Research Paper

Class: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology

Prof. Katrin Hansing
Student: Maria Rodriguez
Date: 12/12/2016
Introduction

Ethnography is defined as a methodical study to describe the culture and main

aspects of a social groups or a community. This study allows researchers to know the
specific aspects by which certain communities identify themselves. Within the methods
used to approach this study, there must be a careful observation and active participation
by the researcher during the communitys regular activities, this is done in order to get
to know the role they play as a whole, values they maintain, and main aspects of their
culture. Based on ethnographic purposes and as an object of study of an Immigrant
Organization, I chose the Chabad of Great Neck to represent the basic ethnographic
fieldwork I experienced while doing my research paper.
Chabad of Great Neck- An Immigrants Organization

The Chabad of Great Neck, located at 400 East Shore Road in the village of
Great Neck, New York, is a Jewish Non-profit Organization whose main goal is to
embrace the

Research Paper
Class: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Prof. Katrin Hansing
Student: Maria Rodriguez
Date: 12/12/2016
Jewish community that inhabits the Villages of Great Neck, Manhasset, Kings Point,
and other communities. To that end, they have a synagogue, a Jewish day school, a
Hebrew
school, summer camp, social programs, and study lectures for youth and adults, about
self-improvement, personal success, and many other topics. They also offer a special
program for children with special needs, and Jewish studies for children that attend
public schools. Its main website is www.ChabadGN.com.
As an Immigrants Organization, Chabad of Great Neck has not been only a religious
institutions for Jewish fellowship. They also promote communal involvement within its
communities. They provide a wide range of educational, social and religious programs.
For instance, they are offering different courses, some of them called how success
thinks and where is God when it hurts, these courses are being offered on Wednesdays
and Sundays. Different study sections that are open to anyone interested in learning. I
attended one of the meetings, and it was very dynamic and of great benefit for all the
participants. I noticed that some of the participants were not members of the Chabad,
they were actually residents from Great Neck and others communities, such as
Manhasset, and Kings Point, and also from different ethnic background; Russian,
Persian, and Hebrew accents. The group was very dynamic, the teacher very interactive,
and the atmosphere was very quiet. During this meeting, participants would have the
opportunities to share their life experiences while the teacher was giving advices to
improve certain areas of their lives, including spiritual, professional and family live.

Research Paper
Class: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Prof. Katrin Hansing
Student: Maria Rodriguez
Date: 12/12/2016

History of Great Neck

The Chabad of Great Neck is located in a very interesting area. Great Neck, also
known as the Gold Coast area, is a region on Long Island, New York. Historically, Great
Neck has gone through an evolution that transformed it from a rural farming and fishing
area to a sophisticated metropolis of commerce, culture, and education. Great Neck has
one of America's most fascinating histories, beginning with its early days as a forested
area

inhabited

by

the

Matinecock

Indians

and

developing

into

today's

thriving community. In the mid-1600s, Great Neck - or Mad Nan's Neck, as it was
originally called, was a small, primarily Dutch and English settlement. Today, its
residents can trace their roots back to a multitude of countries. The most recent census,
made in 2010 showed a population of 9,989 specifically in the village of Great Neck.
However, the larger Great Neck area comprises a residential community of some 40,000
people, and the most interesting part is that they all are immigrants. The community of
Great Neck is well known for having a major number of Persian people, Chinese,
Israelis, Hungarians, Greeks, very few of white or African Americans. Great neck is
largely an immigrant community. I met some of the neighbors, and found no one
without an immigrant background, also most of them are Jewish excepting the Chinese
neighbors. This means that, since Chabad is located in a residential area, it became very
reachable for all of these immigrants.

Research Paper
Class: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Prof. Katrin Hansing
Student: Maria Rodriguez
Date: 12/12/2016
Creation of the Chabad
Before The Chabad of Great Neck was founded, there was a big movement
already initiated. The word "Chabad" is the original name of this movement, a Hebrew
acronym for the three intellectual faculties; chachmah, which means wisdom, binah,
that means comprehension and da'at, which means knowledge. This movement was
built in Russia 250 years ago by seven Jewish leaders, the most influential was Rabbi
Schneur Zalman (1745-1812) and it spread in surrounding countries as well. The
movement also guided post-holocaust Jewry to safety from ravages of that devastation.
The origins of todays Chabad Organization is traced to the early 1940s when the sixth
Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn of righteous memory (18801950), appointed his son-in-law and later successor, Rabbi Menachem Mendel
Schneersohn, to head the newly-founded educational and social service arms of the
movement. Actually it counts with a variety of immigrant members, they actually point
that out on their regular flyers by saying that Chabad is the home away from home.
Today, Chabad Movement along with its philosophy serves many immigrant
communities. As a result of this there is the Chabad of Great Neck, Interview about its
foundation is explained later.
Services at the Chabad
In order to develop this ethnographic project, I attended one of the Chabad
services on a Saturday morning. It was cold and rainy day, but still the Chabad would be
crowd of people. It starts at 9:00am to 1:00pm. Members were very friendly to one
another, children would have a separated educational section. During this service, they

Research Paper
Class: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Prof. Katrin Hansing
Student: Maria Rodriguez
Date: 12/12/2016
were celebrating a Bar Mitzvah of a young boy. This interesting ritual is celebrated
when

a boy or a girl becomes accountable for their actions and reached his or her personal
matureness. For a girl it is called Bat Mitzvah. After this celebration the boys and girls
bear their own responsibility for Jewish ritual laws, traditions, and ethics, and are able
to participate in all areas of Jewish community life.
Their values
Members of the Chabad keep many conservative values, considered as Jewish
Orthodox, including from the way they dress, socialize and even the way they eat. They
are from diverse races, ethnicities and social classes. I could see many people from Iran,
and from Israel that curiously look phenotypically Americans, but they actually are
genotypically foreign. Most of them look around ages between 30 to 80 year old. 10%
of members include children and adolescents. There were more that l50 people during
this service, most of them group of families with their children, and the majority speak
Hebrew. Prayers are in Hebrew and the Rabbi delivers his speech in English. During the
service, women and men seat separately, and there is a division, a kind of frame that
prevents women from seeing them while praying. Only during the speech the frame was
moved. Cultural relativism was a skill that I tried to apply when learning about their
culture. After the service they all have lunch and share a nice time. Their food must be
Kosher, which means that it has to be conformed to the regulations of Kashrut (dietary
law). The Chabad does not provide transportation to its member since the Chabad is
5

Research Paper
Class: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Prof. Katrin Hansing
Student: Maria Rodriguez
Date: 12/12/2016
located within a residential area and most of them live nearby and use their own
vehicles. There is a train station called Great Neck just 10 minutes away from the
Chabad, and also

a public bus service that passes every 30 minutes. I saw no one attempting to use one of
those public services.
Interviews
I had the opportunity to interview Mushkie, she is a secretary assistant of Rabbi
Yoseph Y. Geisinsky and also a member of the Chabad. Mushkie was very kind by
conceding me this interview. With her attentive and contributory attention I conducted a
number of questions that helped me understand more richly many interesting facts about
the Chabad. Since the Movement of the Chabad was initiated more than 200 years ago,
the movement continued developing though messengers that were assigned and sent to
different places. Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn sent Rabbi Yoseph Geisinsky to
the community of Great Neck in 1990. Rabbi Yoseph started to give services and
Shabbat dinner to Jewish family from his own house. There were few people during
these services and there would be only a few activities during the week Mushkie
added. However, as

the group grew so the demand for more social activities and a bigger place. That is how
in 1994, The Chabad of Great Neck had their own place at 400 East Shore Road.
6

Research Paper
Class: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Prof. Katrin Hansing
Student: Maria Rodriguez
Date: 12/12/2016
Members of the Chabad have shown their commitment to their Chabad through
many years, by their active participation during holydays, educational programs and
social activities that it is offered. Such examples are the Rosh-Hashanah, and Purim
program. The Purim Program is one of the most joyous and fun holidays on the Jewish

calendar. It commemorates a time when the Jewish people living in Persia were saved
from extermination. Jewish celebrate a party, exchange gifts, eat and drink together.
Mushkie said that the goal of the Chabad is to keep serving its community and
expanding its programs so the organization keeps playing its role by enlightening its
communities about the beauty of Judaism. To become a member of the Chabad, the
person would need to fill out a form, which is available online. During holydays, nonmembers are always welcome at the Chabad. On its website, they show the different
prices for the seats available during holydays, starting from $200 to $650 dollars. This is
pricing only for the high holidays (which are Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur). Although
pricing begins at about $200, many people receive greater discounts. Furthermore, no one is
turned away for lack of funds; if someone can't or didn't pay, we always have extra chairs in
the back for people who want to be part of the services and didn't pre-register.
On the other hand I met Danny, he and his parents are members of the Chabad of
Great Neck. He was born in Great Neck and knows the Chabad all his life. He expressed
that one the main characteristic of the Chabad is the diversities of social programs that it
offers, which enables many Jewish communities, and many families like his family, to

Research Paper
Class: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Prof. Katrin Hansing
Student: Maria Rodriguez
Date: 12/12/2016
engage in social activities and share common goals. Most of Chabad members register their
children in

the different Chabad programs, such as Camp Gan Israel and Cohen Hebrew School. Danny
studied in one of this school.

Religious, social, educational, and cultural programs is what make the Chabad of
Great Neck a very interesting Immigrant organization. Some of these programs are
named

as following: Silverstein Hebrew Academy, which is a Jewish day-school consisting of

pre-school through 8th grade. Cohen Hebrew School, Camp Gan Israel, The CTeen,

which is a program for teenagers, and its mission is to provide a nurturing environment
where teens can learn about themselves through giving to others. Rosh Chodesh Society,
which is a program especially for members of the Chabad. They inform its communities
of these programs and activities through social media, such as Facebook, emails,
through its official website, and during its services at the Synagogue.
Conclusion
Through my study I came to conclude that The Chabad of Great Neck has shown
to be very accepted by its community through its so many social and educational
programs and it demonstrates to be a great opportunity for this community to integrate
in social programs as well as religious. Chabad of Great Neck is a light for its diverse

Research Paper
Class: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Prof. Katrin Hansing
Student: Maria Rodriguez
Date: 12/12/2016
immigrant communities, and continue to be a tool and resource of grow in many areas
of its members lives.

Chabad of Great Neck shares its weekly social programs by sending emails with
images such as this one.

Trabajos citados
Geisinsky, R. Y. (s.f.). Chabad of Great Neck. Obtenido de
http://www.chabadgn.com/
Kasten, A. (2016). Great Neck Historical Society . Obtenido de
http://www.greatneckhistorical.org/history.html

Research Paper
Class: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Prof. Katrin Hansing
Student: Maria Rodriguez
Date: 12/12/2016

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Research Paper
Class: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Prof. Katrin Hansing
Student: Maria Rodriguez
Date: 12/12/2016

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