Yom Kippur, which begins Friday at sunset, is the most important date on the Jewish calendar. So in advance of the High Holy Day service, rabbis around the world sometimes pick each otherâ??s brains to make sure they deliver on the yearâ??s most important sermon. The rabbis in the Hecht family have an advantage: They have more than 125 brains to pick.
The Rabbis Hecht serve as pulpit rabbis, run schools and head charities. Thereâ??s a scribe in the bunch, and a shohet, a ritual slaughterer. All are members of Chabad, the Hasidic movement famous for its outreach efforts on the streets of Manhattan, the hills of Nepal and any place with a Jew in between. Likewise, Hechts span the globeâ??hosting Sabbath dinners each week from Hanoi to the Rio Grande Valleyâ??though the majority live in the New York area, where they have been for six generations. â??Hecht is the largest last name in our directory,â? says Motti Seligson, director of media relations of Chabad.org, â??And thatâ??s not counting the guys that married into the family.â?
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