The Ohel of The Alter Rebbe

The Ohel of the Alter Rebbe is the burial site of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, located in the city of Haditch in Ukraine.

The renovated Alter Rebbe's ohel in Haditch

Interior view of the Alter Rebbe's tziyun

The Histalkus and Burial

On the night of Motzoei Shabbos, Parshas Shemos, the Alter Rebbe passed away — an event referred to in Chassidic tradition as a histalkus (spiritual ascent) — on the 24th of Teves, 5573 (January 14, 1813), at 10:22 p.m., immediately following Havdalah, the brief ceremony marking the close of Shabbos.

Since there was no Jewish cemetery in the village of Pyena where he had been staying, his body was transported the following day by wagon to the nearby town of Haditch, which had a Jewish burial ground.

Chassidim recount that before his passing the Alter Rebbe had said: "Haditch, Haditch" — and so he was indeed buried there.

Midway along the road to Haditch, the wagon came to a sudden halt. To the astonishment of the escorts, the Alter Rebbe's holy body appeared to be hovering in the air above the wagon bed. On inspection they discovered that a non-kosher animal had crept beneath the wagon. Once it was driven away, the Alter Rebbe's body settled back as before.

An ohel — a small structure built over the grave to shelter visitors — was later erected over the burial site.

Kohanim and Entry into the Ohel

The question of whether kohanim (members of the priestly family, who are biblically prohibited from coming into contact with the dead) may enter the ohel is a serious halachic matter. As the tziyun was originally constructed, a large dome covered the precise place of burial. Within that dome was a window measuring one handbreadth by one handbreadth — and according to halacha, an opening of that size transmits ritual impurity (tumas meis) into the surrounding structure. Although a panel covered the opening, this did not fully resolve the concern.

The Maharil — Rabbi Yehudah Leib, the Alter Rebbe's brother — ruled that there was no Torah-level prohibition involved. His reasoning: the halachic principle that a covered one-by-one handbreadth opening still counts as "open" applies only when the deceased is located within the same enclosed space. In this case, the body lay beneath the dome, and under those conditions the impurity does not spread into the outer structure when the window is closed.

The Maharil did qualify this ruling: the walls of the dome above the tziyun must be at least ten handbreadths tall. Below that height, the impurity is classified as tumas retzutza — compressed impurity that breaks through the enclosure and spreads outward — and the exemption would no longer apply. He instructed that the site be measured, and if the walls fell short, a groove should be cut into the ground around the dome until the ten-handbreadth minimum was reached.

The Maharil also cautioned that kohanim must not prostrate themselves directly on the tziyun. While hishtapchus — lying prostrate on a tzaddik's grave — carries great spiritual significance, and this consideration has historically been used to permit setting aside certain rabbinic precautions, the Maharil limited that dispensation to the graves of Talmudic sages in the Holy Land. In earlier times, he explained, graves were open on one side, which meant impurity was not retzutza. Today's sealed graves, however, present a real Torah-level prohibition. To prevent kohanim from inadvertently coming too close, the Maharil advised constructing a partition four handbreadths wide around the ohel.

In Recent Times

Main article: Kiryas Rabbenu HaGadol

In 5748 (1988), the gravestones and the ohel underwent major renovation, carried out by Rabbi Dovid Nachshon and Rabbi Avi Taub.

In more recent years the ohel building has been rebuilt and access passages constructed to accommodate the increasing numbers of visitors who come to pray there — fulfilling the wish of the Rebbe Rashab, who had longed to see as many Jews as possible able to reach the ohel.

On the 19th of Kislev, 5773 (December 3, 2012) — the Chassidic festival celebrating the release of the Alter Rebbe from Czarist imprisonment in 1798 — a chanukas habayis (dedication ceremony) was held for the newly built Heichal HaAlter Rebbe, a hospitality and retreat center adjacent to the tziyun, intended to host visiting worshippers and to run Shabbaton programs for Jews from Ukraine and the former Soviet republics. The building was donated by the Rohr family, and the dedication was celebrated with many guests.

In Elul 5785 (2025), a Gesher Kohanim — a specially designed passageway allowing kohanim to approach the tziyun while remaining halachically separated from the source of impurity — was inaugurated at the site.

Further Reading

• Menachem Ziegelbaum, Istaleik Yikara — The Story of the Histalkus of the Chabad Rebbes, p. 54 (5773).

External Links

• Schneur Zalman Berger, The End of the Chabad Community of Haditch, from the book Yisroel Noach HaGadol, 24 Teves 5773 (January 6, 2013).
• Schneur Zalman Levin, Haditch 5773 — Alive and Breathing, travel diary, Beis Moshiach Weekly, 21 Teves 5773 (January 3, 2013).
• Tziyun of the Alter Rebbe on Google Maps: Photos, Location.