New Shluchim to Island of Bermuda

By Danit Shusterman

Rabbi Chaim Sholom and Menuchy Birnhack, along with their 2 children Mendy and Shneur, are setting out to establish the very first permanent Chabad Center on the Island of Bermuda.

“We have a very exciting opportunity and Shlichus with many unique aspects that we are ready to share with the world,” says Rabbi Birnhack. Chabad of Bermuda will be the 13th in a constellation of island Chabad Houses operating in the North Atlantic, nurtured by Rabbi Mendel and Rochi Zarchi, who founded the first permanent Caribbean Chabad House in Puerto Rico, in 1999.

Rabbi Birnhack was born and grew up in Ashdod, Israel. His wife Menuchy (nee Meyers) is from Beitar, Israel. Shortly after getting married, the young couple moved on shlichus to Hong Kong with many dreams and goals. Unfortunately, due to Covid, many of the Jews living in their area moved to places like Singapore and Dubai.

Looking for a new Shlichus opportunity, the Birnhacks moved to London with their 2 children.

In a conversation with Rabbi Mendy Kotlarsky of Merkos Chabad Headquarters, they discussed a list of cities that are looking for new Shluchim, and on the list was the island of Bermuda.

Bermuda is the closest island to NY with an under 2-hour direct flight from JFK. It is a very beautiful island, with crystal clear ocean water. It is not a part of the Caribbean, situated between Europe and America – closer to America. There are many direct flights from Canada, Florida, New York, and Europe a few times a week.

One and a half years ago, the Birnhacks went to explore the island and to celebrate Purim with the locals. What they found, aside from a physical paradise, were many wonderful, good Jewish people, lots and lots of Jewish tourists, daily cruise ships filled with Jewish visitors, and they couldn’t help but wonder why there was no permanent Chabad presence.

“We met a wonderful Jewish couple, Dr. Fiona and Jeff Elkinson who have lived on Bermuda for a few decades,” says Rabbi Birnhack. “Fiona has completely invested herself into the Jewish community doing all she can to bring a Jewish presence to the island. She is greatly admired for all she has done and is continuously doing to preserve Yiddishkeit on the island.”

As they did their research, they soon realized that Bermuda is ranked number 1 in the world for the highest cost of living. For new shluchim to start out, they’d need a very large amount of money.

Rabbi Birnhack says passionately, “It is priceless to invest in order to inspire one single Jewish soul. We had to make it happen.” So they got to work searching for apartments. They got people involved who were inspired to transform an island forever and bring over the very first Shluchim of the Rebbe to Bermuda.

With lots of hard work over the past 2 years, and with many tremendous brachos, they are now holding in the last stage of their fundraising goal. With the incredible generosity from numerous supporters, they have almost reached their goal. For the remaining $180,000, the Birnhacks are launching a crowdfunding campaign. “It has to happen,” says Rabbi Birnhack. “The Rebbe needs permanent Shluchim in Bermuda.”

They just created a website called https://www.chabadbermuda.org. Already, there have been numerous hits from people searching from around the world. So many Jews go through this island, yet there is no Chabad presence there for them.

“We plan to change that. But we can only do it with the support and partnership from our brothers and sisters, all of you. With enough partners, we will make this happen. We will bring the much needed light of Yiddishkeit to this beautiful island of Bermuda. Please donate now, any amount is truly appreciated!”

To support the new shluchim, visit www.charidy.com/Bermuda

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