Forty-two yungeleit preparing to embark on shlichus completed the 5786 year at the Toras Hashlichus kollel network with a comprehensive final examination and the presentation of their semicha certificates.

The closing event marked the culmination of a year of intensive learning designed to provide future shluchim with a broad and practical foundation in halacha, enabling them to serve as reliable addresses for the religious questions that arise in their future communities.

During the year, the yungeleit were tested by Rabbi Shimon Biton, rov of Lod, and Rabbi Eliezer Brod, rov of Kfar Yosef and a member of Israel’s Chief Rabbinate Council.

Their final examination was administered by members of the Beis Din Rabbonei Chabad in Eretz Yisroel, Rabbi Moshe Havlin, rov of Kiryat Gat; Rabbi Shneur Zalman Yaroslavsky, rov of the Chabad community in Elad; and Rabbi Michael Shlomo Abishid, head of the Toras Hashlichus kollel network.

The examination tested the yungeleit’s command of the sections of Shulchan Aruch covered during the year. The examining rabbonim expressed their admiration for the students’ broad knowledge, depth of understanding and fluency in the material, qualities essential for shluchim who will be called upon to answer halachic questions in their communities.

The formal graduation ceremony followed the examination and was attended by Rabbi Yitzchak Yehuda Yaroslavsky, secretary of the Beis Din Rabbonei Chabad, together with Rabbis Havlin and Shneur Zalman Yaroslavsky.

They were joined by the network’s leadership, including Rabbi Abishid; Rabbi Reuven Shayevitz, rosh kollel of the Beitar Illit branch; and Rabbi Hillel Menachem Guez, rosh kollel of the Lod branch.

Representing the leadership of Colel Chabad and Toras Hashlichus were Rabbi Mendy Blau, director of Colel Chabad in Eretz Yisroel, and Rabbi Itzik Blau, a member of the Toras Hashlichus administration and director of its specialized training program for future shluchim. The ceremony was coordinated by R’ Chaim Brod, director of the Torah Shleima network.

The rabbonim addressed the responsibility the yungeleit will carry as they prepare to leave on shlichus and praised the consistency and dedication they demonstrated throughout the year.

Speaking on behalf of Colel Chabad, Rabbi Blau conveyed the appreciation of the organization’s leadership and supporters to the rabbonim and educational staff. He thanked Colel Chabad director Rabbi Shalom Duchman and Rabbi Yitzchak Mashan, the driving force behind the Toras Hashlichus project of the Torah Shleima Institute, for their vision and support in building a program that grounds future shluchim in serious halacha study.

Rabbi Blau also announced plans to open an additional branch in southern Eretz Yisroel for the 5788 academic year. It will join the network’s newer branch in Tveria, which opened this past Elul, and its established branches in Beitar Illit and Lod.

At the conclusion of the ceremony, the 42 yungeleit were called forward individually to receive certificates bearing the signatures of the rabbonim who had examined them. The event ended with a group photograph and well-wishes for great success as the graduates prepare to join the field of shlichus in Eretz Yisroel and communities around the world.