Reporter’s Notebook: Grand Banquet a Go at Annual Rabbinical Conference

The thousands of rabbis attending the 25th annual International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries packed dozens of school buses Friday morning to travel to the Cambria Heights, N.Y., resting place of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory.

Always an emotional time for attendees, the trip brought back memories of past conferences, which the Rebbe traditionally addressed each year until his passing in 1994. This year, Rabbi Nachman Sudak, regional director of Chabad of England, delivered the customary prayer on behalf of those gathered, requesting blessings for a successful year at their posts around the globe.

Upon the emissaries’ return to Brooklyn, a brunch and a slate of lectures and workshops filled out the rest of the day up until the beginning of Shabbat preparations.

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Friday night, the Rebbe’s office at Lubavitch World Headquarters was bursting at the seams as an endless stream of people jockeyed for a place to pray in the holy space. At the evening meal at the grand ballroom of the Oholei Torah yeshiva across the street, Rabbi Bentzion Butman, the newly-appointed director of Chabad of Cambodia, addressed the crowd.

“I am inspired by the thousands in this room,” said Butman, who returns to Phnom Penh this week.

Saturday night, participants made their way to the Beis Rivka girls high school several blocks away for a general session presided over by Chabad leaders from the United States, Israel and Russia.

Not far from the session, hundreds of workers put the finishing touches on the ballroom at the New York State National Guard Armory, site of the conference’s Sunday night banquet. As staff members and caterers positioned tables, strung wires and installed audio-visual equipment, Jewish Educational Media’s new “Lamplighters” presentation flashed on the hall’s screens.

“The evening’s theme is how the Rebbe’s emissaries are igniting the spark of Jewish people around the world,” revealed Rabbi Elkanah Shmotkin, executive director of Jewish Educational Media and producer of the video. “The film draws attention to the Jewish life and spirit that Chabad-Lubavitch has fueled since its moving to America 70 years ago.”

Although banquet attendees will be the first to publicly screen the video, said Shmotkin, people all over the world will be able to purchase “Lamplighters” online immediately following the banquet..

A live simulcast of the banquet, meanwhile, can be viewed at Jewish.tv. The festivities begin at 5:30 p.m. eastern time.