Over the course of this week, more than 50,000 men, women and children will visit the Ohel, the resting place of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, in Queens, New York, to mark the 32nd anniversary of his passing on 3 Tammuz, coinciding this year with June 18. They come from all over the world to commemorate the special day and pray at the Rebbe’s resting place for continued blessings, inspiration and guidance.
Few will have traveled further than Rabbi Chaim and Kaila Danzinger.
The Danzingers serve as the Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, where they have led the Jewish community for the past two decades.
Rostov is an important city to world Jewry: From 1915-1924, it was the center of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement after the Fifth Rebbe, Rabbi Sholom Ber Schneersohn, of righteous memory, known as the Rebbe Rashab, was forced to flee the historic home of Lubavitch. After his passing in 1920, the Rebbe Rashab was laid to rest there. On top of the many roles he has as a Chabad rabbi, Rabbi Danziger is responsible for maintaining the Rebbe Rashab’s resting place in the southern Russian city.
Before the Russia-Ukraine War began in 2022, travel to and from Rostov was fairly straightforward. Locals would fly from the local airport to Moscow, a quick hour-and-a half-flight away, and from there on to any major city on Earth. Back then, the Danzingers’ regular trips to New York took around 14 hours.
Then everything changed.
Due to its proximity to the border region, the Rostov airport has been closed for over four years. To travel abroad, the couple now has to journey six hours to the nearest small airport, in the city of Mineralnye Vody, from which they can reach Moscow. They then fly to Istanbul or one of a handful of other major travel hubs to continue on to their final destination, with a trip to New York clocking in at a minimum of 24-hours of travel.
Their journey to New York for 3 Tammuz was even more dramatic than usual. They were just in Israel last week to celebrate a bar mitzvah when the conflict with Iran heated up, and rockets were flying once again overhead.
“We landed on Sunday night for the bar mitzvah, and woke up with alerts to run to the shelter hours later on Monday morning,” the rabbi says. “But we know that Israel is always the safest place to be, and the bar mitzvah was able to proceed at the Western Wall in full voice and joy.”
A young Israeli boy was also at the Wall for his bar mitzvah, and due to the frequent alerts, did not have enough celebrants joining him to get called up to the Torah to mark his special day. Danzinger invited them to join their party, ensuring the bar mitzvah went ahead.
From the Holy Land, they returned to Moscow to officiate at the wedding of a member of the Rostov Jewish community, before flying once again, this time to New York.
It’s certainly taxing, but the Danzingers, bearing prayer requests from their community, wouldn’t have missed the opportunity to be at the Ohel for anything in the world.
“Regular visits to the Ohel, particularly on auspicious days like that of the Rebbe’s passing, is what charges the tank and gives us the energy to continue doing the Rebbe’s work in Rostov, so far away from our family and childhood friends,” explains Rabbi Danzinger. “We’re not there because it’s an exotic place; we’re there because that’s where we serve as the Rebbe’s emissaries to the Jewish community.”
“Coming back to the Rebbe is like the manager of a business coming to deliver a report to the CEO, to share how things are going, and asking for continued success, blessings, and encouragement to continue doing the work.”
A Place for Prayer
Visiting the resting place of the righteous is a long-held tradition in Judaism. The Talmud recounts how Caleb visited Hebron to pray at the Maarat Hamachpela (“Cave of the Patriarchs”), the resting place of the biblical patriarchs and matriarchs. Resting places of Jewish mystics and sages in Israel and Europe are considered sacred spaces and have been visited by Jews and non-Jews for centuries.
The Rebbe’s Ohel is the most visited Jewish holy site in North America, drawing people from all walks of life in a way similar only to the Western Wall in Israel. It is common for people to visit the Ohel to pray in proximity to a personal milestone—whether a bar or bat mitzvah, wedding, anniversary, starting a new business or overcoming personal challenges. In recent times, everyone from President Donald J. Trump to President of Argentina Javier Milei to former Prime Minister of Australia Kevin Rudd have made pilgrimages to the site.
Millions of people send their written prayers via email and post to the Ohel, with an estimated 1 million visiting each year. Located at the Old Montefiore Cemetery, the Ohel is open 24/7 and has long been a place for reflection for private citizens and world leaders alike, Jews and non-Jews, each coming to the holy site to pray, seek inspiration and find solace.
Leo Braudy is one of those people who have found comfort at the Rebbe’s resting place.
A New York City-based art dealer, Braudy was looking for answers when both his mother and grandmother both passed away during Covid. After stumbling upon the online classes of Chabad Rabbi Shais Taub, Braudy began to explore his Jewish faith and heritage, and wrote to Taub asking about some of life’s deepest questions. The guidance and wisdom he received helped him through the process of grief and grow spiritually during a fraught time. What began as a virtual correspondence turned into an in-person friendship when Taub invited Braudy to visit the Rebbe’s resting place.
“From the moment I walked into the Ohel, I felt the holiness and the spiritual energy,” says Braudy. “All the noise and distractions fell away, and I felt so present and so heard. I prayed for guidance and blessing, and Torah and the Rebbe’ teachings have been my guiding principles since.”
Later, when Braudy experienced antisemitic harassment after a stint on a TV show, he deepened his faith and trust in G‑d. He began putting on tefillin daily and studying Shaar Habitachon with Taub.
“The idea that a little light dispels a lot of darkness isn’t a cliche. Putting on tefillin and saying Shema grounds my day and brings me peace,” Braudy says. “Taking a break from social media and spending Shabbat with Chabad Young Professionals sets the tone for the rest of my week.”
32 – A Numerical Value Equalling “Heart”
In 1982, 32 years after the passing of his predecessor and father-in-law, the Sixth Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yosef Schneersohn, of righteous memory, the Rebbe highlighted Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak’s growing impact, despite the passage of time. The Rebbe also highlighted the significance of the 32nd anniversary, saying1:
In Hebrew, 32 is the letters “Lamed” and “Bais” which spell “lev,” meaning “heart.” The heart is the source of a person’s vitality and life, as explained in Iggeres Hakodesh (Ch. 31): “The cause of illness or health lies in the extension and flow of the life-force vested in the blood of life which flows from the heart to all the limbs.... When the circulation and flow of this spirit of life is as it should be ... man is perfectly healthy. For all the limbs are bound together and receive their proper vitality from the heart ...”
The Previous Rebbe, the leader of Jewry, functioned as the “heart;” as the Rambam writes that the king (leader of Israel) is the “heart of all the community of Israel.” The king is called the “heart of all the community of Israel” because his function is similar to the heart of a person, from which vitality flows to all the body’s limbs. Thus the 32nd (“Lev” — heart) Yahrzeit of the previous Rebbe emphasizes the idea of our connection to the leader of Jewry, “the heart of all the community of Israel,” from whom flows vitality to all Jews.
Now, 32 years after the Rebbe’s own passing, Rabbi Danzinger echoes that message:
“To be there on this day is an opportunity to recognize the Rebbe’s enduring impact and leading role in shaping world Jewry, and to say thank you,” he says. “Thank you for allowing me the privilege to serve as the Rebbe’s emissary, and thank you for the blessings and Torah teachings that have sustained us over the past three decades.”
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