
BROOKLYN, N.Y.—The bleachers are towered up in front of the iconic facade of 770 Eastern Parkway, home to Chabad-Lubavitch’s World Headquarters, for the 39th annual International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries (Kinus Hashluchim). From Fargo, N.D., to Auckland, New Zealand, shluchim from more than 100 countries have arrived in New York City where as a tradition of the International Conference since 1987 they all pose annually for the massive group photo styled like a big class picture.
For the last two years, the photo wasn’t taken because of the pandemic, so at this year’s photograph the number of participants will shoot up beyond the annual incremental growth causing headaches for photographers trying to capture everyone in their frame.
From Fairfax, Va., Rabbi Ezra Wiemer is here for the first time, part of the new crop of 120 couples that have joined the ranks of the shluchim this year—a staggering one couple every three days. “It’s always been a life’s dream to be a shliach of the Rebbe,” Wiemer tells Chabad.org. “This is part of the pride in being together with so many other shluchim,” says the young rabbi who along with his wife, Bracha, is co-directing Chabad of George Mason University. “The picture captures the energy and power of all the shluchim. I’d always seen it on people’s walls, and it’s so special to finally be a part of it.”
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