Press Release - Parade 121
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Rabbi Yossi Hirsch
[email protected] (7184009770)
N.Y.’s Annual Passover Campaign and Mitzvah Parade Back Despite Vandalism Attempts.
“Mitzvah Tanks” Will Share the Passover Matzah and Message of Hope and Faith, In What Has Become A Yearly Tradition.
NEW YORK, N.Y. — On Thursday, March 30, “Mitzvah Tanks” — RVs repurposed to promote Jewish customs and tradition — will parade from Brooklyn to Manhattan before fanning out to over 75 points around the city, as part of a massive Passover campaign.
Led by Chabad-Lubavitch, the impressive convoy of vehicles — continuing the legacy of the phenomenon that was introduced in New York in 1974 — will travel past Chabad World Headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway before crossing into Manhattan and then spreading out to various points throughout the five boroughs where they will offer people to do a Mitzvah and hand out handmade Passover “Shmurah Matzah”.
In the last three months, Mitzvah Tanks were twice vandalized with antisemitic graffiti in an attempt to undermine the initiative. Despite this and with renewed fervor the campaign is going ahead and will continue to spread light and positivity in the leadup to the Jewish festival of freedom.
The Passover awareness campaign was launched by the Rebbe — Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, the most influential rabbi in modern history, in 1954. These “Mitzvah Tanks”--Mitzvah means good deed and these “tanks” counter the ones that make war with the purpose of spreading goodness and kindness— will distribute thousands of matzahs to help NYC Jews celebrate Passover.
WHAT: Massive armada of iconic “Mitzvah Tanks”- ubiquitous sightings in the annual lead-up to Passover in New York- to promote Passover.
WHEN & WHERE: Thursday, March 30, 2023.
12:30 PM (traffic depending) - 900 6th Ave, corner of 6th ave and w34th st
CONTACT: Rabbi Yossi Hirsch
[email protected] (7184009770)
The “Mitzvah Tanks'' will offer handmade shmurah matzah for use at Passover Seders. In Kabbalistic teachings matzah is referred to as the “Bread of Faith” and the “Bread of Healing”, and with faith, hope and healing needed more than ever, the initiative will ensure the message of the matzah will be shared far and wide across the state.
The parade and celebration comes as Education and Sharing Day is marked in honor of the 121st anniversary of the Rebbe’s birth (Hebrew calendar). The day honors the Rebbe’s deep impact on the country, a lifetime of transformative leadership and his promotion of moral education as the bedrock of a healthy society. Education and Sharing Day U.S.A. has been enacted by each president since 1978.
About Passover
The eight-day festival of Passover is celebrated this year from sundown on Wednesday April 5 until after nightfall on Thursday, April 13. Passover commemorates the exodus of the Jews from Egypt and is celebrated with two “Seder” dinners on April 5 and 6. Other holiday observances include restricting the consumption of leavened products such as bread and pasta, instead eating unleavened matzah. Your readers can find additional information about Passover at Chabad.org/Passover.
About the Rebbe
Considered the most influential rabbi in modern history, the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, born in April 1902 (121 years ago) in Nikolaev (Mykolaiv), Ukraine, is credited with creating a Jewish renaissance after the Holocaust from New York City where he emigrated to in 1941. Under the Rebbe’s leadership Chabad-Lubavitch has become the largest Jewish organization in the world with 3,500 educational, religious and social service institutions across more than 100 countries and every state of the United States. Since his passing in 1994, Chabad continues to grow and more people than ever have been impacted by the Rebbe’s vision and teachings.
The Rebbe was the only rabbi to receive the Congressional Gold Medal, and to have an American national day, Education and Sharing Day, proclaimed in his honor. Advising some of the world's greatest leaders, he helped shape matters of state and society. Statesmen and artists as diverse as Ronald Reagan, Robert F. Kennedy, Yitzchak Rabin, Menachem Begin, Elie Wiesel, and Bob Dylan span the spectrum of those who sought his counsel.