For Chabad shluchos, much of the year is spent serving and sustaining Jewish life in their communities with devotion and perseverance. But on Sunday night, more than 5,000 of these women gathered in one room at the gala banquet of the 35th annual International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Women Emissaries, the largest gathering of Jewish women leaders in the world.
“It’s not often you see so many people in the same place, all united in one cause,” reflected Mrs. Hadassa Hecht of Oxford, Connecticut. “Singing together. Dancing together. Feeling the same mission. Being surrounded by shluchos who live this every day reminds you that you’re part of something far bigger than yourself.”
The banquet, held at the New Jersey Conference and Expo Center on the 38th yahrtzeit of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson, wove together moments of tribute, testimony, and celebration, reminding the women that their individual work is part of a global mission that spans over 100 countries.
Voices from Bondi
The evening’s most powerful moment came when three young women from Sydney, Australia, took the stage. Priva Schlanger and Mina Levitan, daughters of Rabbi Eli Schlanger HY”D and Rabbi Yaakov Levitan HY”D who were murdered in the Bondi Beach terror attack on Chanukah, stood alongside Chaya Dadon, 14, who was shot while shielding two young children during the massacre.
The room rose in a standing ovation that lasted nearly two minutes.
“People keep calling me a hero,” Chaya told the crowd. “But it didn’t feel like courage. It felt like my soul was just doing what it was taught to do. As a shlucha, you’re taught that your life is for others. I heard a voice inside, I believe it was Hashem, telling me, ‘Move now. Protect them.’ I didn’t think. I just acted.”
Priva Schlanger shared how her father taught his children that the community wasn’t just a job; they were family. “Now, when I walk through Bondi, people come up to me and tell me how my father changed their lives. It makes me realize that he isn’t really gone. He’s in every mitzvah they do now because of him.”
Mina Levitan added, “Losing my father is a hole that will never be filled. But seeing the thousands of women here tonight, I don’t feel alone. I feel like I have 5,000 mothers and sisters.”
Together, the three young women led the room in Tehillim, transforming from mourners into leaders.
Two Worlds, One Home
The banquet’s featured presentation told the remarkable story of Mrs. Anat Harari and Mrs. Nava Slonim. In the early 1990s, Harari was a secular Israeli lawyer and political activist who fiercely opposed Chabad’s presence in Modi’in. She recalled standing face-to-face with Rabbi Slonim and declaring: “You will have your Chabad center here when hair grows on the palm of your hand.”
Decades later, after her husband Yechiel was asked to write a book on the Tanya, their family’s journey gradually shifted. Eventually, Harari found herself at a previous Kinus Hashluchos. She turned to the woman beside her and asked, “Are you Slonim?”
“At that moment,” Harari told the crowd, “the walls I had built for thirty years just collapsed. I looked at the thousands of women in that room and wondered: How did I waste my whole life opposing such a beautiful thing?”
Today, Anat and Yechiel Harari serve as shluchim in Eliav, Israel. Standing together on stage, the two women, once adversaries, embraced.
“I am living proof that there are no ‘two worlds,’” Harari declared. “There is only Hashem’s world, and we are all finally home.”
The Call of the Hour
Rabbi Mendy Kotlarsky, Director of the Conference, welcomed the shluchos, stepping into the role of his late father, Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, who was entrusted by the Rebbe to organize the annual conference.
Rabbi Kotlarsky encouraged the women to carry forward that mission with even greater intensity. “The ‘Call of the Hour’ is resilience,” he said. “We have seen challenges this year that we never imagined, from the shores of Australia to the cities of Israel. But the Rebbe taught us that when the darkness grows heavy, we don’t hide. We don’t retreat. We widen our circles. We build bigger tables.”
He concluded: “To the shlucha who is feeling isolated tonight: Look to your left and to your right. You are part of a sisterhood that spans 100 countries. Shlichus is not just what you do; it is who you are.”
Global Snapshots
A moving segment brought voices from shluchos around the world. Mrs. Mushkie Levinson of Caracas, Venezuela, spoke of raising the fourth generation of shluchim in the Latin American country. Mrs. Tzivia Myers of Budapest described reaching Jews through Hungarian television who are still afraid to walk into a synagogue. Mrs. Chani Aziza of Tanzania shared how years of delivering Shabbat packages to a self-proclaimed non-believer led to the first bris milah in the country’s history.
Unity in Song and Dance
For Mrs. Raizel Rosenfeld of Lisbon, Portugal, where the nearest fellow shluchim are three hours away, the evening carried deep emotional weight.
“The evening is vital because it was so important to the Rebbe that shluchim come together and see his shluchim united,” she said. “To come here, stand united, and represent our country together during the roll call was very special. Dancing with each other. Crying for each other. Davening with each other. The emotion you feel here is incredibly moving.”
The evening culminated in the iconic International Roll Call, as shluchos rose country by country to be recognized. As shluchos from all 100 countries were called, including the 2,464 shluchos from all 50 United States, and new centers in Laos and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, were warmly welcomed, the room erupted. Thousands of women pulled out tambourines, a tribute to Miriam, who led the Jewish women in song after the splitting of the sea, and filled the convention center with music and dance.
Today, the shluchos will gather at the Ohel on Chof Beis Shevat, the yahrtzeit of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, drawing strength before returning to their communities around the world, carrying with them the inspiration, conviction, and unity of a movement 5,000 strong.
