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Question about Chabad Shlichus
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rain




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Apr 15 2015, 8:39 am
I am writing this post in order to understand. Not bash.

I am soon taking a trip to a location with very few jews which is home to a Chabad house. The house is run by a young couple. There is limited amounts of kosher food in the area and no mikveh.

My question is how do people manage to do this? I am in awe! How do they live without other jewish people around? What schools do their children attend? Do their children have any playmates or simply the people who come through the country on holiday?

Also, is shlichus on a voluntary basis? Meaning, who decides who goes to California or Guatemala? Doesnt seem so fair that one couple can end up being part of a massive jewish community while another is sent to a country with almost no jewish life?

Again, I am not bashing! I am honestly in awe of people who do this! Just curious about it
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studying_torah




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Apr 15 2015, 9:09 am
I'm always amazed by what they do and how they set up new communities by themselves! No idea how but kol hakavod!!
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shluchamom




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Apr 15 2015, 9:15 am
Just to answer quickly some of your points. Shlichus is definitely on a voluntary basis. Noone us forced to move on shlichus or where they move to. Schooling there is an online school available for the children grouped for different time zones and boys and girls separately. Friends are sometimes local sometimes more virtual from online classes or once a bit older possibly overnight camp and winter camp if they go but for the ones in more far flung places it can get lonely sometimes

When one has a purpose in life with such a huge feeling of giving to others and the sense of satisfaction that brings it makes it easier to handle the challenges that come with though don't get me wrong they can still be challenges.
This is just on one foot as I gotta run. But do be so kind as to call the shlucha you are going to and offer to bring her things if she needs or some treats for the kids that is always much appreciated if you can do that.
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justcallmeima




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Apr 15 2015, 9:15 am
What you have to understand is that children are raised in Lubavitch to WANT to go on Shlichus- they are taught from a very very young age that Shlichus is the biggest privilege. Not dissimilar to secular Jewish parents and Day Schools conditioning their kids to be Doctors and Lawyers, or to Yeshivish families and schools preparing students for life in long term Kolel. Shlichus is the ultimate lifestyle. If your kids are on shlichus you are considered a successful parent. They start practicing y giving out Shabbos Candles and putting on tefillin with Jews they have never met from quite a young age. They are honed, trained. By the time they get married, many young coupes don't even consider another option.

As far as who goes where, in the days of old, the Rebbe hand selected certain couples to go to certain cities. Nowadays, unfortunately it has more to do with whom you know than what you know! There are of course exceptions to all of the above.
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amother
Ivory


 

Post Wed, Apr 15 2015, 10:28 am
I am on shlichus in a small community. (not a vacation type place, a settled community) I'll try and answer your questions.



My question is how do people manage to do this?

No idea. People can manage almost anything. Its not easy but there is a big support network. There is a kinnus every year, email, whatsapp groups, camps for kids on shlichus. Some people do find it too hard but in other ways life is very fulfilling. I guess its a bit like being a doctor. Long hours, difficult work, rarely seeing your family, but at the end of the day you feel you are making a difference in the world. I do agonise a bit over whether I am really the right person for this job - I am not the most organised or charismatic type. But the Rebbe wanted everyone to go on shlichus, not just the perfect personalities.

I am in awe! Thanks.

How do they live without other jewish people around?

There are Jewish people around here but it is a very small community. There are lots of people who live here for a year or a few years for work. There are enough people to support a kosher food shop, shul, mikva and school..

What schools do their children attend? My kids (and other shluchims kids I know) attend the local "Jewish" school. (school that might have a lot of non Jewish students and teach a minimal amount of Jewish studies). After or before school they do online school or I teach them myself.

Do their children have any playmates or simply the people who come through the country on holiday?

My kids each have a couple of Jewish friends their age. My daughter has a lot of israeli kids in her class who don't speak the local language so she is friends with some non Jewish kids. She had a frum friend in an older class but her family just moved to a bigger community. When my kids get older (13 or so) we send them away to school. We also send them to sleepover camp and try and get together with other frum kids as often as possible.

Also, is shlichus on a voluntary basis? Meaning, who decides who goes to California or Guatemala? Doesnt seem so fair that one couple can end up being part of a massive jewish community while another is sent to a country with almost no jewish life?

There are two types of shlichus - 1. new places that have no shliach and 2. places that want to hire additional help. eg to teach or give shiurim. For the second type its pretty much like applying for any job. Absolutely the positions in California no doubt have a lot more applicants then the ones in montana.

type 1 shlichus there are very few left. If you want to say go to a new area of Florida that has no chabad house you will have to get the ok from the head shliach of florida. If you want to go to a new country that has no shliach you need to get permission from Merkos, the central chabad office. . You will then have to arrange funding to support your family and chabad house. This can be through local donors, or any wealthy people anywhere. Merkos MIGHT give you a tiny bit the first year or so. There are some big donors who will support new campus chabad houses. A shliach might also get a local job that helps support himself. eg teaching, rabbanus, chaplaincy, hashgacha.

We went to a new place and we actually get our salary paid by the local community, but that is unusual. We do need to fundraise for certain activities the community is not interested in sponsoring. We did have family connections and could have gone to other places through those, but ultimitely the place we went we did not need any connections. I have a relative who could have gone on shlichus through a family connection, but he was not interested in being chosen because he is so and so's son, so he found something else.

I grew up expecting to go on shlichus. When I dated I wanted someone who wanted to go on shlichus. My parents are shluchim (in a bigger city) and many of my siblings are on shlichus.

(typical chabad dating q and a: Does she want shlichus? Yes, but only in a big community.)

Downside: there is a lot of chabad people with an inferiority complex that they are not shlichus. Sad
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amother
Gray


 

Post Wed, Apr 15 2015, 10:41 am
(not the OP)

Thanks for all the replies so far, and thanks for all the great work you do!

I have a question. My ex is not Jewish, and my DD might have to stay with him this summer for a few weeks. This means that I need to find her a place for Shabbos, and I was hoping that the Chabad family closest to him would be willing to take her in for Shabbos. She's a very responsible 12yo, would make a great mother's helper, knows how to help set and clear the table, and can sit and read quietly. No trouble at all, really!

What would be an appropriate gift or donation to offer in exchange?
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rain




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Apr 15 2015, 10:51 am
wow I find this all amazing! I am slighlty jealous Wink

I am still so curious about the lifestyle! I feel that I would feel so down in the dumps being placed in like the congo but would absolutely love being in Aruba!

I wish I had that kind of ambition and dedication to pick up and go off to the middle of nowhere
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malkacooks




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Apr 15 2015, 12:09 pm
love this topic
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bandcm




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Apr 15 2015, 4:15 pm
rain wrote:
wow I find this all amazing! I am slighlty jealous Wink

I am still so curious about the lifestyle! I feel that I would feel so down in the dumps being placed in like the congo but would absolutely love being in Aruba!

I wish I had that kind of ambition and dedication to pick up and go off to the middle of nowhere


You don't get "placed", you get offered a position. No one goes where they don't want to go.
Has anybody mentioned that most of these positions include having to support yourself and your Chabad House single-handedly, often from day 1, unless you get a grant from some philanthropist for a year or so?

I am in a place similar to Aruba but I promise you that if not for the privilege and responsibility that I have taken on I would be in a boring, cold, murky place like New York, Chicago or London in a heartbeat. I haven't walked on the beach in a year and a half Smile
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amother
Ivory


 

Post Wed, Apr 15 2015, 4:33 pm
I would like to vacation in Aruba, but have no desire to live there. Unless it was within easy distance of a Jewish school, etc.

As bandcm pointed out, most people want to go to New York, Chicago, or London, not Aruba. Places without some type of settled community are very challenging.

Beaches are great, but there are other things that are more important.

I do live in a beautiful country (although its not hot) and I definitely appreciate that aspect.

Are there shluchim in the Congo? Maybe. On the plus side, I bet help is really cheap there.
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studying_torah




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Apr 15 2015, 7:13 pm
What do you do before kosher food/meat is available where you live? Or there's no Mikvah or minyan?
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justcallmeima




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Apr 15 2015, 7:52 pm
Many Chabad shluchim don't have a daily minyan where they are. If there is no mikveh, the shliach usually builds one pretty quickly. Until that time the wife travels out of town every month when she's not pregnant or nursing.
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bandcm




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Apr 15 2015, 10:59 pm
I use the ocean for a mikva.
I buy and ship meat and hard cheese and UHT milk from 1500 miles away. The rest we do without.
My husband and I homeschool our kids, with lots of help this year from my brother-in-law, who is living with us for the year.
No regular daily minyan - that's one of the sacrifices we had to make to go on shlichus.
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amother
Lime


 

Post Thu, Apr 16 2015, 1:36 am
Another question about shlichus-
What is chabad's view on other organizations coming in and doing kiruv in a the same city?
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bandcm




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 16 2015, 2:01 pm
amother wrote:
Another question about shlichus-
What is chabad's view on other organizations coming in and doing kiruv in a the same city?


That is a very good question. It depends on how the other person behaves.
An organization once sent a speaker to our city, and in his speech, he mentioned that there is no Orthodox presence in the city, and nowhere to eat kosher food. THE SPEAKER ATE LUNCH AT OUR HOUSE BEFORE HIS SPEECH.
Someone at the speech stood up and said there is Chabad. He said, "Yes, but I mean really religious, and anyway, nobody actually goes to Chabad, do they?".
My husband called the head of the organization, and they have not sent anyone since. (Well, maybe that had to do with the fact that 0nly thirteen people attended the speech, six of whom were not Jewish.)
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amother
Green


 

Post Thu, Apr 16 2015, 2:16 pm
I am not a Chabad but used to visit a very small community where Chabad is literally the only Orthodox shul. They got container of foods imported from Israel (they hired a warehouse). There is no local shechita but Shulchim brought in a shochet from abroad (dunno if it's EY or Brooklyn) twice a year or so who did all chicken. I don't think they ate red meat. Rebetzen and a very few women who needed mikva drive 1hour to the beach (not unpleasant in summer but can get quite chilly in winter).

Their boys are sent to Brooklyn once they're like 10-11 (they have families so boys could board). Younger kids are taught at home, learnt online, they had extra help from single yungermann during summer and chagim. Young children are given responsibilities, interact a lot with grownups.

My understanding is (DH was close to the Chabad shulchim husband) they get some kind of seed money to support the first year of operation, but then they need to make ends meet on their own. One of the first things the set up is supply of cholov yisroel and mikva. The wife ran kindergarten, and they also have catering business for shomer kosher visitors and tour groups. Whenever I think my life is hectic and hard, I always think about how amazing and dedicated these people are.
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studying_torah




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 16 2015, 2:20 pm
Do you mind explaining how you make ends meet while paying for a Shul and importing food etc?
And how do you know how to do all these things like setting up food supplies and a mikvah etc?
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rmbg




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 16 2015, 2:55 pm
There are only select places that get seed money. We certainly did not.
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amother
Aquamarine


 

Post Thu, Apr 16 2015, 3:25 pm
I am not Chabad, but, at one point in time, I spent a lot of time with the local Chabad family. They were the only frum Jews in town. They were (and still are) just such lovely, wonderful, warm people and I really credit their presence for being a strong influence at a time when I was young and starting to make a lot of decisions about my life.

Sometimes when it is really crazy getting ready for a big chag and everyone is running around the house getting food prepared, getting showered, and setting the lights up, etc, I will stop for a second and think of that couple and how I'm so grateful for their presence. Without them at that time, I'm not sure that I would have the wonderful, big family that I do now. Their beautiful example of living a frum life made a strong impression on me and was a huge influence on the choices I made later. I will be forever grateful to them.

ETA: As I grow older and have kids of my own I am only beginning to understand what a great sacrifice that family made to live where they do. I so appreciate having a kosher butcher, schools, and lots of other frum families around. I can't imaging living in CH your whole life then moving to a town with zero community and Jewish/kosher resources. Or making Pesach for 60 people when it's your first time ever making Pesach on your own. WOW.
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amother
Green


 

Post Thu, Apr 16 2015, 3:27 pm
That's why it's important for shulchim to find and establish keshet with donors. Even in a place with few or no frum jews living, often there are businessmen or tourists who are grateful for chabad and they can continue to support. You charge fees for stuff like catering and kindergarten or summer camps. Unless there are existing shuls or buildings or schools, many run Chabad House from their own home.
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