The 200th yahrzeit of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, also known as the Alter Rebbe, and founder of Chabad-Lubavitch will be celebrated on the 22 of Teves 5733 which coincides with Sunday evening, January 6th.
The celebration – a gala dinner at the New York Hilton – will benefit Colel Chabad, the oldest social services organization in Israel which Rabbi Schneur Zalman founded in 1788. Ever since, Colel Chabad has been headed by each succeeding Lubavitcher Rebbe, culminating with the leadership of Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, obm.
Today Colel Chabad is active throughout Israel with myriad projects designed to provide meaningful, dignity-enhancing aid to the neediest without regard to community, gender or degree of religious observance.
Colel Chabad programs and projects include its network of 20 United Soup Kitchens; The Blavatnik Food Bank which distributes food to 5,000 needy families each month and 20,000 before major holidays; Chesed Menachem Mendel which provides holistic help to widows and orphans- from food and cash grants to summer camps, widows retreats, tutoring, music lessons and therapy; The Grabski Center for Multiple Sclerosis – the world’s leading center for victims of MS; a chain of pediatric dental clinics; the Colel Chabad network of daycare centers for children of poor and near poor working mothers; Colel Chabad subsidized supermarkets; numerous free-loan funds; and a plethora of programs to help integrate recent arrivals from the former USSR.
Most recently Colel Chabad was designated by the Israeli Ministry of Social Welfare to head up its program to eliminate hunger. A first phase in this nationwide project is now up and running in twelve municipalities representing a cross section of Israeli society including Arab and Druze population centers.
For this special bicentennial celebration Colel Chabad is honoring several key supporters who have enabled the organization’s exponential growth in recent years.
The Blavatnik Family Foundation will receive the Two Centuries Award. The Foundation was established by global industrialists Len and Alex Blavatnik, who made possible Colel Chabad’s Blavatnik Food Bank and are key supporters of various other of the organizations projects in Israel.
The Global Impact Award will be given to Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, founder of the Keren Hayedidut which is a major partner of Colel Chabad particularly in the area of nutritional security for the needy. Rabbi Eckstein is being recognized for his global efforts on behalf of religious liberty and his remarkable record of achievement in building American grass-roots support for Israel.
Also being honored is entrepreneur and aviation pioneer Ken Dichter who will receive the Ahavat Yisrael Award. Ken is one of the most imaginative and charismatic business people of his generation, and a warm caring individual who has been a pillar of Colel Chabad for many years.
And this year’s Young Leadership Awardees will be Oren Alexander, Casey Klein, and Aaron and Ilana Wallenstein, all up and coming leaders in business and the Jewish community.
Highlighting the event will be a symphony orchestra performance of a Chasidic Musical Legacy incorporating many of the melodies that were composed by the Alter Rebbe and which have become part of the legacy of traditional Jewish music, known and beloved the world-over.
For more information, visit www.colelchabad.org
Rabbi Duchman is an amazing role model what it means to be a true chosid and shliach, we should all learn from him and how he simply does not stop!! And always remembers the source, our rebbe !!