QUEENS, NY — The 27-year-old fax machine at the Ohel, the burial site of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, has jammed for the third time this month, according to reports.
The fax machine receives close to 700 kvitlach, prayers written on small pieces of paper addressed to the Rebbe, each day. Now, with the machine jammed, hundreds of prayers will be delayed hours before they reach the Rebbe’s corpse.
“Why am I just hearing about this now?” said Ohel Director of Consumer Relations Rafi Zteiger. “I’ve been desperately trying to get management to upgrade to email for ages, but they won’t listen.”
While some, like Zteiger, have called for modernization efforts for the revered site, many have opposed that push. “I think the fax machine is a symbol of a people firmly stuck in the past,” said local Chabadnik Yossel Plotzner. “If anything the fax machine is too progressive. I certainly wouldn’t mind going back to the good old days of messenger pigeons.”
At press time, the Rebbe could not be reached for comment.
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