Global Emissary “Family” Unites at New York Conference

NEW YORK, NY — Ask the hundreds of lay leaders who participated in last weekend’s 21st annual International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Women Emissaries why they trekked all the way to Brooklyn, N.Y., from points around the world, and many will tell of perceptions changed, barriers shattered and friendships forged as they got to know the female “soldiers” who run Chabad Houses, teach classes and preside over families from Nepal to New Brunswick.

Take Olivetter, Mo., resident Randye Rosser, who was one of nearly 3,000 women who attended the conference’s Feb. 15 gala banquet, the largest ever. Over the course of four days, Rosser took part in workshops, discussions and classes for lay leaders, while her friend, Chana’la Rubenfeld, co-director of Chabad of Chesterfield, Mo., examined best practices and studied Torah with other emissaries. At the banquet, with Rubenfeld sitting next to her, Rosser, 57, said that less than three years ago, you wouldn’t have found her anywhere near a Chabad House.

“My view of Orthodox Jews was that they always shunned someone who didn’t follow their beliefs,” she explained.

That viewpoint even kept her from meeting the rabbi who counseled her younger brother through years of an ultimately fatal illness. But when her brother ended up in the hospital for the last time, she knew she had to call Rabbi Avi Rubenfeld. The rabbi stayed with Rosser’s brother throughout the night, seeing him through his passing.

Shortly afterwards, the Rubenfelds invited Rosser to their home for Shabbat dinner. It was the first of many.

“I was shocked to find Chabad so welcoming to all,” she said, “like one big family.”

Another of her preconceived notions – of women being relegated to the back of the bus in religious and family life – quickly fell by the wayside.

“They are in unison, working as a pair,” Rosser said of the Rubenfelds. “I had a misconception that women play a minor role in Jewish practices, that men are the important figures.”

But through participating in activities at the Rubenfelds’ center, said Rosser, she discovered the exact opposite to be true. The conference – which is always timed to the anniversary of the passing of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson, of righteous memory, and always focuses on the unique responsibility of women as the foundation of Jewish education – only served to highlight that realization, added Rosser.

“You can rarely go to a conference where there’s not a single bad speaker,” said Rosser. “It is amazing and very empowering, being with all of these fine women from all over.”

She added that because of the conference and its accompanying spiritually-uplifting Shabbat, she’s considering keeping the holy day on a regular basis when she returns home.

Article continued at Chabad.org