A video of a Rav removing his shoes on the New York subway went viral and is making a tremendous Kiddush Hashem.
The Rav in the video is Rav Gabriel Benayon, who serves as a Chabad shaliach in Panama City, Panama.
The incident happened when Rav Benayon was in New York last month for the International Conference of Shluchim.
Watch the moving incident below:
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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22 Responses
What a beautiful wonderful gesture, I just hope when walking back to his domicile he didn’t step on any needles, razors or dog/human feces.
What great nachas for the Rebbe, to see his shliach doing Tikkun Olam like a Reform “Rabbi” from Hebrew Union College.
All Lubavitchers, and especially shluchim of the Rebbeh, should go around like the Salvation Army, working with the homeless and mentally ill in NYC and elsewhere, giving them expensive free gifts like this.
Moshiach now!
beutiful
Big deal. If I had been shopping and bought new shoes, I would have given the barefoot man the new shoes instead of my old, beat-up ones.
And, even better, that’s two intelligible videos posted on YWN in one day.
Nice idea
But I’d be more impressed if this was caught on tape accidentally rather than a calculated setup
Agree with huju- Let’s not get carried away here
Lemayseh- much better if it would’ve been done discreetly or at least attempted without a cameraman with him
Nothing wrong here but nothing spectacularly impressive
It’s easy to say big deal, but don’t put down anyone. Your trying to make it look like he did something so small. And what shaychas tikun olam with showing how kind yidden are?
How did he know if they will fit? What happens if the homeless man is 5 sizes bigger than the Chabad Rabbi?
@huju and lemayseh you people are so jaded that you can’t just appreciate a nice story and say “wow beautiful”?? seriously. It drives me mad when people do a good deed, and all you can say in response is something cynical. grow up!
Kiddush Hashem.
Another title: a human being visits NYC. Everyone else is not paying attention.
How did the videographer know to record?
Two points to give some background to this story:
1. The Rebbe made a big inyan over the fact that in our day and age, we are no longer as limited as we were back in the shtetl, where even a cold hello towards your non Jewish neighbor could get you and the entire village in trouble. So the mitzvah of the Torah to be a light onto the nations has become extremely relevant! This was exemplified no small amount of times by the Rebbe, to whom many, many non Jews would come to for guidance.
2. The Rebbe saw publicity and the press as a huge ADVANTAGE that developed in the last century (see in depth in JEM’s recent “‘feature’ film” on the topic). If people are doing good deeds, why not publicize it to the world and make a huge deal out of it? And as a result, explained the Rebbe, many more good deeds will sprout as well.
And if it makes me feel all “proud of myself” etc. etc. as a result, then he would say to not think so much about yourself, but about the greater need of the world at large to make it into a world befitting of Hashem’s presence, readying it for Geula etc. etc.
Velo sechoneim. Matanas chinom is osur deOraisa. One heter is darkei sholom. However, I would argue that darkei sholom is contingent upon a receipient possessing a basic level of hakoras hatov, that being the actual mechanism of increasing the peace. I would doubt a basic level of hakoras hatov being present in this case, based upon a historical data of the last century of relationship between the Jewish and black communities. The question remains: how is this mutar altogether?
Next time, all homeless people will have an entitled expectation of all frum people to give away everything they possess, and will get very angry and possibly violent when some don’t give away their shoes.
@ujm you can see at the end of the video in the window-looks like it’s his wife videoing. It’s definitely a jewish woman
צריך לעזור ליהודי ולא לגוג’ים מלוכלך
You can get shoes in a discount store for $20. This guy probably traded his shoes for crack, knowing he’d get them replaced for free. Nice job
kidush haShem!
This is a video taken by a pro photographer. It looks like this whole thing was set up from the beginning and is very cringe.
What about לא תחןם
Beautiful! but I don’t get why it’s called a “kiddush Hashem” It’s like every good thing a Jew does is a “kiddush Hashem”. Does anyone think that this reflects on all Jews? That people on the Subway who saw this have a better opinion about Jews? Well how about if you see a non- Jew doing a good deed does that give you a good impression about all non- Jews? Most people today are very individual oriented, the individual alone gets credit or criticism for his action, it does not reflect on the group he or she belong to. Those people who judge a group collectively by the actions of a few are usually racists or anti-semites (when its something negative) It seems to me like every nice emotional thing gets called “Kidush Hashem”
@philosepher
Are you serious? Watch that video again. There is no way it was a professional photographer at all. And what makes you think this was set up? What proof do you have? Nobody does this just for the news. This lubavitcher did it to make a Kiddush Hashem.