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Ohel (Chabad-Lubavitch)

open-air structure of graves in New York City, USA

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 8, 2026
Entity authorityQ4199484 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Ohel (Hebrew: אהל, lit. 'tent') is an ohel (Jewish monumental tomb) in Cambria Heights, Queens, New York City, where Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson and his father-in-law Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, the two most recent rebbes of the Chabad-Lubavitch dynasty, are buried. Both Jews and non-Jews visit The Ohel for prayer, and approximately 50,000 people make an annual pilgrimage there on the anniversary of Schneerson's death.

Description

The Ohel is located at Montefiore Cemetery (Old Springfield Cemetery) in Cambria Heights, Queens. The cemetery is a vestige of the large Jewish community that once inhabited Cambria Heights; the area is now largely African American.

The Ohel is situated at the northern edge of the cemetery, near the corner of Francis Lewis Boulevard and 121st Avenue, in a section designated for prominent Lubavitcher men and their wives. It is an open-air structure containing the side-by-side graves of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (1880–1950) and Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902–1994).

A row of small brick houses along Francis Lewis Boulevard abuts the cemetery. In 1995, Lubavitcher Hasidim bought one of these houses and turned it into a 24-hour visitors center. This center includes a video room, a library, a small synagogue, a quiet room for visitors to compose the prayers they will say in the Ohel, and refreshments. The entrance to the Ohel is through the back door of this house and down a pathway.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Ohel (Chabad-Lubavitch)” as open-air structure of graves in New York City, USA. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Ohel, Chabad-Lubavitch and open-air.

Editorial reviewMost useful as a place-based finding aid connecting the present description to earlier jurisdictions, maps and built evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1880, 1950, 1902, 1994—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Ohel, Chabad-Lubavitch and open-air providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Ohel (Chabad-Lubavitch)”, the useful work is to connect “open-air structure of graves in New York City, USA” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4199484. Authority coordinates are 40.686, -73.737. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1880, 1950, 1902 and 1994.

Critical limits

Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Ohel (Chabad-Lubavitch)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Ohel (Chabad-Lubavitch) primary sources, Ohel (Chabad-Lubavitch) archive and Ohel research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Ohel (Chabad-Lubavitch)”?
  2. Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
  3. Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Ohel (Chabad-Lubavitch)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.