Crown Heights mogul and philanthropist Sholom Ber Drizin celebrated his 85th birthday on Sunday with a few young friends.

By COLlive reporter

Sholom Ber Drizin, one of the wealthiest residents of the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, celebrated his birthday Sunday in a modest setting.

Seated on a wooden bench at the Agudah Shul on Crown Street, where he is often seen, he was greeted by the happy faces of young children from the Oholei Torah elementary school.

Their teacher Rabbi Velvel Karp brought doughnuts with him and together they wished him a happy birthday and many more years and good health.

Karp also thanked Drizin, a real estate mogul and philanthropist, for his support of the Oholei Menachem Day Camps this past few summers which he directs.

Drizin, believed to be in his 80s, told the students he was most grateful for their visit and blessings. "Whoever blessed should be blessed as well," he said and encouraged them to excel in their learning.

Others who came to say Mazal Tov were Rabbi Naftali Estulin of the Chabad Russian Immigrant Program and Synagogue in West Hollywood, CA; Rabbi Elyakim Wolf of the Central Yeshiva Tomchei Tmimim Lubavitch in Israel and R' Chanina Sperlin of the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council.

They noted how he merited to be born on an auspicious day in the Chabad community - Chof Daled Teves, which this year is the 200th yartzeit of the Alter Rebbe, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi.