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Kinus Hashluchim Banquet Relocated to Manhattan

The Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, the site where the Kinus Shluchims banquet was scheduled to be held, was damaged by the floods from Hurricane Sandy and the organizing committee was notified that it would not be available for the banquet – scheduled to take place in a week from now.

The Cruise Terminal is located in the Red Hook Section of Brooklyn which was designated as a ‘Zone A’ and was evacuated ahead of the hurricane. Most of the area was hit with massive flooding and hundreds of people we displaced from their homes.

Last night the organizing committee held a conference call in which they discussed possible alternatives for the location of the banquet and finally agreed on the Hilton in Manhattan – whose main ballroom along with two satellite halls can accommodate a combined total of 4,600 people.

The following is an email that was sent out to all Shluchim by Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky:

Dear Shliach

גוט וואך

מה’ מצעדי גבר כוננו

As the Kinus Hashluchim rapidly approaches, we are pleased to report that despite many challenges we encountered due to the recent Hurricane, the Kinus programs and sessions are all on course for what promises to be an inspiring and uplifting Kinus, B’Ezras Hashem.

We are deeply pained by the hardships our fellow shluchim and their communities are enduring due to the events of last week, and we are doing our utmost to assist them in their time of need.

We are certain that the Rebbe would want the Kinus to resume and be held as planned on Shabbos Mevorchim HaChodesh Kislev.

However, after ongoing discussions with the Port Authority and the tireless efforts of our staff to overcome the logistical, environmental and labor challenges to enable the Kinus banquet to take place as scheduled at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, we were informed Friday afternoon that the Terminal will not be available. We understood and readily accepted their notification due to it being requisitioned to dock government and medical relief vessels servicing the heavily afflicted Red-Hook, Staten Island and other nearby areas.

With few alternative options available large enough to accommodate the growing number of banquet participants, Boruch Hashem we were able to secure the New York Hilton, New York City’s largest ballroom. Along with its main ballroom and two adjacent ballrooms, the Hilton can comfortably accommodate the 4600 shluchim and their guests. We anticipate featuring segments of the program from each of the ballrooms, with live and ongoing video linkage throughout.

We hereby ask for your understanding and cooperation. Should you be attending the banquet without your Baalei Batim and are willing to volunteer and join with other chaveirim in taking a seat in one of the satellite ballrooms, please reply to this email or kindly login to your kinus registration page and note your choice and your seating preference.

We thank you for your understanding and cooperation and look forward to welcoming you this week to a most successful and enjoyable Kinus and Hisvaadus Chaveirim with our brethren shluchim from around the world.

On behalf of the Vaad Hakinus,
RabbI Moshe Kotlarsky

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15 Comments

  • Ich bin nispoel

    In a Disaster Area, where people lost so much and have not yet recovered, there is a concept of: I am with him, עמו אנכי immo anochi; as soon as the trouble comes, I are there.

    Imagine if in New Orleans shortly after Hurricane Katrina a group of l’havdil church ministers would have a lavish conversion for 3000 members in the devastated city. Imagine the fall out from the bad publicity! Imagine how we would criticize their callous actions…

    Well, imagine no longer, that is us having a conversion!

    Before we hire spin doctors to fix the bad publicity, maybe wiser people should take preventive action.

    There is a time and place when to be nispoel and when not to be nispoel. It must be done with sechel!

  • To comment #1

    Actually Starbucks did come in shortly after Katrina and they made a massive conference with thousands of employees. While they were there, they volunteered time and resources to the victims. According to Mr. Shultz, this was the greatest and most uplifting thing his organization was able to ever do.

    There is nothing wrong with holding a banquet here in NY.

    Mayor Bloomberg was wrong for not sticking to his guns. He either should have called off the ING Marathon to begin with or else he should have stuck with it and not show weak and ineffectual leadership.

  • agree whole heartedly with #1

    AGREED!!! in bad taste. cancel it. and for those that say the rebbe would want it to continue,,…… you only wish to know what the rebbe would say about this,,,,, do not be so haughty as to put words into his mouth, what he would want and what he wouldn’t!!! for now, the rebbe is not around to ask, so use your brains, and just cancel it , and use all those thousands of much needed dollars in disaster relief….the shluchim will come in anyway, whether there be a dinner or not…

  • Options

    No. 1 has a good point. The shluchim do so much and having this event to recharge their batteries and connect with their peers is so important, but this may look very good. Even if all the power is on in NYC, Staten Island, NJ, long island, there still are going to be tens of thousands who have lost everything and hundreds of thousands more who can’t afford to do things like replace the food and necessities that were ruined and are still in great need of help. Many of the victims were elderly and disabled and don’t have cars. Maybe one day of the kinus should be dedicated to a day of volunteer work helping staten islanders clean out their homes and bring them food and basic supplies. Instead of the lavish dinner, have sandwiches and use the money that would to for the big dinner and liquor to help the Sandy survivors. That way the world will see some of the good that the schluchim do 365 days a year when they are not in crown heights relaxing.

  • Agree with #1

    See next story and learn from it: “NYC Marathon Cancelled Due to Public Outrage”.

    Yet we, the “chachomim” are going ahead as planned with the kinus! Well if we want the public outrage, we will get it!

    Si nit du kein velt – until we need to fund raise.

    I am NOT c“v suggesting cancelling the convention, what I am saying is either (1) postpone it till the state of emergency is over; or (2) have a very low-key SIMPLE convention to express as #1 wrote ”imo onochi b’tzara” – solidarity with those in our midst, not that we party while they suffer.

  • AH SHANDE UN AH CHARPA

    WHAT WONDERFUL SHLUCHIM WE HAVE! AT LEAST TEN FELLOW SHLUCHIM LOST E V E R Y T H I N G AND THE OTHERS WILL SIT AT AN OVER THE TOP BANQUET WHILE THERE FELLOW SHLUCHIM ARE HOMELESS – AMONG THOUSANDS OF OTHR HOMELESS PEOPLE. LEAVE THE REBBE OUT OF THIS WHEN YOU TRY TO WHITE WASH THIS HUGH CHILUL LUBAVITCH. And just for the record Bloomberg got smart when he called off the stupid marathon. He would have had a lot of casualties from angry suffering people. Imagine how many shluchim could be rebuit comfortably with the money being thrown out for this affair?! All I can say is FEH! WHAT CALLOUS SHLUCHIM WE HAVE THAT THEY CAN SIT COMFORTABLY AT THE EXTRAVAGANT HILTON WHILE OTHERS ARE STARVING AND FREEZING FOR LACK OF A HOME AND FOOD AND COOKING FACILITIES. DID ANYONE STOP TO THINK THAT MAYBE THIS IS ALL A MESSAGE FROM HASHEM THAT WE ARE MEANT TO BEND OVER A DROP BACKWARDS TO HELP ANOTHER HUMAN BEING, AND SINCE THE MESSAGE SEEMS TO HAVE GONE RIGHT OVER THE HEADS OF THE ORGANIZERS HASHEM IS SENDING A NOREASTERNER ( AKA A BLIZZARD) SO THAT MOST PEOPLE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ATTEND IN ANY CASE. NUMBER 5 YOU ARE RIGHT!

  • Best of both worlds

    #1 has it right but needs a slight adjustment.

    Have the kinus and show solidarity with those suffering. That means no flowers or “mosros” – extra frills. Serve buffet style simple foods, nothing showy. Keep it simple! Explain WHY it is simple and not the usual lavish affair.

    If Chabad would be struck c”v by a tragedy, the kinus would go on but in a state of mourning (I don’t mean like the year of Mumbai – which could not have been foreseen).

    Do the right thing instead of later apologizing.

  • ATTENTION #2

    Number 2 I know a good Shrink. You need your head examined. or maybe it’s a good cardiac surgeon, who could possibly give you a heart with compassion……

  • somethin tells me

    Something tells me that people who say the kinus should be cancelled;

    A) Don’t live in reality.
    B) Don’t know what the kinus is all about.
    C) Don’t know that NYC has awful shortages of gas/ and or electric, but otherwise people have resumed to attending to the events they had in their calendar (weddings, dates, meetings) and their standard business….
    D)Never farginned the Shluchim to begin with.
    E) All of the above.

    Yes the shluchim care about the victims and the shluchim exchange are full of shluchim around the world brainstorming how they can provide relief etc. etc. and more importantly actually providing relief, but life has to go on. (Razag and Oholei Torah aren’t canceling all their weddings until the end of shloshim. Nor are our secular & Gentile friends canceling theirs.)

    It’s Chabad’s largest event of the year. It’s not an entertainment venue nor a fundraiser. It can just be canceled at the drop of a hat or be rescheduled to take place in a public school basketball court. You guys need to get a grip. It’s great you have sensitivity to the victims of Sandy (as we all do), but please return to planet earth.

  • to ATTENTION #2

    Someone has an opinion different from you so he needs a heart and a brain?! Just shows the shallowness of your intellect as well as shallowness of your character.

  • MOSHE YEHUDA

    shluchim new york WE HAVE TO MAKE OUR VOICES HEARD WE NEED TO TAKE THIS MONEY AND GIVE IT TO TZEDAKAQ AND THEN STAND AS ONE INFRONT OF 770 and say LECHAIM on mezonos & mashke and that needs to be this years BANQUET and have the roll call!!!!!wake up organizers

  • # 8 from # 2

    Perhaps you should heed your own advice and visit this nice doctor of yours. Don’t you see the irony of your comments. You are telling me to viciously have my heart and brain ripped out so that someone like you can gently install a new one. Um, thanks but no thanks.

    Mayor Bloomberg didn’t cancel the marathon because he thinks NY doesn’t have the resources to pull off helping people and running the marathon. He did it because he caved to political pressure. He should be ashamed of himself.

    As for the Kinus. NY has lost billions so far from this disaster, NY companies want to get back on their feet and recover. Imagine how nice and COMPASSIONATE a kinus focused on helping victims and rejuvenating New Yorkers would be.

    Like I said, read about the Starbucks example. They went out and did everything from picking up trash to painting houses.

    By the way don’t forget to post a comment or two about your next therapy session.

  • kinus parking

    Even though crown heights was not damaged in any major way
    There are some real logistics because of the gas situation
    People are not driving or moving there cars . There are new muni meters
    On troy ave that prevent you from parking over shabbos
    Bottom line ,There is no parking
    And with the influx of cars for kinus. Good luck finding parking or gas

  • chaim

    Kinus should go on as close to planned as possible.
    For those that want it cancelled think about the 4500+ airplane tickets purchased that would be wasted. Think about the Shliach in Manaus South America who hasn’t seen a frum yid since last kinnus. Or the Shliach in some other nowhere who needs a little chizuk. Why would you take that away because there are hungry people in red hook? With over 100,000 homeless people per year in NYC how could we ever have the banquet there.
    For those that say delay it
    Do you have any idea how much money was already put into this event changing the date now would mean all that money goes to waste and that wount help the victims of this tragedy anyway.
    for those that think shluchim should join the relief effort
    they have and in a major big way. I agree that if you got 4500 rabbis to help the relief effort a day it would be a huge kiddush hashem it is also a huge misuse of their time. this is not to say shluchim are “better than cleaners the point is that these guys do this everyday all day maybe not handing out blankets and maybe not delivering water but the idea is the same and they come to NY to get inspired not burnt out.