The annual Kinus Hashluchim of Eretz Hakodesh opened Sunday at Nir Etzion Hotel, bringing together the Rebbe’s shluchim from across the country for three days of workshops, lectures, sessions, and programs focused on strengthening their shlichus.

Following a reception and lunch, the shluchim joined a special central session with members of Beis Din Rabbonei Chabad, addressing questions of halacha and minhag in the daily work of a Chabad House and in hafatza.

The session was joined by Rabbi Avraham Michoel Halperin, senior member of the Beis Din and rav of French Hill in Yerushalayim, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Gluckowsky, deputy secretary of the Beis Din and rav of the Anash community in Rechovot, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Volosov, rav of Ramat Yishai, and Rabbi Meir Ashkenazi, rav of Kfar Chabad.

The session was moderated by Rabbi Meir Halperin, one of the shluchim in Cholon. During the program, the rabbonim answered questions from shluchim on a range of practical halachic topics, including how to break through in every direction while remaining within the proper boundaries, how to engage the world around them while preserving the chassidishe image, and other matters that arise in the work of shlichus.

After Maariv and a festive dinner, Rabbi Yehuda Ginzburg, director of the central Chabad House in Haifa, addressed the shluchim.

The evening continued with a general session titled “The Power to Break Through,” focusing on how shluchim can harness relationships, talents, and their surroundings for the central mission of reaching every Yid with strength and creativity.

The keynote address was delivered by Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal, head shliach of Berlin, and the session was moderated by Rabbi Shneur Brod, shliach in Netanya.

The Kinus Hashluchim of Eretz Hakodesh is organized each year by Tzeirei Agudas Chabad, led by Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Aharonov, and has been held annually for 40 years. The three-day program includes a full schedule of workshops, lectures, and special sessions dealing with every area of shlichus and the success of the shluchim.

As the kinus opened, Tzeirei Chabad released updated figures on the growing army of shluchim in Eretz Hakodesh. According to the new numbers, there are currently 957 Chabad House branches across Israel, staffed by 1,402 families of shluchim.

Over the past year, since the previous kinus, 91 new families of shluchim joined the Rebbe’s army in Eretz Hakodesh, a record number of new shluchim in a single year.

Photo: Moshe Zlatopolsky