The procession stopped at Congregation Shaare Zion, Rabbi Hecht’s home for more than 50 years. On the plaza of the shul, at the very place where Rabbi Yaakov Kassin, zt”l (1900-1994), chief rabbi of Syrian Jewry, was eulogized, Rabbi Shaul Kassin, the present chief rabbi of the Syrian community, delivered a heartfelt hesped.
Rabbi Yehoshua S. Hecht, son of Rabbi Hecht as well as rabbi of Beth Israel Synagogue of Westport-Norwalk and president of the Rabbinical Council of New England, spoke of the reverence the Syrian community in particular and the Jewish world in general had for his father The son, flanked by his brothers, mournfully vocalized his loss and the loss of Klal Yisrael.
The procession then passed the location of Rabbi Hecht’s home on its way to Lubavitch World Headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights, where a large crowd of Lubavitcher chassidim tearfully bid Rabbi Hecht farewell.
At Montefiore Cemetery in Cambria Heights, Queens, Rabbi Hecht was interred in the Hecht family plot, not far from the gravesite of the sixth and seventh Lubavitcher Rebbes. At graveside, Rabbi Naftoli Fasten, son-in-law of Rabbi Hecht, led the recital of Tehillim.
Rabbi Hecht is survived by his children: Rebbetzin Nechama Kantor of Crown Heights; Rebbetzin Esther Kaplan of Crown Heights; Rabbi Eli Hecht, rabbi of Chabad in Lomita, CA; Rabbi Yossi Hecht, rabbi of Chabad in Nice, France; Rebbetzin Rochel Weinberg of Detroit; Rebbetzin Shani Fasten of the Five Towns, NY; Rabbi Shea Hecht of Norwalk, CT; Rabbi Ari Hecht, rabbi of Chabad in San Francisco; and Rabbi Yisroel Hecht, rabbi of Chabad in Los Angeles. Rabbi Hecht is also survived by his youngest brother, Rabbi Sholom Hecht.
Shiva is at 866 Eastern Parkway, apartment 3-E, at the corner of Albany Avenue. Shacharis is at 7:15, 8:30, and 9 a.m., Minchah at the appropriate time.