Happy Purim! Non Profit Org. U.S. postage PAID Rochester, NY Permit No. 4237 CHABAD LUBAVITCH ROCHESTER NY THE CHABAD TIMES A Publication of Chabad Lubavitch of Rochester Kessler Family Chabad Center Chabad Of Pittsford Chabad Young Professionals Rohr Chabad House @ U of R Chabad House @ R.I.T. 1037 Winton Rd. S. 21 Lincoln Ave. 18 Buckingham St. 955 Genesee St. 91 York Bay Trail Rochester NY 14618 Pittsford, NY 14534 Rochester, NY 14607 Rochester, NY 14611 West Henrietta NY 14586 585-271-0330 585-385-2097 585-350-6634 585-503-9224 347-546-3860 ww.chabadrochester.com www.jewishpittsford.com www.yjparkave.com www.urchabad.org www.chabadrit.com VOLUME 38 NUMBER 2 ADAR 5781 V”C MARCH 2021 www.chabadrochester.com/purim page 2 The Chabad Times - Rochester NY - Adar 5781 and never get sick of it" is one of those innocuous phrases that upwardly mobile people with enough petty cash to regularly eat the stuff seem to repeatedly declare as they dig into their sixth or seventh piece. I bet they would eat those very words after, say, their twenty-sec- ond piece on the third day of the nothing-but-sushi diet. If one were actually crazy enough to voluntarily con- sume the same meal for the The Final Word rest of their life, my own per- by Yerachmiel Tilles sonal field research has lead me to believe that there is It was with heavy hearts that a group of senior chas- nothing more fitting for the sidim assembled in the home of their rebbe, Rabbi Zvi- Hell's Kitchen by Matt Brandstein task than the Kosher Delight Elimelech of Dinov, the "Bnei Yissaschar". Their rebbe had snack box. This manna from fallen ill, and it was understood that his moments were By my mid-20s, I had use. Going kosher was cer- heaven, consisting of crispy numbered. They joined his children and grandchildren to effectively become another tainly not the most common fried chicken and french fries, be with him in his closing hours of physical life, and per- one of those unaffiliated Jews task in Hell's Kitchen (the is flavor loaded with enough haps hear some final instruction from their mentor and working deeply within the actual name of my midtown sodium enhancers to leave guide. sitra achra (dark side) of Manhattan neighborhood), the taste buds relentlessly The rebbe's eyes were closed, and a medley of awe and Hollywood, vigilantly dumb- but I wasn't going to let a craving for more. ecstasy played upon his holy face. "Our master is spending ing down civilization with Satan get in the way of On the occasional treif his last minutes in communion with his Maker," they all entertainment goods so taste- claiming my Jewish birth- restaurant outing with family thought; "how selfish of us to assume that he would have less that their mass populari- right... and friends during my something to say to us at this time!" ty was even more alarming kosher-keeping debut, I Suddenly, the rebbe's eyes opened and began to search than their utter lack of con- always seemed to be at mid- the small crowd. Finally his glance rested on a man who tent. A lifelong diet of secular Going kosher in town hotspots within the was standing to one side. The chassidim made way for this fanaticism in addition to the Hell's Kitchen (the ironic proximity of my man, and gently propelled him toward the rebbe's bedside. intellectual contamination actual name of my beloved Kosher Delight. Not from my thankless job had "Reb Shmuel," the chassidim heard the rebbe inquire, ready yet to declare my for- eventually caused such a neighborhood)? "what is it that you wanted to ask?" ward shift into Jewish obser- debilitating case of spiritual I wasn't going to vance, I simply feigned a lack "Rebbe," said the man, whom no one recalled ever hav- attrition that, out of sheer let a Satan get in of interest in eating to the ing seen before, "the wool that I purchased... what shall I desperation, my neshamah curious amusement of my fel- do?" (soul) began a grassroots style the way of low diners. My rapidly protest campaign to take "Don't worry, Reb Shmuel," said Rabbi Tzvi Elimelech. claiming my expanding waistline from down my decadent lifestyle. "Wait until next winter. The price will rise, and you will Jewish birthright... several weeks' worth of tens make a handsome profit." The mantra of a beloved of thousands of snack box Chabad rabbi with whom I A few days later, I gathered calories made even the over- The rebbe's eyes closed. Soon after, his soul departed to had crossed paths months every dish, pot, pan and uten- protective secular Jews in my its heavenly abode. earlier in Times Square took sil in my kitchen, as well as life back off from forcing me In the days that followed, the chassidim hotly debated hold of my thoughts as I bit all of the contents of my cup- to order from the menu. How- the significance of their rebbe's final words. The mysteri- into a crunchy BLT sandwich. boards, fridge and freezer, ever, I did manage to raise a ous "wool merchant" had disappeared as suddenly as he "You are what you eat!" and smashed it all to irrevo- few eyebrows, when, in some had appeared; certainly, he must be one of the thirty-six shrieked his phantom voice as cable bits. Normally, I would of the fancier restaurants, I "hidden tzadikim," or perhaps Elijah the Prophet? Various hot bacon grease scalded my have been a bit more philan- insisted upon drinking my theories were offered on the Kabbalistic meanings of hungry fingers. The snack thropic with their removal sodas from the can. "wool," "winter" and "handsome profit." from my home, but as a was meant to be a quick fix "I have a terrible germ fear. novice to Jewish life, I need- Word of these deliberations reached the ears of Rabbi comfort food for my clichéd Who knows if they are really ed a visceral rite of passage to Tzvi Elimelech's son, Rabbi Dovid. "You are mistaken," he feelings of generation x apa- properly washing those dish- embrace the significance of said. "There is no mystery here, no hidden meaning, only thy, but the words I heard es," I questioned aloud, think- this change, not to mention a profound expression of my saintly father's love for every were an enduring revelation ing it better at that stage to the brief catharsis destruction Jew. that prompted me to reflect sell my mental instability provides. A small part of me deeply on my poor menu than my religious stability to "Reb Shmuel is a simple merchant, who would often also wanted to eliminate the choice. a group that didn't seem too come to seek Father's counsel and blessings regarding his risk of another unaffiliated keen on Jewish observance. business affairs. Recently he had bought a large quantity "I am a Jew... not a pig," I Jew inheriting this full of wool, after which its price told myself through guilty kitchen set of spiritual trou- While riding the D train had dropped sharply; the sobs as I spit my last delicious bles. back home from the Broad- poor man faced the loss of bite of treifness into the way Kosher Delight on an It would have been practi- all his assets, as well as huge garbage, which I then pro- early Friday afternoon, I had cal to send out a general press debts for the sums he had ceeded to throw into the big- my first moment of validation release announcing my new borrowed to make the pur- ger garbage outside on the that I was actually going in dietary restrictions to alert all chase. He rushed here to seek street in the middle of the the right direction with this of my relations, both profes- my father's advice. night just to hammer home dietary switch. It wasn't one sional and personal, with the point. Diet had to be the of those Hollywood style "Upon his arrival, he fol- whom dining was an integral single most practical area to Divine Providence testimoni- lowed the crowd into activity, but instead I just achieve miraculous transfor- al-making moments that I Father's room, unaware of avoided everyone and spent mation, at least according to heard about happening to why we had assembled. most of the first two months the hype. The media messages others, but it was enough of Father, although in his final of going kosher by myself in of life altering results and an impetus for me to contin- moments, sensed the pres- a corner booth on the second vibrant health promoted by ue taking further steps ence of a Jew in need and floor of the now defunct the mega billion dollar weight towards a more Jewish life. considered it his highest pri- loss industries finally made Kosher Delight on Sixth ority to assure him that all I pulled out a little booklet sense to a skinny guy like me. Avenue and 46th Street in would be well." midtown Manhattan. I tend to that had been handed me ear- While climbing up the five be a bit of a neurotic loner lier that day while at my flights back home as a newly anyway, so disappearing into restaurant's counter ordering non-bacon eating Jew, I a world apart from my main- my ten-thousandth snack box prayed that something as stream one didn't set off any to go.