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Hanukkah candle-lighting event (4)/ Interview with Rabbi Berel Lazar (2)
Abstract
Footage from the 1997 documentary “A Life Apart: Hasidism in America” (directed by Menachem Daum and Oren Rudavsky), the first in-depth documentary about Hasidic Jews, members of a distinctive group within Judaism that has roots in pre-World War II Eastern Europe.

Hanukkah menorah-lighting event in Moscow synchronized with the lighting of a menorah in Brooklyn via live satellite link, organized by Chabad. (Part 4) Interview with Rabbi Berel Lazar, Lubavitcher (Chabad) shaliach (emissary) in Russia. (Part 2) 12/9/1993

Terms you may encounter in this footage:
Mitzvah (A commandment of Jewish law; also, a good deed)

00:00:00 - (No audio) Various shots of the candle-lighting ceremony in Red Square.

00:01:42 - Interview with Rabbi Berel Lazar (English). About shlichus (outreach mission) as an innovation of the Lubavitcher Rebbe: to send emissaries to Jewish communities that had fallen apart apart after World War II. About what motivated him to become a shaliach (emissary). A story of the Ba'al Shem Tov (Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer, the founder of Hasidism, also known as “Besht”), that spreading the word will help bring the Messiah.

00:04:54 - About coming to Russia to teach when it was still "closed" and meeting a Hasid who was so devoted to helping people draw closer to Judaism that he wouldn't leave them even when he had an opportunity to go to New York and see the Rebbe for the first time in his life.

00:06:57 - About how Hasidim are not closer to God than anyone else but have to work at it harder than everyone else. A Hasid asks himself: how can I hasten the arrival of the Messiah even by only a few minutes?

00:09:47 - About how the purpose of living being to serve God. And to know what God wants for the world.

00:11:13 - About how even a single act can tilt the balance of the world and bring the Messiah. In a Hasidic home every minute centers around serving God. He teaches his children how to do everyday things like going to sleep, eating a meal in a Jewish way.

00:14:40 - About how doing even one mitzvah (carrying out a commandment) can tilt the world for the better. Even if it is only lighting Sabbath candles once. Reaching a Jew only for a minute it sometimes a gateway for them to become interested and want to do more.

00:16:37 - About how learning about Shabbos has given his small daughter joy and meaning in her life, even at her very young age.

00:18:06 - About the impact of shlichim (emissaries) on the communities they serve, about how they are building stable Jewish (Hasidic) communities and providing a sense of a future. About Hasidim knowing that the Rebbe cares about them no matter how far away they are. Modern telecommunications make it easier to be away from one's family.
Duration
00:22:29 (HH:MM:SS)
Language:
English
Copyright Date
1997
Rights Declaration:
This recording is protected by copyright. You are free to view it but not download it. Please contact the Brooklyn College Archives for further information about how you may use this recording.
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https://54098.surd9.group/show.php?pid=njcore:194801
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PID
njcore:194801