Ohel (Chabad-Lubavitch)

In the Chabad-Lubavitch Jewish movement, the Ohel (Hebrew: אהל‎, lit. 'tent') is an ohel (Jewish monumental tomb) in New York City at which the two Jewish messiah claimants the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, and his father-in-law, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, (the two most recent leaders of the Chabad-Lubavitch dynasty) are buried.[1] The Ohel is visited by thousands of Jews and non-Jews each year. Approximately 50,000 people make a pilgrimage each year on the anniversary of Schneerson's death.[2][3]

Exterior view of the Chabad Ohel
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Description
Interior of the Chabad Ohel. The grave of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn is at right; that of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson is at left.

The Ohel is located at Montefiore Cemetery (Old Springfield Cemetery) in Cambria Heights, Queens, New York City. The cemetery is a remnant of the large Jewish community that once inhabited Cambria Heights. Today the area is largely African American.[2]

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).[4]

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.[4][5] The entrance to the Ohel is through the back door of this house and down a pathway. Men and women enter the Ohel through separate doors.[2]

History

Following the burial of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson in the cemetery in 1950, his successor, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, would visit his father-in-law's grave several times a week – even up to six days a week. He would read out the requests of people who came to speak with him, then tear the notes and leave them at the gravesite.[6] After the death of his wife in 1988, the Ohel was the only place the Rebbe regularly visited outside Brooklyn. He suffered his first stroke at the Ohel in 1992.[7]

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.[2] 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.[8]

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.[9]

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.[1] In the visitor's center, a fax machine receives over 700 faxes a day, while a computer receives 400 e-mails daily. These kvitlach are all printed and then taken to the graves, where they are torn into shreds and placed atop the graves. When the pile grows too high, the shredded notes are burned.[10] The visitor's center also receives many wedding invitations for the Rebbe; these invitations are read at and/or placed on the graves.[5] In addition to kvitlach, visitors are encouraged to light memorial candles at the Ohel.[11]

The Ohel website advises visitors to wear modest clothing, cover the head with a hat (men) or head-covering (women), and avoid wearing leather shoes. When leaving, visitors walk backwards as a sign of respect.[2][12]

Visitors to the Ohel customarily light candles on shelves in the antechamber. Candles are available at the visitor's center. Visitors also write letters to the Rebbe beforehand and read them quietly beside the graves, then rip them up and leave them on the graves.[13]

Kohanim

According to Jewish law, a kohen (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.[14]

At the Ohel itself, the graves are open to the sky 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.

See also

References
  1. Kilgannon, Corey (20 June 2004). "Lubavitchers Mark 10 Years Since Death of Revered Rabbi". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 January 2010.
  2. Gryvatz Copquin, Claudia (2007). The Neighborhoods of Queens. Yale University Press. pp. 20–23. ISBN 978-0-300-11299-3.
  3. The New York Observer, "Rebbe to the city and Rebbe to the world". Editorial, 07/08/14.
  4. 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.
  5. Horowitz, Craig (19 June 1995). "Beyond Belief". New York Magazine: 42. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  6. "The Ohel: An overview". Chabad.org. 2012. Archived from the original on January 25, 2012. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  7. Heilman and Friedman (2012), p. 63.
  8. Heilman and Friedman (2012), p. 18.
  9. Holloway, Lynette (11 March 1995). "Queens Holy Land; Paying Homage at Rebbe's Grave". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 January 2010.
  10. Olidort, B. (18 June 2007). "At the Ohel". lubavitch.com. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
  11. Davidson, Linda Kay; Gitlitz, David (2002). Pilgrimage: From the Ganges to Graceland – An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 582. ISBN 1-57607-004-2.
  12. Beverley, James A. (2009). Nelson's Illustrated Guide to Religions: A Comprehensive Introduction to the Religions of the World. Thomas Nelson. p. 310. ISBN 978-0-7852-4491-2.
  13. "Appropriate Conduct at the Ohel". Ohel Chabad Lubavitch. 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  14. Goldstein, Yaakov (28 November 2016). "Kohanim". shulchanaruchharav.com. Retrieved 2 April 2018.

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