Shaliach (Chabad)
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A shaliach (Hebrew: שליח, pl. שלוחים, shlichim/shluchim) is a member of the Chabad Hasidic movement who is sent out to promulgate Judaism and Hasidism in locations around the world. There are over 6,500 Chabad shluchim families worldwide, in over 110 countries.[1]
Origins
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Starting in the 1950s, the Chabad-Lubavitch Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, sent many thousands of shluchim all over the world, often to remote locations, to bring Jews closer to Judaism through his mitzvah campaigns, and to assist Jewish communities worldwide in their religious needs.
Meaning
The Rebbe told Rabbi G.M. Garelick when he went[when?] out to Milan, Italy: "[Y]ou will be a Rabbi of a shul, headmaster of a school, director of a camp, and a counselor for people, but none of it will truly define what you will do in Milan. It will be above and beyond all of it – you'll be a Shaliach."[2]
Kinus HaShluchim
The Kinus Hashluchim (Hebrew: כנוס השלוחים, lit. Assembly of Emissaries) is the annual gathering of Chabad shluchim held in the fall of each year. The conference is typically held in New York City on the weekend prior to the Hebrew month of Kislev. Over 5,600 shluchim gather each year, making the assembly the largest rabbinical conference in the world. A similar conference is held each winter for the shluchos (wives of the rabbis), typically proximate to the yahrtzeit of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson. The 2011 Kinus Hashluchos was a four-day event including general sessions, nearly 100 workshops, an expo, and resource fair, and a banquet attended by close to 3,000 women. One of the highlights of the banquet is the roll call, which calls on shluchos from every part of the world to stand for applause.[3]
Both Kinusim are simulcast in multiple languages and have extensive tracking, including programs for lay leaders and children.[4][5]
Notable shluchim
- Gavriel Holtzberg (1979–2008)
- Berel Lazar (born 1964)
- Mendy Chitrik (born 1977)
- Pinchus Feldman (born 1944)
- Manis Friedman (born 1946)
- Mordechai Gutnick
- Chezki Lifshitz (born 1974)
- Zalman I. Posner (1927–2014)
- Menachem Shmuel David Raichik (1918–1998)
- Abraham Shemtov (born 1937)
- Gershon Mendel Garelik
References
- ^ ""International Roll Call"".
- ^ Shliach to South Carolina, retold on a Merkoz Shlichus excursion.
- ^ "Kinus Hashluchos 5771", Binah, 7 February 2011, p. 42.
- ^ "Course explores the soul's journey". Retrieved October 4, 2014.
- ^ "Kabbalah course in Madison explores the soul". October 28, 2009. Retrieved October 4, 2014.