Chabad shluchim take over KZN

The security guard at the exit of King Shaka International Airport smiled as I walked past. “Are you and your colleagues taking over KwaZulu-Natal?” she asked. She was entitled to be startled. During the preceding hours, dozens of the Rebbe’s shluchim had disembarked from Cape Town and Johannesburg flights, converging on Umhlanga Rocks. The occasion was the annual national Kinus Hashluchim, a gathering of the Rebbe’s emissaries from across the country to strengthen and inspire each other.

The guard was wrong about the timing of the takeover, because it actually started about four decades earlier, when Chabad rabbis began visiting the province, then known as Natal, for programmes, shiurim, and events. It didn’t take long for Chabad of the North Coast to be founded, a beacon of the Rebbe’s teachings.

In 1994, Rabbi Shlomo and Devorah Wainer arrived in Umhlanga as the Rebbe’s shluchim. Shlomo is the archetype of a Chabad shaliach. He’s totally dedicated to the Rebbe and his vision, overflowing with love for his fellow Jews, and passionate about sharing his fervour for Torah and mitzvot with the Jews of his province. For three decades, the Wainers have persevered on this mission – lone soldiers in a province that spans about 95 000km² – aiming to reach and influence every Jew from north to south, west to east.

The choice of venue for this year’s kinus was made to highlight Shlomo and Devorah’s achievements, and the conference began with a gala event paying tribute to the couple and their children. In his address, Rabbi Mendel Lipskar, head shaliach for southern Africa, recognised their accomplishments.

What followed was a feast of learning and bonding. There was sicha at sunrise, when the early birds converged on the pier to delve into the Rebbe’s teachings, and a halachic discussion about smart watches and Shabbat. There were lively debates about do’s and don’ts in the work of shluchim. A panel presentation about how to maximise relationships – the modern version of “how to win friends and influence people”. And a most informative seminar about the use of artificial intelligence to assist in our work.

Chief Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein addressed the shluchim over lunch. His address was dedicated in memory of Rabbi Koppel Bacher, a founding pillar of Chabad in South Africa, whose first yahrzeit had been observed a few weeks earlier.

As I crossed through the metal detector on my way into King Shaka’s domestic departure terminal on my way home, the officer on duty pointed at the black hat I had just placed alongside my laptop in the grey bin, asking, “Are you and your brothers all going home now?”

Touché. We may have arrived as colleagues, but we were leaving as brothers.