The Barcheinu Avinu Zoom event, commemorating the 26th anniversary of the Chabad Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson's death, was joined by more than 45,000 devices. (Photo/JTA-Itzik Roytman-Chabad.org) News World 100,000 people reportedly attended Zoom commemoration for Chabad Rebbe Facebook Twitter Email SMS WhatsApp Share By Laura E. Adkins, JTA | June 26, 2020 The Chabad-Lubavitch movement estimates that 100,000 people on 45,000 devices gathered in an online Zoom event to honor the late Chabad rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. Schneerson, who died in 1994, led the movement’s transition from a small and insular Hasidic sect to an outward-facing global force. Tens of thousands visit his grave in Queens, New York, every year on the anniversary of his death. Things were different this year in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. “Our focus is always to strengthen people’s connection to the Rebbe,” Rabbi Levi Slonim, a Chabad emissary to Binghamton, New York, and a member of the organizing committee, told Chabad.org. “This year, we needed to dig deeper and be more creative in order to accomplish our goal, but thank God, the event was deeply moving and the sheer magnitude of it was breathtaking.” The approximately 100,000 people who tuned in gathered in 26 different Zoom rooms to form one mega event dubbed “Barcheinu Avinu,” or “Remembering Our Father.” The event, which could be the largest ever on Zoom in the world, featured Torah speakers and singers. Laura E. Adkins Laura E. Adkins is opinion editor of the Forward and former opinion editor at JTA. JTA Content distributed by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency news service. Also On J. Bay Area Swastika found outside elementary school in Marin Film At SF DocFest, secrets from a Jewish mother’s hippie past Northern California Darrell Steinberg will not seek third term as Sacramento mayor Opinion The Sassoons are having a moment. Here’s why that matters. Subscribe to our Newsletter Enter Email Sign Up