History
Following the burial of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson in the cemetery in 1950, his successor, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, would visit his father-in-law’s grave several times a week – even up to six days a week. He would read out the requests of people who came to speak with him, then tear the notes and leave them at the gravesite. After the death of his wife in 1988, the Ohel was the only place the Rebbe regularly visited outside Brooklyn. He suffered his first stroke at the Ohel in 1992.
Following Schneerson's death and burial at the Ohel in 1994, the number of visitors to the Ohel increased significantly. Today, tens of thousands of Jews visit the Ohel annually. It is also frequented by travelers going to or returning from nearby John F. Kennedy International Airport or 770 Eastern Parkway, the headquarters of Chabad in Crown Heights.
The presence of large numbers of pilgrims, nighttime visitations, and the build-up of Chabad homes and facilities in the area has resulted in tension with the surrounding African-American community.
Read more about this topic: Ohel (Chabad)
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