Anyone who was planning a simcha in the future in the Kalev Beis Medresh in the Shichun Chabad neighborhood of Yerushalayim would be well advised to seek an alternative location. Thousands of events have been held in the hall over recent years, but now, plans have changed.

On 27 Sivan, the Admor Shlita will mark 65 years since being saved from the inferno of Nazi Germany, and since that time, he has been working to perpetuate the memory of the Kedoshim, and to spread the simple Shema Yisrael message that the Rebbe has been relentlessly working to do since. He has built the Shema Yisrael Center and published his Shema Yisrael Encyclopedia.

The Rebbe Shlita plans to open a Chareidi Holocaust Museum, with the news creating some concern among Yad Vashem officials. The Rebbe reportedly told Yad Vashem that if they undertake his project, he is willing to step aside, stressing there is no ‘competition’ intended.

The decision was made and the hall has been closed and work towards opening the museum is in progress. The museum will focus on acts of emunah and mesirus nefesh on fulfilling torah and mitzvos in the camps and under the Nazi persecution.

Architect David Gafni has been selected for the project, the very same architect who is responsible for much of the design of Yad Vashem and the Kosel Tunnel.

Despite monetary problems at present, the first stage of the project is expected to be open to the public in the near future, with officials close to the project confident many will wish to visit with the realization it is the only museum that will highlight the torah and mitzvos aspect of the victim’s of the Nazi atrocities.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)