From 10,000 students and adults from all walks of Jewish life at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem, to intimate Chassidic farbrengens (gatherings) at synagogues and Chabad centers in every corner of the globe, Jews worldwide observed two days of commemoration and celebration of the 19th and 20th of the Hebrew month of Kislev, known as “the New Year of Chassidism.”
The 19th of Kislev marks the day in 1798 that a Czarist commission acquitted and freed from imprisonment the first Chabad-Lubavitch Rebbe—Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, known as the Alter Rebbe—on charges that included subverting the government in S. Petersburg and aiding the Ottoman Empire. It is also the anniversary of passing of his mentor, Rabbi Dov Ber of Mezerich in 1772. The acquittal is regarded in Chassidic circles as signaling a heavenly decree that the rabbi’s teachings should be publicly disseminated. As a result, the annual daily study cycle of the Tanya, Rabbi Schneur Zalman’s seminal work of Chassidic thought, began anew.
In celebration of the 19th of Kislev, 120 visitors from across the former Soviet Union and the world gathered at Rabbi Schneur Zalman’s resting place in the Ukranian city of Haditch at the synagogue, mikvah and welcome center that opened one year ago, inspired by the late philanthropist Sami Rohr. Rabbi Menachem Taichman, who directs the center, led a weekend of celebration together with Rabbi Aharon Eliezer Ceitlin, renowned Chabad educator from Safed, Israel.
In Jerusalem, more than 10,000 Jews from every sector of Israeli society gathered at the city’s International Convention Center, Binyanei HaUma, for a gathering sponsored by the Chabad-Lubavitch Youth Organization in Israel.
The organizer of the events, Rabbi Moshe Shilat, is the founder and head of Torat Chabad Libnei Hayeshivot in Kfar Chabad, Israel.
Speakers included Rabbi Yoel Kahan, senior mashpia (“person of influence”) in the central Lubavitcher yeshivah in Crown Heights, Brooklyn; Chief Rabbi of Russia Berel Lazar; author and Kabbalist Rabbi YitzchakGinsburg; and author Rabbi Yehoshua Shapiro.
Also on deck was a concert featuring the Alter Rebbe's niggunim (“religious melodies”), performed by notable Israeli singers Shuli Rand and Eviatar Banai, including a choir led by world-renowned clarinetist Chilik Frank.
In the Borough Park section of Brooklyn, some 1,500 people gathered on Saturday night for a festive meal organized by Heichal Menachem, a library and research center dedicated to disseminating Chassidic teachings.

Speakers included Rabbi Moshe Wolfson, the venerable mentor at Yeshiva Torah Vodaas in Brooklyn and rabbi of Congregation Emunas Yisroel, also in Brooklyn; and Rabbi Baruch Oberlander, chief Chabad shaliach to Hungary, as well as a noted historian and scholar.
In northern Palm Beach Island, Fla., Hindel Levitin says she and her husband, Zalman, hosted their community at a farbrengen led by Chabad rabbi and musician Ruvi New, known for leading rousing Chassidic classics and original compositions, through which he shared the beliefs and ideals formulated and promulgated by the Alter Rebbe.
“Attending the farbrengen forges a special bond between the attendees and us, our Rebbe and our Chassidic approach—bringing them into our world,” she says. “When I was growing up in the Chabad enclave in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, 19 Kislev was a major day on the calendar which we lived and breathed for weeks in advance, so it’s very special that we are able to share this experience with our community.”
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