For many, Yom Tov is a time to relax, spend time with family and enjoy a meaningful Davening.
For Shluchim however, the Tishrei season is by far the busiest time of year. With a never-ending list of events and programs that need to be arranged, many start their Tishrei planning months in advance. Once the month comes around, it can feel like one massive logistical marathon.
Knowing the myriad of minutiae that go into creating a meaningful Tishrei, Merkos 302 created tishrei.merkos302.com, a cohesive portal filled with many of the resources and links that Shluchim would need to navigate the month.
Bringing together the best of so many well-known organizations, the site sets out to be a ‘one-stop-shop of the greatest resources available for Shluchim, all for free.
Some of the resources include:
- Printable companions and guides for all ages and stages
- Fully customizable flyers for the High Holidays, provided by The Shluchim Office
- Printable Sichos and Maamorim translated by Sichos in English in a beautiful booklet layout to be learned together with a community.
- A collection of Sukkos programming and companions, including a complete guide to creating a mobile sukkah along with printable banners.
- Resources in Spanish for Shluchim serving the Jewish Latin American communities around the globe.
Besides providing resources for the community, the portal also makes sure to provide inspiration for the Shluchim and their families. Videos from JEM and Chazak and magazines from A Chassidishe Derher and The Chabad House Compass are included to ensure that everyone in the family has access to inspiration and guidance for the month.
As soon as the site was published, it quickly went viral on “Shluchim Whatsapp groups.” The feedback from Shluchim has been incredible. Many say that it’s been transformative, not just for having the tools they were looking for but also for providing quick and easy access to resources for things they may have missed or never even thought of.
cccccccc“Like many of the programs that were born out of desperation during the lockdown we discovered that this site has enduring potential,” explains Rabbi Mendy Kotlarsky, Executive Director of Merkos 302. “Although there are plenty of tools which help Shluchim focus their time and energy into what really matters on Shlichus, many of the Shluchim aren’t benefiting from the programs simply because they don’t know where to find them or never heard of them. The Tishrei site definitely helped Shluchim easily discover the programs they need, and we have more projects in the works to continue to make these programs as accessible as possible. To further enable Shluchim to use their precious time and energy to impact as many Yidden as possible”.
