Chabad Pilgrims to Fly Nonstop to Kazakhstan for Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson’s Memorial

Chabad Hasidim are preparing for a historic direct charter flight to Kazakhstan for the yahrzeit of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson, the father of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, which falls on 20 Menachem Av. The entire trip, including the time in Kazakhstan, will last only 24 hours. The organizers say the flight will be the first time a full Airbus A330 is dedicated to a private charter to the gravesite in Almaty.

Until now, the journey to Rabbi Schneerson’s burial place has typically meant long connections and exhausting waits in airports around the world. The new arrangement, operated by Israir, is meant to allow worshippers to arrive rested and ready for prayer and study. Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Niazov of the organizing committee, on behalf of the Teferet Zekenim Levi Yitzchak institution, said the decision to lease the new aircraft came from expectations that demand would reach a new high. “We see with our own eyes that the Hasidim are eager to fulfill ‘honor your father’ in the most beautiful way,” he said.

The flight itself is being planned as a “flying farbrengen,” with intensive Chassidic classes, preparatory gatherings and study from the teachings of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak during the hours in the air. Organizers are preparing special study booklets and personal comfort kits for each passenger.

On the ground in Almaty, local Chabad emissaries are preparing large hospitality tents, kosher food and drink stations, and a security perimeter for the hundreds expected to arrive. This year marks the 81st yahrzeit of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson, who served for about 30 years as rabbi of Dnipropetrovsk in Ukraine, was arrested and exiled by the Soviet authorities, and died and was buried in Kazakhstan. His writings were confiscated, but later came to be published in five volumes of Likkutei Levi Yitzchak. Organizers said the pilgrimage has grown in recent years because he was a Torah giant who suffered for the Jewish people, and because honoring his memory is also seen as honoring the Rebbe who valued those who upheld his father’s legacy.