Colel chabad

The Collel's Tzedakah Box

Colel Chabad, under the leadership of the Rebbe (Rabbi Meir Baal Haness Charity), is a charitable organization established by the Alter Rebbe to assist Jews in the Holy Land who suffered from severe economic hardship. Since its establishment, the Chabad Rebbes have served as presidents of the Colel and encouraged donations to help Jews in the Holy Land. Colel Chabad is the oldest existing charitable organization today.

Background

It is commonly said that the Colel was founded by the Alter Rebbe in 1788, but Rabbi Shalom Ber Levin claims that the Colel was only established in 1827 with the blessing and presidency of the Mitteler Rebbe. Under the Rebbe's leadership, the Colel's activities developed into a massive system of assistance and aid. In the early years after accepting the leadership, the Rebbe encouraged support for Colel Chabad, which was intensively assisting Chassidim who arrived in the Holy Land after the "exodus from Russia" and settled in Kfar Chabad and Lod. The Rebbe even determined that one of the Colel's purposes was to transfer money to Tzeirei Chabad in the Holy Land.

Early History

In 1777, after Chassidim immigrated to the Holy Land, a Holy Land Fund was established to maintain the livelihood of Chassidim in Israel. The fund was managed by the Alter Rebbe, who was the fund's president in Europe. In 1801, a dispute broke out between him and Rabbi Avraham of Kalisk regarding several issues, including the fund's management, which led Rabbi Avraham of Kalisk in 1805 to appoint a new president for the Holy Land Fund and ordered to stop the allocation to Chabad Chassidim. This led to the establishment of a special fund for Chabad Chassidim.

During the time of the Mitteler Rebbe, Colel Chabad's emissaries began distributing home charity boxes. Simultaneously, the Mitteler Rebbe instituted that every Chassid should establish these boxes near their dining table and be careful to put coins in the charity box daily before eating. These boxes were innovative at the time, and following Colel Chabad's boxes, home charity boxes spread throughout the world.

Structure of the Colel

The Colel's leadership was divided into two parts: The presidency and treasurers abroad, and the appointees and supervisors in the Holy Land. The Alter Rebbe was the fund's president and lived abroad, as did the chief and general treasurer R' Yaakov of Smilian. Meanwhile, Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk, who lived in the Holy Land, was the appointee.

During the Tzemach Tzedek's period, Rabbi Chaim Avraham Shneuri and Rabbi Menachem Nachum Schneerson also joined the Colel's management from abroad. R' Nechemya Berach of Dubrovna served as the general treasurer. After his passing, R' Zev of Retzitza and R' Avraham of Rahachov served until 1855, and afterward, Rabbi Avraham of Rahachov together with R' Yitzchak Eizik of Bichov and R' Dan Tumerkin.

In subsequent years, R' Dan Tumerkin served alone as "general treasurer" for more than thirty years.

First Appointees in Hebron

Usually, there were three appointees and supervisors, or leaders and managers in Colel Chabad. They were joined by a trustee, who was the treasurer and accountant, and a scribe, who sometimes was also one of the appointees.

The first named appointees of "Colel Chabad" in Hebron were R' Tzvi Hirsh Lifshitz, R' Ephraim Yaffe, and R' Moshe Meisels (the well-known Chassid of the Alter Rebbe). They signed as appointees in the emissary documents from 1827, which was the first year the Colel was established in its final form. Alongside them, R' Leib Chitrik of Sena was appointed as trustee, meaning treasurer.

Order of Appointees

The order of appointees during the years 1827-1875:

1827-29: R' Tzvi Hirsh Lifshitz, R' Moshe Meisels, and R' Ephraim Yaffe 1830-42: R' S. Segal and R' Yehuda Leib Chitrik 1843-46: R' Ephraim Yaffe was added to them 1847: R' S. Segal, R' S.M. Chaikin, and R' M. Shmerling 1848: R' S. Segal and R' S.M. Chaikin 1849: The above two, R' Avigdor, R' M. Aryeh Segal, and R' A.B. Chitrik 1850: R' S.M., R' Avigdor, and R' Uri 1851-53: R' S.M., R' Uri, and R' M. Aryeh Segal 1854: R' S.M., R' M.A., and R' S.Z. Epstein 1855: R' S.Z. Schneersohn [Sizveni Yisrael] was also added 1866: R' S.M., R' S.Z. [Epstein or Fundaminski], and R' DovBer son of R' Naftali Hirsh 1868: R' S.M., R' Levi Yitzchak Slonim, and R' S.Z. Fundaminski 1872-75: The above and R' Y.L. Slonim

From 1847 onwards, R' S.M. Chaikin was among the appointees, initially as one of the appointees and finally as the chief appointee. His assistants changed from time to time while he remained the chief appointee (in addition to being the community rabbi).

Colel Chabad in Jerusalem

The Chabad settlement in Jerusalem was founded in 1847. In the following years, the appointees (managers) were:

1. Rabbi Eliyahu Yosef Rivlin
2. Rabbi Uri Orenstein
3. R' Yehoshua Natkin
4. R' Zalman Epstein
5. R' Avraham Stetzeres
6. R' Aharon Lipkin
7. R' Yeshaya Orenstein
8. R' Yitzchak Yaakov Shabsi
9. R' Michael Baruch Reises
10. R' Mordechai Avraham Shlank
11. R' Moshe Wittenberg
12. R' Manis Verevelansky
13. Rabbi DovBer Efrat
14. Rabbi Yehuda Leib Menuchin
15. Rabbi DovBer Pradkin
16. Rabbi Yaakov Orenstein
17. Rabbi Menachem Mendel Na'eh

Special Colel Chabad

Special Colel Chabad split from Colel Chabad in 1912 due to disagreements about money transfers.

President - Rabbi Shmarya Noach Schneerson of Bobruisk Chairman - R' Chaim Eliezer Bichovsky Managers: Rabbi Gershon Lifshitz and Rabbi Moshe Kazarnovsky

Period of the Previous Rebbe

In 1924, 'Special Colel Chabad' united with Colel Chabad under the Previous Rebbe's presidency.

From when the Previous Rebbe accepted the Colel presidency, a presidency committee was established:

President - The Previous Rebbe Presidency Committee Members:

• Rabbi Shlomo Yehuda Leib Eliezerov
• Rabbi Menachem Mendel Na'eh
• Rabbi Mordechai Reuven Rokach
• Rabbi Yisrael Asher Liba

Executive Committee Members:

• R' David Levanon
• R' Mendel Landa
• R' Yehuda Leib Slonim
• Rabbi Yitzchak Avigdor Orenstein

During this period, Rabbi Orenstein was one of the Colel's active managers. Rabbi Orenstein devoted all his energy and skills to wisely manage this old Colel's needs. In his service to the Colel, he was like a father to hundreds of poor families in the Chabad settlement, its widows and orphans.

In 1948, he was killed in the War of Independence.

Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Na'eh, brother of Colel management member Rabbi Chaim Na'eh, was appointed as Colel Chabad manager in place of Rabbi Orenstein.

In late 1949, the Previous Rebbe appointed new managers:

• Rabbi Azriel Zelig Slonim
• Rabbi Avraham Chaim Na'eh - elected as Colel management member after his father Rabbi Menachem Mendel Na'eh's passing in 1938

The Rebbe's Period

After the Rebbe officially accepted leadership on 10 Shevat 1951, Colel Chabad management requested to accept the Rebbe's presidency, as reported in Beis Moshiach weekly:

At that time, Colel Chabad managers asked the Rebbe to accept the presidency and write a letter requesting donations to Colel Chabad. The Rebbe agreed to write a letter on Purim Katan 1951. In early Nissan 1951, a meeting of Chabad institutions' managements in the Holy Land was held with participation of Agudas Chassidei Chabad, Tomchei Tmimim Yeshivas, Toras Emes Yeshiva, Achei Tmimim, Colel Chabad and Kfar Chabad. The meeting unanimously decided that all institutions stand under the Rebbe's presidency. They wrote to the Rebbe about this. But the Rebbe did not accept the presidency of the institutions in the Holy Land until 1952.

The Colel's Management Under the Rebbe's Presidency

The Rebbe - President of the Colel Managers - The two managers appointed by the Previous Rebbe continued in their roles: Rabbi Azriel Zelig Slonim and Rabbi Chaim Na'eh

And in the following years:

• Rabbi Shlomo Yosef Zvin
• Rabbi Shmuel Menachem Mendel Schneerson
• Rabbi Avraham Baruch Pevzner (Paris)
• Rabbi Eliezer Nannes
• Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Gottlieb
• Rabbi Shalom Duchman

The Colel's Activities

Since its establishment, the Colel operated under Chabad Rebbes' presidency to raise donations from Chassidim throughout Russia and send them to Jews in the Holy Land.

The Alter Rebbe wrote special letters and also chapters in the Tanya about the merit of donations to the Holy Land.

The following Rebbes also encouraged Chassidim to donate while working to organize the Colel in the best possible way to channel as many donations as possible to Jews in the Holy Land.

Even during wars and crises, donations did not stop, and thus Chassidim in the Holy Land received much help, thanks to the work of Chabad Rebbes. Managers appointed to carry out the activities included prominent Chabad rabbis and Chassidim in Russia and the Holy Land.

Current Activities Under the Rebbe's Leadership

The Colel's current activities include:

• Thirteen soup kitchens
• Food distribution network for needy in over forty cities in Israel
• Day care centers
• Dental clinics for the needy
• Network of subsidized supermarkets throughout the country
• Facility for severely disabled in Migdal HaEmek called "Machon Grabski"
• 'Finger Center' - an elegant building for disabled people in Jerusalem
• Financial assistance system for needy families
• Aid fund for widows and orphans
• Support for terror victims' families
• "Gutnick Halls" - two subsidized wedding halls
• Annual large Bar and Bat Mitzvah celebration for a thousand boys and girls from former Soviet Union immigrants at the Western Wall
• Management of Chabad section on Mount of Olives
• World Tehillim Society near King David's Tomb on Mount Zion in Jerusalem
• 'National Food Security Initiative' with Israeli government, starting in 2012
• Food card distribution. In 2021, the Colel won a tender to distribute food cards worth hundreds of millions of shekels from the Ministry of Interior to families throughout the country

Publications by the Colel

• Colel Chabad Calendar
• The Gaon of Lublin

The Rebbe's Donations to the Colel

The Rebbe regularly transferred money to Colel Chabad before holidays and Chassidic occasions, in addition to Colel Chabad charity box funds that were transferred through him. These amounts usually totaled hundreds of dollars.

The only charity box permanently placed on the table in the Rebbe's room is the Colel Chabad box.

Starting from the 1980s, the Rebbe began increasing the frequency of money transfers, until there were times he transferred money not only on holidays and festivals but also on regular weekdays and sometimes even twice a week.

In addition to these funds, the Rebbe occasionally designated large sums of money that came to him for Colel Chabad.

Criticism of Current Colel Operations

The Colel takes budgets from the 'International Fellowship of Christians and Jews', a fund suspected of missionary purposes. This action contradicts the position of Chabad rabbis and most Charedi rabbis. A Chabad rabbinical court previously issued a ruling on this matter to Tzach Chairman Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Aronov stating:

"In response to your inquiry regarding receiving money from the Fellowship for Chabad Houses, the court decided that there is no place for Chabad Houses to receive money from this fund."

Rabbi Shalom Ber Lifshitz (Chairman of Yad L'Achim) criticized this conduct of the Colel:

"This is a desecration of God's name. Colel Chabad is not the owner of Chabad Rebbes, they use Chabad Rebbes for money, I don't know if it's permitted to stand within their four cubits, whether their tefillin and mezuzot are kosher..."

On the other hand, Colel leaders such as Menachem Mendel Blau argue in their defense that the fund's missionary purposes are questionable, and Mr. Yechiel Eckstein, who is among the Fellowship's people, is a Charedi Jew who observes all commandments strictly.

Colel Chabad Calendar

The Colel Chabad Calendar concentrates all Chabad customs throughout the year. The calendar was published after Rabbi Avraham Chaim Na'eh saw that Anash (Chabad community members) were using a non-Chabad calendar, so he decided to publish a Chabad calendar through Colel Chabad, where he was manager.

After his passing, his son Rabbi Baruch Na'eh published the calendar.

Today, Rabbi Baruch Na'eh's sons publish the calendar.

Eshel Chabad

The Eshel Chabad organization (formerly 'Eshel Yerushalayim') was founded by Colel Chabad in 1983 and deals with welfare activities and projects nationwide, in cooperation with the Ministry of Welfare, welfare bodies, non-profits and other volunteer organizations. The organization's annual turnover is about 90 million shekels, of which about 25 million is funded by the state and local authorities.

Activities include the "Eshel" social division, an educational division called "Chesed Menachem Mendel" for preventing student dropout, an immigrant absorption enterprise, stationary and mobile medical clinics, and a medical-rehabilitation center for nursing care patients and multiple sclerosis patients.

Chaya Day Care Centers

From 2012 onwards, Colel Chabad began operating an extensive network of innovative early childhood centers nationwide, emphasizing both appearance and child development, both in cooperation with parents, and in a therapeutic program in the spirit of Chassidism, according to the Rebbe's instruction to invest in and nurture specifically early childhood, which has the most fundamental and deep influence on children.