Vayishlach: Reaching Out
Man, were we charged—4,500 of us packed into that huge pier-warehouse-outfitted-as-giant-ballroom. We were at a banquet of astronomical proportions, the culmination of three days of nonstop workshops, mentoring and tip-sharing.
After roll-call, country by country throughout the entire globe, everyone is standing, the band strikes up, and some 4,500 rabbis and guests transmogrify into a single churning mass of hyper-adrenalized, turbo-charged joy. I saw two rabbis who barely knew each other grab one another, and dance and celebrate as eternal friends.
I’m talking about the annual international convention of Chabad Shluchim. “Shluchim” means agents—basically, those out in the field doing the work the Rebbe charged us all with: Wake up Jews! Connect them with one another! Connect them with G‑d and their holy heritage! Change the world!
There are many sorts of conventions in the Jewish world. Some get together to put out fires—to deal with all the pressing, urgent matters of the Jewish global shtetl. Others get together to build fires as well—bonfires around which our brothers and sisters will gather and warm their hearts. Fires of joy. Fires of love.
And man, were we on fire.
Tzvi Freeman,
on behalf of the Chabad.org Editorial Team
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