North/Central Jersey Chabad rabbis join colleagues at NYC conference
From November 13 to 16, Chabad rabbis from Morris and Essex counties joined about 6,500 other Chabad rabbis and Jewish leaders from around the world in Brooklyn. They were at the annual International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries, the largest Jewish conference and rabbinic gathering in the world. Chabad rabbis representing 17 institutions across Morris and Essex counties attended the conference, participating in a weekend of learning, spiritual renewal, and connection.
“It’s like a big family reunion,” Rabbi Moishe Gurevitz, director of Chabad of Morristown, said. “We all draw strength from our friends and colleagues who understand the challenges of building community and running Chabad houses around the world.”
The conference, known as the Kinus Hashluchim, brought together rabbis and lay leaders from all 50 U.S. states and more than 100 countries for four days of workshops, networking, and spiritual uplift, concluding with a grand gala banquet.
Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries, known as shluchim, are husband-and-wife teams who dedicate their lives to strengthening Jewish life in communities big and small worldwide, sometimes in remote locations far from established Jewish infrastructure.
This year caps off a year of growth for Chabad in New Jersey with the establishment of two new Chabad centers in Linden and West Cherry Hill, new buildings in Jersey City and Florham Park, and the inauguration of a new mikvah in western Monmouth County. With the rise in antisemitism on college campuses, Chabad’s campus footprint also has grown, with a massive building expansion at the College of New Jersey and groundbreaking for a 21,000-square-foot center at Rowan University.
Rabbi Mendy Herson, the executive director of Chabad-Lubavitch of New Jersey, says interest in Jewish life has surged since October 7, when many loosely affiliated Jews sought out a deeper connection with their community, tradition, and heritage. “We saw a real awakening, where people were looking for something deep and meaningful following the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust,” he said.