A Night of Tears, Rain at Ohel

By COLlive reporter
Photos by Bentzi Sasson

Francis Lewis Boulevard, which on a regular night is as silent as the Old Montefiore cemetery it circles, was humming with activity way past midnight on Monday and there was no sign of stopping.

In fact, NYPD officers spread out along the road did not allow any vehicle to stop in an effort to streamline the annual pilgrimage to the Rebbe’s Ohel gravesite on the day of his 19th yartzeit on Tammuz 3.

Barricades helped give protection to the homes that are now used by the Ohel Chabad-Lubavitch Center, which coordinates the visits there year-round. Tents cover the walkways leading up to the Ohel, and signs give clear directions to men’s and women’s areas as well as warnings not to light yartzeit candles indoors.

But outside was not very welcoming for the candles or the guests. A full day of rainy weather had only intensified at around 12am as the lines to the Ohel were only getting longer. At one point during the night, when the rain was coming down strongest, the wait time to enter was over 35 minutes.

After davening Maariv, learning from the many booklets Lahak and Vaad Hatmimim published for the occasion, and writing a personal letter “pan” to the Rebbe, visitors then headed to the line where a series of flat screens showed non-stop videos of the Rebbe, courtesy of JEM.

Those wishing to stick to the written word had free copies of the Chayenu learning publication waiting for them at the entrance of the cemetery. Some brought with them a Tehillim or a Maane Lashon, a series of prayers and psalms structured to be recited at the gravesite of a tzadik.

People of all ages and backgrounds were seen, with the men’s line almost tripling the women’s. Many used those moments to start praying. Others, like a man from Lakewood who said it was getting late, left, but gave a chossid near him his and his mother’s name to place in the Ohel.

In the Ohel itself, a private security firm has been hired to keep the order and flow. Rabbi Abba Refson, Director of the Ohel, was seen notifying visitors that they have only 2 minutes to pray. When that was done, an alarm clock’s bell was sounded.

It seems like visitors were well prepared to use those 2 precious minutes to the fullest. They poured their hearts out, asking for blessings and guidance in their lives. Some even shed tears which blended with the rain drops falling from the sky.

And it was the sky, customarily looked upon during the reading of the Maane Lashon, that all eyes looked to, hoping that Hashem brings the ultimate redemption speedily in our days.