Clappy Interview with Rabbi Shmaya Krinsky: Wedding Affordability & Personal Memories

In a conversation with Izzy Clapman, Rabbi Krinsky discusses Machne Israel’s wide range of current initiatives and projects, including exciting new developments, firsthand insight into how donor funds are being distributed, and the new affordable wedding package initiative launched by Keren Hachomesh.

The interview also features important historical reflections and personal memories, offering a unique perspective on the legacy and ongoing impact of these vital institutions.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Good afternoon. Welcome. This is Clappy. We're here in the studio in Crown Heights with my very, very dear friend, Rabbi Shmaya Quinsky, the executive director of Mahne Israel, Karen Hachamesh, a lot of the debba's maestus and organizations. It's been a long time in the making to have such a prestigious and honest and prestigious and honored guest here. I've always been very intrigued about the Debba. Dideba's our entire life. We do all the Debas Hidas and Takonis. We're all about Jekh Sidim. And I was always intrigued about the Maskitas, Rabbi Groner, Rabbi Klein, Rabbi Khadekov, Unsavangi Yaran, your dear father, Rabbi Kaimjudekwinsky, Zosangis und I want to hear a little bit what it was like growing up in a household that was completely devoted to the Debas and Yanim 24-7.

SPEAKER_00 0:53

First of all, thank you for having me. Um I can only speak, of course, for the experience growing up as Robert Krinsky's son. I'm sure some of what I remember and felt would be shared by Robert Gruner's children or my client's children. And uh it was something that stays with me in terms of just observing how he went about his business and in terms of running the MISDIS and really just idle twenty-four-seven. And uh growing up as a kid, uh I was a normal kid, I was a normal household. I said the only thing that was that really stood out when I was a child was noticing that my father wasn't there a lot of the time. And then as you get a little bit older you start understanding where he is, like you mentioned. He wasn't at a nine to five, he wasn't at a uh ten to twelve, he wasn't at a twelve to twelve, the hours were extreme, the hours were always changing and odd. Uh but at a young age you begin to realize that he's not not not home because of uh a choice that he made, but because he was uh serving their Emma. And uh early on uh that's something you of course are proud of. I remember being very proud as a child that it's a very small group of people that it was muscle and uh very uh small club, so to speak. And uh it was always something that was very special. Um to me when I was young, it was sort of some sights, images, things I remember that were sort of I I realized when I got older was normal in our world, but maybe not necessarily to anybody else, which was first of all, evenings were extreme. When I was growing up in the 70s, it was still a chidas until Tafshalamatch. My father would come home, eat something, and typically leave, and I wouldn't see him, you know, for the rest of the night. If if the timing worked, he would remember as when I was very small, he'd put me to bed, stay with me a couple of minutes, and then off he went. Um But I remember as I got older, uh there were days, for instance, when uh soft boiled egg or soft-boiled egg was cooking, you knew that it was an oil day because he basically close to fasted when he went to the oil.

SPEAKER_01 3:02

Your father fasted when he went to the close to it. But I know that the debah wouldn't eat. And we we asked them don't eat before we go to the oil, just like drink coffee or water. But if your father was bringing the debah to the oil, which was there were times where it was hundreds of times a year, he wouldn't eat?

SPEAKER_00 3:17

He was going to the oil as well. So he ate very little shihakal, basically. There's no mazinus. He he would go into the oil like very frequently. I I had the chance when I was older and a teenager and had to be there a a couple of the times that I was there. I got to observe firsthand what the Seder was, but when they got there, they would help the Debah set up inside the booth, which was no longer there.

SPEAKER_01 3:35

But could you say that he was going more like on official business?

SPEAKER_00 3:38

It wasn't counted that he should have to fast or I think the Debba was also going on official business and fasted.

SPEAKER_01 3:44

No, Dereba was going to be Davening by the Tzadik's kever.

SPEAKER_00 3:47

He was going to spend a day by the oil. In the early years especially, he used to deal with the tsetlach when they would accumulate. You have to remember it was half the size, they would even and it was basically the Rebbe filling it up. There weren't the same amount of visitors, but uh Debba would take bags, and those bags all ended up being torn and thrown in. And uh from time to time, when it got too full, my father would take them out and burn them in a barrel. I don't I'm I don't, you know. So I was I think if I was going to the Ibat Rebbe it also fast.

SPEAKER_01 4:10

So all the years that your father was Zechai, he was privileged to take the Abber to the oil, he basically wouldn't have like a big breakfast with bagels and locks, he would have maybe a boiled egg.

SPEAKER_00 4:19

I don't remember him I remember him having such a breakfast at any day particularly, but basically if there was a soft boiled egg cooking and he also used to take two watches, if he was wearing two watches in the morning, it was an oil day.

SPEAKER_01 4:29

What why two watches? I never heard of that.

SPEAKER_00 4:31

He would take one off and leave it for the debit to keep track of the time. And typically uh he took work with him. They had a basic idea how long they'd be there for. There was a telephone in the car from them very early in the year, as far as I can tell.

SPEAKER_01 4:49

Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 4:49

So it was a very different time. In fact, at the time it was a difficulty to run a power line. That's why they used to schlep there were a team of people that would schlep uh generators every single time at the station wagon that would accompany the debtor so that it would have cooling and heating. It was this noisy gas power generator that used to be just outside the oil powering.

SPEAKER_01 5:06

So your father would take the debtor to the oil that he would sometimes he would spend the entire day there. He would come back nine, ten, eleven, twelve o'clock at night.

SPEAKER_00 5:13

Yeah. It was a very long day.

SPEAKER_01 5:14

So he would take work with him and wouldn't say we work, he would work in the car.

SPEAKER_00 5:18

Uh typewriter, a small typewriter that he kept in the car. He had a telephone. There were emergencies, the debva spent a lot of hours there. There were things that came up that he had to tell the debba, and sometimes answers that ever sent out from the oil that he had to convey to people.

SPEAKER_01 5:28

So there was a telephone in the car.

SPEAKER_00 5:30

Yeah, from like I'd say uh I remember I was a kid in Yeshiva in Ocean Parkway, and I was would go to the payphone and I would do a calculation in my head and try and figure out they should have left for the oil. By now it's safe to call my father. Used to have to call a mobile operator. Used to call dial zero, ask the mobile operator, give the license plate number and the telephone, and it would ring. Shh. And if it rang three times in an answer, I'd panic and hang up. But um that's how I'd reach him. I would just keep track of it.

SPEAKER_01 5:53

So just for technology, because I'm born in the in the middle of 86. I'm saying you were probably born in the early 70s. 71. So mom, Mr. Early 70s. So there was no cell phones. It didn't exist. So a car phone meant that they installed like a whole like official.

SPEAKER_00 6:06

It was a big car, but a big space of the trunk was taken up by a huge Motorola pat. It was like the size of a suitcase. And it was a separate system, you had to call, like I said, a separate operator, and you give them the license plate number that they know.

SPEAKER_01 6:19

And the mobile phone. It was a whole voidah.

SPEAKER_00 6:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:22

And then if it was a real emergency, the whole bavage, the whole world was relying on the deb as guidance.

SPEAKER_00 6:26

Well, in 770, the other Maskiiris knew when the Debah was there. If there was an emergency to call the phone, so my father could convey something to the Deb, and vice versa.

SPEAKER_01 6:32

So if the Debba was at the oil from, let's say, twelve o'clock till sometimes another nine, ten hours, if there was an emergency came up, Masqueras would call your father, who had the phone, and then he would go into the oil and tell the deba the emergency and secondary.

SPEAKER_00 6:42

And if there was an answer right away, go back to the car and convey it. And generally he went in every first of all, he made sure nobody went in when Maldedabu was there. Um, which was infrequent. People would come to Monte Fury to find family, whatever it is, and then they would come uh mosey around out of curiosity, and he wouldn't let them in Maldabo's there.

SPEAKER_01 6:57

Where would he park the car the whole day? Right outside by that gate reader.

SPEAKER_00 6:59

In fact, he purposely, I think, would move it right to the gate so he could keep track of anyone.

SPEAKER_01 7:03

He was very within a few feet. Yeah, right. They were you know where the push gets. I'm thinking now the gate, nobody drives there. Everybody drives outside where the you know, the regular house is El Chabad Blabamich.

SPEAKER_00 7:11

Yeah, none of that was there. I mean, interesting that house at Homes at the time.

SPEAKER_01 7:15

Interesting that that house that was built only in 1996. 1995 when Bibi Netanyahu came to the oil.

SPEAKER_00 7:22

They mean they bought it, they bought it, Mashver bought it right after right after Gimel Thomas. I was gonna mention Yoshver is set up before Bibi came.

SPEAKER_01 7:28

Yoshver is the legendary philanthropist, the one that built most Chabad moistis, Rabbi Yassel Gutnik, so Zang Gazans and Stark. Amen. Which is uh probably a story for itself. So he's the first he was a visionary to to buy the property and do it over that when people come to visit the oil, they could have a place to sit down.

SPEAKER_00 7:44

Eventually he bought the next one, and the next one, he bought quite a few of them. We uh see today that they use the backyards for the tents. There were homes he accumulated over the years.

SPEAKER_01 7:52

Aaron Ross Powell So growing up as a young child, you knew that your father's busy in Mulachasa Khadesh 24 hours a day. I mean it turned into long hours. And you said as you got a little bit older, you started appreciating it. I'm saying it probably afterwards.

SPEAKER_00 8:03

I don't remember that I was a little kid and saying I'm going to the oil today or not, but I learned certain behaviors that made a mental note that it's an oil day that day was the watches. Uh my father got the New York Times to the house from what I can remember every single day. He would come early in the morning on the porch and he would clip it first thing in the morning. Clip it? He would make clippings of the front page and the stories he thought that everybody would be interested in seeing. That's one of the ways that everybody kept informed of world events. That was the main source of news was the newspaper. Right. And he would go through the entire paper. If you opened the New York Times by nine o'clock in the morning, it was half of it was missing because he had already clipped out and that everybody received that every single day. Front page, I think maybe even the first section. Every type of uh Jewish people being mentioned in the arts section, certainly the science, medical developments, things that ever was talking about, uh sonogram scenes as the developments came out, he would always uh You ever helped with newspaper clippings, finding interesting things to be my dear Deba? No, I don't think so. I didn't feel like anyone needed my help at the time.

SPEAKER_01 9:01

So 70.

SPEAKER_00 9:03

Right.

SPEAKER_01 9:03

So in 1971, you're born, let's say 75, 76, 77, 78, before when Dereba was still doing Yechidas. Do you remember going into Yechidas with Dereba as a family?

SPEAKER_00 9:12

I don't. By the time I turned, I would have gone in with my siblings for their weddings, but I wouldn't remember that. Uh by the time my Bramitsa came, I just missed uh Yachidis claulis.

SPEAKER_01 9:21

Did you get, did you feel like, or could you rewait stories of did you get any special attention, Kidovim, from the Rebbe, because you were a masker son?

SPEAKER_00 9:31

I don't think so. I think I was well aware of the when I went to dollars and things like that, that obviously with my father, so the Rebbe knew who I was. But I wasn't one of those uh kids or Bakrim that never said anything to the Rebbe. My father's tell the Rebbe it's my birthday, I'm going someplace, a schlichis or yeshiva. Um I never addressed the Rebbe directly. And um I had the Sus, of course. I went to uh on trips, I went into Genit Tachtin, got Mikh of Khali, a dollar for Pesach, there are different types of things, but um no, I never felt that way. But I I I knew that the Rebbe knew who I was on a personal level. I knew that my father kept a diary when I was born in different stages. I up Shannisha, I know that Rebbe cut some hair off my hair. Whoa. I don't know if that was static. I think quite a few people did that. If you had the opportunity to go into Kanatahdan, the Rebbe, I still have the hair that I cut in my hair.

SPEAKER_01 10:16

So the Rebba cut your hair when you turn beetle. That's Tafshin Lamadawad.

SPEAKER_00 10:19

Correct. Wow. You have the scissor? Sadly, no. It's something I think about. But I assume my father would have saved it, but probably at some point it got uh.

SPEAKER_01 10:29

And you're Kanainahar the youngest. You're the youngest of how many?

SPEAKER_00 10:32

Six. Kanainaha.

SPEAKER_01 10:34

Did you do you hear stories of your older siblings? Did they have any personal kidovim from the Deba?

SPEAKER_00 10:40

Um I don't want to speak for anybody else. Right. Um so that's first of all. Um different members of my family at different stages got very involved in the mice. My brother Hil Dovid was, of course, the founder of Jem, and he was around in a different time. He's older than I, and I think in the earlier years there were more opportunities to uh to put yourself in those positions or to find yourself in those positions. Um so he definitely had a lot of interactions, and I think he's actually gone on the record talking about them. It's fascinating. Um, my eldest sister married Yelsei Friedman, who got involved in Merrica's uh and working in my father's office, I think, as early as Lamethes. So my brother and Lee Patas Run Ghanyasl. Right. Um my brother leaves the Schleich in New Hampshire. My brother Mendel is uh here in Crunch Heights and uh makes himself available as a volunteer to uh maintain the Debba's house uh on a regular basis.

SPEAKER_01 11:28

So everybody's involved somewhat, but I can't really speak to their earlier uh when you were a child growing up and you saw what your father does for the Rebbe and for the Maistas, did is it something that you said, you know what, when I get older, I want to be involved in these maestis, I want to run these maistas?

SPEAKER_00 11:43

No, I can't say that. I know I grew up with a very strong sense of what the maistas were and how important they were to the Rebbe and the structure of those maestas and how the Rebbe used each one of them. That was very much uh part of the atmosphere of growing up. My father was involved from the very, very young age, not just in Maskirs, but then eventually being put on that hull of Merikas and Machna Gudzhabad at uh varying years. So I was very aware of how important they were. Um but I didn't necessarily I thought I actually frankly thought I'd go on Schlichus when I got married like everybody else. That was that was the plan. Uh so eventually, though, when after I married, I was the first member of my family. I got married a week before Gimel Thomas.

unknown 12:21

Shh.

SPEAKER_00 12:22

And our chup ended up being outside the hospital on 2nd Avenue.

SPEAKER_01 12:25

Beth Israel.

SPEAKER_00 12:25

Outside Beth Israel.

SPEAKER_01 12:27

Wild times.

SPEAKER_00 12:29

Wild? I wouldn't say uh wild almost sounds like it can just Wild, yes.

SPEAKER_01 12:33

Uh it was just I I speak to people in like the yeshiva system, Bachram hanging out at the hospital 24 hours a day, Bachram going for Shabbat, coming back on Monday and Tuesday.

SPEAKER_00 12:42

Well Khov's eye not that happened that actual day. Um I was downstairs in 770 learning uh smich at the time. And that's when I noticed a commotion. Uh someone came running from upstairs through the door at the back of the shoal and said something happened, and they saw Rabbit Rona, Rubik Klein getting in the car, something happened at the aisle. And uh I don't want to go too far down this conversation now, but that's everything obviously changed in a very dramatic way that day. And I found myself quite involved in at that stage, um my father was very involved in there.

SPEAKER_01 13:11

You were here. You were a 21-year-old Baker.

SPEAKER_00 13:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:14

Doing smicha in 770. So just a little bit of a background. You grew up in Crown Heights, you went to Obavachiva?

SPEAKER_00 13:20

Uh we were Ocean Parkway family.

SPEAKER_01 13:21

Ocean Parkway?

SPEAKER_00 13:22

I switched to Oletera later on, and uh all my friends it turned out were primarily either originally in or from the block from Crown Heights. Uh were from uh we're at Olyterra, and I basically made the switch, but they made it difficult at the time to switch. You have to go to another yeshiva, went to Montreal for a year just to make the switch to Olyterra and trying to be around.

SPEAKER_01 13:41

This is already like Macifta when you changed if you went to Montreal. So you went to Montreal and then you came back to Crown Heights and you went to Oleterra.

SPEAKER_00 13:47

Correct.

SPEAKER_01 13:48

And then for Zhao?

SPEAKER_00 13:49

Oletera.

SPEAKER_01 13:50

So you you just Montreal one year and then you you were Crown Heights bread and just I'm sorry?

SPEAKER_00 13:55

It's a transition year in Montreal. A good year. But that's the switch. Boston.

SPEAKER_01 14:01

Boston. Yeah, for a lot of you're the Krinsky family is a is a is a Boston family.

SPEAKER_00 14:04

Yeah, I don't think it had anything to do with that decision, but uh it was a very, very uh special time in Schluchus with a lot of very good guys. What was happening in Boston? We were learning and we were doing uh on the uh campuses, and we learned with a lot of we had a big program called Yeshiva Baha for a day where we had uh local kids from BU and other places come and spend the day and see what the Sayyiday Yeshiva was like that meals with us. And uh it was very, very um special and uh very unique. I don't think it exists anymore in terms of the Who were you guys under, like which we was like hosting? Yes.

SPEAKER_01 14:38

So you had this incredible phenomenal year in Boston on Schwakis. You were learning, you were doing Hafatza, you were bringing students from campuses to learn in Chabad for a day, Chabad William, beautiful. And then you come back to 770 to learn in the Derebb is Dawa Ramas and to do smikha, and D Reb wants everybody to get smicha before they get married. So you were doing the track, and then during that year is when Khabza and Adr happened.

SPEAKER_00 14:59

Correct.

SPEAKER_01 15:01

And I'm gonna guess that your father was probably never home for two years, two and a half years, from Khabzain Adr till Gimultamal's.

SPEAKER_00 15:07

Whatever the schedule, whatever the schedule was as crazy it was up until that point, it just got even crazier because um that was literally 24 hours a day. I remember he'd go to the 2 a.m., 3 a.m. all hours of the night, almost every single night. It was really all day and all night.

SPEAKER_01 15:23

It must have been very difficult. Saad Reb is not well.

SPEAKER_00 15:26

It was difficult on many, many levels. There was nothing not difficult about it.

SPEAKER_01 15:31

And during all that, you also have to, you know, you're starting your like your journey in life, you're starting to look for Shadukim.

SPEAKER_00 15:37

Uh yeah, but at some point uh a little closer to um Tafshanun Dalid, um we're not gonna talk about all those details. Bar Hashem found my wife and she found me. Rabbi Klein was our Shathan. My Shwer and Rabbi Klein were very close. My father, of course, we I I knew My Shwer, he knew of me, we and especially during the years he came around about the Rabsgesund and we'd see each other and talk. There were a lot of logistics in the Rebsgesund, people had to be brought, people had to go, and I got very um sort of involved in helping my father. That um ended up finishing Smihcha after I actually after I got married, is how it played out. But um I I that that back to that day, I I someone came rushing in the back of 770, said something happened. I just instinctively went upstairs to my father's office where he was on the phone being conferencing by someone from the oil, and it became very clear that something very serious had taken place, and uh our world turned upside down. Uh-huh. And then after that, um I again accompanied my father to 770, 2 o'clock, 3 o'clock in the morning.

SPEAKER_01 16:38

Uh were you working for your father during that time?

SPEAKER_00 16:40

No, I was still a Baker. Learning when I could, helping him when I could, and then fast forward to Tafshan and Dal. Eventually Shidduch came up and I dated my wife and we got married. We set a wedding date uh for Khafal of Sivan, and the invitations went out to be in Olitera, Chupp at 770. Uh, I think we got engaged in Khafbeshvat, and shortly thereafter sent an invitation, and then the the next Khovzina that happened and became clear that Abba wasn't gonna be in 770 necessarily by the time we got married, so we made a change of venue and got married in Manhattan.

SPEAKER_01 17:10

So you were gonna get married in Oiterra? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:12

My wedding invitation says Olytera. Shh.

SPEAKER_01 17:14

And then you have to let everybody know, and this is before WhatsApp.

SPEAKER_00 17:16

Whoever got an invitation got a telegram. Somebody actually just gave me a copy recently that they had, which I have now, a telegram they received the change of venue.

SPEAKER_01 17:23

How b how much before the wedding was it changed to be by the Debas Hospital and not 770?

SPEAKER_00 17:27

Just after Schuas, so half all of seven, very, very late. Um, and it moved to the Hilton. They had the date available. And we got married on Second Avenue in the park, just outside. Uh Cabalspan was in the boardroom, and the Bedecken was in the lobby of Beth Israel. And uh yeah, that's and so there were three people I think who had chuppas at I was the last one.

SPEAKER_01 17:48

Yassi Katz.

SPEAKER_00 17:49

And Livy Shemta from uh Detroit. Not sure but I remember the order, dear friends. And I was the last one, which ended up being we had Shababrachis ended on Tuesday. My in-laws left Australia on Wednesday, arrived in Australia on Friday, Gimel Thomas was a Shabbos.

SPEAKER_01 18:04

And you were in New York when it happened?

SPEAKER_00 18:05

Yeah. I was actually Shabbat at Shabbos. I was with my the Debas secretaries had apartments at Beth Israel across the street they provided them with. We basically moved there. That's where we lived, spent Shabbasim for all the time.

SPEAKER_01 18:14

You were there with your wife?

SPEAKER_00 18:16

I was there with Shabbos with my new wife. I just finished have a breakfast with my parents.

unknown 18:19

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 18:20

And um I spent every Shabbos as a I mean before I got married. That whole Tkufah that the Debas in Beth Israel, the Maskiiras spent Shabbos in an apartment. There were a lot of people who did a lot of uh accommodating for the um the public school across the street, gave a place people to Daven to to eat. And uh sort of the whole epicenter of Lubavitch that that uh for those months were in Beth Israel Medical Center. Wow. So the wedding was in the Hilton and um the rest of it was a very, very big wedding. Uh I think it was twelve hundred people. And then Gimel Thomas happened.

SPEAKER_01 18:55

Right after your wedding, you you you were gonna like be like most couples, you're gonna go to like Kyle for a year or two?

SPEAKER_00 19:01

Um I so back to what you're saying earlier, I was the first member of my family who found themselves in a situation where obviously everybody used to ask about what they should do for direction, the shidduch, and and and the schlichus, business, where's the schlichis, which schlichis? And uh one of the advantages was uh of of having a father who's a mask here was uh if there was additional information that needed to be had or a conversation needed to be had in terms of decision making, um my father was able to do that, and I think it gave a lot of clarity. I was the first one in my family who unfortunately didn't have that opportunity. So Gimaltamas happens. Um and I sort of for the first time almost immediately having to feel your way around for what the right decision was to make, and Barch Hashem, I think we all end up with the Rebesbrachis in the uh exactly what we're supposed to, but in that case took a little bit longer. Wow. But um the understanding, even between Khovzan Adr and Gimaltamas, there were opportunities to ask Rebbe questions. They're just you know, they're answered in the yes or no form. But we're not they were not of the head. Well, yes or no, not necessarily verbally, but I'm saying that we still had that opportunity after Gimiltama's vacuum after the last uh the second Khovzanadr, that was no longer a possibility. So I had to make decisions in the best possible way, uh consulting uh Didemavinim and uh family, and ended up making a decision to go to Australia for a while, which my in-laws very much wanted us to, and I felt, you know, my father-in-law wasn't some ordinary business. He was the engine of uh barbacha growth at the time. And I thought perhaps the boat have told me if he said he wants me to come, that maybe they bould have said, and that's what we did.

SPEAKER_01 20:32

So you you moved by the way, just a little you we spoke so much about the debit uh I know that your father was very close to that Ebotson. Yes. And your father said stories about how he one time hurt his leg really badly, and that Ebbitson said you have to come to my his back. His back. He said he could barely get out of bed. He was entirely.

SPEAKER_00 20:49

So that Ebbitson called, uh already heard from the office that he wasn't there. She called to inquire what happened. That wasn't in the debit schedule. People talk about the Debbie's schedule not taking a day off, and uh you know it became sort of this part of the the legend. At the same time, I tell people all the time, stop and think about what that means. For decades and decades, when you say didn't take a day off, what does that really mean? Think in the context of your own life. Uh first of all, not to take a break is is is one thing, but to not have a flu, a virus, a temperature, uh Yeah. I mean, um we know that EBA went dealt with various medical episodes and a lot of pain. It never stopped. And then I think about in terms of the maskers, the people around the Rebbe. So imagine a person being not just active every day, not just on a virtually 24-hour schedule, virtually, but so busy that you're keeping an entire staff of people nearly on the same schedule. So it wasn't just busy, it was busy so busy that you had a whole hive of activity around uh around the Rebbe for for all those hours and hours and hours. So I mean, we didn't go I didn't go to the country as a kid, by the way. We didn't uh that that's not part of my upbringing.

SPEAKER_01 21:52

I don't know how to say this in the right, but I covered the go away. Did Rebbe wasn't easy on a staff. It wasn't like it basically what he would demanded of him.

SPEAKER_00 22:03

I never like it being described that way. I think the Debbie was easy on his staff. I mean to say, I think Debo, like my father will tell you, must have, you know, my father was driving the deb before when he was 16 years old. 16. 16. He got a license that summer, and this is sort of well known. The driving was and he was a single kid. I mean, look at my son today at 16. I'm trying to visualize him driving the debut someplace. It doesn't compute, but it was a different world. And because he had the license, right place, right time. In fact, I'll tell you the first time he was had a license one summer. He came back to the Zal upstairs. Rabbit Grona came out of the room. They want to go to the Isle, which was not that frequently. Rabbit Gruner was older than your father? Yes. My father, Zlangeir, and Rabbi Klein Elvishal, that would be the age. And the years that they joined the other. Much older or not much. So he comes into the Tsar one day. And he's looking for someone who had a license.

SPEAKER_01 23:10

And upstairs in the Tsal. That was the whole thing. At 16 years old. You're already in 770. Today you see a 16-year-old in 770, you might go back to Yeshiva. Just interesting in context.

SPEAKER_00 23:19

I don't think we can relate to almost any of it, frankly. You have to contemplate it. But uh so he started the Rebel. First of all, Rebbe walked everywhere. Locally, there was no driving. It was really to the oil when he went Rebbe wanted to go. I don't think the Rebbe went for as many hours. I don't think the Rebbe went as freight night. I think Rebbe did not go as frequently at the time. And because he was uh the kid with a license who was able to go get a car, probably from I think Shmal Isaac Popak, all over Shalom, had a rental. He used to finagle a couple of dollars. I don't know how they put that together, and he would run and get a car, mikfa, whatever it is, and off they went. So and my father describes the Rebbe who the boys were before that. My father arrived in Yeshiva at twelve. So there was familiarity with all the Bahram at the time on a level we can't really relate to. It was unbelievable. And uh so but that's sort of a separate to he only became a member of Maskiris, was offered that position when he got married, which came later when he was twenty-three, I believe. But you continue driving, you don't give up a swiss like that.

SPEAKER_01 24:08

Right. And when he was brought on to Mascaris, driving was a part-time thing. There was a million other things he would take.

SPEAKER_00 24:13

Yeah, it was primarily to the oil. And they have the early years, of course, in the Debo wood, before they expanded the shoal and the Deba had to go to uh Albany Manor and different venues to Fabring. Usually there was a car. I don't think my father was the only one. I think Ankel Herthal was shall people know the very speech. It was really at the time about who was available. There was no standard, there was nothing set. And in fact, some of those things eventually just became sort of grandfathered in. Uh Robert Klein eventually started also driving the Deb at certain times. I think it was based on also whoever was available at the time. So eventually, in the early years, the Rebbe didn't come to the office at the same time every single day. He used to call the office when he was ready. And again, initially it was the Rebbe was walking. It was only in the 60s when Crown Heights got uh, how shall we say, less than desirable after dark that Rebotson asked my father if he would consider driving the Rebbe in the evening after Mayrev, because he wasn't crazy about the idea of that, even though someone would accompany him, we didn't want the Rebbe walking home. In fact, there was a time our neighbor on Montgomery Street, the Schrager had the Maccabees, and there was a time that the Rebbe got in the car after he knew that Rebuttson was doing it for security purposes. So the Rebbe got in the car and said he's safe because he's with Yehud the Maccabi. That's that's very cute. And then eventually it became more the norm that the Rebbe there was much more driving because Rebbe was driving everywhere. Rebbe went home multiple times a day. There was a schedule. So certain days Rebbe would call the office, Rebecca Klein was there, he went to pick the Rebbe up at home. And the Yamakriya there was a set time, so my father would be there. And even though eventually it was basically, I think, 10 a.m. more or less just before 10 every day, it stayed that way. Rebuck Klein took the Debba to the mikveh, maybe for a similar reason, I don't know. And my father took the Debba to the mikvah of Rush and Iverim Kipper.

SPEAKER_01 25:40

You had any personal experiences um with Ted Ebutzin?

SPEAKER_00 25:44

No. I had uh I was just getting to that age where I could have potentially um had that answer the phone a number of times. She'd called usually the office looking for my father, so I got to hear a voice. I saw her, I knew where to position myself to see her leaving the library every Shabbos that Ebison would come to spend Shabbos and leave Matsai Shabbos.

SPEAKER_01 26:01

I used to know where to But the stories that some of these people have were that Edison would cut a mango for them or they would come over and get Hanukkah Gelt or cookies or these people My father never took us um into that personal space.

SPEAKER_00 26:14

Um we were aware I I I knew to young gaija. Very often you come up at night. There used to be the long cords, telephone cord with cords. And we grew up on the second floor with a house with three bedrooms and one bathroom, right? So if my father was on a private phone call, in general people would call from all over the world at odd hours, especially the odd hour people know they could reach him. Constantly on the phone, there was no study in the house, there was no privacy. And very often, if you had to call the debitson about something, the cord would get pulled into one of the bedrooms, the door would be closed, and you just saw the cord pulled for a duration of time into the bedroom, and you know it was important, and you usually could tell when he was finished if it was a phone call with the debits.

SPEAKER_01 26:45

If you can make a personal observation, I'm just on the spot that didn't have a more than one second to think about it. I'm very impressed with the class that your father at Tsumangiarin has, because I always thought that like if somebody is working twenty-four hours a day for the deb and had a very close relationship with the debitson, you know, you crap behind the kids, come in, have cookies, have milk. He completely didn't intrude.

SPEAKER_00 27:05

I remember there being a very clear uh line of what he thought was appropriate, not appropriate, and everyone has their own way of going about it. And she was very involved in things that were going on. She wanted to see pictures of some chash again, similar to what I said.

SPEAKER_01 27:17

But you weren't knocking on the door and inviting yourself in.

SPEAKER_00 27:19

Absolutely not.

SPEAKER_01 27:20

And same thing with Tedeb. There was no very, very impressive. Because it's very tempting when you have the opportunity, a lot of people will cash in on it.

SPEAKER_00 27:30

Perhaps. But uh It wasn't the case. I I don't look at it as impressive, I look at it as that's how we were that's how he uh went about it, and that's how we were raised.

SPEAKER_01 27:39

But all the brachis, obviously, from spiritual from above, I'm saying you get it you get it all because, you know, all the malachis are kradesh, obviously. Hope so.

SPEAKER_00 27:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:47

So after Gimultam was your wedding was a few days before, you know, you couldn't ask Deb Debbie directly what you thought, but you thought your Schwer was inviting you to come um move to Melbourne, Australia. So you moved with your wife to Melbourne, Australia.

SPEAKER_00 27:59

Yes. And you spent how much time there? End of being there for three or four years. Our first three children were born there, our first three daughters um were born there, and then eventually I sort of made the decision that this wasn't going to be my schluchis. And at that point started looking for opportunities outside, came back to America to look for schluchis. There were not many opportunities opportunities in Australia.

SPEAKER_01 28:18

Aaron Ross Powell Okay, so you spent a couple of years after your marriage in Australia by your Schwerenschwiger. Today you work for the meistus in the you're back in Crown Heights.

SPEAKER_00 28:27

So frankly, when I came back to America, my plan was still to find an appropriate schluchis, which proved to be a little more challenging with three older girls and now needed a place with some sort of infrastructure where I was moving with a baby, and we looked into a few different places. And eventually I became very aware that my father needed some help in his day-to-day work in the office, uh, whether it was administrative, whether it was fundraising, bills had to be paid. And I was sort of dabbling in that for a while before it became something that I realized I would do. I I felt that it wouldn't be appropriate to leave at that point and not uh get involved in the work of uh the Maestis in 770.

SPEAKER_01 28:58

There's urgent work and schluchis that has to get done. Why go look for work somewhere else? It has to get done.

SPEAKER_00 29:02

That's uh not what I originally envisioned. I should tell you from a young age this was the trajectory, but like I said before, do I begin Taveg? In other words, I found my schluchis. That that that I know for sure. And I think you can look back for every stop that you make and every part of the journey. You learn something, you take something from it. Nothing's for nothing's for nothing. And if you're someplace for a while, you have to take whatever you learned there and the experiences and the skills. And if you if you if you look for them, you can find things that you can apply to whatever you're doing, whatever the schluchis is at the time. And uh over the years increasingly got busier and busier with uh with this uh vital work. And going full circle to growing up about the importance of the maistas, that uh that they had to be active. The maistas that the Rebbe personally uh is the head of, that uh was already the head of on the Fitzikarebbe before Yujvat, and Fitzkirbba put them at the helm of these maistas before the Nasias. And then the Rebbe shaped them with time after Yujvat started using these maistas in the Rebbe's own unique way, uh specific roles. There was a lot of on the one hand, it was almost like one operation, but there were specific uses for each one and how they were molded and and uh and grew. Um and Mahni Israel specifically was uh of course the arm that did. If you you know, I don't know if people realize if you gave the Rebbe a check in Ychidis, even made out of the Rebbe's name, the Rebbe stamped it to Machni Israel, and that's where the money went, even Maimad. It really became the Rebbe's financial arm. And then fast forward eventually in the MEMS when the development fund started, hence hence their name Machni Israel Special Development Fund, which was then became abbreviated to the development fund. And uh I felt the tremendous schus of being involved in the mistress that Rebbe personally administered.

SPEAKER_01 30:36

I understand correctly. You're the executive director of Machne Israel and the development fund, et cetera. Could you tell me a little bit about how you got involved in it and what are the day-to-day operations, what goes on and how you built it up further?

SPEAKER_00 30:48

Well, so as I was saying, when I when I got involved officially and took a position in the office, um my first order of business was to make sure Machne Israel covers a lot of the expenses that nobody really thinks about at 770. You know, it's a building, we walk past it, the lights are on, someone's paying the insurance, someone's paying the water bills, someone's paying the uh slip and fall claims. Uh not necessarily very glamorous, but it was something that was growing every year and uh something that we're responsible for taking care of.

SPEAKER_01 31:13

The Ebbett's library is part of that?

SPEAKER_00 31:15

Yes, very much so. Well, it's part of the same complex. And uh Machni Israel covered the expense of the library going back to uh pre-Gimal Thomas, um, beside the upkeep, the salaries, et cetera. And uh so that was order of business number one. And then soon thereafter I started uh bringing programming back to Machni Israel. Uh one of the first uh programs we did was the Machni Israel Early Childhood Initiative, which was underwritten by David and Lara Slager, who I want to mention. I think it was a five million dollar fund that we'd launched to help Shlokim build preschools, expand preschools, etc. Bar Hashem today there are thousands, literally thousands of kids from the ones that really took off and the change of the city, change the community, the Shlokem will tell you. And actually at that time there was one preschool that we gave a grant to, and I got a call from the Shliach. And he said, you know, I go to the Ilfishabis and I sit with my friends, and everyone has their miracle story on Schluchis. Everyone talks about this guy. Walked in and that guy came and he wouldn't believe it. And he used to sit there and say, Where's my miracle? And then he gets this call from Achni Israel that he's gonna get $100,000 to open a preschool, and he said, I want a call to tell you that you Achni Israel gave me my Schluchus miracle story. Shh. And that was almost like a moment for me when I realized that the Rebbe's maestis, when they write out a check to a Schliach, and not only Schlochim, but specifically primarily to Schlochim's programming around the world, it means something it means something a little bit different. It literally felt people feel that it's something that the Rebbe is reaching out and touching them.

SPEAKER_01 32:43

I I if I I'm gonna guess that the preschool initiative of the five million dollars is a lot of money, the Rebbe would always focus on Tinekushaban, children, have a shaimbayait. If you're gonna give money to something or start up a fund, that would that it actually makes perfect sense that you focus on use.

SPEAKER_00 33:04

Not only is it important, not only does it build a community, it's one of the few things you can give someone money to start, and then if it does well, it can be self-sufficient. It's really it's not it's not fish, it's a fishing rod. Trevor Burrus, Jr. People are happy to pay tuition if it's good. People typically pay and it's a source of revenue, and some people I mean, some people we know today, and I'm not gonna get into the names now, but there are communities that have flourished because of their preschools that brought the parents in that normally wouldn't come by. The Heshiv wave of Is Albanum. The kid comes to a Chabad school. They try to do a program, the parents come to pick them up, they do a Shabbos party, they sit there on their hand on their little chair with their knees and they get vulnerable, and they know the Shleoch. I mean, this is what we know. And it was also a space no one was really active in. I'm a big believer in uh non-duplication of uh resources, and it took off and it was really, really beautiful. And like I said, there's thousands and thousands, not uh not to the same degree, but thousands of kids at this point have gone through these preschools that still exist, and they're still grants. Book to Schleach last week, who's up to 130 children about to expand again. Then soon after that, we launched the Machniusroll um Frontier Fund, which was uh giving grants to Schluchem who are in isolated places who need a little bit of an outside boost. Again, not to bankroll necessarily, but to help speed up their growth because they had low limited local resources. So this way, if you give them some excess outside money. And the idea basically was you know, if we give you some money, will you go from your living room into a storefront? If a storefront was your lease thing, will you put down a deposit on something? And once they get a little bit bigger, a little bit quicker, they can, even the smaller ones, eventually uh get uh become self-sufficient. And that was sort of the vision of that. And uh from there, the uh discussions would go be on and off, and Bermetz Shem, Barch Hashem right now, we're in the late stages of reviving the Machni Sol Development Fund, which is a model essentially that uh the Rebbe was very personally involved in. And it started with a group of Balabatim that came to the Rebbe through their Schlochim. Um interesting to note that part of the people know it as the place where you had a chidas with the Rebbe. You gave money and met the Rebbe twice a year.

SPEAKER_01 34:52

But $25,000 a year in those days.

SPEAKER_00 34:54

I believe it was twenty with a commitment of a hundred, it was twenty a year, which was a bargain of bargains even back then. But um the the fact is that when it was done, it wasn't as if, oh, we're gonna come up with a concept that people are going to come and gather and this is how they'll have access to the Rebbe. That was not the business plan. When when when people initiated it, and Shlokim took the initiative to say we're gonna bring Balabatim together to a meeting to give the Rebbe money to Mahni Israel to help grow Lebavich around the world, the Rebbe reacted by saying, 'They're coming in this and this day.' The Rebbe would speak to them by Mincha upstairs, greet them, and from there it just uh snowballed. So it was a really, you know, a Sirusa de Latata. When when we took the initiative to tell the Rebo we're coming, the Sirusa Deleila was the Rebbe saying, Now I'm going to, in response, to spend time with them. And that then later on became sort of uh the staple of the Mahtial Development Fund was a chance to go with your family and your children and men and women, were able to gather. There was always a uh brunch or a lunch, depending on the schedule across the street.

SPEAKER_01 35:47

You saw they said we'd come by the debate, we'd all have badges, their names and where they were from, and there was like registered and there was like a very representative of someone who brought that.

SPEAKER_00 35:55

Some of the most beautiful clips we have today when you look at Gem. If you go to the Ela, watch the video, and there's exchanges and advice, uh people giving uh people advice. Of course, those are published with permission. Those were only later on. They don't publish any of those without asking permission from the people to it was being recorded, but there's only being published with permission. Um we have a wealth of a wealth of uh exchanges with the Rebbe that are a little bit more lengthy than they typically get at dollars. So our plan in Mr. Shem is to build on the success that we're having and the work that we're doing and to start gathering people again for these meetings. I think that's the note. The Debo is personally involved in the development fund, and that goes back to all the Kronas. And all the Kronas that the Rebbe personally made the Magbis for. And the way it used to work is by Fabringen, the Rebbe would done a particular Yemen de Pagri, but as Yudbase Thomas Chafov would speak about a particular Karen that was under Machni Israel, with the exception of maybe Karen Khana, which was under America's.

SPEAKER_01 36:43

Did the Karen wave Yitzhak for the Rebbe's father, Chafov?

SPEAKER_00 36:46

Which is in and of itself, I mean, I think, uh worth noting that Karen Levitzkoch itself, it's a beautiful sikh when the Rebbe spoke about that it uh now we know it was Mrs. Yarmush, who was a teacher and got a pension check or something like that. And the Rebbe speaks about this person, could have done anything with the money. They don't have a lot of money, they have other bills to pay. And she chooses to give it to the Rebbe to say the Rebbe should do with it what whatever the Rebbe wants, and the Rebbe launches Karen Levitzkock to give loans to teachers of uh Rebizul Muddukadesh. And at the time, I think the way it worked is people were getting paid usually with headchecks, whatever it is, so paycheck to paycheck. So uh I think it was $500 loans, like we call today a micro loan, but then it probably wasn't micro, and to help you get by basically. So this is another one of the crowns that Barakhoshem we've um put new Kekis into in recent years, especially with everyone going to Al-Matan, appreciating Riblevik. Uh in general, you see a resurgence of interest in the Riblevik, Ribbsenchana, Barkashem, Rebsenchai Mushka to an extent, which is uh very, very deserving. And uh you have to remember that Rebbe made these Kronas, personally appealed for the money for them at the Fabring, and then the envelopes would be passed up, you can see uh being passed up, that Rebbe left with the bag, and that I wanted by the next morning typically that the tsetlach were separated to go to the oil, and the money should be separated and deposited usually across the street in the bank. Immediately Rebbe wanted a Hajj into the dollar of how much money came into the cairn before he went to the oil. One of the things I think about is you you know, everyone runs to Kazakhstan, everybody, you know, then you have other other Leviitzkh Karen Levizk this, Karen Levitzlik that. Here's the one that Ibbe made for his father. And uh we have to make sure that people are aware of that. It's an education process. And Bar Hashem, from the years that we started putting Kirchhas into it, it went from a few thousand dollars uh of loans to uh this year a quarter of a million Bar Hashem. We built it up to in just a few years. And we also discovered that when we were offering similar small micro loans, that Bar Hashem at this stage, it didn't seem to be a very popular item. So we we learn as we go of what the Ilam needs and how to bring to stay true to the mission statement that Ebba gave these Quranists while adapting it to what people would actually appreciate. So as soon as we lifted the limit to say $10,000, it became very active.

SPEAKER_01 38:49

All these Maestas and Magbasis, there's also the Karen Hachemish that the Rebbe started during the Shiva of Debas and Khaya Moshka?

SPEAKER_00 38:57

Yes, it was.

SPEAKER_01 38:58

Can you elaborate a little bit on that?

SPEAKER_00 38:59

So, first of all, you have to understand that uh Merica's the Nyonekinoch Mahni Israel, the Gudashid Chabad, the kahas is part of Merikis. These are all predate the Rebbe's becoming Rebbe. These are all established by the Friday Rebbe, that the Rebbe took over when he um arrived in America, and the Rebbe never established under the Masid. Khabala houses around the world, yes, and schools under the Nasir Rebbe, but the Rebbe had never opened another corporation beyond the ones that Frida Kirabba created. And on the day of Khafbeshvat, uh was after the Rebbe Zelvaya, after the first mincha, I asked my father to uh contact an attorney, and then I asked for a few things, but one of them that the Rebbe wanted to establish uh a fund and uh not just a fund but a corporation called Karen Hachamesh, Rebbe said the name is Hachamish, Harabanis Khaimushna Yarson, and it would be for women and girls. I don't know if the Rebbe got specific yet. Later on in the when they drew up the papers, the Rebbe delineated more specific areas and scope of what Karen Achamish was going to be for, which was uh Nasasiskalah, Khina Chabones, and um Khina Chabones, Ahnassaskala, and uh Mikvas Nashem. And uh the Rebbe spoke about it publicly, the Rebbe mentioned that Rebbe spoke about giving uh money Ludanishmaster Rebitsin um in the amounts of 470, the matri of her name. Debbe, of course, was never going to necessarily say, you know, uh outright this is where you have to give the money to, but uh the Hamaib in the oven, if you're linking the Rebbe talk about giving money for the Rebitsin, and he made it at the same time makes a cairn in her name, a cop came in the Sharushdel, and obviously that was, and people gave, and it was very active uh after that in these particular areas. And originally in those days it was Maistis, Maistis and Kenokhan Maistis, it was not necessarily. And if soon after that, there was a woman, and we have the uh some of these exchanges in writing. There was a woman who came to the office and asked for some money for her personal needs, and that wasn't part of the uh the mission statement at the time. And my father wrote to the Rebbe asking uh what they should do uh about this request, and the Rebbe basically said that uh if he believes it's a worthwhile, uh legitimate need that uh Karen should start responding to those requests as well. So this became another area of work that wasn't recorded in the in the Taknan in the corporation papers. And uh and this went on for a number of years, and um I was working in Mahni Israel, and I was somewhat bothered that all those years after Gimaltamba's Karen Khamish had a mailing every year and it was active Barak Hashem, it existed, but nothing near to what it was right after Khachbeshvat. And um I was thinking this this this doesn't make sense to me because the Rebbe makes this Mysid and this Karen for the Rebitz, and everyone's so intrigued and and and rightfully uh if the Kinas Hashluch is Kha Beshvat, and everyone uh is uh trying to learn so much more about the Rebbitsin and appreciate that we didn't see the Rebutzin. Uh and I had a very unique perspective through my father of the relationship she had with the Rebbe, the dynamic of that and and how important she was, and what Khavishvat really meant that loss to the Rebbe. The average people, I think, remember Khovishvat were not understanding exactly what that day represented to the Rebbe. And here was our our way to connect. The Rebbe basically created this way to honor the Rebbitsen. And he gave us the opportunity. And I was thinking this thing needs to be more visible, this thing needs to be active, this needs to be something that Amerit Hashem should be millions and millions of dollars a year. That that way the Rebbe would be appropriate for the Rebbe to have, to have Nachas from. And around that time, um, I have a dear friend by the name of Rahmel Jacobson, who I think you know.

SPEAKER_01 42:23

I mean, his sister's married to my brother-in-law. Uh Mimi and Shmoe. Very, very good guy, Rahmel.

SPEAKER_00 42:28

I thought you just liked him now instead of his family. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 42:31

I like I always liked him. I stole him.

SPEAKER_00 42:33

I uh so we're friends from a very, very young age. Then he was even had a different nickname. We're not gonna go there now. But um, so he was a supporter of my work in Mahni Israel in the Moist. And one day he came up to me and he says, you know, Bar Hashem, things were going well, I guess, and he had a certain commitment. And he said, I want to do something uh personal for the Rebbe. So I said, I think your country to me, Mahni Israel is personal to the Rebbe. He said, No, I'm thinking something more should take a bigger amount. Can you think of something? Like, okay, I'll think about it. So of course I went to my father and I said, What would you tell somebody who says that they want to do something personal for the Rebbe, who's already giving money to the Maistas, but and he said, uh, my father without blinking said, Keran Hamish, how much more personal can you get to something that Ibn made the day of the Rebbe? Right after Rebbe, since the Vaya K of Bishvat, the only Maista that Ibba created from scratch. Like, yeah, but at that point, Kernah Hamish was sort of bringing in some money and it was first come, first served. Ladies asked for help and it went out the door. We were getting to that age already people want more glamorous, glamorous, I was thinking more glamorous things. So I wasn't sure how to go how to go back to him. Sorry. I wasn't sure how to go back to him and explain that listen, I got the answer for you, but I I feel like you had something else in mind. So I hesitated and I bumped into him on a Friday night walking home from 770. And he says, You know, I I I rethought the conversation with you, I'm getting ahead of myself. I decided the most important thing I do, the most important form of tsudaka that I'm involved with is helping people who just needed to get by. And I said, You know what? That's funny because I have an answer for your question and I thought you wouldn't be interested because that's exactly what it's doing right now. And I thought that wasn't what you meant. And he says, perfect. And uh it happened Bashgal Khapratis to be a week before Khahbishvat. He came up to the office on Khafbishvat and he dropped off a hundred thousand dollars. Shh and that moment I said this feeling that this has to be rebuilt literally came together and since then started speaking to more people about it, getting more involved with it. And uh it has no overhead because we're running it under the auspices of Mahni Israel, although it's a separate Mysid. And uh as it grew and as we started raising some more money, we started giving money to each of the heirs that the Debas said it should. Basically slicing it up as a pie of a third, a third, a third, uh or same four, and then getting money for Yomtiv, the single mothers, etcetera, finding Shluchum Mudaskra mikvah, one, two, three Bar Hashem as it grew. And uh thank God, until today, uh last year we did a million dollars Bar Hashem. And I don't say that with any great pride because I think it needs to be many, many multiples of that, and Rhythm Shem it will be. But in terms of year over year, since that interaction uh on that Khab Vishvat to the first hundred thousand, Bar Hashem, we see sustainable growth every year. And I think uh there's name recognition in the community. Another point to make is that Karan Hamish also in the Rebbe created it, does not make any mention of the mission statement being specifically for Schluchis. So it was clearly something that was meant for women in general, and Nash in general. So a lot of the resources um are directed towards Crown Heights or Nash around the world. So we it's it it's a bit of both. Obviously the mikfhas are Schluchem around the world, building Mikfhis, women's mikfus. But a lot of the social work and the the after-school programming in Crown Heights, I'd say there's either funding completely or contributing to virtually every um after-school girls program in the community today for all ages, even post-seminary to high school.

SPEAKER_01 45:47

Aaron Powell I actually have a friend that runs a very, very special organization in Crown Heights, and that organization actually helps a lot of families, and he tells me he gets a substantial donation every year from Karen Achamesh.

SPEAKER_00 45:57

Listen, again, so a lot of this work, especially specifically in Machni Israel, we there's a lot of the work that we do, and uh I come from the school from before Gimal Tamuz when things were done um somewhat in a more under-the-radar fashion. You know, there wasn't a press release every time that everybody gave out money to the Shlokim from Machni Israel. There wasn't and uh we s I one of the things that we have to deal with now is that you can give out, you know, $150,000 in any given few days, and then someone will tell you, what is it that you do exactly? What are these must just do what's the role? And you're not gonna sell them the insurance bill, and you're not gonna you're not gonna necessarily tell them that you're helping people stay alive. We get calls from Schlochim around the world, specifically in Mahni Israel as well, that uh are going through a tough time, medical issues, they have to be private, uh, these are families dealing with these things, they have to get someplace, they have to do something, and we'll step in, depending if it's Mahni Israel or Karen Achamish, depending on the situation, where we'll give them a grant for say six months at a time, at X amount of dollars a month, so that they can get through, with God's help, come out the other end without getting into fifty hundred, hundred and fifty thousand dollars in credit card debt. Sometimes someone will call you and say, I got into a mess, we had a medical emergency, I couldn't raise money. Shalokum are living in what they're uh bringing in. So if they fall off the if they become preoccupied with something in the family and they can't fundraise, next thing you know, within a few months they're deep, deep in high interest debt. So we will step in and we will provide them with this help. And it's not necessarily something we promote. And I think there's a balance. Um, you know, people talk about how careful the Rebbe was with every word. We take our pride and not just the positivity bias, like they say, that the Rebbe always using the word for positive.

SPEAKER_01 47:27

He wrote a book called Positivity Bias.

SPEAKER_00 47:29

And I think we're all I think it's quite famous. It's already in the book Rebbe. He talks a big chapter on the Rebbe's positive, always taking the positive uh, you know, due date, not deadline, things of that nature. It wasn't just that. My father ran something, founded something called LS, which was putting out press releases for things Lubavich was doing. And at that time, when the Rebbe would uh get the edits, uh you know, you could see from the Rebbe's edits that one word, one word and a paragraph, changed the whole paragraph, and thereby could change the whole press release. So we lived in a world where there was no uh Instagram, instantaneous Twitter or X, and that you just put out information from Lubavich headquarters. Everything was measured, everything was what thought through. Some things that, you know, the decision was not to respond to every provocation. Then so I still come from that generation that you don't necessarily publicize everything that you do. Uh not everything is sort of instant gratification, and not that if you didn't take a picture and put it on a WhatsApp group that it didn't necessarily happen, it happened, Bar Hashem. So I tell people all the time the people who give us generously uh whatever amount to support the Masid's work know what we do. The recipients who receive the help from these mistakes know what we do. The audience, we're sort of trying to work on that to bridge that gap of uh getting out a little bit more.

SPEAKER_01 48:38

You were saying before that if you don't advertise it and make it all cool, sometimes people don't even know about it. There's a famous joke attributed to a very famous hedgehog. He's making a joke that a sisa but persamta, persamta. But why yes, in English, if you make an event and you don't publicize it all over, it never happened. If you publicize the event but you just never made it, you've already made the event.

SPEAKER_00 49:01

Yeah, they also say if there's less people at the event, the more you can say we're there. Because only a few people know you're lying. If there's a hundred people, you can't say a thousand, a hundred people know you lied. If you have three people, you can say a million people, but only three people know you lied. So um Yeah, so as I said before, it's about the work. And I think listen, I think Karen Ahumish specifically is growing year over year because the name recognition is there because people do talk. So it might not be necessarily in a full, you know, scale PR campaign. But part of the reason it's growing is because the awareness is there. They know whoever that your friend is who received this check has friends, has uh family, and he would say, hey, you know, I received help, I received help, and the more you distribute, the more it gets out there. And we're seeing the results, March Hashem.

unknown 49:37

Aaron Ross Powell, Jr.

SPEAKER_01 49:38

Without saying names or chashom that anybody could even try to pick up on clues, but some pop some events that were recently funded by Pikarana Khamish, like people in hospitals and shwokem that needed to get through a rough time, a couple of examples that come to mind.

SPEAKER_00 49:51

Um well, so first of all, let's take, for instance, each of those areas of work. So before Pesach before Tishra, Pesach is uh coming up or recording this before Pesach, um we'll distribute very large amounts of money. I don't know how much we want to get into specifics um to families in need, specifically in Karna Khamish. Umachni Israel has moschritim separately for families in need, which has uh been exploding for uh for better, for worse. People need help, and we try and stretch whatever comes in, whatever we can raise uh as far as we can. And specifically in Kernhamish is for single mothers, which I've been doing for within partnership with Meshribashkin, we work with, we consult people who know what's happening in the neighborhood. Um, by the way, we try and vet the cases and uh etc. etc. But um that's in terms of pre-umptive distributions, mikvah ice. Um we have uh a number of applications from people every year. We have a criteria that we created in terms of where that mikveh is, what the budget is. We started the first year, I think, with $20,000 for a mikvah up to $25, now it's potentially up to 30. As more money becomes available, we uh will basically find a mikvah and we have to find uh situation where the money will be impactful. So if you know Shlokum Barakashem today, some of them are building $2.5 million mikvahs. And as much as they'd love Kernah Khamish to be part of it, um we want the money to go further. So there are plenty of opportunities to find Shlokhum building for a few hundred thousand different parts of the world, and they're literally flying and who knows where, and there's no local mikfah for the locals, and the shlok is flying someplace hours and hours a month, and sometimes it's not safe. Those are the places we'll direct the resources. Um in terms of Khinoch, we uh just yesterday, in fact, we made a grant to the school in the Chabad School in Leeds, England. So again, trying to grow the footprint, uh specifically earmarked to the girls' department there. So there's every day there's opportunity, there's no shortage of of uh requests, and uh we try and see what fits the mandate uh into any particular Cairn and particular MISID to make sure we're fulfilling what the Rebbe's vision was for it. So uh I think in Kern Hamesh as well, you have Ahnassaskala, of course, which uh eventually became us uh distributing money for people requesting assistance for weddings.

SPEAKER_01 51:53

And uh this is the recent wedding package that uh that's that's that I was just about to ask that question. There's a lot of buzz and a lot of talk around the entire Lobavich world because if I understand correctly, there's a couple of hundred weddings a year that happen in Crown Heights, because that's the headquarters of where all Lobavich stuff happened. I don't know, a couple of hundred or at least a probably over a hundred, maybe more. And a lot of the weddings, every night I ask people where the wedding's happening in the different popular wedding venue halls, and it's like a shliach from England to a schliach in France, a schliach from Eric Tisrel to a schliek's kid or a Balabas' kid in Russia or Ukraine or whatever, whatever it is, and they're all happening in Crown Heights. So a lot of the schluchim and a lot of the Crown Heightsers and the people from around the world are all coming to Crown Heights for the weddings, and they I hear now that Karina Khamish is reinventing the entire world of weddings. So whatever you guys do is now going to be happening on steroids. Can I ask you how do I how did the idea happen that you started getting involved in creating a wedding to get into the wedding space? And if you could just tell me a little bit about what's going on now.

SPEAKER_00 52:57

So the wedding space, specifically, like I said, part of what the Debba said Kernah Khamma should be involved in is Ahn's Kala. In the earlier years, when some money started coming in, you know, we're not becoming uh experts in each field. You have to stick to what your expertise is. So to fulfill the Rebbe's mandate of doing something for Ahnass's Kalah, we were mattress for a few years for Devorah Benjamin's work, for her amazing Mist, so we'd give money to match over there. Similar to other Maistas and Girls Kinoch, we felt that was the most impactful way. Help the Maistas that are doing these things do them while contributing money from the Rebbe's Mist in the Rebutzin's name. And it was a very good formula. As we grew again, people would ask us directly for funding. Not all the weddings are in Crown Heights, a good number of them are. Some people, not everyone can come here, but they needed financial help. Now, I don't think, at least it's my belief that when the Rebbe made Kerno Hamish, there were certain Maists operating uh in Crown Heights already and helping Schlochim in different ways, I guess, so with different needs. Um although that would have been at that point actually just Machni Israel. But the the local community already had Asganim doing these things. And I don't think Kern Hamish was created to in any way uh eclipse or to take those people out of business. Uh it's our view that the the idea was to help, that you're putting it into a Karen that I've been made and being Mishhthat in this work. So the most efficient way to do that was to give Dora Benjamin money and give people making Hassanis money. And it's been on Barakusham for a number of years, that number keeps growing. And when you people hear your names, two things happen. Not everyone gives you a donation because they heard your name. A lot of people, more people end up making requests because that's the double-edged sword of of PR, so to speak. But it was uh it was great, and we felt we were definitely doing what the Debba wanted in this in this area. And then we have been moving everything to more sophisticated platforms, more uh more streamlined, you know, whether it's Mahni Israel, Karina Hamish, any of the mice is Kern Livzkak to go online, get an application by the process with the proper response time. And but people still find you. People have my cell phone number, it's been around for a lot of years, and you get uh you get contact and you're talking to Schluchim and people uh anash around the world making weddings. You say, okay, this is typically what we do, and you can tell in their voices that between you and the other guy and the next guy and then the Vora and this one, there's still not that a place with there's still tremendous pressure on them to make this wedding. Which is very painful, specifically what should be the happiest time of your life. And you're typically in your forties and fifties making a chasana, and you have a blank stare on your face, especially to make two weddings in a year, because you don't begin to fathom.

SPEAKER_01 55:18

I heard that in Eritus Thrall, the pressure of marrying off a child is so expensive and the bills are so staggering. They say in your shy, when you hear an ambulance, it's one of two things. It's either a baby's being born or a father is making a wedding. No, a father's making a wedding for his kid that day, and he has to p pay up all the bills before the wedding.

SPEAKER_00 55:35

Yeah. So this is essentially maybe the weddings of my of my own, and see you you start feeling that when you you know, everyone relates to what they're dealing with. So I don't think someone who's uh 38, 35, 50 years, well, this is very important. They don't realize how important it is because they're not dealing with that yet. So every demographic of what people are dealing with is the pressing matter for them, and then they understand what you're trying to do. Um so I just this lightning bolt in my head and said, we have to stop doing this. That it's just putting a few thousand dollars from here and a few thousand dollars from there, and people are walking around uh like with blank stairs. Uh what's gonna be? And I went to other weddings, I saw those weddings, and I said, you know what, maybe we should try and do a package in Crown Heights. It doesn't exist. We know already anyone who knows anything knows they exist outside of the community. And there's gotta be, you know, is there a way? And I thought maybe maybe it's not happening because there is no way.

SPEAKER_01 56:19

So actually the first person You don't mind me asking. Other communities have a wedding package for many years. People in Crown Heights are going to other communities because there was no package here. Do you you have a guess why it never happened? Or nobody ever thought of it?

SPEAKER_00 56:30

Or look, Crown Heights, Bar Hashem is starting to become a community with people who are becoming more successful. I believe that Crown Heights suffered for decades from a basically a brain drain. The best and the brightest were raised and went on Schluchis. And thank God some people stayed behind to be rebies and to take care of their children and Bar Hashem for that and uh took positions in new existing maestis, started a new Maistus. But by and large, everybody was leaving. And then I think the next generation either wanted to go on Schluchis and couldn't find a place, or the Khatrilla wanted to had a drive to make money and get stuck. It's really just happening before our eyes. So all those communities that have a Takana hall very clearly were put up by philanthropists, and that's a huge head start. If someone says, look, I'm gonna build the building, now you figure out the model of how to make a wedding and people will pay and it'll be cheaper, is much easier. Uh we don't have that here as of yet. This hopefully is the beginning of that. But the thought process was that we're not building a building tomorrow morning, but maybe we can create a package. And actually quite.

SPEAKER_01 57:25

What was the first time you thought of this? When did the discussion start? A year ago?

SPEAKER_00 57:31

Oh no, I'm gonna say three, four months ago.

SPEAKER_01 57:33

Maybe four months ago. So it's happening in lightning speed.

SPEAKER_00 57:36

Yeah, it had to. I mean, frankly, it's one of those things that if you know when you get involved in it, Watts involved in it, you probably wouldn't have done it, but it was sort of just happening as we were going. But my first phone call actually was to Bruce Backman, who's a friend, and I said, Bruce, you know, he's a good thing. He's a good friend of mine, also. He's a great guy. And I said, Bruce, I had this idea about a wedding package in Crown Heights. I had a number in mind in terms of the price. You think it's possible? And he was like, Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 58:01

Absolutely, yes.

SPEAKER_00 58:02

Yes, it's all it's it's long overdue, and people did it and had to do it but do it right. He runs programs with thousands of people, so he knows the numbers. I figured he was I was asking him strictly from a business perspective. Like, am I way off here? Is this just an obvious reason why it never happened? And he was just very enthusiastic and said, I'm here to help. And um, I spoke to Schnee Brook, who's the administrator of Mahni Sroll and Karen Nachomish in the office, and he got very excited about the idea right away. And we just started really talking to people. And the original thought was we're never gonna really I didn't see a plan to do it in Oletera at the time. Our first uh call was to base Rifka thinking it made sense.

SPEAKER_01 58:34

Maybe you didn't think it was gonna be an Owaterra because your wedding was supposed to be an Oletera and it got cancelled.

SPEAKER_00 58:38

Maybe. Maybe I don't think so, but you never know. But ironically, uh ironically, here we are. And I don't think if you asked me five months ago if we'd be doing this, uh but look, I we're not in the wedding business. I don't intend to be a wedding planner or any of the in any particular field of vending for for weddings. It was simply coming from the fact that can we figure out a way to make this a little bit less of a burden on people? And that was the main objective. Next thing I did was I reached out to some friends who made Hasanas here and I said uh recently, and I'd been at them, so I had a basic idea of what they did. It was nothing, you know, over the top as they'd say, and asked them if they'd share with me their sort of quick books, their budgets. And that's when I confirmed that these weddings are becoming very, very expensive. And I could see, especially for those who are making it more than one in succession, Bar Hashem, this is crushing. And whatever Karnal Hamish or any other mice is going to do is a band-aid, essentially. So we started talking, we had a conversation with Bezrifka, and it didn't take long to figure out that there was some logistical issues there with the hall. And immediately I the the idea was that Kernel Hamish would raise money to make an investment to make the halls better and make them more useful, and do anything we need to do to bring the cost down so the vendors can charge less money. That was the basic idea right away. And Basrifka was not really going to be logistically possible, at least for now. And then uh there was a pivot to Ali Tara, and the board of Alitera really loved the idea, asked us to come in for a meeting. I'll give you the time frame. I think our meeting was like Thanksgiving, actually. So how long ago was that? That's that's that's our first discussion. And they were quite receptive. And I have to say, you know, for a lot of people talk about Mistas being bloated and all of those things, and uh, you know, to streamline things. I think it's actually safe to say I learned a lesson from that too, because I think Ali Tara was very clear that people had discussed it, people have tried it, and I think what gave them the confidence to do this with us was that they felt it was a Misth that I've established with a mission statement, with backing, with supporters, with reputation. And I think they felt very comfortable with that. And then we took it to the level next level to figuring out the you know, the things going on in Alitera during the year. The kinas is there, they have uh uh different Shabbolia.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:39

There's thousands of fathers and mothers that are gonna be making literally around the entire world, because we're taking over the whole entire world.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:45

Well we hope it's gonna be.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:55

You could already book it. It's already it's up and running the wedding package.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:58

Right now, so fast forward, it's up and running, bro.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:59

It's up and running. You can make a wedding in Crown Heights in Aloy Terra, one of the most beautiful halls in the world, on Easton Parkway with you know, the Jewish center, 1920. You see that big huge building that goes across the whole block. You're a 30-second walk to 770 where everybody has their chuppa. It's up and running. People already booked the wedding package.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:17

Well, I want to absolutely being booked already, but I want to back up a little bit. They sort of skipped sort of what the vision became was is that this wasn't gonna be just stripped beer bones. You know, you can do a wedding for $10,000 if if you have paper plates and some schnitzel. Yeah, it's it's been done. Um, but I didn't think that would fly. I thought the idea would be this is not meant to be just for people who can't afford to not use the package. The idea was to create a package that would be attractive to anybody making a wedding within this amount of people in Crown Heights, and that they'd be able to feel good about it, not that they're compromising. Yes, it has to have parameters because the idea is that it takes the pressure off people feeling that they have to outdo anybody else. And after speaking to people, you realize that this is not just helping people financially with the wedding. It's gonna help people with shallow and bias because it takes out of the equation all the must and the fuss, and we have to spring for this, spring for that. It's very uniform. Then we were gonna do fake flowers, because hey, every package wedding in the world is fake. And then some women who heard about this uh made a fuss and said you have to incorporate real. We managed to do that, Bar Hashem. Within the price of the package, you get real flowers. It's gonna be a mixture, like there's gonna be a background of fake, and um, if you would have told me five months ago to be discussing this with you, it's insane. But there'd be fake flowers with a mixture of a choice of real to be mixed in, and Bar Hashem with the passage of the week. So have Hannibal Greenbaum and uh Debbie, uh well-known Debbie, um, local florist and designer as well, sort of collaborating and collaborating on this and both available. Now, look, what became clear, and I want to sort of address, is that it also became clear you can't launch something like this and have everybody involved. So the downside really was realizing that we're being a little bit disruptive to the business, and that wasn't sort of the intention, but it becomes clear you sort of have to.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:50

Talking about numbers of this wedding package that Karen Achamish is launching, I wanted to get into a breakdown on some of the numbers. Just making a wedding, what are we talking about, and how are we going to be helping people save money?

SPEAKER_00 1:03:02

Well, saving money is uh that's the easy one. Actually, it's somewhere along the lines of working on this, I was on the phone with Schneider one night in the back of the envelope, looking at some of the uh numbers people gave us that we're spending on Khasanis, which again we're not lavish, maybe 300 people, and looking at their numbers, what the night cost and what we're offering, which is $29,500. Um, if you make a hajmant that's 60 or 70 people take advantage of this package in year one, that's about 2.1 million dollars in savings.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:31

So $29,500 to make a wedding in the Karen Hachamesh package. The wedding is held in Ali Terra.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:39

Yes, it's it's uh Aliterra. So one of the things that we did early on when we realized Alitera was going to be the partner in doing this in their beautiful ballroom, uh, was A, to figure out logistics, how to bring costs down and what the kitchen would need, things of that nature. And then number two was we knew that if it was going to be there, we were not going to be able to make it exclusively a package venue because not every it doesn't get not going to work for everyone. And some people want to do a little bit more, and that's fine too. And we would not want it to be the reason that Kernel Humish is the reason that someone says I can't no longer make a wedding crown nights because I want only to we we we booked every night for the package. So we knew right away we'd have to make some sort of a schedule, some sort of a percentage that the package would be available and have certain nights available for people to make any wedding that they sort of uh had in mind. And um we never use the word takana by the way. I didn't think it would go over well. I don't think we're wired that way in uh in Lubavitch. That's why we use package more because it's a value package to make things easier for people, not just in terms of money, by the way, in terms of planning. It's uh people live out of town, shlokim come, they don't know where to start. There are people you can call, but then you have to make decisions. This is easy to book, click, click, click. A few decisions to make closer to the wedding, and it's done. And then in terms of the money, like I said, the average wedding was pushing the mid to upper fifties. Um that's a fact. And anyone who said now you could do it for less, and maybe people have, but the fact is we looked at a number of those weddings, and those are today.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:56

$29,500, just I'm not a wealthy person yet. $29,500 for a wedding, Mr. Shem, for $29,000 for two sides is a $14,000 something per side. It sounds very affordable.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:09

Um actually I'm not gonna lie to you. When I first had the idea, I actually had a lower number in mind, but then uh it's not my area of expertise. So you discover things as you go, and there's certain expenses you have to cover. The hall cost money, there's cleaning, there's management. There, you know, the literature is entitled to some revenue for the school. Um so you start doing the math, and uh the reality sets in. So it's uh actually a little bit higher than we originally planned. Now, some of the people have been asking is that's a great value. Other people are asking why why so much? You can cut here, cut there, and you can do three months.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:37

$14,500 as opposed to what? There's probably a wedding in there's probably a a whole in Williamsburg that has like a $10,000 wedding package.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:43

Well, they range Takuna packages uh outside of Crown Heights, where they go to Lakewood, there's even uh there's a beautiful one in Chicago, they range everywhere from $15,000 to over $30,000. So there is a range. And uh you get what you pay for even at this level. So I I think people who have been there will tell you you can see the difference between The 15 and the 30. Our goal though was to create something that people were happy to use. It shouldn't be something that people use because they have no choice, because they should be seen as struggling financially. It's still a lot of money. And we also know a lot of people will not have an easy time paying for this as well. But at least when you go to the people that can help you, friends, family, and the maesters, including Karen Ahmish, for help, you know that you're helping them pay for the wedding.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:21

First of all, the most they're ever going to need is $14,500.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:24

So the side comes to you and all of a sudden you're doing a few thousand, a few thousand, the wedding's paid for. And you have something called Klarna today. You can theoretically put out in Klarna and have a thousand dollars a month or twelve hundred a month for the next year and the wedding is done. Hakl Bakle. And uh and the vast majority now we see based on the interest and the bookings that we are doing something right.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:40

So you mentioned that Oetera, Khasana Hall, the is it called is it still called the Goodnik Ballroom?

SPEAKER_00 1:06:45

The name's still up there. You're asking me.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:49

Um it's gonna be well again, there's many times of the year there's no weddings in Sviera, and the summer is probably slow. It's and there's no Friday, there's no Shaba, so it's five days a week. We're talking about probably and you said it's not only you're not gonna people that want to make a hundred thousand dollar wedding in all terror, two hundred thousand, they can still do it.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:04

Absolutely. And the idea would be basically that we're going to ask people to give some money above the regular whole rental to help subsidize the cost of this. Now I want to be clear, this is not for profit. I think it's important to say that. There is an investment we're making to bring the prices down. We just uh uh placed an order the other week for appliances for the kitchen, for the catering kitchen allotera, about $70,000, I believe. We're trying to make it so that the vendors have less labor, that things can be stored on premises. Musician doesn't have to schlep a stage, they have to pay someone to do that. Um catering, you see the trucks when you go to a wedding, you see them at 4 p.m. schlepping everything in, you see them at midnight schlepping everything out, we're trying to cut out as much of that.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:38

So you're making capital investments, Karen Achamish, in this package that the all the vendors could do things at a lower operating expense, and then for years to come, it's a one-time expense, for many years to come, it will be able to be at a much more affordable.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:51

Correct. So we have uh we're estimating an initial investment, not just for the vendors. We want to buy new machizes, we're ordering new buffet tables, things that Altera never had, beautiful topped buffet tables. So what we do serve at these weddings are going to be presented in a way the more beautiful than they ever were before. We want people to see, be happy to use it. Um we first spoke to Levy in our for one of our first meetings.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:09

When you say Levy, you're talking about Levy Fagg in table one.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:12

I said, you know, I want people to walk into this venue and say they didn't have to make it this nice for this amount of money. I want people to walk and say it really this is beautiful in terms of presentation. Now, you have to be everything within reason. You're not getting uh uh a fancy cut of of meat and things of that nature, but have news for you. The people that I looked at at their numbers, what they were paying in the high fifties, weren't either. So it's really about economies of scale. So I also want to, you know, tell people all the time if the community uses it, Crown Heights and the Schluchem use it, it'll survive, it'll thrive. And not only is it non-for-profit, but the discussions we have even with Ali Tira were that Kernah Hamish itself is not profiting, which means the Micid, if we make a lot of weddings and there's actually more weddings than we estimate, the objective is to keep it somewhat segregated, and meaning that if there's enough revenue from these weddings and the people making regular weddings are willing to make donations, we're actually gonna make the package better or cheaper.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:00

So let me let me give the breakdown. People also don't want to feel like you push a few buttons and then the package is gonna decide how my wedding is gonna be made. When you choose the $29,500 package, each side pays 14 and uh 14 and change. What do they get to decide on? Do they get to decide on the musician, what type of food, what type of photographer? If you want to break it down, like what are we talking about?

SPEAKER_00 1:09:23

So okay. So well, I I just want to say that, you know, you when you do something like this, you quickly realize you can't have literally that many uh, you know, whether it's chefs in the kitchen or photographers or vendors, because people need the economies of scale to make it work. We want the vendors to make money or it doesn't or it's not gonna be what we want it to be and it's not going to last, right? They're gonna lose interest. So you're trying to bring down the expenses so there's some profit to be made while not necessarily making a lot of money. And to do that, you need to give people in different areas of the vendor industry enough scale so that it's worthwhile to participate. So it's one of the most difficult things has been that not everybody can, and we're gonna see how things go. It's to some degree. In terms of people saying, why isn't it cheaper? Yeah, we could do it cheaper, perhaps. Uh but we didn't want to start with a 200-page manual, you know, option this, option this, go to page D, and you'll go, and then you and then and then within within as soon as within a few weeks of starting, it's gonna be like, well, if you take all the bells and whistles, it's 40,000. Now the person who's doing 29,000 suddenly is like is feeling pressured to do the 40,000. We want to keep it as simple as possible, see how it goes. We want it to be utilized. And if people are going to use it and come back with certain feedback on some of the things we're offering or not allowing.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:30

So off the off the bat, sorry for interrupting, off the bat. You're getting the most beautiful hall. Oh, it's a beautiful Ghost in the hall. The location is phenomenal, you're down the block from 770. Correct. The next big thing is who's doing the catering? Wavy V. Fagenson is a top caterer, correct?

SPEAKER_00 1:10:44

I mean, yeah, so well, listen, a lot of these decisions were made by speaking to people, people were made, you know, again, I mean this is not my area of expertise, and once we get this up and running, I hope it doesn't become my area of expertise necessarily. We've got a lot of feedback from people, and we've had to go with the people that people predominantly want to use. And again, if you start not giving someone use of the kitchen, for instance, you start losing the economies of scale. And then the numbers are gonna go up. And the same thing with every vendor, with differences being how you know some vendors are there with their own fingers, if you're playing uh mu you know, a musical instrument, and that person has to leave their family and come play there. There's a there's a limit to what you can do. So you learn that each thing is a little bit different and and you adjust accordingly. Now, people have come up and said, I want to participate, I do this, I do that, I'm in this field, it's affecting me. I'd love to find a way for everybody to be involved, and maybe if it's very, very busy and we're gonna need more people, I just people have to be patient. And when once it starts running, we'll start getting the early indications. Are I think we have uh 21 bookings for the hall for after Schuys, which when we're officially starting, 21 people already booked? Weddings in Oli to the wedding package? I think it's 17 or 18 are the package.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:53

So I just want to run down. The hall we know, the caterer. I am very I know Wavy very well. I got it with Pesach program. The food is phenomenal, it's 10 star. You don't need you don't there's no there is no better than that. So they're covered with food. Now you get to choose probably which foods you like. You're not what you limit it to what he's gonna serve.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:07

First of all, there's a website, and you'll be able to go once the once you book the hall, you can make choices of the way you want your uh protein mushroom uh prepared, or you want your there are gonna be some choices within a certain set boundary. So I want to be very clear. It's a package, but there are parameters to the package. Um alcohol, for instance, we made the decision that would be best to let people sort of do what they want to do, not to mandate that. Other places limited.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:27

For alcohol, you want to go to the liquor store on the way to the hall and pick up two cases of Glenn Livitt, it's up to you for 200 bucks. You want to buy a blue label for 300 a bottle, it's up to you. But that's your decision. No. So that it doesn't include alcohol.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:38

No, it's one of the things it doesn't include. But again, but people, you know, a bar, for instance. Our attitude was that we weren't going to include that initially. It's a substantial expense. Now, the way we see it is if in months from now enough feedback comes and says, you know, there's another X amount percentage of people that would use it. Then I think we should definitely look at it. Right now there's no bar.

unknown 1:13:00

No.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:00

I know in London where I got married, the Tacano weddings, they did not allow a bar. There were no exceptions. They were doing it for many years. There are holes that get away with not having a bar option and it and it lasts it it could go well. We'll find out.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:10

Everyone survived.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:11

Time, time will tell. I fought with my Schwigger. I said I wanted to have a bar, and she said, absolutely, it's not allowed, and everybody survived. The Bachman ports, the masking, everybody was fine. Okay. I know photography is a very hot topic. People are into the photography. There's gonna be an option for photographers. Yeah, there are options. We have two, Shillom Burkis and Mayor Pliskan. Mayor Pliskin and Shalom, but they're top.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:31

Barkashem, Bark Hashem.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:32

Like for Dick Virum.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:33

Totally, we're not fooling around.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:34

So that's very good because I know the cowls are very into the right photography. You right away have two top photographers. They're gonna be hooked in the back. We're doing our best to uh And regarding music is also people are very into their genre of music. How many musicians are part of the package?

SPEAKER_00 1:13:47

Um I think it's uh four or five. What we did what we did with the music is that when we were talking to Oli Terra, we did so by the way, I should tell you that some research went into this. Uh the number of guests we're offering, the number of weddings we anticipate having is based on data. We actually looked at the weddings, the average size of the weddings in Oli Terra, how many people, in other words, people had as guests, and that's how we got to the number that we're offering. Uh another thing we did is we tried to look at the musicians, and you have to prioritize at least to start somewhere. So we went for people who have families, people already doing weddings, already booked in Oli Terra. We wanted to start by trying to not disturb that too much and start with them. And other people, of course, constantly reaching out to be involved. And I I think again, as it goes, we're going to probably need to add people, and we'll uh But when you have five musicians, I'm sure you looked at the weddings, they were popular ones.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:30

So anybody that books the package, between those five, you'll find somebody who likes their style music.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:34

Correct. Someone we believe someone will find something that makes them happy. Now, regarding um the chuppas also covered, you know, the chuppas covered. I should also say that um the number of people reaching out to us about adding other services, so not necessarily included in the 29 and a half. We have makeup artists saying that they'd like to work with us, so that anyone who books the package will get a discount for the makeup that day, which can be a substantial expense from what I understand. Here is also here make it makeup goes somewhat together. Um we've heard from people offering things that the cala might need or the chassin might need, talis, all types of businesses that are basically saying that we can give them a discount code that when someone books the package, they can get some of these other things as well. So there'll be added value. Reminds me of building the Mishgan.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:11

Everybody wanted to get involved. Everybody with their chachmah, everybody with their matovs.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:15

Listen, it's been beautiful. People are very excited. And uh we couldn't do this if everybody didn't step up and and you know again, no one's getting rich off this. So you credit to everybody who's getting involved. And uh we also had uh a plan, we have a plan, I should say, that we should uh be a merchant reaching out to some of the Airbnbs and or people that rent short term in Crown Heights, because one of the issues you have, the Schlochem come from two different places and say they don't have family in Crown Heights. It's part of the equation, it's part of the problems where are we gonna stay? It's not comfortable, it's gonna get expensive. So we're hoping to get discount codes for a few apartments in Crown Heights and grow as as the package grows so people can come and also spend a little bit less on accommodation while they're here for the wedding.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:53

It's fantastic. So what really touches my heart is that it's coming under the umbrella of the Debah's Meistus, and Debah's love to Chasen Kalas. There's a famous story where the Debba came out of uh out of his room and he said that he didn't hear music at the chupa, and they said it's a poor chasen kawa and they don't have the money. And the Debba ripped out money, and they right away called the musician to come play uh music at the wedding.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:13

I never heard that story. It's a beautiful story. Clearly remember the the smile when the the chupp would be outside, the chasen kala would wait when the Rebbe would come out, depending on what time it was, either the Debba's going home or Myriz after Myers. And uh the Rebbe always uh enjoyed seeing the Chasen Kala right out right from the Chuppa. Uh I was with us someone the other day, and I should mention we do need uh uh to raise some money for the initial investment. Um Barakan people, some people have already um offered to help, but uh we have a bit of a ways to go, and which are estimating to be about 150,000 in upgrades that we want to start the package with, and uh as well as some of the equipment to bring down the costs that we promised the vendors we would be doing. And um I was sitting with a supporter the other day and I was describing this whole idea, and he says, You seem you know, we talk all the time and he knows that we're proud of what we do and the different projects and you seem very proud about this. And I said, Look, I'm proud of it because you know one of the things you have to do when you're running the maestas at our the Rebbe's maestis is to always ask yourself, is this something in our mandate? Is this something that falls under one of these categories that the Rebbe would have envisioned? And you have to really speak to people on the boards and get the advice. And when this came up and started coming to fruition, it's like sometimes you do something and it's so clear how much the Rebbe would have enjoyed the concept. And Muhammad Times the Rebbe said that certainly people who can't afford it shouldn't push themselves to spend more than they have to on a simcha and then takes away ultimately from the simcha. And um yeah, Karen Hamish being that the Rebbe said Ahnsa's Kala and at the same time wanted people to uh get married responsibly and but at the same time beautifully, and they should be proud of the wedding and be able to celebrate the wedding. Um we feel very confident this is something that would have tremendous is having tremendous nachas from.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:47

How do people sign up for this package? Where do where do you see all the information?

SPEAKER_00 1:17:50

It's it's on the uh you can book the venue at hall.karnahamesh.org, and yet there's a portal there that'll take you through the steps and the choices and selections you have to make. There's actually even payment links. You can share the link with other people if it's somebody that uh is gonna get payments from multiple places. It's a custom platform that we just finished building.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:07

Aaron Powell People that are booking weddings. I mean, I have I've never made a child's wedding. My oldest kid is 12 years old. How many people know it, trust me. How many people do people how many people do people usually have at their wedding? Rough numbers.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:18

So I think I mentioned it before. When we were doing this with Late Terry, we went through the uh the guest list, uh the guest counts of the weddings that they had on average, so we got an idea of how many weddings they do on an average year and how many people attend those weddings. So the number of 275, which includes 25 children, what we're offered that were offering in the price, is based on the research that we did that the weddings are getting.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:35

It makes sense because if a table's 10 people, about 150 people on each side, so it's 15 tables per side.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:44

So that's what we're shooting for. And then one of the available available upgrades that we did from the outset was that the Barkashem Knighthara, there are some families that are a bit bigger. So we wanted to accommodate a higher guest count for an additional fee per person and up to 400.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:57

Okay, so 400 probably up to 95 percent of the people in Lobavich, and it's a 400, it's a lot of people, it's just packs.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:02

Very substantial, should help most people uh fit within the parameters. And for those people that are have to go beyond that for whatever reason, then like we said, we know this isn't going to be for absolutely everybody.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:14

A really solid, there's good names, I heard, but a solid one-person band. If a person wants to bring in a good a friend of his, he's a good singer, are people allowed to do upgrades to the package?

SPEAKER_00 1:19:23

So there are a few, only not really based on upgrades, but more on the fact that what we discovered became somewhat the norm. So once we sort of uh had everything in line, the musicians made it clear in some of the customers and feedback that we got was that it became very, very standard to have a singer in addition to the one-man band. So we're allowing an upgrade for that, but within a certain budget.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:46

But kids, if you want to bring in like 40 chazanim and a 50-piece band, this is not for you.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:50

You should make it the night after the 500-person wedding and we're good to go. Very, very cool. And I think we also have even photography. There's a standard, you know, hours that come with the package, and we wanted to make it flexible so that if somebody wanted to pay for a few extra hours outside of the package, start a little early during the day, whatever it is. We're not trying to be difficult about it.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:08

The photography package includes albums, it includes a video, all the standard stuff.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:12

No, again, based on um our research, uh albums aren't as popular as they used to be, regardless. Um, and are actually even includes editing and some production, post-production. But uh most package, what you call to cunner holes today, I mean some of them, if you go to some of the real value um based ones, you're going to actually give you a USB at the end of the night with your pictures and you do everything you want to do. You're getting good, good. We're looking to be in the value spot where it's good work, good quality from the food, from the flowers, from the musicians. Everything can be beautiful without breaking the bank. At the same time, not necessarily at the outset, trying to only go in terms of saving money and doing the lowest budget.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:51

Now, what happens if within a few weeks everything gets solid booked for the next year and there's no more there's no more there's no more nights left?

SPEAKER_00 1:20:58

All right, so Sham, based on that would be a great scenario. But I I think I to say that I hope that this is the beginning potentially of planting a seed. Sort of call it if I went to someone tomorrow to a group of donors and said, I want to make a wedding hall in Crown Heights, you have to buy a piece of land, you have to find a place to do it, and it's gonna be X amount of millions. There's no proof of concept. I hope that if this works, one of the things it will do is show people the need, confirm the need, the appreciation for it, the smile on everyone's faces making weddings without going above and beyond. Back to what I said before about saving $2.1 million, by the way.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:27

Did I just hear you say you're you're there's a potential that you're gonna build a wedding hall in Crown Heights?

SPEAKER_00 1:21:32

I think definitely part of the concept when we started is that this grows into something that eventually people will become undeniably uh necessary and and worthwhile at that point. Sh that's beautiful. That also makes it cheaper and a beautifully custom made. If you have a hall that's made all the terror, at the end of the day, it's also Yeshiva. They have storage restrictions. If you ever go through that place, if if nobody's in a room for more than 20 minutes, it becomes a classroom. So this is an issue a bit for us, which we're trying to figure out. But imagine a place that's built to store everything, uh as you know, to have the right ports. Musicians can literally have the sound system in the room, just plug in a keyboard and a microphone, they can charge you even less. Discovered a whole new world, and it's sort of almost endless the potential. But this is gonna be basically an experiment. That's why I hope people use it.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:11

In a couple years from now, you might drive down somewhere in Crown Height, see a huge 25,000, 30,000 square foot building or hall, and it's gonna be the Karanha Khamesh wedding hall. Because there's the Kawa room, and there's the Khassan room, and then there's the babysitting room. That that sounds like a reasonable amount.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:31

But it should be something that's doable. I mean, some people even reached out about things that they have access to.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:34

With all the young money today in Lovavich, this is where we should be spending money.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:38

Right. But again, I I'm not saying that there isn't uh aren't people that would be interested in supporting it, but I think it's gonna be a different argument when we're after 250 weddings in, right? And you can do the math of the millions of dollars being saved. And I uh the point I want to make is how many of those millions of dollars being saved are in high interest credit cards?

unknown 1:22:52

Shh.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:53

You can make a wedding in your forties and fifties and be paying for it until in your sixties, let alone if you uh Bar Hashem Kanain Haram, large Mishbach are making a wedding two a year, three in a year and a half. I know these people. It's scary stuff. I had four boys in a row. I'm saying it's when they start happening, it's chick-chick-chick. Listen, you know, it used to be that the calib to uh took on the majority of it. I think today it's more or less uh even. So Bar Hashem, so you should feel better already. You have less to worry about. Look forward to it more.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:21

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. So we discussed a lot of the other maesters, but the Karana Khamish helping women's causes around the world, and now we're helping Mubavic causes and Crownheights causes. This is something very, very special that you're involved in. It's real Malachis. It's Maïzhush. Fantastic.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:36

I wake up every day and have to pinch myself to have the slush to do this. Fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:41

All right, Krinsky, it's really been an honor and a pleasure.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:43

My pleasure.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:44

And uh hopefully we'll we're gonna continue the conversation and discuss more beautiful things that you're involved in and the moistus. All these good things, all these good things. Thank you so much. A lot of Atlakah cultus.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:53

Thank you very much.