The Young Emissaries

Last week Menachem and I traveled to New York for the annual conference of Chabad Lubavitch emissaries. Menachem joined the three-day overnight camp together with two thousand “young emissaries” from around the world, while I spent my time at workshops, celebrations, and networking with thousands of my colleagues.

It was a special weekend, with many memorable moments, but I’d like to share one episode that to me crystalized the entire conference and the global phenomenon of Chabad today. During the banquet held on Sunday evening, there was a video presentation highlighting seven emissaries representing seven decades of Chabad’s global work from the 1950s to the present.

Rabbi Berel Mochkin of Montreal Canada represented the pioneering emissaries of the 1950s and Rabbi Dovi Henig of Chengdu, China represented my generation of thirty-year-olds.

Upon arriving in Chengdu Rabbi Henig and his wife were “invited” to the local police station and “interviewed” separately. The communist authorities were curious to understand why the young couple moved there, and he patiently explained that they simply wished to service the ever-growing community of Jewish businesspeople and tourists with all their Jewish needs by setting up a synagogue and community infrastructure.

After a lengthy conversation, the officer pulled out a photo of the Rebbe from his desk drawer and asked “Who is this man to you?” Rabbi Henig had no patience to explain what exactly a Rebbe is and simply replied “He’s my father.”

The officer picked up the phone, dialed a number, conversed briefly in mandarin, and then asked “So Rabbi Freundlich (the Chabad emissary) in Beijing is your brother?”

The huge ballroom erupted in a thunderous laugh at the punchline, but it was a knowing and appreciative one. This was not a conference of colleagues with similar careers; it was a family reunion.

This week’s Parsha begins “And these are the generations of Isaac the son of Abraham; Abraham begot Isaac.” Our sages explain that with this repetitive sentence the Torah teaches us that not only was Isaac the biological son of Abraham, but he was also the spitting image of his father physically and spiritually, to the point that all who saw them immediately concurred that it was so. Despite their 100-year age gap, there was no generational gap between them at all.

The same is true about Chabad. Although the mission of our generation, to bring Judaism to every corner of the world, was launched by the Rebbe in 1950, its relevance, impact, and passion of the emissaries have not changed at all. The 80-year-old Rabbi Mochkin and 30-year-old Rabbi Henig shared the same stage as brothers with the same objective: to reflect the Rebbe’s love and dedication to every Jew wherever they may be.

That’s why Menachem’s three-day overnight camp is called “Conference of Young Emissaries” instead of “Children of Emissaries Conference,” because our mission transcends all ages and stages and is open to everyone who wishes to participate. Preparing the world for the era of true peace and kindness with the arrival of Moshiach.