From Game to Farbrengen

By COLlive reporter

It began Wednesday night as a basketball at the “litvish” summer camp Hamachane in New Hampshire.

A group of Lubavitcher bochurim who are counselors at Camp Gan Israel of Shaloh House in Brighton, MA played a friendly game against counselors of Hamachane.

There were great passes and multiple three point shots, but the highlight was when a Chabad counselor had his yarmulka knocked off and instead of continuing the play and putting up another shot, he chose to forgo possession and pick up his yarmulka.

Rabbi Moshe Bleich of the Wellesley Weston Chabad, who was one of the players as well, said the entire crowd erupted in applause to commend the bochur. When asked about what the lesson of the game was, the son of the director of Hamachane simply patted his head with his hand referring to the yarmulke.

Also noted was how the bochurim showed up with their hats and jackets, tzitzis flying in the air, used half time to catch up on Rambam learning and even made a siyum mesechta before the game, at the Rebbe’s request to do during the Nine Days of mourning.

After the game, they remained for a candid farbrengen with the litvishe bochurim until the wee hours of the morning. Joining them were Shluchim Rabbi Levi Krinsky and Rabbi Schneur Zalman Borenstein.