Every year, tens of thousands flock to the Ohel, the resting place of the seventh Lubavticher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson.
Visitors make the annual pilgrimage on the anniversary of his death, and this year New York City Mayor Eric Adams could be counted among them, marking the 30th anniversary of Schneerson’s passing.
Adams visited the Ohel at 1AM last night and videos shared to social media show the mayor queuing up to enter the burial site, in the Crown Heights neighbourhood of Brooklyn.
Adams has visited the Ohel multiple times before, each time for Gimmel Tammuz, the anniversary of the death of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. In 2021, he shared that it was a “privilege” to be there, and remember “a man who spread peace throughout our communities and whose spirit will always be with us”.
The Ohel was a sacred place even before Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson’s death. His father, Rabbi Yosef Yizchak Schneersohn, was buried there, and the Lubavitcher Rebbe would visit his grave as often as six days a week.
The Rebbe would read out requests from people who had come to speak with him, then tear the notes and leave them at the gravesite. Following the Rebbe’s death in 1994, Jews began to visit the Ohel, travelling from all over the world for Gimmel Tammuz.
There, visitors write kvitlach (prayers on pieces of paper) which they read out before tearing up, and throwing onto the graves. For those who cannot make the journey, the Ohel receives kvitlach, via email, which are printed, torn, and thrown.
Mayor Adams has not shared whether he brought a kvitlach to read out, but if not, he might light a candle, or even send over a wedding invitation – both are customary at the Ohel.
