COMMUNITY
anshei lubavitch If there is one buzzword for the Anshei Lubavitch-Geshem Center, it is ‘unparalleled success’. They have been open for a little over a decade, but its list of accomplishments is astounding. Here are a few: Shul members take a yearly trip to the Kevorim of the Rebbeim, host a weekly father-son Kollel, and house a community daycare. This is all in addition to daily davening and shiurim, community Yom Tov events, and an active Shul sisterhood. The Shul began as a ‘class Shul’ in 2008. At the time, it was a small shtiebel of mostly single bochurim that were just looking for a shul. As members started marrying and the community grew, they needed to find a larger space. From there the Shul went on a journey, first moving to 397 Troy and then to 589 East New York Avenue. This second move was orchestrated by founder Yossi Levin and the Geshem Center, giving the Shul the name, ”Geshem Center.” At this point, the Shul hired Rabbi Yossi Garelik and ”that is what made the Shul take off,” comments board member Zalman Friedman. Rabbi Garelik began to urge his members to expand the Shul in all areas to address the needs of the growing community. At his behest, Anshei Lubavitch started the
daycare center.
The Shul sisterhood, run by heads Brochi Friedman and Rikkel Gopin under the leadership of Mrs. Chani Garelik, began at this time as well. Rabbi Garelik also encouraged members to take on leadership roles, urging congregants to give the daily halacha shiur. The Shul also proved unafraid to try new things, and has seen other Shuls adopt these ideas since.
The popular Sunday Kollels, now almost a Crown Heights institution, were started by Anshei Lubavitch. Rabbi Meir New opened the Sunday Kollel, offering a hot breakfast and a children’s program that allows fathers to take their children to Shul and Kollel with them on Sunday mornings. Rabbi New also sponsored and built the Shul library in memory of his fatherin-law, Rabbi Binyomin Katz.
our
Anshei Lubavitch Shul is a Full Fledged Community
hul
With the immense growth of the shechuna, a new series ”Our Shuls” was launched on community news service COLlive.com featuring profiles of the local shuls, the driving forces behind them and the communities they created. Here are the most recent shuls featured.
After a few years, they moved to their current home at 578 Albany Avenue. They gutted the seedy and dilapidated bar that was there and turned it into a beautiful Shul and Simcha hall. During the move, they decided that they needed to choose a name unique to their Shul. They chose Anshei Lubavitch because they were looking for a name that would set the intention of their Shul. They are a community that ”looks after the physical well being, but
Kislev 5781 Edition 33 COLlive Magazine - Kislev 2020___Yossi --- Monday.indd 33
11/23/2020 12:19:05 PM
