Rabbi Mendy and Mindy Begun, The Wisdom Circle, Los Angeles, CaliforniaHealing Body and SoulBy: Chaya ChazanBoth my wife and I have the privilege to be third-generation shluchim. I grew up on shlichus in Cheviot Hills, about half an hour from where we live now. From an early age, my parents encouraged us to take an active part in the shlichus. I remember davening for the amud as a young bar mitzvah boy, and taking on positions of responsibility and leadership. It was the perfect education as I carry on a legacy started by my grandfathers.The importance o
Rabbi Benny and Sonia Hershcovich, Chabad of Los Cabos, Cabo San Lucas, MexicoSunlit Shores & Sacred SpacesBy: Chaya ChazanMy wife and I had very different upbringings: I grew up in Montreal’s huge Jewish community, with all the conveniences of chinuch, kosher food, and Judaica just blocks away. She grew up on shlichus in Milan, Italy, and witnessed firsthand how difficult it was for her classmates, even as young as ten years old, to live away from home for the sake of chinuch. What united us was our desire to go on shlichus and bring the light of
Rabbi Dov and Shterna Gruzman, Chabad Alumni Community, Vienna, AustriaBountiful BrachosBy: Chaya ChazanAs a born and bred Canadian, when a shidduch with an Israeli was suggested for me, I hesitated. Living in Israel was challenging at the time. Baruch Hashem, he was flexible on where we’d live, and we married in the winter of 1985.After a year of kollel, we began looking into shlichus options, and wrote to the Rebbe with a list of different places. We received no answer, although we continued writing for almost a year. We were ready to move - we just
Rabbi Yitzchak and Rochel Wagner, Chabad of Richmond, CaliforniaAlways Aiming HigherBy: Chaya ChazanSmall city shluchim often struggle to find Jews in their area, and each person they discover is a cause for celebration. Happily, it works the other way as well! Most Jews in our area were only nominally affiliated with any synagogue or temple. When the High Holidays rolled around, they’d usually go to the bigger temples in nearby San Francisco or Berkeley. When we started hosting events and minyanim, they were amazed that so many Jews lived in their own
Rabbi Alexander and Leah Namdar, Chabad of Sweden, Gothenburg, SwedenSwede SuccessBy: Chaya ChazanIn our Kollel year, there were various options of shlichus that were suggested. At that time, there were many countries that still did not have shluchim.When we wrote to the Rebbe about visiting Sweden, the Rebbe immediately responded May you share good news. Shortly afterwards, we wrote to the Rebbe that we were ready to go there on shlichus and we were zoche to receive the Rebbe’s brochos to begin the shlichus in Sweden. —---------------When we fi
Rabbi Boruch and Chaya Rozmarin, Chabad of Grenada, S. George, GrenadaSpreading Light in ParadiseBy: Chaya ChazanGrenada (pronounced Gre-NAY-da), not to be confused with the Spanish city of Grenada (pronounced Gre-NAH-da), is a small Caribbean island off the coast of Venezuela. We’ve been confused for our sister city so often, we’ve created a pre-formatted email response for tourists, welcoming them to join us, but warning them they’d have to take a ten-hour flight from Spain if they chose to do so.Of course, we were prone to the same error when we
Rabbi Menachem and Chana Yidgar, Chabad Youth, Netivot, IsraelThe Power of the YouthShlichus was never a question of if, but simply where. I grew up in a Chabad family, where shlichus as a “career” was a matter of course. My wife’s family are descendents of the Baba Sali, and her parents had been on shlichus in Netivot for years already. With some of her siblings assisting her parents in and around Netivot, it was a no-brainer for us to do the same once we were married.When we joined the community, we noticed how many traditional families lived in
Rabbi Levi and Hindy Wilansky, Chabad of Portland, MaineThe Lighthouses of MaineBy: Chaya ChazanIn 1987, the shlichus “business” was booming. Every kollel yungerman was eager to find their place and get to work. My parents were no different. Their choice was clear when Rabbi Kotlarsky announced they’d be sending shluchim to five new states and offered my parents Maine. They were eager to accept, and wrote to the Rebbe. The Rebbe wished them that it should be “at a good and successful time with everything,” and that he would “mention it at the
Rabbi Yitzchak and Esther Tiechtel, Chabad of Nashville, TennesseeGiving the Rebbe Besuros TovosBy: Chaya ChazanBoth of us were lucky to grow up with a strong sense of pride in being the Rebbe’s chassidim, surrounded by the charismatic magnetism of the Rebbe. When I was a little girl of three years old, I remember attending a family yechidus. The Rebbe gave my brothers a bracha to “learn a lot of Torah,” and gave me a box of matches for lighting Shabbos candles. From that tender age, I was empowered to live up to the potential the Rebbe saw in me -
Rabbi Yaakov and Mushkee Raskin, Chabad of JamaicaThe Jewish Pirates of JamaicaMy grandfather was born in Russia and was sent by the Rebbe to Morocco in 1960. My father was born there, but in 1986, the Rebbe sent him on shlichus to Montreal, where I grew up. Some of my own children were born in Jamaica. This right here is the Chabad story – four generations in four countries; a Chabad dynasty of which to be proud. My father-in-law was the shliach in Panama. He moved back to New York after war chased him from the country. He soon became a renowned
