Rabbi Gavriel and Chava Sebag, Chabad of Toulouse, FranceTo Win in ToulouseBy: Chaya ChazanI was born and raised in Morocco, in a traditional Sefardi family. I was first introduced to Chabad and Chassidus by Rabbi Yehuda Leib Raskin, the Rebbe’s shliach to Casablanca, which had a tremendous impact on me. In 1981, the Rebbe opened a yeshiva in Morocco, and Chabad bochurim came from all over the world. I joined them, and when they returned to New York afterwards, I followed them to study in 770. I was barely settled before I was asked to become a shliach
Rabbi Pesach and Chanie Scheiner, Chabad of Boulder, ColoradoRadiating the Rebbe’s Mission in the RockiesBy: Chaya ChazanBy the time we moved on shlichus in 1991, most major metropolitan cities in the U.S. and Europe already had a designated shliach. We were looking to open our own Chabad house, so when a friend passed on a suggestion that didn’t work for him, we were delighted.We wrote to the Rebbe, and were given a bracha for “hatzlacha, in a way of adding and increasing.”While Boulder is known for its breathtaking beauty and halcyon hipster vi
Rabbi Yaakov and Chanie Zucker, Chabad of the Florida Keys, Key West, FLThe Key to a Jewish Heart, Part IIBy: Chaya ChazanI was making one of my daily walks along Duval Avenue, the epicenter of Key West’s tourism, visiting the Jewish owners of each shop with a tefillin bag tucked under my arm. When I visited Danny’s store, he pointed out a curly-haired young man working across the room.“He’s Jewish,” he said in a half whisper. “He’s 17 years old, and he’s never put on tefillin before!”Of course, I immediately approached Jacob and asked
Rabbi Yaakov and Chanie Zucker, Chabad of the Florida Keys, Key West, FLThe Key to a Jewish Heart, Part IBy: Chaya Chazan“You can try, but there aren’t many places left,” I was told when I tried finding somewhere to move on shlichus, shortly after my engagement in 1995.It was true. As hard as I looked, I couldn’t find too many options. There were already 600 shluchim in the Kinus photo! I couldn’t imagine how we could add any more to that already impressive number. —--------------------I was almost ready to give up the search for shlichu
Rabbi Raffy and Chana Filler, Chabad at Ithaca College, Ithaca, New YorkIgniting Inspiration in IthacaBy: Chaya ChazanI had a traditional Chabad upbringing in the large Lubavitch community in Montreal. As a bochur, I was privileged to help shluchim in various parts of the world and gained firsthand familiarity of the mesiras nefesh shlichus demands.My wife was born on shlichus, growing up in Stony Brook, helping her parents teach university students about Judaism.We both added to our experience by, after our marriage, working with the Johnsons, at Chabad
Rabbi Dovid and Esther Aba, Chabad B’aliyah, Jerusalem, IsraelFinding My CallingBy: Chaya ChazanI was born in Nikolayev, Ukraine, to a family with little to no connection to Judaism. Other than a few, specific family members who knew some Yiddish and had some knowledge about the holidays, it really didn’t play much of a role in my life. The last religious person in my family was my great-great-grandmother. Nevertheless, everyone in my family maintained a strong sentimental connection to Judaism. That connection prompted a relative to get me into
Rabbi Avrohom and Shterna Simmonds, Chabad of Regina, CanadaMarching to Hashem’s BeatBy: Chaya ChazanMan plans, and G-d laughs. That’s what I reply whenever I’m asked how we landed in Regina, Saskatchewan. My wife and I both grew up with a shared dream of one day moving on shlichus. We pictured ourselves finding an opportunity in an existing Chabad house, working together with other Shluchim. Hashem had something else in mind. None of the options we investigated worked out, so we decided to widen our search to include cities that didn’t have shlu
Rabbi Ari and Mushkie Rubin, Chabad of North Queensland, Cairns, AustraliaRemembering the Forgotten JewsBy: Chaya ChazanWhen I was in yeshiva, I remember a shiur given by Rabbi Bogomilsky about how to conduct after death taharos in small communities with few resources.“You may think this will never apply to you,” he said, a twinkle in his eye. “But I’m sure many of you will end up on shlichus in remote locations, and even if you don’t, this is always good information to know.”Not me, I remember thinking. I’ll be living in Melbourne, where t
Rabbi Mendy and Mazal Sternbach, Chabad of Lagos, NigeriaNigerian Princes of TorahBy: Chaya Chazan —-----------------I grew up in the sheltered Jewish enclave of Crown Heights. Of course, as a Lubavitcher, I constantly heard about shlichus, but it felt too monumental for someone like me, who didn’t grow up with it. I confessed these feelings of inadequacy to my mashpia in yeshiva. He showed me a sicha where the Rebbe explains that every Jew can – and should – be a shliach. If you know Alef, teach Alef. It opened my mind to a world of possibi
Rabbi Moshe Zeev and Sima PizemRabbi Asher and Mushka Pizem Chabad of Sderot, IsraelRocket Rainfall: Chabad in SderotPart IIIBy: Chaya ChazanIn the aftermath of October 7th, most of Sderot’s 33,000 citizens evacuated. We stayed to continue our shlichus - not only for the few hundred that remained, but also for all the soldiers.In the unexpected invasion’s ensuing chaos, Tzahal was in disarray. Thousands of reserve soldiers were flooding in from across the country, and the army wasn’t prepared with proper provisions.For the first few days, unti
