Dear Fellow Chassidim and Shluchim,
As a fellow Chassid and Shliach, we would like to share with you an important update about The Shluchim Office.
As you no doubt know, the director of The Shluchim Office, Rabbi Gedalya Shemtov, was hospitalized in Florida with a stroke this past December and went through some major surgeries. He is now finally back in New York and beginning the recovery process. The doctors expect a full recovery in due time, an estimated 6 months.
We, a group of Askonim and Shluchim listed below, joined together to form an Interim Vaad and assist with the fundraising and ensure the moisad continues to operate smoothly while the director recovers.
You all know that in the past two years, Gedalya has run annual crowdfunding campaigns which have been vital to the sustenance and growth of The Shluchim Office, allowing it to continue its work assisting Shluchim around the world on a daily basis.
This year, we are stepping in on his behalf to hold this very vital fundraiser for a moisad that helps us all. We will, please G-d, be launching the crowdfunding campaign this coming Tuesday, 19th of Sivan (June 13, 2017) with a goal to raise $360,000 in 36 hours.
We all remember standing at the Kinus Hashluchim thirty years ago when the Rebbe called for the founding of a central moisad to support Shluchim. It was a revolutionary idea then, and The Shluchim Office has established a thirty-year history of impactful projects and was the impetus behind the many institutions that offer assistance to our Shlichus today.
From the Nigri International Shluchim Online School for a thousand boys and girls around the world, to the winter camps and Tzeirei Hashluchim Kinus, from the Shluchim Gemach for personal simchas, to Friendship Circle International to cater to community members families with children of special needs, there are many more ways they work to help Shluchim succeed.
The Shluchim Office is also a home away from home for visiting Shluchim, offering a well-equipped Shluchim Lounge where they can work, have a bite to eat and relax, and the Pomegranate Suites where they can lodge when we come to New York to go to the Ohel and to 770. Hundreds of Shluchim come through the Shluchim Lounge doors 365 days a year, from all corners of the globe.
We are happy to share with you that over one hundred Shluchim and Chassidim have already committed to give $770 or more on the day of the campaign. We are turning to each one of you, our fellow Shluchim and Chassidim, and asking you to join us in supporting the upcoming crowdfunding campaign of The Shluchim Office with a commitment of $770 or more, or as much as you can give.
The success of this crowdfunding campaign is dependent on our extended family of Anash and Shluchim. On the day of the campaign, we will be picking up the phone and asking our friends to participate as well. Please join us and reach out to two (or more) friends, and ask them to support this cause together.
All funds raised during the campaign will be dedicated towards the swift and speedy Refuah Shleima of the director of The Shluchim Office, Rabbi Gedalya ben Bat-Sheva Shemtov.
Thank you for joining us in supporting the moisad that the Rebbe himself established for the benefit of all Shluchim.
Interim Emergency Vaad of The Shluchim Office
Rabbi Shimon Lazaroff – Houston, TX
Rabbi Sholom Ber Levitin – Seattle, WA
Rabbi Sholom Ber Lipskar – Bal Harbor, FL
Rabbi Yitzchok Wolf – Chicago, IL
Rabbi Yosef Gopin – Hartford, CT
Rabbi Sholom Duchman, Brooklyn, NY
Rabbi Yossi Groner – Charlotte, NC
Rabbi Mayer Parshan – Toronto, Canada
Rabbi Yossi Schildkraut – Sao Paulo, Brazil
Rabbi Yossi Shemtov – Toledo, OH
Rabbi Yisrael Greenberg – El Paso, TX
Rabbi Mordechai Avtzon – Hong Kong, China
Rabbi Mordechai Abergel – Singapore
Rabbi Shlomo Bentolila – Congo, Africa
Rabbi Yosef Posner – Skokie, IL
Rabbi Mendel Duchman – Los Angeles, CA
Rabbi Yossi Kessler – Montreal, Canada
Rabbi Benjy Korf – Miami, FL
Rabbi Levi Shemtov – Riverdale, NY
Rabbi Hershy Spalter – Escazu, Costa Rica
Rabbi Yosef Y. Greenberg – Anchorage, AK
Rabbi Yehuda Shemtov – Bucks County, PA
Rabbi Yisroel Spalter – Weston, FL
Rabbi Chaim Shaul Bruk – Brooklyn, NY
Rabbi Itche Treitel – Montreal, Canada
Rabbi Shmuly Gniwisch – Montreal, Canada
Rabbi Levi Shemtov – West Bloomfield, MI
Rabbi Shmaya Shmotkin – Oak Park, MI
Rabbi Berel Levertov – S. Fe, NM
Rabbi Levi Azimov – Paris, France
Rabbi Ovadia Goldman – Oklahoma City, OK
Rabbi Berl Goldman – Gainesville, FL
Rabbi Shmulik Greenberg – Vancouver, WA
Rabbi Dovid Tiechtel – Champaign, IL
Rabbi Moshe Pinson – Brooklyn, NY
Rabbi Dovid Goldberg – Sao Paulo, Brazil
Rabbi Asher Federman – S. Thomas, VI
Rabbi Schneor Greenberg – Commerce, MI
Rabbi Yossi Zaklikofsky – Bellaire, TX
Rabbi Chesky Wolf – New York, NY
