Daily Archives: May 5, 2005

Community Council: “We are Unable to Uphold the Mikveh”

The Jewish Community Council of Crown Heights publicized a letter saying that they are unable to uphold the Mikveh on the corner of Union and Albany any longer; therefore, the Mikveh will be shut down again. The Mikveh, which caters to nearly a thousand people per day, was shut down a half a year ago and was only reopened after the intervention of several prominent council members. Now that the elections are over, the Mikveh is shutting down again.

After speaking to the community council this afternoon we were told “the mikvah costs us $12,500 a month and we are only raising on average $5,000 a month we haven’t got enough funds to be able to keep the service going, unless the community contributes so the only thing to do at this stage is to close the mikvah, we are extremely sorry for all the inconvenience”.

Bringing the Struggle to Crown Heights

In the past few days, protest banners against Sharon’s disengagement plan have been seen around Crown Heights. Local residents have been showing solidarity, and the protest has been stepped up since haTomim Yehonasan Rubin, who organizes Chabad activities at the Council of Jewish Communities in Yehuda, Shomron and Gaza, arrived in New York.

A Chabadinfo photographer took to the streets of the neighborhood, where he took a gallery of pictures.

Yehonasan told us that he would like to thank the bochurim who hung up the banners around the neighborhood. There has been a positive response from local residents, who have expressed their concern and a willingness to help.

New Shluchim to Prospect Heights

Rabbi Aharon Yosef Kirshenbaum from Crown Heights will be leaving to Prospect Heights for shlichus to Prospect Heights in Brooklyn, N.Y. These new shluchim, sent by Tsach, will establish a Chabad House there to serve the local Jews.