Weekly Dvar Torah: Dancing with the Rebbe—and the Whole World!
My Personal Takeaways from the Kinus Hashluchim
Imagine a Shliach dancing on Simchas Torah. All alone.
No crowd. No Minyan. Nobody to dance with.
Just one Shliach, dancing with the Torah.
I met Rabbi Zalman Kantor, who has been on Shlichus in a California townlet for twenty-five years.
We love hearing about successful Shluchim, magnificent Chabad Houses, flourishing communities, packed Shuls, and thriving schools.
But Rabbi Kantor told me about his Simchas Torah.
He danced alone.
Why didn’t he simply go to a neighboring Chabad House and celebrate with a crowd?
Because this is where the Rebbe sent him. This is his post. What if a Jew shows up looking for a place to celebrate?
A soldier doesn’t abandon his post.
Then he told me about a Jew in his community who fasts on Yom Kippur but doesn’t attend Shul.
This year, the fellow had a business meeting scheduled for Kol Nidre. Normally, business meetings take place over dinner. But he was fasting! What should he do?
Eventually, he found a solution: attend a concert instead, where nobody would expect him to eat!
Imagine! Missing Kol Nidre to attend a concert, but absolutely determined not to break his fast!
And Rabbi Kantor was glowing as he told me this story.
Look at the beauty of a Jew!
This is what inspires him. This is what keeps him going.
Another Shliach, a dear friend serving in a country where religious activity can be challenging, told me something extraordinary.
He is building a Chabad center, including a Mikvah. While he was in New York for the Kinus, his wife, home alone with their children, was detained and questioned by authorities for three hours on Friday afternoon.
What are you building? What are your intentions? What are you trying to accomplish?
Imagine the anxiety, the intimidation, the uncertainty.
Yet they continue their Shlichus.
Then he told me another story.
While his family was away, burglars robbed virtually every home in his neighborhood.
Except his.
When he returned, the authorities were waiting. Naturally, they suspected him! Why was his the only house untouched?
Eventually, the thieves were caught.
During interrogation, the police asked why they hadn’t robbed the Rabbi’s house.
Their answer was astonishing.
“We’re professional thieves. We know how to disable alarms, cameras, and every security system. But on this house, we saw something attached to the doorpost. We couldn’t figure out how to disable it, so we decided not to take the risk!”
The Mezuzah!
Hashem’s security system!
And then there’s Rabbi Yosef Chaim Kantor of Thailand.
After more than three decades of extraordinary Shlichus, he has helped build a flourishing network of Chabad centers serving thousands upon thousands of Jewish backpackers, tourists, and businesspeople.
One might imagine that after such tremendous success, his Shlichus would be secure.
And suddenly, the government moves to strip him of his citizenship!
Another challenge. Another uncertainty.
Success doesn’t mean the challenges are over. And challenges don’t mean the Shlichus has failed.
I see the same devotion in my own children on Shlichus.
One struggles to assemble a Minyan. When I visited to fill in for a Shabbos, I was told to expect perhaps nine people.
Friday night, twenty-five showed up.
Shabbos morning, forty-five!
Another son recently completed a beautiful new Chabad Shul for his growing community. By the time construction was finished, the building was already too small! Now they’re planning something larger.
Different challenges. Same mission.
Some Shluchim struggle to raise the remaining ten million dollars for a twenty-million-dollar project.
Others struggle to pay their bills or gather ten Jews for a Minyan.
Some face isolation, financial pressure, antisemitism, hostility, or even danger.
Yet they remain at their posts.
And then, this past Sunday, approximately 6,500 Shluchim and guests gathered at the grand Kinus banquet.
What an explosion of energy!
One of the most moving moments was the appearance of young Nosson Schlanger, whose father, Rabbi Eli Schlanger HY”D, was murdered in the horrific Chanukah terrorist attack in Australia.
Nosson continues learning Tanya, going on Mivtzoim, and living his father’s mission.
He spoke about the happiness his father taught him to find in being the Rebbe’s Shliach.
When he entered the banquet hall, thousands rose in a standing ovation.
A father murdered. A son carrying the mission forward.
And that brings us to the extraordinary connection between last week’s Parsha and this week’s.
Last week was Chayei Sarah — the Life of Sarah.
Sarah’s physical life had ended, yet the Parsha is called her life, because her true life continued through Yitzchok, who carried forward everything she stood for.
And this week is Toldos — the children, the generations.
The Rebbe’s Shluchim are his children. His Toldos.
Many were born years after Gimmel Tammuz. They never saw the Rebbe with their physical eyes, never received a dollar from his holy hand.
Yet they live with the Rebbe, breathe his mission, and dedicate their lives to fulfilling his vision.
The Kinus is not an awards ceremony or an opportunity to congratulate ourselves. It is a gathering to recharge, strengthen one another, and launch new initiatives, including this year’s ambitious expansion of Jewish education.
The Rebbe is alive. His Shlichus is alive. His children are living proof.
And now, back to Rabbi Kantor, dancing alone on Simchas Torah.
When he told me his story, he explained something beautiful.
“I wasn’t dancing alone. I was dancing with the Rebbe and all the Shluchim throughout the world!”
One Shliach. One small town. One Sefer Torah.
And the Rebbe, together with thousands of Shluchim across the globe.
That’s the Kinus Hashluchim. That’s Chayei Sarah. That’s Toldos.
Have an inspiring Shabbos, dancing with the Rebbe and carrying his mission forward!
Gut Shabbos
Rabbi Yosef Katzman
