Rabbi Dov and Chana Tova Mandel, Chabad of Fort Worth, TexasMaking Texas WorthwhileBy: Chaya ChazanMy mother and uncle learned about Yiddishkeit through Rabbi Shmotkin at Chabad of Wisconsin. I moved around a lot as a kid, but I have many fond memories of the Lubavitch House in Milwaukee. We moved to a couple of places in New York, but when my mother remarried a Venezuelan, we moved to Caracas, where I spent the rest of my youth. Although we weren’t actually shluchim, as one of the few Chabad families in Caracas, we helped out so often, it felt like we
Rabbi Immanuel Storfer, Yeshiva Torah Ohr, Miami, FloridaAn Unforgettable ExperienceBy: Chaya ChazanIn the early 1970’s, Rabbi Avraham Korf, the head shliach of Florida, fulfilled a life-long dream by opening a yeshiva for baalei teshuva. After a few years, the financial burden of housing the bochurim became too heavy, and Rabbi Korf had to, regretfully, close the yeshiva. He assured the Rebbe it was just temporary - he’d get his finances in order and reopen as soon as possible.In 2009, when I was looking for a shlichus position, I remembered this st
Rabbi Nosson Rodin, Chabad on Campus Karmiel - ORT Braude College, Karmiel, IsraelThe Unconventional ApproachBy: Chaya ChazanI’m originally from Ottawa, Canada. Both my parents were baalei teshuva, and I owe much of my shlichus to my father’s A”H influence. He sang opera in his youth, and gave it all up once he discovered Yiddishkeit. My father was aching to go on shlichus, and expressed this to the Rebbe on multiple occasions. Each time, the Rebbe advised him to maintain a 9-5 job instead.This never stopped him from devoting every moment outside o
Rabbi Eli Moshe and Mirel Levitansky, Chabad at S. Monica College, S. Monica, CaliforniaBreaking down BarriersBy: Chaya ChazanAs children of shluchim, both of us agreed shlichus was our future.“I’ll go anywhere,” I said. “I just have two caveats: I don't want to do college campus shlichus, and I don’t want to work with family.”The fact that we ended up at a community college, right where I grew up, working alongside my brother, is mostly the fault of my very good friend, Rabbi Chaim Brook.As the shliach at California State University, Northri
Rabbi Shmulik and Mushka Tewel, Les Institutions Shneor, Aubervilliers, FranceShneor’s PrideBy: Chaya ChazanMy father is a living example of the adage, Everyone is a shliach. Although he’s a businessman, and not an official shliach, he never misses an opportunity to bring a fellow Jew closer to Hashem. He’d always return from work with stories about how he’d put tefillin on one person, gave a mezuzah to another, or gifted an associate with a Jewish book. So, although I grew up in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, I was deeply influenced by the shlichus mi
Rabbi Chanan and Tuba Chernitsky, Chabad of Newfoundland, S. John’s, CanadaWe’re Here for Reb YisraelBy: Chaya ChazanWhile we hold the distinction of being the easternmost Chabad house in North America, the Newfoundland (or Newfie, as it’s more colloquially known) Jewish community is quite small. Separated from our sister territory, Labrador, by an island, all of Newfoundland is like one extended family, where everyone knows everyone else.Although I was born in Argentina, my family moved to Winnipeg, Canada when I was 14. It was there that I was fi
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
