Anatoly Kochanov (Naftali ben Avshalom, Cohen)
Part 1, July 2024, Exodus Issue 261
What is your Occupation?
I am an mechanical engineer. I graduated from the Bauman Moscow State Technical University. I participated in the installation of 50,000 elevators, escalators, and lifts in various buildings and structures, including the World Trade Center in Moscow, the USSR Embassy in Havana, and the Government House in Moscow. In the 1990s, I worked as the director of the Russian branch of the American company Otis — the world's largest manufacturer of elevators and escalators. In 1993, President Yeltsin awarded me the title of "Honored Builder of Russia.”
Which of the JRCC programs do you find the most memorable?
I fondly recall joining a trip to the Rebbe. This was one of the most memorable events in the life of our community - the JRCC Willowdale branch. On a warm September day in 2023, our group, led by Rabbi Yisroel Zalzman, arrived in New York. Our first stop was the Rebbe’s resting place in Queens.
After passing through deserted streets, we finally saw a crowd of people gathered outside a one-story building — Jews from all over the world come here year-round. We first walked into a narrow hallway, where we were asked to put on slippers or shoe covers, and then we entered a large room. Men and women of all ages sat at tables and wrote letters to the Rebbe. I think everyone knows that when visiting the memorial, one should write a letter to the Rebbe, describing one’s sorrows, requests, problems, and requests for blessings. People write about health, children, about everything that worries them. Usually they start with a few obligatory phrases, and then, slowly, carefully choosing each word, they state their requests. There is also a table in the hall with simple food, water and disposable dishes where you can have a leisurely snack. Everyone had time to think everything over carefully and put it in their letter.
When the letters were ready, we headed to the actual resting place. The men stood to the left, and the women to the right. Everyone entered without rushing or pushing. Each stayed as long as his soul required, and then left. We entered, took a place at the edge, and each tried to spiritually connect with the Rebbe, conveying his request mentally. After the prayer, the letter was torn into several small pieces and thrown into the area in front of the monument. When we left there, I felt that I had touched something lofty and holy. This was our conversation with the Almighty. After standing for a while to come to my senses, I returned to reality.
After leaving the Memorial, we headed to Crown Heights, Brooklyn, to the Rebbe’s synagogue, known as 770. The drive took about forty minutes. The scenery gradually changed as we crossed Queens and entered Brooklyn, as the streets became busier and busier.
The synagogue building at 770 Eastern Parkway was especially crowded. This was the Rebbe’s synagogue, where he served for over forty years. Our visit took place before the High Holidays, and many people from all over the world gathered here. A long canvas pavilion was set up for the guests, stretching along the street. Everything was thought out to the smallest detail: lighting, chairs, tables with outlets for charging phones and computers. This temporary camp stretched for a full 100 meters. There were crowds of people everywhere - praying, writing letters, talking on the phone.
Rabbi Yisroel Zalzman took us to a special room – the communications center. It is known that one of the Rebbe's brilliant ideas was to create an army of emissaries around the world, the “Shluchim.” Their mission is to seek out Jews and connect them with their Jewish soul and raise it to its roots. The Rebbe wanted to be in touch with his emissaries around the world. In those decades, the technological-communication wonders of today did not exist yet. There were simple phones, land lines. So the Rebbe's office organized a special room with over sixty analog telephones though which the Rebbe was able to communicate with his emissaries around the world.
The afternoon "Mincha" prayer in the main hall of the synagogue made a great impression on me. There were so many people that we all had to stand very close to one another. What was especially impressive was that the overwhelming majority of those present were young people. They are future rabbis, Shluchim, emissaries of the Rebbe, who came here from various countries. We met one young man from Toronto, who used to attend our synagogue and now studies here in the yeshiva. We were amazed by the enthusiasm of the youth and their deep faith in the coming of Moshiach.
Next to the synagogue is the house where the Sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, or as he is called, the Previous Rebbe, lived after coming to the United States. On the first floor of the building is a museum with an extensive archive of documents, personal belongings and letters of the Previous Rebbe. We heard a lot about the tragic history of the Previous Rebbe’s library. The museum displays many documents related to this. We also visited the private house where the Rebbe lived with his wife, Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka.
This was the journey that the men’s part of the trip took. The women of the synagogue community were accompanied by our rabbi's wife, Rebbetzin Sheina.
