On June 12, 1994, I participated in what I would later come to realize would be one of the greatest honors of my life. That was the day I would march together in a procession with thousands of people following behind the body of the Grand Rabbi of Lubavitch, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, or as he is referred to today by so many, the Rebbe. That day, which coincided with the 3rd day (Gimmel) of the Jewish month of Tammuz- the Jewish calendar is a lunar one-coincides with today, June 29, 2025. As someone who is significantly more connected to Chabad, the Jewish organizational structure developed to enormous significance by the Rebbe, than I was back then, I will share with you my experiences of that day and of days of importance before and after his passing.
To this day I remember my reasoning behind going to the Rebbe’s funeral. My personal experiences with Chabad to that point had been limited. I remember celebrating the holiday of Simchat Torah in Philadelphia with them once or twice in my early to mid-teens and being amazed by the excitement and enthusiasm. In 1992 when I had a wife suffering from Ovarian cancer and paralysis from the waist down caused by the cancer, I wrote a letter to the Rebbe in which I wrote something to the effect of “enough is enough”. My now ex-wife recovered from both the paralysis and the cancer, and as I have always said about that time, I do not know whose prayers God answered, but they were indeed answered.
Over the years leading up to June 12, 1994, I worked with people who lived in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, home of Chabad headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway, known by many as just “770”. I had the occasional interactions and experiences with the community but never was fortunate enough to meet the Rebbe himself. But I did have the presence of mind to understand something very important, something I often said back then when he passed away and something I still say today. While I did not see myself as Chabad, I knew that when the Rebbe passed away, the world had lost someone it really could not afford to lose, and as a proud Jew, I considered it my obligation and responsibility to go to his funeral.
I do not clearly remember the events that took place in Crown Heights that day, but I will never forget what happened as they finished. Thousands of people began to walk behind the procession carrying the Rebbe’s body as it would be delivered to the cemetery in Queens in what is now knowns as the “Ohel”. We marched through the streets of Brooklyn with the goal of getting to the Belt Parkway, a road difficult enough to drive on, let alone march on, albeit off to the side. We made it to the Belt Parkway, and now the crowds seemed smaller, either because we had broken into smaller groups or because the numbers were steadily diminishing. As people came from all over the United States to pay their respects, there were yellow school buses carrying people from different communities. Seeing people on the side of the road, these buses would stop to see if anyone would need a lift the rest of the way. After a certain number of miles- I will never know for sure how many- I got on one of those buses. All I remember was that it was the one bus that came down from Albany, NY, and the people on the bus were extremely friendly, as they drove me the rest of the way to the cemetery.
Years later I would write the book “Jew Face”, be contacted by Wim de Haan in Holland regarding the violin belonging to my uncle and mother’s brother Bram and begin to put together presentations in which I would tell the story, with the violin being played by an accompanying violinist. In July of 2023 I received an inquiry from Chabad of Delmar, NY about having an event that following November. After first communicating with his wife Chanie, I got on the phone with the Rabbi of the Chabad of Delmar, Zalman Simon. Delmar, NY is a hamlet right outside of Albany. This is what the Rabbi told me. When he was 9 years old, that summer he remembered that the Rebbe passed away. His father took him on the one and only bus from Albany to go to the Rebbe’s funeral, and even though he was a young boy, he remembered the bus stopping off the side of the road to pick up people walking to the cemetery. As there was only the one bus from Albany, I can say with certainty that I was one of those people.
While the story is remarkable in how coincidental it is, it also speaks to one of the great accomplishments of the Rebbe. Because of the push to have Chabad houses all over the world, and Shlichim (messengers) of Chabad in every corner, Judaism is accessible to anyone visiting a free society. With this accessibility comes connection, and with the connection, unity, on full display when I was able to say, somewhat whimsically, at the event in Delmar in November 2023, 29 years after the Rebbe’s funeral, “nice to see you again Rabbi”.
Years later after far more exposure to Chabad, including going to Crown Heights for Simchat Torah 8 times and being a regular attendee at services at the one near my current home, I can honestly say I have met people from all ends of the religious spectrum at various Chabads. That is something that truly matters, because it is indicative of how Chabad houses all over the world give the opportunity to find a Jewish home in communities where it otherwise might not be possible. It allows men and women of all ages to find Judaism in some of the most remote parts of the planet.
Even though the Lubavitcher Rebbe passed away 31 years ago, his reach and influence lives on, and as a result, even in these troubled times, Judaism is alive and well. The acronym of the Hebrew name “Chabad” stands for Wisdom, Understanding and Knowledge. With outreach and education worldwide, we see the prevalence of those values in the Rebbe’s disciples, and for that we can be grateful. As I previously started, I went to the funeral in 1994 because I felt we could not afford to lose someone as important as the Rebbe. Little did I know back then, maybe in the ways that matter most, we didn’t.
Am Yisrael Chai
Never Again is Now!
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