A buzz of excitement filled the large JCM hall as hundreds of bochurim eagerly completed the questionnaires in front of them. Pesach is around the corner and hundreds of communities rely on these young men to bring the festival of freedom to their corner of the globe. The written questionnaire and personal interview process ensure that each and every Chavrusa is fully prepared for their assignment.
As the only Jewish presence in many of these locations for Pesach, the bochurim must assume a rather significant role. They must be proficient in basic Halachic questions, running sedorim and minyanim, koshering a kitchen and in some instances, even cooking the food. To ensure the bochurim are equipped and ready, a written questionnaire was filled out, covering an array of practical areas. Each chavrusa then sat with Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, vice chairman of the Merkos L’inyonei Chinuch, who personally reviewed their questionnaires, offering insight and feedback to each bochur.
More than 600 bochurim will be dispatched to different outposts around the world. Destinations include Brazil, China, Zimbabwe, and Europe. The unfortunate situation taking place in Ukraine brings an additional emphasis on the tens of thousands of displaced Jewish Ukrainians in the surrounding countries.
In a typical year, many bochurim spend Pesach in tens of smaller towns across Ukraine, leading the local sedorim and bringing the joy of the holiday to the Jewish communities. With the war raging in Ukraine, entering the country is nearly impossible. Pesach, however, must still be celebrated, and Chabad is on the case!
Shluchim in places such as Romania, Poland, Germany, and Moldova have been overwhelmed with thousands of refugees under their care. Merkos Shlichus has already sent groups of bochurim to help the Shluchim provide the refugees with food, clothing, housing as well as spiritual guidance. Many more bochurim will be sent to the region to guarantee every Jewish person a complete Peach experience, both physically and spiritually.
The Merkos Shlichus staff are currently working around the clock arranging the logistics of this massive endeavor.
“To coordinate the hundreds of bochurim and match them to each community and destination’s unique needs is an undertaking of enormous proportion,” explained Rabbi Kotlarsky. “If even a single Jew who wouldn’t have been able to celebrate properly now has a meaningful Pesach, it’ll all be worth it.”
