Aviva Bogart, 21, has a partially shaved head and is the daughter of a
Chabad rabbi in Massachusetts. She says more misfits have been moving to
the area. “This feels like the first time there’s in-reach
within the community, instead of sending efforts to help those in the
outside world. I think Chabad is beginning to realize how many
people are getting lost and losing their religion, and how much of a
change they really need. We’re not all completely lost, just because we
don’t keep everything.”
The JTA reports:
On a freezing Friday night in Brooklyn, a group of 18 Crown Heights residents scurry through the crowds of Jews leaving synagogue and make their way to a second-story apartment…for Shabbat dinner.
Inside, hippie art and vintage John Lennon photos share wall space with drawings of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the late leader of the Chabad hasidic sect, and a yellow “Moshiach” flag, the symbol of the movement's messianic wing.…
While nearly all the participants were raised in hasidic homes, most have strayed from strict religious practice. Yet rather than flee the neighborhood, they have chosen to remain in the heart of the Chabad community.…
“The acceptance fringe members see in Crown Heights is really rare to that community, and it wouldn’t happen anywhere else,” said Hella Winston, a sociologist and author of the 2006 book “Unchosen: The Hidden Lives of Hasidic Rebels.”…
…[A] new synagogue…Chevra Ahavas Yisroel, or CAY, led by Rabbi Chezzie Denebeim…and his wife, Sima, who pride themselves on creating an environment open to everyone.…
The community around CAY has become something of a magnet for the wayward children of Chabad families from across the country. Aviva Bogart, 21, has a partially shaved head and is the daughter of a Chabad rabbi in Massachusetts. She says more misfits have been moving to the area.
“This feels like the first time there’s in-reach within the community, instead of sending efforts to help those in the outside world,” Bogart said, referring to the global outreach corps of Chabad emissaries. “I think Chabad is beginning to realize how many people are getting lost and losing their religion, and how much of a change they really need. We’re not all completely lost, just because we don’t keep everything.”…