Inspired by Rebbe’s growing army of rabbis

I have been attending the annual Kinus Hashluchim, the International Conference of Chabad Rabbis, for many years. Yet somehow, it continues to reinvent itself. This year, several new features took the programme to another level. 

Speeches were no longer limited to someone standing at a podium and talking. Many were enhanced with multimedia presentations, making them far more engaging. 

Of course, some classic fixtures need neither innovation nor modernisation. Thousands of rabbis travelling together to the Ohel, the Rebbe’s resting place in Queens, New York City is a sacred experience that needs no update or modification. It is spiritual, prayerful, and quite unique. There, the Shluchim prayed for themselves and their families, for their communities, and for the countless individuals in need of special blessings. 

The group photograph grows larger every year as more young rabbis join the Rebbe’s army. That is remarkable in itself. Each year, hundreds of young couples – men and women who never saw the Rebbe in person – commit their lives to his mission. They move to the four corners of the world, reaching out, and striving to touch every Jew with Torah, tolerance, love, and acceptance. 

For me, the iconic photograph, always taken outside 770 Eastern Parkway, the Rebbe’s shul and Chabad headquarters, is both empowering and humbling. I felt part of something much bigger than myself. At the same time, seeing some 6 000 defenders of the faith reminded me that I am but one small cog in a wheel far greater than any individual. 

On Thursday, Friday, and Sunday, programmes, seminars, and workshops addressed the full range of issues confronting communal workers: leadership, creative Torah teaching, fundraising, succession planning, counselling skills, the effective use of artificial intelligence, contemporary halachic questions, and much more. 

Shabbos was devoted to inspiration, reconnecting with old friends and making new ones. Personally, I did not take off my tallis all day. It was winter in New York, so Shabbos began on Friday at 16:28 and ended some 25 hours later. The morning davening was followed by a brocha and a large luncheon. From there, I went on to two other homes, where South Africans were celebrating and enjoying a farbrengen together. At one of them, we were joined by a group of Australians. Remarkably, we all got along just fine. 

Thursday night’s plenary session featured an array of true miracle stories from Israel: children surviving life-threatening illnesses, and women struggling with infertility who were blessed to bring children into the world despite medical prognoses declaring it impossible. It was deeply inspirational. 

Saturday night focused on true stories of Shluchim helping fellow Shluchim. Rabbis facing fundraising challenges of their own reached out to assist colleagues, even sharing “their” donors with others. Their generosity was impressive, to say the least. I found it tremendously inspiring. 

Of course, the closing banquet is always the biggest and best event on the agenda. In addition to the Shluchim, hundreds of friends and supporters attended, making it one of the biggest sit-down dinners in the world. The food was delicious – and arrived hot. Unbelievable! 

This year’s banquet programme was exceptional. It was wonderful to see Rabbi Avi Shlomo of Cape Town honoured with leading one of the Psalms at the beginning of the evening. 

One of the main highlights was an eloquent address by 14-year-old Nosson Schlanger from Sydney, Australia. His father, Rabbi Eli Schlanger, was murdered by terrorists at the Bondi Beach Chanukah menorah lighting almost a year ago. Nosson movingly described how his father had taught him Jewish values and instilled in him Chabad’s emphasis on outreach. When his grandfather Rabbi Yehoram Ullman, of the Sydney Beth Din, joined him on stage and embraced him, I don’t think there was a dry eye in the vast hall. 

Rabbi Alex Kaller is now a highly successful Shliach in Miami, Florida, serving the large Russian-speaking community there. A video traced his journey from Moscow, where he grew up without a Jewish education or connection to Yiddishkeit. When the Soviet Union began to open up, he joined a Chabad school and was chosen to light the menorah at an international Chanukah event watched by the Rebbe in New York. 

Rabbi Kaller said that although he never saw the Rebbe, he was forever touched by the knowledge that the Rebbe had seen him light the menorah in Moscow in 1990. Today, he presides over a thriving centre in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, comprising a shul, a school, and a large community centre. 

Rabbi Aharon Canarutto, a Shliach in Rome, told the incredible story of inviting an elderly Jew, Gabriel Sonnino, to light the public menorah on Chanukah last year. Gabriel recounted how, in 1943, a non-Jewish milkman had saved his life and that of his sister. When a Nazi soldier was taking them away to certain death, the milkman intervened and claimed that they were his children. Incredibly, his shop was on the very site where the Chabad House stands today in the Roman Ghetto. 

The keynote address was delivered by Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter. His eldest son, Moshe, lost his life in Gaza, while another son, Neria, was seriously wounded in a car-ramming attack in September. Ambassador Leiter spoke about his meeting with the editorial board of The New York Times, where he accused the newspaper of perpetrating a blood libel against Israel through selective and deceptive reporting. 

As always, the banquet concluded with the International Roll Call, representing more than 100 countries in which Shluchim serve. For the first time, it included the newly appointed Shluchim to Slovenia and Albania. 

After the Roll Call, spirited singing and dancing erupted in a powerful expression of international Jewish unity, with rabbis and laymen dancing together in joy and ecstasy. 

Throughout the weekend, I heard many languages spoken, including English, Hebrew, French, Spanish, and Russian. It was clear for all to see and hear that the Rebbe’s army is truly international and inspirational, educating and uplifting the Jewish world as never before. 

• Rabbi Yossy Goldman is life rabbi emeritus of Sydenham Shul in Johannesburg and president of the South African Rabbinical Association.