Bedek Habayis

Bedek Habayis is an organization entrusted with the maintenance of the 770 building.

Bedek Habayis

The organization was established at the request of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka (the Rebbe's wife), in the year 5735 (1975). During that period, the fund also took care of the library of K'vod K'dushas Admu"r HaRayatz, with Reb Chaim Baruch Halberstam in charge of the fund's management and activities. In the past, the fund was managed by Rabbi Aaron Blasofsky, Rabbi Avraham Lipsker, and Rabbi Yitzchak Springer. They were assisted by: Rabbi Chaim Shalom Dober Lipsker. The organization is funded by Kupas Bedek Habayis.

Since the year 5768 (2008), Rabbi Baruch Shlomo Eliyahu Cunin has been participating in funding the electricity bill of 770, the original building where the Rebbe's room is also located.

Those currently responsible for operating within Bedek Habayis are Rabbi Chaim Baruch Halberstam, who takes care of renovating Beis Chayeinu, and his deputy Reb Mendel Eisenbach.

The Tzedakah Box in 770

One of the boxes designated for this tzedakah is the large box in the entrance lobby, in which the Rebbe frequently donated tzedakah. He also instructed children who received tzedakah coins from him as he went to prayers to donate the coins in this box, and several times even lifted one of the children in his hands after they were unable to reach the slot of the box.

The box was established in the year 5722 (1962) for Keren Shneur, and after the fund's activities concluded, its use was repurposed for 'Bedek Habayis'.

Many times, those in charge of the box would empty it before the Rebbe passed by the box, and afterward sold the coins that the Rebbe had dropped into it.

An additional Bedek Habayis box is in the floor corridor.

The additional Bedek Habayis box is in the floor corridor.

Another box is currently located in the floor corridor.

The Importance of the Tzedakah Box

The Rebbe emphasized several times the importance of affixing the box to the wall of the house so that it becomes part of the house, with several reasons for this:

• House of Tzedakah - The box becomes part of the house and the room, making the house a 'Chabad House - a house of tzedakah.'
• 'And You Shall See It and Remember' - The box will serve as a reminder about giving tzedakah. Additionally: since tzedakah is equivalent to all the mitzvos and brings the redemption closer, seeing the box reminds one about fulfilling all the mitzvos of the Torah.
• Accessibility - Since it is customary to give tzedakah every day, and not every day does a person in need or a case for tzedakah present itself, therefore placing a coin in the box allows one to fulfill the mitzvah with beautification every single day.

The special importance of affixing the box to the wall can be seen in the talk of Tzom Gedaliah 5749 (1988), in which the Rebbe addressed a 'halachic' question of how to conduct oneself when staying temporarily in another house regarding affixing the box, and so the Rebbe said: "They should attach a box to the wall of the house where they are staying in such a manner that on Shabbos and Yom Tov it would be forbidden to remove it from the wall, and thus the box will be part of the house as it is with a box fixed with a nail, but in a way that after they remove the box no mark will remain on the wall, and when they return to their home they should take the box with them and affix it in their home, thus retroactively clarifying that the reason they did not affix it previously in their home was because they were not in their home."