In the event it escaped your notice, this past Shabbos Crown Heights was host to the largest-ever Chabad on Campus Shabbaton. Close to a thousand college students and shluchim participated. The students, growing as Jews and on a journey learning about their Yiddishkeit, took a weekend off to experience an inspirational Shabbos amongst their fellow students. It was an opportunity for Crown Heights to really shine and it did, for the most part.
The students were easy to pick out from the Friday morning crowds on Kingston Ave. Dressed like our scattering of new yuppie neighbors, except for the yarmulkes on their heads, they could be seen navigating Crown Heights' sometimes aggressive pedestrian traffic together with their shluchim. Some looked wide-eyed and amazed by the sight of a modern day Chassidic community, while others just seemed disoriented by all the traffic and tumult.
Op-Ed: Crown Heights Shines for Campus Shabbaton, for the Most Part…
In the event it escaped your notice, this past Shabbos Crown Heights was host to the largest-ever Chabad on Campus Shabbaton. Close to a thousand college students and shluchim participated. The students, growing as Jews and on a journey learning about their Yiddishkeit, took a weekend off to experience an inspirational Shabbos amongst their fellow students. It was an opportunity for Crown Heights to really shine and it did, for the most part.
The students were easy to pick out from the Friday morning crowds on Kingston Ave. Dressed like our scattering of new yuppie neighbors, except for the yarmulkes on their heads, they could be seen navigating Crown Heights’ sometimes aggressive pedestrian traffic together with their shluchim. Some looked wide-eyed and amazed by the sight of a modern day Chassidic community, while others just seemed disoriented by all the traffic and tumult.
Members of the community opened their homes and warmly hosted the hundreds of Jewish girls and boys from across the country. Friday night, after the big downstairs minyan in 770 finished davening, the students packed into the front of the shul. They davened together in the signature warm style of Chabad Houses. Many local yugerleit davened or just sang along with them. It was truly a beautiful sight. The students then braved the rain and were welcomed as family around Shabbos tables throughout Crown Heights. All night, students could be heard singing in the streets as they made their way to Oholei Torah, where they gathered to farbreng into the wee hours of the morning.
Atypically, members of the community were wishing complete strangers, “Good Shabbos” and acting in an extremely courteous manner. I pinched myself to see if I was dreaming. I was quickly sobered by one particular incident. I noticed a student being scolded by a self-righteous (and probably well-meaning) individual for using an umbrella. At that moment, I was overcome with deep shame. Here was a student who could spend her Friday night anyway she pleased. She chose to spend her weekend in Crown Heights to learn more about the joy of being Jewish and was accosted in a manner evocative of Mea Shearim. Though she may have put the umbrella away, I do not believe the experience brought her any closer to future Shabbos observance. Based on her distraught reaction, I’m afraid it only achieved the opposite.
For someone to feel so strongly about another Jew’s Yiddishkeit is truly special. However, there are more constructive ways of expressing those feelings. This is not the way the Rebbe raised and taught us to approach a fellow Jew and certainly, this was no way to treat a guest.
Despite the above incident, over the course of this weekend I felt proud to be part of this community. Sadly, that is something we don’t get to experience often enough.
This Op-Ed reflects the views of its author, it does not necessarily reflect the views of CrownHeights.info nor of its Editors.
A reader that wishes to make his or her voice heard on any topic of their desire is welcome to submit his or her Op-Ed to News@CrownHeights.info.
your neighbor
to the editor
i understand you feelings
but i get the feeling that we were trained to be nce to others (not frum people not lubavitchers) but unfortunantly to our own ????? how do we act
you mention our new yuppie neighbors… i thought so myself till a friend said to me sorry that one is not ayuppie neighbor that is your friends son and he is walking with your other friends daughter…
people it is greta to be nice to others. but please NOt at the expebnse of our own children. so say hello to a friend in croen height say hello to a jew when you walk by him. and if you know that someone is down lend a helping hand, beforethey have to ask. if you know someone has a problem with their child offer some help some support
let us be proud of ourselves
chazak
use your head
a bubby once asked me something in yiddish, and i said, "ich red nisht yiddish". she glared and called me a shickseh. this was 30 years ago, and it still burns.
boruch ben tzvi A H Kohaine Hoffinger
B"H
W O N D E R F U L!
Re: the umbrella affair I wish I knew the student who was scolded. I would call him/her and apologize profusely for the insensitive and foolish criticism.
When I first came to Crown Heights, and knew little, I carried an umbrella on yom tov. Someone politely told me it was forbidden.
The Rebbe MH"M spoke about criticising Jews, and this is DEFINITELY NOT the way to do it!
Too bad we didn’t have a community meeting or alert re: the proper way to talk to these WONDERFUL students.
It hurts me.
Kol haKovod to the people involved in organizing and running this
M A R V E L O U S
Chabad on Campus Shabbaton!
It makes me S M I L E !
The Rebbe, MH"M loves you for it!
nemo
Recently a classmate of mine {from out of town} got married in Crown Heights. Aside for the inimitable Simcha of seeing a childhood friend married off, it was also amazing to see so many people, many whom for whatever reason aren’t Frum today, come together for a Jewish event- and more importantly, an exciting Jewish event. There were some people there who haven’t gone to Shul in years that were for the first time in a long time, happy and excited by the celebration.
There was one young man in particular who felt especially estranged by Yiddishkeit to the point that he resented the fact that his parents who were/are Mekuravim, sent him to a Frum elementary school. After sixth grade he left us and went through many phases, experimenting with all sorts of hard narcotics, alcohol, all the while completely abandoning Yiddishkeit. Many of us hadn’t seen him in years when he turned up at our classmate’s wedding and it was quite a pleasant surprise. He is now in university and clean for the most part, and he is now at a very pivotal point in his life where he is deciding the direction that he will go.
We caught up with him at the wedding, danced alot, reminisced about old times and Farbrenged a lot about life and Yiddishkeit. I think that for the first time in a long time he actually felt like Judaism had something for him and that he belonged. He was excited to be Jewish.
Not too long after that, my friend came to me enraged about the Jewish community’s unwillingness to accept others. He was shouting that this is why he left it all to begin with, because everyone is so quick to pass judgment. Apparently some "rabbi" approached him and told him off because he has earings. Some person, who at least looks the part of a rabbi, who neither knows him nor his life and circumstances, insolently reprimands him because of something so superficial like a pair of earings. My friend left the wedding incensed about the treatment that he got from Frum people, vowing never to take part in the community again. Try as I might, he would not be appeased. There was nothing that I could tell him that would reassure him because he was right, he was mistreated.
Is this the type of behavior that will help Jews appreciate their Judaism? Should people be brought into a Jewish community only to be instantly measured by the community’s standards and shot down because they don’t live up to what shouldn’t even be expected from them? Why would anyone want to take part in a community where they’re not even looked at as human and as though they should un-methodically become the same conformist and share similar values?
A Shliach
I’m one of the shluchim who brought a group of students for Shabbos.
a) Indeed a huge thank you has to go to the community of Crown Heights for their amazing hospitality in opening their doors to literally hundreds of strangers.
b) Several of my students had umbrellas. (As we hadn’t thought about rain, this wasn’t something that we prepared them for in advance.) Several of them got comments from passersby. And indeed, as noted by the writer above, that was not a positive experience. In fact, I noticed one particular student who seemed very out of it during the meal. In response to some probing, it turned out that the experience of being "lectured" at about having his umbrella had made him look at the whole experience of davening in 770 etc. as way too much for him and his world outlook. Efforts were made, conversations were had, l’chaims were said, and hopefully there’s no long-lasting negative impact, but there’s no question that it would do people welll to thing about what and how they choose to say things.
Danielle
I was at the shabbaton over the weekend as a student from Hofstra University. It was truly, in fact, an AMAZING experience. We all had an amazing time and we can’t wait to do it again! Crown Heights is truly a beautiful place and we thank everyone for their hospitality. :)
A.L.B.Y.S.
I saw the same thing and it was with a man so it must have happened more than once…
A campus shlucha
Instead of just being ashamed, maybe next time you should SAY something when you see someone embarrassing a visitor. If you don’t feel comfortable addressing the offending party, then at least to tell the student "I’m sorry, but that was totally inappropriate." Being quiet is like agreeing.
follow up
the people who need to hear these points most, probably do not go online. how about webby forwarding these comments to the neshei newslatter and the algemeiner.
Shliach 2
I wanted to confront another issue (with criticism if I may): Alchohol! A Crown Heightser met one of my students in the streets, shlepped him into his home, and got this poor 18 year old toit shiker while "farbrenging" with him. What the heck do you think his parents will think when they hear about this. Will they allow him near Chabad ever again? Please leave the job to the shluchim and reinforce the shluchims work with a gentle warm smile to the students. That will impact the students far greater than farbrenging with them. B’meila if you have common sense…
Thanks to the Crown Heights community for hosting us so graciously. May Hashem repay the Hachnosas Ohrchim of this special community.
mendy
your right, it was Halloween weekend and there were massive parties all over the country for collage students.
however, as the passerby you are unaware of this particular situation and if this person has some type of relationship with this individual and felt comfortable rebuking this person. it says in tanya that only if you are someones friend, then you can addomish this person, however this means you must be a good friend and know that he will listen.
also there was a story i happened to read randomly (maybe in the neshai journal) of a person who was slapped for his ignorance and this caused that he later became frum…everyone reacts in their own way.
Resident
As someone who is a BT and lives in Crown Heights, I agree with the author.
This is the Rebbe’s shechuna, and even though there are signs that tell visitors to wear long skirts, long shirts, etc, we need to realize that people who are not frum will NOT and we at the least need to give them credit for being willing to visit our neighborhood to grow in Yiddishkeit.
During Simchas Beis Shueva last year two girls who were very clearly not frum and college students started dancing on the girls side only to be screamed by someone. Now this woman thinks the Rebbe was proud of her for enforcing a Taliban code of conduct, but this act lead to this girl basically severing all ties with Judaism and her Chabad on campus Rabbi because of the hostility in her first ever trip to an Orthodox neighborhood.
If someone is blatantly not following the rules to that degree than let us NOT JUDGE and just assume that they did not know the halacha…or even what the word halacha means
Resident
To follow up with what I said before:
When these actions happen it makes so much for difficult for Shluchim to do their job and even harder for BT’s in the neighborhood who have parents who already are taught by their REFORM leadership that Orthodox Jews judge you.
When someone does this type of thing in the name of the Rebbe they are discgracing the Rebbe more than a misnagid who doesnt aknowledge the Rebbe..becuase they make JUDAISM LOOK BAD.
Instead these people should simply say Good Shabbos to the person, cut down on their alcohol intake and realize that these people simply dont know better
I hope people like tha, who show an arrogant idiotic hatred toward non frum Jews leave our neighborhood
A frum guy
I dont blame anyone for not saying good shabbos to frum opeople but it was pretty funny how evryone was saying good shabbos to the students i was with and completely ingnoring me
Shanie
CH has a thing or two to learn on this topic…
I was in shul and noticed this woman turn blush red after be told off about how her sleeve was a bit too short for her likings… I’m of one thing, she didn’t inspire her to begin being more serious about tznios if anything it was just the opposite
Mendy
B"H
I dont know what you’re on about.
I happened to have eaten the Shabbos meal together with a large number of students. At the end of the meal, when the students were collecting their umbrellas on the way to O.T., the host kindly explained the issur involved. They had no problem with it and on the contrary were very thankful to have been briefed into the do’s and don’ts of Judaism.
I personally think that the Shabbaton was a huge success, and don’t think that any of the students were turned off. Let’s not forget that we are religious jews who keep a certain set of rules. One of them is "hocheiach toche’ach".
You could look at it the other way too.(I don’t want to get attacked for this, just some food for thought):
Imagine this student is on a high after such a wonderful Shabboss and decides to start keeping Shabbos, wouldn’t he be kind of upset that we "hid" this info from him/her,(as has many a Baal T’shuvah).
In closing if you want to complain, you can complain about the fact there were tens of unzereh bochrim milling about (Fri. night at O.T.) in a seviva that was totally inappropriate for them. I think that it is b’chdei she’yasu for the organizers to change that for the future.
Other then that the event was a major success. A big Thank You to all the campus shluchim who work so hard, and to all the organizers and people which helped.
Answer to the CH bashing article
a) plenty of ppl in CH invite ‘our’ ppl into their homes, feed them, smile to them when they need i etc.
b)he people that are being bashed are the same ‘stupid crownheightsers’ that hosted all these studens and their shluchim.
c)It is indeed a very big problem that students can come here without being instructed by their shluchim on how to behave. They came to expereince shabbos and grow in jewish observance.
I heard many reports of cell phones going off during the meals in front of ‘our’ young children, in 770 during davening, on the street in front of ‘our’ shomer shabbos families.
I also know of students who left the shabbos program to go party in manhattan. Is this why we bring them to NY? They should be part of a program from the beginning till the end. If they are not ready for it they shouldn’t come. They can go to ny on their own.
The issue of ‘kiruv’ by showing them how we can also be goyish (8th day etc)is not for now. It has been discussed at length in the past.
Shliach
My input on the positive side:
Thank you Crown Heights for opening your homes and hosting us. To qoute a student that came:
Once again, both me and my sister had an awesome time this weekend. I was actually just talking to her on the phone and she said that she wanted to buy some books about Judaism because during Shabbos dinn. the kids were telling us all these stories, and how they could translate from Yiddush to Hebrew and back to English etc. and she was like…. these kids are only 6-10 year olds!!!
to mendy
it’s not WHAT you say, it’s HOW you say it that matters. words can build or destroy…
To Mendy
To Mendy who wrote:
"and don’t think that any of the students were turned off"
Dumbo read the fifth comment by A Shliach:
"I noticed one particular student who seemed very out of it during the meal. In response to some probing, it turned out that the experience of being "lectured" at about having his umbrella had made him look at the whole experience of davening in 770 etc. as way too much for him and his world outlook."
Resident
To Answer to Crown Heights Bashing:
I agree that the shluchim can and SHOULD brief their students on the do’s and donts. Maybe they do and the students arent ready to accept it yet. OR maybe the Shliach knows that it is just a waste to bring up the topic as seclar college students are independent and dont want to be told by anyone what they MUST do….trust me on this from experience.
My parents come to visit a lot on Shabbos. They drive in. My father uses his phone on the street. I can not force him not to do these things as Crown Street to him is just a street in NYC. Similarly to these students, while Crown Heights was a "hasidic land" for them, it was also just another part of the USA.
Finally, according to the article the rebukers were not "friends" or "hosts" but rather some passerbyer, probably someone who claims to love the Rebbe, but never read a single sicha on how to treat other Jews.
So, yes, we can say everyone should be briefed and cell phones should be turned off….HOWEVER if you were not involved with the shabbaton….then trust me by being critical you are only making it harder for us BT’s and Shluchim and for spreading the Rebbe’s teachings.
Shliach 2
Just to mention, I was at the shabbaton and hadn’t seen single cell phone on Shabbos. I think our students (all 700 of them) did their part of the deal.
observer
I wasn’t at the Shabbaton this year, but I was there last year (as a guide for students), and I definitely agree that there was waaay too many bochurim there. I’m not referring to the ones guiding students – just "hanging out". They even dominated the "ask the Rabbi" session, which was completely inapropriate.