My wife, Shevy, and an incredibly devoted committee just pulled off a magnificent soiree at the Central Park Zoo in support of Belev Echad. It was a lavish affair and 250 women showed up to support our incredible wounded IDF heroes.
The venue was exquisite. While Lee Shtrachaman shared her story of hope and perseverance after her injury, sea lions barked in the background. The monkeys were a little shyer, scared of the music perhaps, but they were right there too. It was simply spectacular.
Little did the guests know just how difficult it was to pull off this event!
Five weeks in advance, my wife toured the zoo and made the decision to hold the annual women’s soiree there. It seemed relatively straightforward. We’re not strangers to arranging events in any and every space. How hard could it be? What could go wrong?
It turns out, a lot!
When the zoo asked us to submit our tentative plans along with a deposit 30 days in advance (chol hamoed Pesach!), we weren’t overly concerned. We’d figure it out.
When they asked for an exact guest count before we’d even sent out the invitation, we weren’t worried. We’ve done this before. We estimated.
But when it came down to it, we were met with obstacle after obstacle, insurmountable requirements and inflexible policies. Worst of all, there was no one to talk to. We were dealing with the city.
Once we went down to take a serious look at the zoo and make a plan, we were told we could not change a single element from our original proposal. Not one chair could be moved! When we submitted those plans, we had nothing concrete in place, and now we were locked in to that tentative diagram we had submitted just to cement our reservation.
When I protested, it fell on deaf ears. I was told the fire department and the city regulate the events, and if they see any deviation from the original plans our event would be shut down.
We tried looking for other venus, but nothing compared with the zoo’s beauty.
The zoo’s requirements continued to pour in. We needed a staggering amount of insurance, if we could even obtain the correct kind! Even our caterer—who has been working in this city for 30 years—said he’d never seen anything like it. Fortunately, our insurance broker figure out how to navigate it.
Then there were the logistics of the actual day. Deliveries were only allowed between 8am-9am. And we could only start setting up at 5pm, when the zoo closes to the public.
They needed to know exactly which vehicles would be coming in, who the drivers would be, and what insurance they had. Our Chabad car was not permitted on site.
Then the day before the event they announced that they would need to vet any swag we would be giving out, to make sure it wouldn’ frighten the animals!
Oy gevalt.
There were so many times we wanted to give up. Cancel. Throw in the towel. But we were determined to see it through, and we knew the zoo was the place. Nowhere else could we have such an important event in such spectacular surroundings.
So my fearless wife went to the Ohel—the Rebbe’s resting site—and prayed. She made the fearless decision that come what may, we will “tracht gut vet zein gut,” —think positively and it will be positive.
We had to sign off that we acknowledged the fire department might shut us down mid-event because we had to change our setup slightly from the original diagrams. But we plunged ahead.
And guess what? It was one of our best events ever!
Hashem wants Us to utilize His world and the beauty He created. He wants us to use the finest physical objects and infuse them with spirituality. Sometimes, when so much seems to be trying to derail us, it’s really the yetzer hara trying to deter us from doing something so good.
And that’s exactly what we did. We weren’t deterred. In the middle of Central Park, 250 women came together, inspired by their role, their mission, their light—the mitzvah of Shabbat candles. They listened to inspiration words, sang, danced, and were inspired to spread Torah and mitzvot with positivity and love. Where? In the Central Park Zoo.
This is the very definition of making a home for G-d in a physical space.