Rabbi Yossi and Chana Eta Turk, Chabad of Cordoba, ArgentinaIn 1989, Rabbi Zvi Grunblatt, the head shliach of Argentina, came into kollel looking for a shliach for Cordoba. I had already been to Caracas and Uruguay as a shliach and summer camp counselor, so I was pretty fluent in Spanish. Rabbi Grunblatt told me a bit about the history of the Cordoban community.Most Argentine Jews are originally from Ukraine and Russia. In the late 1800’s, Sir Moses Montefiore and Baron Hirsch, two wealthy and international philanthropists, tried to help their Jewish b
Rabbi Mendy and Shternie Deitsch, Chandler, ArizonaRabbi Mendy and Shternie Deitsch, Chandler, ArizonaTwenty-four years ago, after the traditional year of kollel, my wife and I were eagerly looking to go out on shlichus. We met with Rabbi Levertov, the head shliach of Arizona who told us about a beautiful area outside of Phoenix called the East Valley, which consists of a few small cities. There was no Jewish infrastructure at all and very little information about how many Jews even lived there. My wife and I were thrilled! Building a community from scra
Rabbi Shlomo and Mrs. Devorah Elkin, Oberlin College, Oberlin, OhioMy wife and I knew, early on, that we wanted to be shluchim on a college campus. Rabbi Alevsky, the head shliach of Cleveland, suggested Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio, just an hour outside of the city. Our research made it sound perfect for us! Oberlin College is a historic institution, founded in 1833. Famous for its progressive views and social activism, it was the first college in America to accept black and female students. Those who attend are socially conscious youths seeking mea
The Rebbe’s revolutionary Mitzvah Tanks completely changed the landscape of Manhattan, and, by extension, the world. The first mitzvah tanks were rented moving vans that spent Fridays on the streets of Manhattan, asking passersby to stop in for a quick mitzvah. Eventually, these trucks evolved into RV motor homes, so people could put on tefillin in comfort and privacy.In 1988, following the passing of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, there was a push to have an all-day, full-time mitzvah tank driving through the streets of Manhattan. The Rebbe valued the “tan
Rabbi Yossi and Malki Rodal, Newcastle, AustraliaShlichus in Australia is unique. Apart from Sydney, Melbourne, and a few other big cities, the rest of the population is spread out over wide areas of wilderness. That’s why RARA - Chabad of Rural and Regional Australia was started. You are essentially the shliach for hundreds of cities over thousands of miles. Much of the shlichus is done virtually, but the highlight of our work would be the month-long road trips, where we visit one or two Jewish families in each area. These are done every few months, s
Rabbi Mordechai and Sorale Rodal of Norwood, Johannesburg, SAI had been to South Africa on shlichus as a bochur and even then, I noticed that South Africans are quite traditional. So many of them came to shul out of guilt or obligation, although they sat in the back and talked about sports. I wanted to open a shul for non-shul goers; an American style Chabad house. When I opened my shul, that became our motto: “the shul for non-shul goers.” We placed an emphasis on personal connections and explained the davening in simple English. We started in a ren
Rabbi Yossi & Chana Madvig - CHABAD OF OSWEGO New YorkNeither of us come from an Orthodox Jewish background. I was raised in a Conservative/Reform home and did not have much of an education. In fact, I went through a phase of interest in Christianity in college. I may have continued to follow along with that path had I not bumped into an anti-missionary group.When I told my parents that I was involved with Christianity, they urged me to at the very least speak with their (Conservative) rabbi in LA, who said that there was a different side to th
Rabbi Mendel and Esther Lifshitz & Family of Boise, IdahoOur shlichus is not an assembly-line shlichus; it is handmade. Every neshama is hand-crafted. We wouldn’t trade it for the world. We had the incredible opportunity to build up our community from the ground up.….We absolutely won the lottery. The Rebbe chose us to be the Shluchim in Boise, Idaho. There was no logical reason for us to end up here. My wife and I have no connection to Idaho. She was raised in South Africa, I’m from Cincinnati, and had never even been here as a (bochur to visi
Moving on shlichus to Bayview, a neighborhood in Toronto about half an hour’s drive from where I grew up, was not a difficult decision to make. Although I had various shlichus offers to places as exotic as the Caribbean, soon after my wedding, Rabbi Grossbaum pulled me into his office and told me, “You’re coming home. You know what this place needs, and there is plenty of work for you to do.”Bayview is an affluent area, primarily inhabited by established Canadian families with homes averaging $7 million. It’s a neighborhood with people set in i
Rabbi Oshy and Zeesy Deren Chabad of the West Coast - Blouberg, Cape Town, South AfricaAs people in almost every significant English speaking Jewish community in the world know, South African Jews are unique. Unlike in other places, the community here hasn’t assimilated at the levels that you see in most other places. Even the non-observant Jewish people hold a very strong sense of tradition and affiliation to Yiddishkeit and Torah. When we were first approached by Rabbi Mendel and Rebbetzin Avi Popack, who started Chabad in Cape Town,
