As one of the most joyous days on the Jewish calendar, Lag B’omer is a time when many Yidden seek brachos and yeshuos.

The legendary pilgrimage to Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai’s resting place in Meron is also seen by many as an opportunity to daven for everything they need, materially and spiritually. Across the globe as well, Yidden take the opportunity on the auspicious day of Lag B’omer to visit kivrei tzaddikim and invoke the zechus of their holy souls on high to beseech on their behalf.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe zt”l explains how according to Kabbalah (and even with some implications in Halacha), the gravesites of all tzaddikim around the world are interconnected. Therefore, when someone visits the resting place of a tzaddik, even here in America, they are in a sense also visiting Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai at the same time!

In a 1951 letter to Reb Elyakim Getzel Berger, a prominent leader of the Satmar community in London, the Lubavitcher Rebbe explained the power of visiting the Ohel of his father-in-law, the Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, on Lag B’omer:

“I received regards from you and your family, as well as the ‘pan’ [=kvittel], which I read at the tziyun of my saintly father-in-law of blessed memory on Lag B’omer… Reading a ‘pan’ at the Ohel on Rashbi’s day of celebration… has the ability to break all barriers and to bestow upon each individual everything they need – children, health and livelihood, in abundance. I hope you will be able to share good news with me regarding the matters mentioned in your ‘pan’.”

In this spirit, the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s Ohel in Queens is always filled throughout the day of Lag B’omer with thousands of Yidden seeking brachos and yeshuos.

This year, to allow for as many people as possible to seize this opportunity and daven at the Rebbe’s holy resting place, an unprecedented program was introduced: A team of dedicated volunteers arranged twelve specially chartered coach buses shuttling the eager crowds back and forth from Crown Heights—from early morning until close to midnight. Generous sponsors, led by Yossi and Nechama Dina Katz and family, ensured a great and comfortable ride, with many amenities.

Rabbi Abba Refson, the director of Ohel Chabad Lubavitch Center at the Rebbe’s Ohel says that the crowds of over 10,000 visitors who were seen this Lag B’omer exceeded anything seen in past years, to the point that extra security was called at the last moment (usually reserved for very high traffic days at the Ohel, such as the Rabbeim’s yahrtzeits on Yud Shvat and Gimmel Tammuz).

The Lubavitcher Rebbe’s Ohel in Queens is open to the public 24 hours a day at: OHEL CHABAD LUBAVITCH 226-20 Francis Lewis Blvd Cambria Heights, NY 11411 | To send a kvittel to be read at the Ohel, call: 718-723-4545 or visit: OhelChabad.org

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)