When it was first announced, it sounded like a wild dream, the crazy fantasies of some die-hard hopefuls. “1,210 new mosdos for Yud Aleph Nissan this year, the 120th birthday of our dear Rebbe!” they pledged.
Who would have thought that it would actually start to look like a reality?
Just a few weeks have transpired since the initial meeting of over fifty senior shluchim who undertook this groundbreaking resolution. In that initial meeting– organized by Vaad Or Vechom HaHiskashrus, a division of Iggud Hashluchim—already five hundred mosdos were pledged between the members gathered. And week by week, in a series of meetings, another group of shluchim pledged a large chunk of that number, inching the global goal much closer to the finish line.
Just this past week, it was the shluchim in the United Kingdom who came together and pulled off quite the tour de force.
All 132 Shluchim scattered across her Majesty’s land were invited to a meeting to launch the project and share ideas. Their aim? No less than 120 new mosdos over the course of the coming year.
The breadth of projects included in this initiative is broad and diverse: New shluchim to establish brand new Chabad Houses, three of which are currently in the final stages and due to open soon, as well as adding new Shluchim to existing Chabad Houses.
Included, of course, are new branches and initiatives in established Chabad Houses, such as opening Hebrew schools, day camps, and libraries. A new Shluchim placement bureau will be opened to assist Chabad Houses looking to expand by recruiting new Shluchim.
There’s a bevy of other initiatives and services in the works, ranging from new Hebrew schools, opening libraries, a fund to assist shluchim with unexpected medical costs, to expanding on the teenage demographic frontier with new Cteen chapters.
A particularly creative and innovative new mosad will be a mitzvah tank to be located in central England so that it can be made available for short periods to any shliach throughout the country.
At the conclusion of the meeting, it was decided that the initiative would be led by the members of the Shluchim Placement Committee: Rabbi Yehuda Pink, Rabbi Menachem Junik, and Rabbi Bentzi Sudak.
“The excitement and extraordinary vision of the entire community of shluchum is truly invigorating. It just goes to show how much we can really accomplish when we come together and inspire each other to push ourselves to make the Rebbe proud,” said Rabbi Yehuda Pink.
