Holiday Bargains: World Peace Just $12

These days, $12 doesn't buy you much in New York City. You might go to the movies alone, take a friend to Starbucks for a latte or have six cupcakes at Magnolia's. In Ukraine, though, $12 will buy you a roundtrip ticket to Hadiach, a spiritual journey to the grave of the Alter Rebbe, possibly a miracle, a bottomless cup of hot tea and all the fish stew and beet salad your heart desires. The only thing that's not included is toilet paper, but that's par for the course here.

For $12, I thought hey... why not? We left after sunrise on an unusually sunny albeit freezing day, a mere -18 degrees Celsius. My only complaint was the hole in the baseboard of the van that left us all paralyzed by the cold. Two pairs of pantyhose, three pairs of socks and fur-lined boots still left me unable to feel my toes at press time.

I had a lot of time to think since the trip was 13 hours and 47 minutes from beginning to end. Last night, I had never even heard of the Alter Rebbe and suddenly I found myself in a van full of women from Chabad humming niguns. Luckily, I was seated next to a lovely young woman, a shaliach (Chabad emissary) from Israel who showed me the ropes.

The Alter Rebbe is Shneur Zalman of Liadi born September 4, 1745. He was an Orthodox rabbi, the founder and first rebbe of Chabad, a branch of Hasidic Judaism. The Alter Rebbe was descended from a family of mystics and philosophers. He is well known as the youngest disciple of Rabbi Dovber of Mezeritch, the "Great Maggid," who was in turn the successor of Rabbi Yisroel ben Eliezer, known as the Baal Shem Tov. Early in life he distinguished himself as a Talmud scholar and at age twelve was sent home by teachers who said he no longer needed their aid.

The Alter Rebbe went on to become the leader of Hassidism in 1788. He worked to place Hasidism and Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) on a rational basis defining his approach in his greatest work Tanya, "mind ruling over the heart." He chose the name Chabad for his philosophy, a Hebrew acronym for CHochma (wisdom), Bina (understanding) and Da'at (knowledge). He is perhaps though most famous for his work Shulchan Aruch HaRav, the "Code of Jewish Law by the Rabbi," used today by Hasidim as their basis for daily practice.

When the Alter Rebbe died in 1812, he was succeeded by his son, followed by his grandson, and so on; there were seven Rebbes of Lubavitch total, the final, and perhaps most well-known, the Alter Rebbe's great-great-great-great grandson, Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneersohn. By then, Chabad headquarters was moved to Crown Heights in Brooklyn where Rabbi Schneersohn was recognized for his efforts to expand Chabad around the world. Since his death in 1994, there has been speculation that either he was the messiah, will return as the messiah or did not actually die but is in hiding.

The Alter Rebbe, though, did die exactly 196 years ago today making my trek today part of a larger Hasidic pilgrimage. Hundreds of visitors, including myself, offered their blessings and asked the Rebbe for a miracle. I had heard about this before: single women asking to find a match or infertile couples asking for children. Everyone on the bus had a story about a miracle they had witnessed or heard; be careful what you wish for, they warned!

The prayers are written on pieces of white, unlined paper. My new friend helped me begin by adding the necessary Hebrew blessings praising God at the top of the page which, apparently, puts the Rebbe in the right "mood" to make things happen. It is followed by one's personal, spiritual and material hopes and dreams. Next, you enter the room with the grave, light a candle and pray. At the right moment, you literally shred your prayers and offer them to the Rebbe by scattering the pieces atop his tomb. Then, you can warm up with tea and fish stew while you wait for everyone else to finish.

I'm not exactly sure what happened to me today but I definitely returned feeling energized and uplifted. For good measure, I added prayers for world peace and an end to poverty, hunger, disease and war so we'll see what happens.

Keep your fingers crossed.