Hassidic book fair to open today in Jerusalem

Some 250,000 books will be on sale at the world's largest Hassidic book fair; event to also feature concert featuring religious melodies.

Chabad Rabbis conference, dancing rabbis 370 (photo credit: Maya Shwayder)
Chabad Rabbis conference, dancing rabbis 370
(photo credit: Maya Shwayder)
Over 10,000 participants are expected to convene at Jerusalem’s International Convention Center Thursday through Monday to purchase or peruse some 250,000 books and attend workshops and lectures at the annual Hassidic Fair, the world’s largest event of its kind.
Book selections are to range from classic Chabad texts to obscure pieces by hassidic masters of Galicia, Poland and Israel, as well as the works of modern hassidic academics. Speakers are to include Rabbi Yoel Kahn of the Lubavitcher yeshiva in Crown Heights; Chief Rabbi of Russia Berel Lazar; author and kabbalist Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh and author Rabbi Yehoshua Shapiro.
Additionally, the fair is to have a concert featuring the religious melodies of the “Alter Rebbe” (Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi), to be performed by Israeli singers Shuli Rand and Eviatar Banai, with the assistance of a choir led by world-renowned clarinetist Chilik Frank.
The fair, organized by Rabbi Moshe Shilat, founder and head of Torat Chabad Libnei Hayeshivot in Kfar Chabad and sponsored by the Chabad-Lubavitch Youth Organization in Israel, is scheduled to begin Thursday evening. The entrance fee is NIS 10.