The energy was palpable Thursday morning as thousands of shluchos streamed into Crown Heights for the opening day of the Kinus Hashluchos. After months of anticipation, registration opened at the Jewish Children’s Museum, where women leaders from over 100 countries greeted one another with warm embraces and caught up with friends they hadn’t seen since last year’s gathering.

“The Kinus is a time for shluchos to reconnect, refocus, and return home with renewed strength and clarity,” said Rabbi Mendy Kotlarsky, Director of the Kinus Hashluchos Haolami. “When shluchos from across the globe come together, they remind each other that no community is too distant and no shlucha stands alone.”

Throughout the morning, shluchos visited the Rebbe’s house on President Street, taking a quiet moment of reflection before the day’s programming began. By early afternoon, the focus shifted to strategy, with workshops on a wide range of topics spread across venues throughout Crown Heights.

The famed Kinus workshops are the backbone of the conference, carefully curated and structured. Each session offers shluchos tangible tools, relevant discussions, and an opportunity to address real-world challenges. This year’s workshop tracks reflect the breadth of challenges and opportunities shluchos navigate daily, with sessions ranging from AI and afterschools to marriage and parenting, from contemporary halacha to emotional wellness.

With 57 workshops across 17 tracks, there was something for every shlucha. “Horaos from the Rebbe: Enhancing Our Lives” offered advice from the Rebbe on hiskashrus, shlichus, and shalom bayis, drawing on stories and correspondence. “Your New Media Hire is AI” equipped shluchos with a complete four-step workflow to build content calendars, create compelling posts, and execute a professional social media strategy in a fraction of the time. “Two Souls, One Shlichus” explored how different personalities and approaches within a marriage can become a couple’s greatest asset, while “Great Expectations” addressed the journey of embracing a life and shlichus that’s unfolded differently than imagined.

Additional tracks addressed campus shlichus, youth programming through CKids and Friendship Circle, CYP work with young professionals, and sessions for veteran shluchos. Workshops were offered in English, Hebrew, and French, ensuring shluchos from around the world could engage fully in their preferred language.

For Mrs. Channa Fuchs, a shlucha in London who works with university students, the Kinus offers something essential. “It helps me connect with other shluchos who serve on campus,” she said. “It gives me the strength I need to recharge.”

But for Fuchs, the gathering holds deeper meaning as well. “Being a shlucha while experiencing infertility is not easy,” she shared. “Someone without a Chabad House can decide to stay home. Yom Tov and you don’t feel like hosting? Don’t host. But when you’re a shlucha, you put on a brave face and go on. You deal with the comments weekly, sometimes daily.”

“The fact that the Kinus provides dedicated workshops for those experiencing infertility is priceless,” she said. “That alone was reason enough for me to fly in this year.”

Shluchos left the day’s workshops with actionable tools and strategies to strengthen their communities, their families, and themselves. The day concluded with dinner and the opening general session at the Bedford Armory, setting the tone for the days ahead.

Tomorrow, shluchos will gather for the iconic group photo at 770 before Shabbos programming begins. The Kinus Hashluchos continues through Monday, culminating with the gala banquet on Sunday evening and the collective visit to the Ohel on Monday, Chof Beis Shevat, the yahrtzeit of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka.