Misplaced Pages

Ohel (Chabad-Lubavitch): Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactivelyContent deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 08:08, 23 July 2007 editIZAK (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, File movers, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers86,943 edits new  Latest revision as of 04:01, 12 December 2024 edit undoSeefooddiet (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers23,647 edits WP:SD40, also prioritize geographical location over descriptionTag: Shortdesc helper 
(202 intermediate revisions by 81 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|Graves in New York City, United States}}
''']''' is also the name of a religious shrine in ], to which thousands of people make a pilgrimage each year. Rabbi ] and his father in law Rabbi ] (the two most recent leaders of the ] school of ]) are interred there.
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox monument
⚫ | name = Ohel (Chabad-Lubavitch)
| native_name = אהל חב"ד ליובאוויטש
| image = מצבת רבי מנחם מנדל שניאורסון משמאל, ומצבת רבי יוסף יצחק שניאורסון מימין.jpg
| image_size =
| visitors_num = 50,000+
| coordinates = {{coord|40.6860|-73.7374|region:US_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| caption = Interior of the Ohel. The grave of Rabbi ] is at right; that of Rabbi ] is at left
| location = 226-20 Francis Lewis Boulevard<br>]
| website =
| type = Tomb
}}


⚫ {{Chabad sidebar}}
==External link==
'''The Ohel''' ({{langx|he|אהל||tent}}) is an '']'' (Jewish monumental tomb) in ], New York City, where Rabbi ] and his father-in-law Rabbi ], the two most recent ]s of the ] dynasty, are buried.<ref name=NYT>{{cite web |title=Lubavitchers Mark 10 Years Since Death of Revered Rabbi |first=Corey |last=Kilgannon |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/20/nyregion/lubavitchers-mark-10-years-since-death-of-revered-rabbi.html |work=] |date=June 20, 2004 |access-date=January 19, 2010}}</ref> Both Jews and non-Jews visit The Ohel for prayer, and approximately 50,000 people make an annual pilgrimage there on the anniversary of Schneerson's death.<ref name="queens">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2p8LnB_q9AYC&q=ohel+chabad&pg=PA20 |title=The Neighborhoods of Queens |pages=20–23 |first=Claudia |last=Gryvatz Copquin |year=2007 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-11299-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |work=The New York Observer |url=http://observer.com/2014/07/rebbe-to-the-city-and-the-world/ |title=Rebbe to the city and Rebbe to the world |department=Editorial |date=July 8, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=July 5, 2019 |title=In Queens, revered Jewish leader's burial site draws crowds |url=https://news.yahoo.com/queens-revered-jewish-leaders-burial-050546340.html |access-date=September 4, 2023 |website=news.yahoo.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Dreyfus |first=Hannah |date=June 22, 2015 |title=50,000 pilgrims throng to Rebbe's grave on death anniversary |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/50000-pilgrims-throng-to-rebbes-grave-on-death-anniversary/ |access-date=September 4, 2023 |website=www.timesofisrael.com |language=en-US}}</ref>
⚫ *


== Description ==
]
The Ohel is located at ] (Old Springfield Cemetery) in ]. The cemetery is a vestige of the large Jewish community that once inhabited Cambria Heights; the area is now largely ].<ref name="queens"/>


The Ohel is situated at the northern edge of the cemetery, near the corner of ] and 121st Avenue, in a section designated for prominent Lubavitcher men and their wives. It is an open-air structure containing the side-by-side graves of Rabbi ] (1880–1950) and Rabbi ] (1902–1994).<ref name="Samuel17">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VWH51mqdpi8C&q=ohel+chabad&pg=PA17 |page=17 |title= The Rebbe: The Life and Afterlife of Menachem Mendel Schneerson |first1=Samuel |last1=Heilman |first2=Menachem |last2=Friedman |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-691-15442-8}}</ref>
⚫ ==See also==
*] (Biblical name)


A row of small brick houses along Francis Lewis Boulevard abuts the cemetery. In 1995, Lubavitcher ]im bought one of these houses and turned it into a 24-hour visitors center. This center includes a video room, a library, a small ], a quiet room for visitors to compose the prayers they will say in the Ohel, and refreshments.<ref name="Samuel17"/><ref name="craig">{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6eQCAAAAMBAJ&q=ohel+chabad&pg=PA42 |title=Beyond Belief |first=Craig |last=Horowitz |journal=] |date=June 19, 1995 |access-date=February 20, 2012 |page=42}}</ref> The entrance to the Ohel is through the back door of this house and down a pathway. Once inside the Ohel structure, men and women enter the actual gravesite through separate doors.<ref name="queens"/>
⚫ {{Chabad-stub}}


== History ==
Following the burial of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn in the cemetery in 1950, his successor, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, would visit his father-in-law's grave several times a week – as often as six days a week. He would read out the requests of people who had come to speak with him, then tear the notes and leave them at the gravesite.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/36247/jewish/Overview.htm |title=The Ohel: An overview |publisher=Chabad.org |year=2012 |access-date=February 20, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120125005705/http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/36247/jewish/Overview.htm |archive-date=January 25, 2012 }}</ref> After the death of his wife in 1988, the Ohel was the only place Schneerson regularly visited outside ]. He suffered his first ] at the Ohel in 1992.<ref>Heilman and Friedman (2012), p. 63.</ref>


Following Schneerson's death and burial at the Ohel in 1994, the number of visitors to the Ohel increased significantly. Today, tens of thousands of Jews visit the Ohel annually.<ref name="queens"/> It is also frequented by travelers going to or returning from nearby ] or ], the headquarters of Chabad in ].<ref>Heilman and Friedman (2012), p. 18.</ref>
]

The presence of large numbers of pilgrims, nighttime visitations, and the build-up of Chabad homes and facilities in the area has resulted in tension with the surrounding African-American community in the decades since Menachem Schneerson's death.<ref>{{cite web |title=Queens Holy Land; Paying Homage at Rebbe's Grave |first=Lynette |last=Holloway |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/11/nyregion/queens-holy-land-paying-homage-at-rebbe-s-grave.html |work=The New York Times |date=March 11, 1995|access-date=January 19, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens/cambria-heights-residents-oppose-lubavitch-synagogue-dorm-plan-article-1.1072132 | title=Cambria Heights residents oppose Lubavitch synagogue dorm plan | website=] | date=May 4, 2012 }}</ref>

== Customs ==
At the Ohel, visitors have a tradition of writing '']'' – prayers on small pieces of paper – which are then torn up and tossed onto the graves.<ref name=NYT /> In the visitor center, a fax machine receives more than 700 faxes a day, while a computer receives 400 e-mails daily. These ''kvitlach'' are printed, torn into shreds, and placed atop the graves. When the pile grows too high, the shredded notes are burned.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://lubavitch.com/news/article/2018794/At-the-Ohel.html|title=At the Ohel|last=Olidort|first=B.|access-date=January 18, 2010|date=June 18, 2007|publisher=lubavitch.com}}</ref> The visitor center also receives many wedding invitations for Menachem Schneerson which are read at and/or placed on the graves.<ref name="craig"/> In addition to ''kvitlach'', visitors are encouraged to light memorial candles at the Ohel.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YVYkrNhPMQkC&q=ohel+chabad&pg=PA582 |title= Pilgrimage: From the Ganges to Graceland – An Encyclopedia |first1=Linda Kay |last1=Davidson |first2=David |last2=Gitlitz |year=2002 |publisher=] |isbn= 1-57607-004-2 |page=582}}</ref>

Visitors to the Ohel customarily light candles on shelves in the antechamber. Visitors also write letters to Menachem Schneerson beforehand and read them beside the graves, then rip them up and leave them on the graves.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ohelchabad.org/templates/articlecco_cdo/aid/78447/jewish/Conduct.htm|title=Appropriate Conduct at the Ohel|publisher=Ohel Chabad Lubavitch|year=2014|access-date=June 1, 2015}}</ref>

== Kohanim ==
According to ], a '']'' (hereditary Jewish priest) is not allowed to ]. Halacha mandates that the kohen be a distance of four ] from a grave unless separated by a fence. The construction of fencing along the pathway leading to it makes it possible for kohanim to enter the Ohel.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://shulchanaruchharav.com/halacha/kohanim/ |title=Kohanim |first=Yaakov |last=Goldstein |date=November 28, 2016 |access-date=April 2, 2018 |work=shulchanaruchharav.com}}</ref>

At the Ohel itself, the graves are enclosed by 4 walls, but with an open roof to eliminate problems of ''tumas meis'' ("impurity from the dead"; see ]) in an enclosure, and a low wall surrounds the graves and keeps the kohen at least {{Convert|12.59|in}} away from a tombstone to maintain his ritual purity.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
בית אהל חבד ליובאוויטש.JPG| Welcome center
תפילה זכה באוהל הרבי מליובאוויטש.jpg|Children praying
אוהל הרבי מליובאוויטש - מבט מלמעלה.jpg|Aerial view
</gallery>

⚫ == See also ==
* ]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Ohel Chabad}}

{{Chabad}}
{{authority control}}
]
]
]
]
]
]

Latest revision as of 04:01, 12 December 2024

Graves in New York City, United States

Ohel (Chabad-Lubavitch)
אהל חב"ד ליובאוויטש
Interior of the Ohel. The grave of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn is at right; that of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson is at left
40°41′10″N 73°44′15″W / 40.6860°N 73.7374°W / 40.6860; -73.7374
Location226-20 Francis Lewis Boulevard
Cambria Heights, New York
TypeTomb
Visitors50,000+
WebsiteWebsite
770 Eastern Parkway
Part of a series on
Chabad
Rebbes
Places and landmarks
Holidays
Organizations
Schools
Texts
Practices and concepts
Chabad offshoots

The Ohel (Hebrew: אהל, lit. 'tent') is an ohel (Jewish monumental tomb) in Cambria Heights, Queens, New York City, where Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson and his father-in-law Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, the two most recent rebbes of the Chabad-Lubavitch dynasty, are buried. Both Jews and non-Jews visit The Ohel for prayer, and approximately 50,000 people make an annual pilgrimage there on the anniversary of Schneerson's death.

Description

Exterior of the Ohel

The Ohel is located at Montefiore Cemetery (Old Springfield Cemetery) in Cambria Heights, Queens. The cemetery is a vestige of the large Jewish community that once inhabited Cambria Heights; the area is now largely African American.

The Ohel is situated at the northern edge of the cemetery, near the corner of Francis Lewis Boulevard and 121st Avenue, in a section designated for prominent Lubavitcher men and their wives. It is an open-air structure containing the side-by-side graves of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (1880–1950) and Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902–1994).

A row of small brick houses along Francis Lewis Boulevard abuts the cemetery. In 1995, Lubavitcher Hasidim bought one of these houses and turned it into a 24-hour visitors center. This center includes a video room, a library, a small synagogue, a quiet room for visitors to compose the prayers they will say in the Ohel, and refreshments. The entrance to the Ohel is through the back door of this house and down a pathway. Once inside the Ohel structure, men and women enter the actual gravesite through separate doors.

History

Following the burial of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn in the cemetery in 1950, his successor, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, would visit his father-in-law's grave several times a week – as often as six days a week. He would read out the requests of people who had come to speak with him, then tear the notes and leave them at the gravesite. After the death of his wife in 1988, the Ohel was the only place Schneerson regularly visited outside Brooklyn. He suffered his first stroke at the Ohel in 1992.

Following Schneerson's death and burial at the Ohel in 1994, the number of visitors to the Ohel increased significantly. Today, tens of thousands of Jews visit the Ohel annually. It is also frequented by travelers going to or returning from nearby John F. Kennedy International Airport or 770 Eastern Parkway, the headquarters of Chabad in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

The presence of large numbers of pilgrims, nighttime visitations, and the build-up of Chabad homes and facilities in the area has resulted in tension with the surrounding African-American community in the decades since Menachem Schneerson's death.

Customs

At the Ohel, visitors have a tradition of writing kvitlach – prayers on small pieces of paper – which are then torn up and tossed onto the graves. In the visitor center, a fax machine receives more than 700 faxes a day, while a computer receives 400 e-mails daily. These kvitlach are printed, torn into shreds, and placed atop the graves. When the pile grows too high, the shredded notes are burned. The visitor center also receives many wedding invitations for Menachem Schneerson which are read at and/or placed on the graves. In addition to kvitlach, visitors are encouraged to light memorial candles at the Ohel.

Visitors to the Ohel customarily light candles on shelves in the antechamber. Visitors also write letters to Menachem Schneerson beforehand and read them beside the graves, then rip them up and leave them on the graves.

Kohanim

According to Jewish law, a kohen (hereditary Jewish priest) is not allowed to ritually defile himself by entering a cemetery. Halacha mandates that the kohen be a distance of four amahs from a grave unless separated by a fence. The construction of fencing along the pathway leading to it makes it possible for kohanim to enter the Ohel.

At the Ohel itself, the graves are enclosed by 4 walls, but with an open roof to eliminate problems of tumas meis ("impurity from the dead"; see Tumah and taharah) in an enclosure, and a low wall surrounds the graves and keeps the kohen at least 12.59 inches (320 mm) away from a tombstone to maintain his ritual purity.

Gallery

  • Welcome center Welcome center
  • Children praying Children praying
  • Aerial view Aerial view

See also

References

  1. ^ Kilgannon, Corey (June 20, 2004). "Lubavitchers Mark 10 Years Since Death of Revered Rabbi". The New York Times. Retrieved January 19, 2010.
  2. ^ Gryvatz Copquin, Claudia (2007). The Neighborhoods of Queens. Yale University Press. pp. 20–23. ISBN 978-0-300-11299-3.
  3. "Rebbe to the city and Rebbe to the world". Editorial. The New York Observer. July 8, 2014.
  4. "In Queens, revered Jewish leader's burial site draws crowds". news.yahoo.com. July 5, 2019. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
  5. Dreyfus, Hannah (June 22, 2015). "50,000 pilgrims throng to Rebbe's grave on death anniversary". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
  6. ^ Heilman, Samuel; Friedman, Menachem (2012). The Rebbe: The Life and Afterlife of Menachem Mendel Schneerson. Princeton University Press. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-691-15442-8.
  7. ^ Horowitz, Craig (June 19, 1995). "Beyond Belief". New York: 42. Retrieved February 20, 2012.
  8. "The Ohel: An overview". Chabad.org. 2012. Archived from the original on January 25, 2012. Retrieved February 20, 2012.
  9. Heilman and Friedman (2012), p. 63.
  10. Heilman and Friedman (2012), p. 18.
  11. Holloway, Lynette (March 11, 1995). "Queens Holy Land; Paying Homage at Rebbe's Grave". The New York Times. Retrieved January 19, 2010.
  12. "Cambria Heights residents oppose Lubavitch synagogue dorm plan". New York Daily News. May 4, 2012.
  13. Olidort, B. (June 18, 2007). "At the Ohel". lubavitch.com. Retrieved January 18, 2010.
  14. Davidson, Linda Kay; Gitlitz, David (2002). Pilgrimage: From the Ganges to Graceland – An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 582. ISBN 1-57607-004-2.
  15. "Appropriate Conduct at the Ohel". Ohel Chabad Lubavitch. 2014. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
  16. Goldstein, Yaakov (November 28, 2016). "Kohanim". shulchanaruchharav.com. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
Chabad
Rebbes
Places and landmarks
Holidays
Organizations
Schools
Texts
Practices and concepts
Chabad offshoots
Categories: