! Thank you Yehudi Meshchaninov and Chanie Kaminker for putting it together! It was an inspiring, uplifting way to prepare ourselves for receiving the Torah!!

  • ¿Five Books Of Moses?

    To #4: Haven’t you heard? It’s all about the lifestyle, man! Get with it, dude!…. Seriously, you can’t expect (let alone tell) “those non-conformist” “free-thinking” brats to actually respect holy seforim.

    In case you haven’t noticed, these goons will stop at nothing to legitimize their lifestyle, unlike Torah Jews whose lifestyle dictates their actions. To do what they’re doing in the name of the Rebbe (and in Crown Heights, no less) is a chilul Lubavitch, at the very least.

    Self-respecting Crown Heights Lubavitchers doing the Rebbe’s work would do well to vomit these trouble makers out of their holy shchuna.

    “He who bites the hand that feeds him will eventually go hungry himself.”

  • to #3 Oy vey

    Shul???
    Why only keep the women out of the shul?
    They should be home, in robes, barefoot and pregnant.
    Cooking meals for the men and cleaning the house.
    They shouldn’t be working on Kingston, or teaching in school, or even driving.
    They should all be wearing Hijabs so no part of them is visible.
    And if they break any rules: beat them!

  • mmb

    Hey guys mellow out, at the very least these people have ‘Ahavas Yisroel’, which is far more than many others in CH. Cut them some slack.

  • To 9

    your right they should come to shul and mingle with the men and lets all be “Be Opened Minded” “women Liberation”
    This shul is good for “your Style”
    and your children will CH“V have ”their Style”

  • Mendy

    It was AMAZING! for those who were not there, know that yu are all welcome next time!

  • A visitor

    As a visitor from California, I davened there in CAY many times and found it a very pleasant atmosphere. Everyone was davening and singing, and yes there is talking there but the talking is to Hashem, it was very inspiring. It is not only a shul for the ladies, it is a shul for men & ladies with a nice kosher mechitza. I wish people would stop criticizing them and have a little more ahavas yisroel so we can all be zoiche to the coming of Mashiach!

  • rooting for CAY

    CAY is the only shul that makes everyone and anyone feel welcome. The women don’t lead the shul! There are programs that are run for women by women, but the main show is run by the men.

    Finally a shul that does NOT push the women to the back and ignore them! The myths that go around about CAY are amusing! The women lead the prayers, girls read from the Torah, they all do drugs etc. Finally people who wouldn’t normally daven are going to shul and we’re making an unnecessary problems for them.

    Of course people can’t accept the fact that CAY is here to stay whether they like it or not. I’m a proud member of CAY and I will continue to be one here and in Yerushalayim with Moshiach Tzidkeinu! Amen.

    Chezzi: May you continue giving much nachas to Hashem and to the Rebbe.
    Hatzlacha Rabah with the fundraising.

  • Milhouse

    #3, Am ho’oretz you, have you never heard of “beis haknesses shel noshim”? The Rishonim mention it and talk about it. And no, it was *not* a section in the back of the men’s shul, but a completely separate shul just for women, with women chazonim.

  • what a shame

    yudi means so well. what a shame he is getting involved with these people.

  • is it not minhag chabad to say tikun?

    this was always the difference between misnagdim who learned on shavuos night, and chassidim who said holy words of torah.
    interesting.

  • cma

    Choni Milecki’s talk on private browsing was unreal. LOL! I’d hire him for my wedding!

  • person

    if they are not bothering you why make such a big deal and write such nasty things?? let them be they are happy and not doing anything wrong! chabad house style… and yes in most normal places in the world the woman have a place in shul and are able to daven! appreciate your wives who do everything for u…

  • for that matter

    to # 9 well put!!! people should realise once and for all love your fellow jew.We all have something to offer.all u need is a little respect for others and yourself.

  • moti

    to #7 those self-respecting lubavitchers you speak of, how many daven in shuls with proper kavono? Plus your comment is dripping with hate

  • Fresser Rebbe

    BH

    to number 4, when you say enough rolled L’Chaims Books (among’st other things) either ARE upside down or APPEAR to be upside down.

  • CAYter to me, Me, ME!!!

    Calling CAY a “Hasidic shul” is like calling the Carnegie Deli “glatt kosher”

  • to # 9

    why do you let them go to shul and sit in the back, why not put them in the front have them read the torah and be chazzan and have them men sit in the back

    im sure thats why the women on your family go to shul 3 times a day because they are so into it

  • LOve IT!! GREAT PLACE

    as a regular at CAY i love it!!!! and that’s an understatement.
    Bu tChezzy please take a haircut:-) you will look much better!!!!

    Aleh vehatzlach!!

  • AA

    #7: so I take it that in your shul there never, ever are any sefarim shelved upside-down? Or a siddur accidentally placed on top of a chumash? Because if there are, then I guess that shul should also be closed immediately and the mispallelim slink away in shame. Or does that apply only to “the other”?

    (Not to mention: neither you nor #3 have any way of knowing whether, perhaps, those two copies of the chumash were bound upside-down, which has been known to happen.)

  • mendoza

    TO # POST ..I SEE WERE YOU GET YR POST NAME FROM “ FIVE BOOKS OF MOSES ” FIRST OF ALL YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT ONE OF THE MAIN MITZVAS OF THE REBBA `S CAMPAIGN . WHICH IS AVAS YISROLE . YOUR JUST A HATER .. AND YOU WILL NOT UNDRESTAND TILL YR KID WILL GO AROPP FUIN VEG .. CH`V . WERE DO COME TO KNOCK ANOTHER YID .?
    JUST BECAUSE ITS NOT 4 YOU DOES NOT MAKE IT WRONG .. COME ON
    AND YOU CLAIM TO BE AH HISER LUBAVITCHER ? YOU ARE ANTI CHABAD AND ANTI THE REBBA NOSI HADOR

  • Fresser Rebbe

    BH

    To number 4, are you sure the books are upside down, or did you roll one too many, and IF it wasn’t you, maybe the one returning the books the shelf was benefiting from a rolled up happy ride, it’s all for tikun olam anyway.

  • wow woopdie doo da day

    you’re soooo cool..staying open all night long just like EVERY OTHER SHUL IN THE WORLD!

  • to # 17

    Am ho’oretz you? you are the Am ho’oretz you!!

    Nobody ever said you cannot have a shul for women if its ONLY for women
    we are talking over here for a shul that is for men & women, in this case you cannot have a women lead the services

  • To #25 Moti

    Who are you to judge another Yid’s kovona? Seriously, I’d like to know…. Your attitude appears to be the reason why so many folks are anti-CAY. It’s the whole begging for acceptance act and judging others while pretending not to judge. I mean, get over yourselves.

    I’m a west coaster where it’s pretty laid back and walked into CAY one Shabbos last year. I’ll say this much: it stank of self-righteousness and arrogance although the davening appeared more orderly than 770 (if that means anything). Some folks were friendly but most kept to themselves and weren’t interested in conversation. When we introduced ourselves, I was given a cold stare, perhaps because I came dressed in my black and whites. To an outsider, they seemed very judgmental and uninterested in people that “looked” like threats. Several of my friends noted the same thing after we left and we decided not to go back.

  • @ #4,7,8,26,31,4

    In regard to your statements regard upside down chumashim in a photo of the bookshelf of CAY.

    I will not delve into the intricacies and complications of the broader discussion of the esteemed commentators, they are beyond the scope of my education; rather, I will simply address one issue. Namely: whether or not the aforementioned books are sitting on their respective shelves right side up or upside down.

    Generally, our assessment of a book to recognize and define it being upside down can be made by simply reading the title as it is on the spine. Oft times, the title will be printed down the spine, enabling us to determine which way the book should be placed on a shelf. Unfortunately, we cannot really on this method when attempting to examine Jewish books, because the publishers are bound to be confused and wrongly assume that the titles in English should read the opposite way of the titles printed in Hebrew, or vice versa. In such cases, we usually revert to looking for the publishing house’s symbol, which is generally printed on the bottom of the spine.

    In this case, however; we are dealing with a book whose width allows the complete title of the book to be printed horizontally, albeit in small letters. Whch would lead us to inevitably conclude that the aforementioned books are upside down. Which in turn will lead others to argue that the books themselves are defective and the covers are misrepresenting the inside of the book.

    Now, based on such observations, we cannot maintain as to whether two books are upside down or all of them are, aside for said two. When however, we add another element to our observation, we can truthfully and rightfully discern the true orientation of the book. This element is the bookmark. The bookmark is a ribbon attached to the spine of the book during or after the binding process, yet before the application of the cover. Being that the ribbon is applied during the bindin it is a pretty clear sign as to which way the book is meant to be.

    In the above picture, ribbons can be seen protruding from the books. Based on the dire tion that they are flowing and their start and end points we can verify that the two books which at first glance seem to be upside down are truly upside down, and the ramining books are truly right side up.

    This theory is the most sensible one, yet it is subject to one deciding factor in the proccess of book manufacturing: is the ribbon applied during or after the binding process.

    I hope I have been able to shed some light on this perplexing issue, and in the future, I urge all commentators to try to state fact as fact and emotion as emotion. Fact is indistputable whereas emotions vary from individual to individual.

    This being said, I hope and feel that I have done my part and duty in commentating th great World Wide Web.

    C Tater
    In this instance, however; we are forunate to be discerning the right-side-upness of a book

  • abe montreal

    To # 20
    you write about the difference of chabad that say tikun
    ‘“ HOLY WORDS” of the tikun
    implying that the others who stay up all night and talk divrey torah are not Holy?

  • abe montreal

    To # 17
    rishonim spoke about giving aliya to women also!!
    but for whatever reason today is not done!!!!!!

  • shloime freundlich

    To – 18 how dare you talk about Yehudi Meshchaninov, he gives a shir Wednesday on the Rebbe’s Torah with Primary sources etc.He gave a great TED talk why is he not as valid as any Chabad Rabbi to 36 The Rabbi goes over to all new pepole to give a hug etc I also walk over to say hi etc

  • as

    Really!! two books are upside down and you all get into a scuffle over this. Live and let live, to each their own. And all of us should learn to respect each other a bit more. Some of us come from different backgrounds and are learning and trying to go in a positive direction. Others come from long lines of chasidish families, we are not all the same!!! It’s about mutual understanding and respect and adhering to halachah and community standards for sure. this knocking each other down is just ridiculous

  • annonymys

    i agree with 19 plus all (most) of the other jews in new york were doing the same.
    all around the world.

    what about them.

  • Zalmy Zezmir

    oooh goody. baruch hashem I was there and enjoyed every bit of Shavuos…

    twas so holy!

  • One of the CAY -Rebbitzins-

    I remember #25. Ladies came to visit and had the audacity to talk among themselves during Krias HaTorah. I’m proud to be one of the volunteer women-‘shusshers’. In CAY we do not converse during davening and especially not during layning. CAY is a righteous shul (not self-righteous), AND we have added a Beis HaMedrash during the week (separate for men and women), and well attended shiurim before daving Shabbos morning. silgned, Pround to be a CAY-er.

  • Ilana S

    I love that the greatest criticism of this wonderful institution that nasty internet commenters could find was that a couple of books were upside down.