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Lag BaOmer Parade with Chabad of Kensington

KENSINGTON, Brooklyn [CHI] — Over 400 children from all backgrounds, religious and secular, Litvish and Chassidish, American and Russian, gathered from all over the area for a grand Lag BaOmer Parade in Kensington (Flatbush) on Ocean Parkway.

Opening the event was emcee Shimon Rivkin who called up local children to recite the twelve Pesukim, followed by the singing of traditional Jewish songs including Modeh Ani and ‘Hashem is Here’. The crowd was then treated to a grand performance by the renowned ‘Steve Max’ of ‘The Simon Sez Show’!

The performance was followed by a raffle for all participants with a chance to win a Nintendo Wii. The raffle was drawn and proud Batya Goldberg went home with her very own Wii.

At 5:30 the marching parade went alongside Ocean Parkway, and concluded with the opening of the rides and carnival booths.

All children from NCFJE’s Released Time Program were in attendance. There were many booths positioned alongside the parade area to ‘Sign Up in Tzivos Hashem’, Chassidus Bookstand, Letter in Children’s Torah as well as concession stands.

The Parade was organized by Chabad Lubavitch of Kensington under the direction of Rabbi Moshe Chaim Levin. The Parade director was Rabbi Yehuda Levin. The 770 Bochurim of Released Time Program as well as the Bochurim from Oholei Torah Zal contributed in arranging and running this grand parade.

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5 Comments

  • Mrs. E

    The Levins, Shluchim in Kensington, did an absolutely uncredible job! It was heartwarming to see hundreds of public school kids, walking side by side with neighborhood frum kids, proudly wearing the parade shirts, “I am Proud to be a Jew”! I noticed the heavy traffic during the afternoon rush hour slow down as drivers stared in disbelief at the unusual sight on Ocean Parkway. Some drivers honked in a show of support. The organization, coordination and tremendous amount of hard work yielded a most magnificent parade. It bought back memories of the original parades where Release Time students played an important part. Jewish pride was so tangible at that parade, I can’t imagine every Jewish public school child walking home with his shirt on–not holding his head up a little bit higher. The message:Being Jewish is not something to hide. An amazing event!

  • Faigie, a former Kensingtonian

    Thank you to the Levin Family and all the bochorim who organized this wonderful event. It was really amazing to see the Jewish Russian kids from the Public Schools’ Time Release Program proudly holding up all the signs that they made about eating kosher and keeping shabbos and wearing the “Proud to be a Jew” tee shirts. I’m sure the parade and all the work done during the time release programs will leave an indelible mark on their lives.