As Colel Chabad prepares for another Shavuot, a Kiryat Gat bakery in the south of Israel is working around the clock to prepare tens of thousands of sweet cheese pastries and individual chocolate cakes for those coming up to the Kotel this Shavuot.
The cakes and pastries will be added to a “food kit,” containing sweets and drinks, which is one of Colel Chabad’s many initiatives. The Lubavitcher Rebbe’s Shavuot message is printed on every package: “We have to remember that our children are guarantors for us – we need to make sure every child and even every infant will hear the Ten Commandments read on Shavuot.”
These packages are Colel Chabad’s Shavuot tradition – to honor the Kotel visitors with little packages that allow them to make their own Kiddush at the holiest place on earth.
The program is inspired by Nakdimon Ben-Gurion, one of the wealthiest men to live in Jerusalem during the times of the second Beit Hamikdash. Every time Jews would flock to the Beit Hamikdash, Nakdimon would ensure there were wells of refreshing cold water to greet them.
Today, Colel Chabad – along with the Meromim Fund – is making sure that the tradition continues. Every Jew who comes to the Kotel will have a personal package waiting for them. By distributing the packages, with the help of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation and Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, people can take some food for the journey and – with the sun expected to beat down on their heads – stop, quench their thirst, rest, enjoy a tasty snack given with graciousness and a smile.