‘Mitzvah Tanks’ Carry QR Code

By Chabad.org and COLlive.com
Photos: Baruch Ezagui

Who doesn’t love a parade? And this one — the Mitzvah Tank Parade — was more mobile and global than ever before.

The annual Chabad-Lubavitch pre-Passover parade of 60-plus vehicles traveling from Brooklyn, N.Y., to midtown Manhattan honors the birth of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, on 11 Nissan, corresponding to Friday, March 22.

This year, the New York parade took place on Thursday, March 21, marking 111 years since the Rebbe was born.

The converted mobile homes and their crews of rabbinical students cruised through the streets, encouraging people to perform mitzvot and acts of loving-kindness.

The tanks were fully equipped with Passover needs for the upcoming holiday, including shmurah matzah.

A new website was launched this year by the Mitzvah Tank organization, www.MitzvahTanks.com.

“With the launch of this new site, participants will feel part of this global initiative taking place not just on the streets of New York, but in major cities everywhere,” said Rabbi Mendel Konikov, creator of the site.

The “Share the Freedom” site will allow participants to share their experiences via the many methods of social media. In past years the parade has been a big hit on Twitter, with onlookers tweeting the parade’s progress as it moves through the streets of New York.

It also includes links to order matzah, find a seder and see the locations of parades in eight locations around the world, with maps of the routes and the final tank locations in each place. Besides New York, the parades occur in Rockland County, N.Y.; Miami; Chicago; Los Angeles; Montreal and Toronto, Canada; and Melbourne, Australia.

Tanks were outfitted with signs and a large QR code that links to a special parade website, SharetheFreedom.com. There, on maps of the cities, viewers could easily track the parades’ progress.

People along the route had the chance to wrap tefillin, receive Shabbos candles, and pick up religious and other Jewish inspirational materials.

The parade first hit the streets of New York in 1974; next year will celebrate 40 years of spreading Judaism around the world.

“The Mitzvah Tank Parade is indeed the right way to honor the Rebbe, as the Rebbe’s motto is ‘outreach’ and bridging the gap between people,” said Rabbi Shmuel Butman, Director of Lubavitch Youth Organization, and Chairman of the Mitzvah Tanks.

“The MItzvah Tanks do just that – they reach out, bridge the gap and generate enthusiasm and commitment.”