<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A\nJew once asked the fifth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Shalom Dov Ber :<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRebbe, what is a chassid ?”<\/em> Each\nsummer Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch, the educational arm of the Chabad-Lubavitch\nmovement, dispatches the Roving Rabbis to small Jewish communities around the\nglobe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Small,\nisolated communities, without access to Jewish resources are a major concern.\nInitial contact is often made through the Student Visitation Programs.\nRabbinical students voluntarily give up their personal vacations to travel from\nplace to place, meeting, giving classes, disseminating Jewish publications …\nplanting the seeds of Judaism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These\ndedicated students, chosen for their rabbinic proficiency and people skills,\nvie for the honor of assisting the most faraway and isolated communities. These\nsummer assignments also afford them with an invaluable on-the-ground experience\nin Jewish outreach and a unique appreciation for the diverse needs and colorful\nmakeup of our nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nMerkos Shlichus program dispatches Roving Rabbis that include hundreds of\nrabbinical students that travel each year to small Jewish communities around\nthe globe for Pesach, during the summer, and the High Holidays. Created and\ndirected by the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory,\nRoving Rabbis is one of the oldest and longest running revolutionary outreach\nprograms, since its founding in 1943, some 76 years ago. Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky\nhas been coordinating and expanding these programs for the last quarter of a\ncentury under the auspices of Merkos L\u2019Inyonei Chinuch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During\nPassover and the High Holidays, our rabbinical students run seders and provide\nservices for local Jews, many of whom would not otherwise be involved in any\nholiday event. Since most of the locations our students visit have no full-time\nJewish presence, our rabbinical students bring with them all necessary Judaic\nand Holiday supplies, including : kosher wine ; matzah (at Passover) and\nchallah (during the rest of the year) ; kosher chicken, meat, and gefilte fish ;\nand Hagaddahs or Machzors. During the summer months, the students spend time\nmeeting with local Jewish residents, sharing with them their passion for Jewish\nlife and bringing Jewish awareness and observance wherever they go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In\n1943, the Rebbe set up a system to deepen the connection of American Jews in\nremote locations to their people and their religion. Under the guidance of his\nfather-in-law, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, of righteous memory, the Rebbe\ncreated the Merkos Shlichus program, sending vibrant yeshiva students armed\nwith spiritual aid to visit ten cities in Upstate New York during the summer.\nIn 1944, a number of cities in California were added to the program. By 1945,\nthe Deep South of the United States was also included.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By\n1948, participation in the summer program had expanded to include approximately\ntwenty students and one hundred American cities. These early groups typically\nconsisted of one English speaker and one European immigrant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In\nthe late forties, the program expanded to cater to the Jewish farmers scattered\nthroughout northeastern United States. Many of these farmers were European\nimmigrants who were isolated from the Jewish communities. The students brought\nthem much appreciated Torah literature and subscriptions to Yiddish periodicals.\nGreat efforts were made to enable their children to study in Jewish day schools\nin the larger cities. This service also provided a full mobile \u201cChabad center\u201d\nwhich circulated among the areas populated by these farmers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nstudents spent months on the road, often subsiding on matzah, canned fish, and\nvegetables for weeks on end. The Rebbe eagerly read their mailed reports, in\naddition to extensively debriefing them upon their return. The students were\noften amazed by the Rebbe\u2019s care for, and intimate knowledge of, Jewish life in\nthe remotest of communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In\nthe early 1950s, the Rebbe added international destinations to the growing\nlist. These tours were grueling marathon trips which often included tens of\ncountries and multiple continents. The Rebbe would pore over maps and\nstatistics and personally choose the itineraries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sardinia,\nItaly ; The Dakotas ; Bosnia ; Beijing, China ; Des Plains, IL ; Kauai, HI ;\nWales, UK\u2026 Chabad representatives have brought Torah, joy and warmth to Jews in\nthousands of cities in over one hundred and fifty countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nhundreds of young students who participate in this annual program stand on the\nforefront of Jewish life. They visit thousands of outposts in Asia, Europe, the\nAmericas and beyond. Their luggage consists of kosher food, Jewish books and\neducational material, as well as tefillin, mezuzot and other religious\narticles. All in all, thousands of mezuzot and tens of thousands of Jewish\ninformation packets are distributed each year in thousands of communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur\ngoal is to make Judaism accessible, inviting and relevant to every Jew,\neverywhere,\u201d says Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, Vice Chairman of Merkos L\u2019inyonei\nChinuch who oversees the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In\na small town in Serbia, the tiny Jewish community had a shofar but no one knew\nhow and when it was to be blown. In Ontario, a thought provoking Torah class\nprovides Jewish food for thought. In Wisconsin, a young family basks in the\njoyful atmosphere created by the Shabbatons arranged by the young visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In\nmany places, they have become an integral part of the fabric of Jewish life, as\ntheir yearly visits have become a much-anticipated highlight of, and source of\ninspiration for the entire year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In\nFrance, we continue the program that the Rebbe has outlined. Thus, during the High\nHolidays and the months of July and August, the European Lubavitch Bureau sends\nmany young rabbinical students to isolated areas in Brittany, Normandy and\nother regions in France, to sow the seeds of Judaism and light lamps wherever\nthere is a small community, with dedication, joy and kindness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Merkos Shlichus A Jew once asked the fifth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Shalom Dov Ber : \u201cRebbe, what is a chassid ?” “A chassid is a lamplighter. The lamplighter walks the streets carrying a flame at the end of a stick. He knows that the flame is not his. And he goes from lamp to lamp […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":524,"parent":214,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.loubavitchfrance.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/245\/"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.loubavitchfrance.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.loubavitchfrance.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page\/"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.loubavitchfrance.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1\/"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.loubavitchfrance.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments\/?post=245"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.loubavitchfrance.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/245\/revisions\/"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1021,"href":"https:\/\/www.loubavitchfrance.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/245\/revisions\/1021\/"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.loubavitchfrance.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/214\/"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.loubavitchfrance.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/524\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.loubavitchfrance.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/?parent=245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
“A chassid is a lamplighter. The lamplighter walks the streets carrying a flame at the end of a stick. He knows that the flame is not his. And he goes from lamp to lamp to set them alight.”<\/em>
“What if the lamp is in a desert ?”<\/em>
“Then one must go and light it”<\/em>
“And what if the lamp is at sea ?”<\/em>
“Then one must undress, dive into the sea, and go light the lamp.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\nHistory<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Today<\/h3>\n\n\n\n