Yeshiva Forgoes Chicken in Favor of Virtual Dinner
In a “hi-tech” twist, a Chabad-Lubavitch yeshiva in Safed invited friends and supporters to attend its annual dinner through the Internet.
Jews around the world were cordially invited by Yeshivas Tzeirei HaShluchim – an institution in the north of Israel specializing in educating children of Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries – to attend a “special online evening of tribute” celebrating its 13th anniversary of operation in the Galilee mountain city.
The event also marked six decades since the passing of Rabbi Yisroel Aryeh Leib Schneerson, brother of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory. He was buried in Safed in 1952.
“When we realized these two events were coinciding in the very place of the Rebbe’s brother’s grave, we decided we had to do something special to mark the occasion,” explained Chabad of Safed director Rabbi Chaim Kaplan, who also directs the yeshiva.
Proceeds from the dinner benefitted the yeshiva’s scholarship fund, which offers partial support to students to make the program financially accessible.
“We would be honored by your online presence,” announced the e-mail invitation, while traditional “snail mail” invitations were sent out to guests in Israel.
The idea meant attendance did not have to cost a plane ticket and extra clothing expenses for the event.
The affair began with a trip to Rabbi Yisroel Aryeh Leib’s resting place, and proceeded to dinner at the yeshiva’s scenic campus. Guests of honor included Chabad-Lubavitch of Italy director Rabbi Gershon Mendel Garelik, who also serves as chief justice of the Rabbinical Court of Milan and sits on the Rabbinical Council of Europe; and Rabbi Shmuel Lew, the longtime director of the Lubavitch House School in Europe who maintained a close relationship with the Rebbe’s brother.
Rabbi Sholom Duchman, who helped found the yeshiva and now serves as international director of the Colel Chabad social service agency, addressed the dinner, while Rabbi Hillel Dovid Krinsky, received a Founder’s Award for his years of effort on behalf of the school.
