Hundreds of Shluchim Worldwide Gear Up for Festival of the Future 2.0
After the Moshiach Office’s Festival of the Future program launched at three-hundred-fifty Chabad Houses last year, hundreds of shluchim worldwide are gearing up to host the revamped Festival of the Future’s meaningful, day-long Acharon Shel Pesach program exploring a new theme of “One By One.”
The Moshiach Seudah was always challenging for Rabbi Eliyohu Pink of Chabad of Leeds, England. “It was never a particularly organized affair,” he says, “We’d eat matzah, drink wine, talk, and that was it.” Last year, he seized the chance to make it more meaningful by using the Festival of the Future’s guided Moshiach Seudah handbook.
The difference was immediately stark. “The whole community was very engaged,” Rabbi Pink says, “nobody schmoozed in the corner; people hung on every word.” By the end, Rabbi Pink was inspired by the number of people who took a concrete Hachlatah. “I’d never encouraged them to learn about Moshiach before,” he says, “now they were excited to commit to doing it.”
Last year, Rabbi Pink was just one of three hundred and fifty Shluchim who brought the Festival of the Future to their communities.
In Toronto, Rabbi Shmuly Neft of the Jewish Russian Community Center at Rockford in Toronto, Canada, noted the program’s impact. “Preparing for Seudas Moshiach was always a research project,” he says. “What would I say? How would I make it practical? And how do I speak about one topic for ninety minutes?” Last year was different. “Festival of the Future prepared it all for me; it was practical, personal, and made global and personal redemption relevant.”
This year, with word spreading, the Moshiach Office teamed up with numerous Chabad organizations, including Chabad.org, JLI, CKids, Chabad Young Professionals, and MyShliach, to expand its offerings to meet the needs of every age group.
“We’re capitalizing on each organization’s expertise,” says Rabbi Shlomie Naparstek, director of the Moshiach Office at Merkos 302, “We’ve created a package that fuses together curriculum, educational materials, and hands-on programs.” Festival of the Future 5783 is now open for registration. It includes a full-day program informing, engaging, and inspiring children, young professionals, and adults around a powerful message from the Haftorah of Achron Shel Pesach.
This year’s new theme, One By One, draws on the Rebbe’s farbrengen of Simchas Torah 5728 to focus on the power of every Jew and every single mitzvah to make a real impact here and now. “It’s an idea that lies at the heart of shlichus,” said Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, vice chairman of Merkos L’inyonei Chinuch, “We hope to give communities a real sense of the cosmic meaning of each mitzvah and empower them to share a mitzvah with a friend.”
Another new feature this year is Festival of the Future’s hachlatah program which integrates with the new OneMitzvah platform to enable shluchim and community members to get a tangible feel for the impact their mitzvos create. “Shluchim are getting a powerful tool,” Rabbi Naparstek says. “It’ll demonstrate the considerable impact that community members create when they reach out to an uncle or a friend just to share one mitzvah.”
The Festival of the Future package is valued at $430. It is available for Shluchim for $90.
Registration for Festival of the Future opens on February 28th. Visit festivalfuture.org/order.
For more information, visit festivalfuture.org or email info@festivalfuture.org.
You can also reach out over WhatsApp at +1 (347) 343-4514.
