Passover 2007

Passover 2007\5767

Pesach 2007 תשסז was a huge success!

Thank You for all your support and participation.

PASSOVER 2007 AT BETH SHIFRA: BEST PESACH EVER

By Paul Deckelman

          The Passover Haggadah commands us “let all those who are hungry come in and eat” – and that is exactly what Beth Shifra did during the recent holiday, throwing open the doors at the various locations where it ran free Sedorim, inviting anybody and everybody who did not have a Seder to go to, to “come in and eat.”
          “It was absolutely unbelievable,” marveled Rabbi Chaim Prussman, who founded the organization more than 35 years ago and who has led it ever since (Beth Shifra provides both material and spiritual help to anyone in New York’s Jewish community who needs it, including the immigrants from many countries, the American-born Jewish poor, elderly people, shut-ins and others who have no other community to turn to).
          “Pesach was bigger and better than it ever has been by us,” Rabbi Prussman said, with many, many people showing up for Sedorim each night at Beth Shifra’s temporary Pesach headquarters, the famous Georgie’s Restaurant at 44-24 16th Avenue, in Boro Park. For many of the guests, it was the first time in their lives that they had ever even been to a Seder – and they were not disappointed by the experience!
          As he has done for a number of years, the noted local attorney Shmuel Gershbein, Esq., ran the Seder the first night, while Rabbi Tuvia ben Shmuel-Yosef officiated on the second night. The Sedorim were conducted in Hebrew and in English, and were also translated into Russian for the literally scores of Russian-speakers who came, after an extensive publicity campaign that saw Beth Shira advertise the annual free Sedorim in several Russian-language newspapers, as well as distributing more than 10,000 flyers in English and Russian and putting up hundreds of posters all over Brooklyn: bulletin boards in synagogues, schools, apartment buildings and other public places.
          The Haggadah commands us to discuss and explain the Miracle of Pesach.
Rabbi Prussman said that even before the proceedings formally got under way each night at Georgi’s, “Rabbi ben Shmuel-Yosef was giving out Russian/English leaflets to the people waiting on line to get in that they could read while they waited, explaining Pesach to them.”
          The Haggadah also tells the story of how Rabbi Akiva and several other great sages once got so involved in talking about the Pesach Miracle at their Seder table that they were still going strong the following morning, when their students arrived with the sun’s first rays for prayers. Nobody stayed up quite that long at the Beth Shifra Sedorim – but Rabbi Prussman said that some of the people who came to Georgie’s were so enthusiastic and eager to learn about the ceremony they had gone through that night that they stayed long after the singing of “Chad Gadya” – the rollicking, festive tune that traditionally ends the Seder – to ask questions of Rabbis Prussman and ben Shmuel-Yosef and of Mr. Gershbein. “Some people stayed around until after 2 a.m., asking questions, seeking answers,” Rabbi Prussman said, “and we told them everything they wanted to know about Passover.”
          There actually were some people who did stay all night at Georgi’s. “A lot of homeless people came to us,” Rabbi Prussman said, “and we weren’t going to throw them out into the cold, so we let them stay the night until 8 .a.m.”
          Besides the Sedorim at Georgie’s, Beth Shifra also ran them at the shul of Rabbis Mordecai and Sorya Sorcher at 2102 Avenue T. This location was literally packed on Pesach night, with many dozens of people coming to celebrate the holiday – an even bigger crowd then they had last year. “At one point, Rabbi Saucer had to come back for even more food, that’s how much of a crowd they had there,” Rabbi Prussman said. Beth Shifra also supplied food for Sedorim which took place at the Luna Park Houses in Coney Island.
          And Beth Shifra’s Pesach observance did not end with the end of the second Seder. Each of the locations stayed open all eight days of the holiday, serving many, hundreds of free hot kosher l’Pesach meals to anyone who needed one – an annual Beth Shifra tradition -- as well as hosting services all eight days, and classes where people learned Torah. “Rabbi ben Shmuel-Yosef was there all eight days at Georgie’s,” Rabbi Prussman said, “giving shiurim and lectures, and staying late into the night to answer questions from people. He was very dedicated. He had his own following there, and word spread and people came from all around to hear him. It was just tremendous.”
          And each of the centers also served as a distribution point for the literally hundreds of free Pesach packages that Rabbi Prussman and his staff gave away to anyone who wanted one.
          “We gave out more food packages than ever before,” he said, “several hundred of them. We had lots of volunteers giving them out, and we wrapped each package up in a special Pesach bag so it would look cheerful and festive for the celebration.”
          “Everyone got everything they needed,” Rabbi Prussman exclaimed, “whatever they wanted, so they could eat like a king – five-pound boxes of matzah, wine, fish, chicken, eggs, apples, potatoes, cookies – anything people would need. If people wanted doubles, we gave them 10-pounds of matzah. We turned away nobody, and showed that Jews could care about each other.”
          People who lived in apartment buildings were given additional supplies of matzah and other goodies to take home and share with their neighbors, “to make sure that everyone had a festive, kosher Pesach. We practically forced people to take home extra matzah for their neighbors – twisted their arms” Rabbi Prussman joked. Besides the food, Beth Shifra gave out Haggadahs and copies of the Pesach halachas, “so people could keep the rest of the holiday the right way.” Beth Shifra also provided matzah food for the holiday giveaway program at Brooklyn’s Warbase Houses as well.
          And Rabbi Prussman said that before the holiday even began, “we were giving out matzah to Jewish organizations – we sent over 100 cases [of matzah] to the Avenue K foodbank, and additional cases to other organizations that
sought our help in getting it.”
          Beth Shifra never fails to make such a massive effort on behalf of those Jews needing some Pesach chizuk the most – so that they wouldn’t spend a cheerless holiday all alone, cut off from the community and from the
A-mighty, or, just as bad, so they wouldn’t fall into the clutches of missionary tricksters running their own fraudulent so-called “seders” (where the traditional Haggadah narrative is twisted around beyond recognition and the beloved symbols of Passover, such as the matzah and the wine, are given weird Christological interpretations).
          Rabbi Prussman said that the long list of those who helped out included Rabbi Guss, who gave a well-received shiur; Rabbi Hettelman from Boro Park, who was the mashgiach at Georgi’s and who, with his son, also present were “very instrumental” in making the Beth Shifra sedorim a success; Mr. Gershbein’s friend Frank, who did numerous small – but important – jobs, like turning the lights on and on, “and other stuff”; the girl who translated the proceedings into Russian for the benefit of the many Russian-speakers there; Mitch, who gave out thousands of flyers to publicize the Sedorim; Eli and Kuppy, who put up hundreds of publicity posters all around, along with Rabbi Joe Berkowitz of Colonial Redi Records and his son Heshie and his staff Rabbi Prussman, noting that Rabbi Berkowitz is from the Satmar community, pointed out that that the late Rabbi Yoel Teitlebaum, zt’l and his late nephew and successor as Satmar Rebbe, Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum, zt’l , had both given their brachas to Beth Shifra); Simon, who helped to clean up and keep everything shipshape; Hillel from Goldstein Press ; Jack Friedman of the Boro Park Community News, who publicized Beth Shifra; and “a Hasidishe guy, I don’t know his name, who came down, gave stuff out and really helped out.”
          The honor roll also includes Rabbi Herzog at Kedem, who set up a scheduled special second delivery of wine and grape juice when Beth Shifra was running low on those vital supplies; the people at Main Kosher Pizza on 15th Avenue and 39th Street, who helped Rabbi Prussman find storage space before the holiday for some 300 cases of matzah, food and other supplies, and the man who ultimately provided that space, Mr. Colby, from the Syrian community, who turned his basement into Beth Shifra’s storage depot. He also lauded “the Bobover guys at the Fischman grocery store across the 16th Avenue who helped us out if we needed something in a hurry.” (He noted that late Bobover Rebbe, Rabbi Halberstam, zt’l had also blessed Beth Shifra). “They also let us store our wine in their basement before the holiday when we had no other place for it. They’re tzaddikim.” So were the guys who actually schlepped all of the heavy cases of matzah, food and wine up and down the various staircases.
          Rabbi Prussman could also use a helping hand from people who weren’t there, but who appreciate the job Beth Shifra has been doing since 1970 to help the most vulnerable members of New York’s Jewish community, both spiritually -- by running Torah education programs and by vigorously countering missionary efforts to lure unwary Jews away from their faith by dishonestly blurring the lines between Judaism and Christianity (shameful tactics repudiated by many honorable Christians of good conscience) – and materially, by helping them find apartments, jobs, furniture and affordable yeshivas and summer camps for their kids. Its famous free Pesach Sedorim and food programs are an example of both kinds of help.
          With Pesach 2007 now history – and by Rabbi Prussman’s standards, wildly successful, in hosting MORE people and giving away MORE free food than ever – Beth Shifra now has a stack of bills to pay almost as high as the Pyramids (while some of the food, labor and other necessities are donated, the rest must be purchased).
          Please DO YOUR PART to help Beth Shifra pay for Passover and continue to serve our community year round, with a tax-deductible contribution to Beth Shifra, c/o 1719 Avenue P, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11229
          FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CALL BETH SHIFRA at (718) 449-1397
          Beth Shifra’s activities on behalf of New York’s Jewish community on Passover and year-round have been endorsed by many gedolim, other prominent rabbis and numerous community leaders.

Our Main location was at : GEORGIE'S RESTAURANT (16TH AVENUE AND 45TH ST) BORO PARK

Sedars were ran in English, Russian and Hebrew

No Charge was requested for Sedars and Meals through out the Passover Holiday

Singles, Couples and Families were welcome for all 8 Days of Passover:

English Line 718-449-1397 or Russian Line: 917-543-6578