Typically, the Kinus Hashluchim- an International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries, brings Rabbis from every country on earth to Brooklyn for a weekend-long gathering of discussion and celebration. But with a pandemic still in the ether, the Rabbis found another place to convene while they stayed in their regions of the world.
Thus, 5,000 Rabbis tuned in to the virtual conference this past Thursday to hear lectures from speakers from Melbourne to Brooklyn, and reconvened with a ZOOM meeting at the close of Sabbath on Saturday night.
“There are Chabad emissaries in almost every time zone; we can continue this conversation to find inspiration and share it with others going forward,” said Chabad Rabbi Bentzion Butman of Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
The Saturday night ZOOM call, which took the place of the in-person Motzie Shabbat gathering essential to the pre-coronavirus schedule of the conference, chugged into the beginning of the week as Rabbis from different time zones logged at the end of Sabbath.
“We might not be here in person,” greeted Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, chairman of the International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries, “But we are gathered here from all four corners of the world.”
Launched in 1983 by the late Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, the leader of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, the conference has ballooned into an annual gathering of up to 6,000 emissaries and leaders from all 50 states and more than 100 countries.
The assembly is held in New York City with many of the Rabbis visiting and staying in Crown Heights the central community of the Chabad-Lubavitch, and where Rabbi Schneerson lived, worked, prayed and studied.
While an online broadcast accompanied the previous year’s Sunday night banquet, this year it was the only option for people to partake in.
The program was live-streamed Sunday night, the usual crowds of Rabbis present for the show missing, including multiple speeches, digital shorts, and a musical performance.
The In Memoriam segment of the KINUS held significant weight this year.
“There’s one part of the Kinus that I don’t relish, a part that breaks my heart.” Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky said before beginning the segment. “There’s never been a year in which Klal Yisrael (the Jewish people) has lost so many.”
Among those mentioned were Rabbi Lord Jonathon Sacks, former Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom, who passed on November 7 and delivered a memorable keynote address at the International Conference of Chabad Shluchim in 2011.
