Rabbi Shmuli and Esther Malka Schlanger, Chabad of Bakersfield, CAThe Shlichus That Chose UsBakersfield was founded by Thomas Baker, who famously allowed anyone traveling through California to let their animals graze in his fields. Our city’s foundation is chessed and hachnosas orchim.We’d never even heard about Bakersfield until two weeks before we were asked to move here. We were driven and motivated; Tenacity got us our shlichus.That tenacity came in handy as we rushed to raise seed money to start our shlichus. It was exhausting, knocking on door
Rabbi Levi and Sara Cunin, Chabad of Malibu, CAShlichus on a Different FrequencyI was a young man when the Lubavitch world was rocked by the Rebbe’s passing on Gimmel Tammuz, 1994. I was in California after returning from Russia, where I spent a half year helping my father in Moscow. It was a very emotional time, and we were all confused about what came next.My father had been the head shliach of California since 1965, and was zoche to have many interactions and personal correspondence with the Rebbe. In an emotional moment on the Friday after Gimmel T
Rabbi Yonah Dov and Sarah Korn, Chabad House Bowery, New York, NYBring Joy to Yidden - Every Day!Our path to shlichus was one-of-a-kind. We didn’t grow up in shlichus-minded homes, and we had no connections. All we knew of Yiddishkeit were our own experiences becoming frum through the Chabad rabbis in our respective hometowns.At that stage in my life, I was lucky to receive clear answers every time I opened the Igros Kodesh. So when I was faced with a new dilemma, I didn’t hesitate to write another letter, asking for guidance.My father and I had made
Rabbi Zalman and Nechama Tiechtel, Chabad at KU and Northeast Kansas, Lawrence, KS Keeping Judaism Alive in the Heart of America Lawrence, Kansas is located at the epicenter of the USA and is the home of the University of Kansas with Jewish students hailing from all across the country Both of us grew up with a Shlichus mindset and knew that was what we wanted to do. When we met the Shliach of Kansas City, he mentioned that Kansas University had a growing Jewish population where there was much potential for impactful growth It sounded promising, but b
Rabbi Yossi and Tzalcha Amar, Chabad of Seine and Marne, FranceThe Power of Learning TorahSeine and Marne is an area 50 kilometers out of Paris, and is roughly 100 times the size of the metropolis. There are over 400 small towns and villages sprawled over the whole area, with a couple of Jewish families in each. When we first arrived, we knew no one, and there were no Jewish organizations to contact for information either.Over the past twenty years, we’ve, baruch Hashem, built a strong community, complete with a shul and a gorgeous mikvah. Since our ar
Rabbi Chanoch and Mimi Kaplan, Chabad of Franklin Lakes, NJOur Own Little Corner of New JerseyWe started 23 years ago with nothing but a pipe dream and the determination to enhance the Yiddishkeit of Jews in Franklin Lakes and neighboring towns. Although we’re just a thirty-minute-drive away from numerous large and active frum communities, Franklin Lakes was an isolated, quiet corner of Bergen County with no authentic Yiddishkeit, the perfect place for Jewish people to blend into anonymity. Geographically, it was close, yet spiritually, it felt as dist
You Never Know When Or Where You’ll Meet Another JewWe made the “mistake” of first visiting Stockholm on a beautiful summer day. The weather was glorious, the scenery picturesque, and the people, friendly and cheerful. We were taken with stunning Stockholm and quickly made the decision to make it our new home.We started our shlichus a few months later in a city that was almost unrecognizable. The cold winter weather mangled the landscape, throwing a dark, gloomy cast over the city, and sent everyone scurrying for the cozy hibernation of their homes
Rabbi Chaim and Chayala Markovits, Chabad of Rural Georgia, USAIngathering One Jew at a TimeOur shlichus is unique, since we are full-time Merkos shluchim. Over the summer, bochurim are sent out in pairs to small communities all over the world. What bochurim have been doing for the better part of the century - knocking on doors and cold calling - is what we do every day. When we were first approached, we were wary about spending so much of our lives in an RV. We agreed, but were still very nervous. Before making such a big decision, we found i
The Real Stars of the Hollywood Hills - Rabbi Berki and Rochela Rodal, Chabad of Mt. Olympus Hollywood Hills West, CAIn 1970, the Rebbe sent my in-laws, Rabbi Naftoli and Fayge Estulin, to Los Angeles. Years before the Iron Curtain fell, well before anyone even dreamed of such a possibility, the Rebbe’s instructions guaranteed a supportive infrastructure for the first wave of Jewish Russian immigrants that flocked to California later that decade.Twenty-four years ago, my wife and I moved to Mt. Olympus, in the beautiful Hollywood Hills, to serve
Rabbi Mendy and Esther Hecht, Chabad of Auckland, New ZealandThe Almost Incomplete Arba MinimWe order lulavim and esrogim months before Tishrei. It takes ages to ship anything all the way to the end of the world, and importing plants to New Zealand is a long, complicated legal process. We always breathe a sigh of relief when the shipment comes in, and we can finally hold a kosher esrog, lulav, hadassim, and aravos in our hands. Two years ago, there was a shortage of avaros. The esrog, lulav, and hadassim came, but there were no aravos to complete th
