Shluchim in Germany Number 28

By COLlive reporter

An uncommon sight of chassidic families was seen this past Shabbos in Bad Sobernheim, a town in the Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate tucked away from the big-city hustle and bustle.

28 couples arrived with close to 130 children to spend the weekend at the annual regional Kinus Hashluchim of Germany that unites the directors of the Chabad centers in 28 cities in the country.

After checking and settling in, participants gathered to take a group photo, displaying how the Chabad presence has rapidly growing in the last decade to help the post World War II Jewish revival.

Guest of the convention was Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, the globetrotting Vice Chairman of Merkos L’inyonei Chinuch in New York. From Germany, he continued to the Asian Kinus in Thailand and then he supported the humanitarian efforts of Chabad in Kathmandu, Nepal.

In his remarks, he told participants about the interest the Rebbe took in the regional conventions of Shluchim. Rabbi Kotlarsky said he was most moved by the participation of the children and their sincerity. “It is clear that the Rebbe accompanies Shluchim wherever they go.”

Following Kabbalas Shabbos, Germany’s Head Shliach Rabbi Yisroel Diskin officially welcomed the participants, thanking all who helped organized it and discussed a timely lesson from the weekly Parsha. The meal has continued into an hours-long farbrengen.

A shiur chassidus on shabbos morning was given by Rabbi Yochanan Gordon of Munich. Participants davened and then sat again for a Shabbos meal farbrengen addressed by Berlin Shliach Yehuda Tiechtel and Rabbi Yosef Havlin, head of the Yeshiva in Frankfurt.

In between it all, Shluchim has a chance to discuss challenges and factors in their outreach and community work. Cologne Shliach Rabbi Mendel Schtroks, for example, gave a shiur on the laws of Mikvah.

The Shabbos concluded with Maariv and watching JEM’s Living Torah video magazine with the empowering and encouraging words of the Rebbe leading the Shluchim to return home with renewed energy.