Have you ever seen an oil-burning menorah lit for Chanukah?

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• Thanks, Rabbi...are you a Lubavitch rabbi in real life? my brother is a conservative rabbi who's a National Guard chaplain...+6

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  by Stu B in his light spring COAT on August 28th, 2008

• I'm a real-life Lubavitch rabbi ; ) Your brother must have some very interesting experiences to relate...
  (Thx for the points : )

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  by ChabadRabbi on August 28th, 2008

• indeed he does...he served 3 yrs active duty as a US Army chaplain in Ft Benning, GA, and had pulpits in Houston (where driving to shul on Shabbat was sanctioned because the congregation was in an industrial area not within walking distance of any homes!), Youngstown, OH, and Vestal, NY (Binghamton), where he and his family still live, but he's been sent to Afghanistan (twice)and Iraq to lead Seders and conduct High Holy Day services for the troops!

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  by Stu B in his light spring COAT on August 28th, 2008

• Wow!

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  by ChabadRabbi on August 28th, 2008

• Thank G-d he's returned safely each time...

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  by Stu B in his light spring COAT on August 28th, 2008

• BTW, I've never lit an oil menorah, but my parents have one that belonged to my mother's grandfather...we've never used it, but I may ask to borrow it to use this year...what type of oil do you use?

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  by Stu B in his light spring COAT on August 28th, 2008

• I'm fascinated to talk to you, Rabbi! Where do you live? In NYC? I grew up in Brooklyn Heights, attended Hebrew school and had my Bar Mitzvah at a conservative shul called Cong. Mt. Sinai, and now live in Park Slope, and the Hasidic groups I'm aware of are the Lubavitchers (there's a Chabad about 3 blocks from my house, near Prospect Park) and the Satmars...I know that one is mainly in Williamsburgh and the other in Borough Park, but I can't remember which one is where...I also am aware of Hasidim outside the city - in the Catskills, I think(?), and there probably are others I'm not aware of...

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  by Stu B in his light spring COAT on August 28th, 2008

• BTW, the longtime spiritual leader of Mt. Sinai is Rabbi Joseph Potasnik (he did my Bar Mitzvah in 1973, when he was just out of rabbinical school), who's also a NY Fire Dept. chaplain and was prominent in the aftermath of 9/11...he lit a large Chanukiah at Ground Zero that year...

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  by Stu B in his light spring COAT on August 28th, 2008

• Well, maybe this coming Chanukah you should try the oil version, it's really special.
  I'm actually in South Africa, but come through to NY regularly.
  If you visit Boro Park, there are a good few types of Chassidim there, as well as in Monroe.
  But, you are right that the most prominent Chassidim you'll encounter in NY are Lubavitch and Satmar (though very different from each other).

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  by ChabadRabbi on August 28th, 2008

• I know the 2 are very different, though I'm not aware of the details...I find the similarities and differences among all denominations fascinating - reform, conservative, orthodox, reconstructionist, and Hasidic - and I'm proud that I've attended services at reformed, conservative, orthodox, and reconstructionist synagogues, though I'm most comfortable in conservative as that's what I grew up with, and I love seeing families sit and doven together, though I know and respect the valid reasons for gender-separate seating...in fact, my parents both grew up in orthodox shuls, but they joined Mt Sinai because my mother said that she felt like a 2nd-class citizen and hated having to sit upstairs in her family's old shul...

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  by Stu B in his light spring COAT on August 29th, 2008

• I was least comfortable in the reform setting...about 20 years ago, I attended Rosh Hashanah services at Hebrew Union College in Manhattan...we were finished by about noon, I was so dissatisfied that I had the feeling of having taken a shower with a raincoat on, and actually walked to a nearby conservative shul for the last part of their service...the only time I ever attended 2 shuls on the same day!

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  by Stu B in his light spring COAT on August 29th, 2008

• but way too much about me...how interesting that you're in South Africa! I know that many Jews went there from eastern Europe...are you in Johannesburg?

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  by Stu B in his light spring COAT on August 29th, 2008

• Well, I see that you've tried everything except a Chassidic Shul ; )
  I am in Johannesburg, most of the local Jewish population's originally from Lithuania, with smatterings from Russia, the UK and Israel.

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  by ChabadRabbi on August 30th, 2008

• Hope you had a Shabbat shalom...I attend the Park Slope Jewish Center near my home, which is conservative...I've never tried a Chasidic shul because I thought I might not be welcome, but now that I think about it and what I know of most Jewish people (I have a lot of trouble using the word "Jews," because it conjures up anti-Semitic images), I imagine I would be welcome...do you agree? After all, it's the same Shachrit, Torah, and Musaf services, with less English than I'm used to (I assume), but I'm perfectly comfortable dovening in Hebrew...

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  by Stu B in his light spring COAT on August 30th, 2008

• You would definitely be welcome, at least at a Chabad service (can't speak on behalf of other Chassidic groups). I'm quite sure that there's a Chabad in Park Slope...

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  by ChabadRabbi on August 30th, 2008

• there is one about 3 blocks from my apartment; an easy walk...

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  by Stu B in his light spring COAT on August 30th, 2008