Many Shluchim’s Children Are Waiting For an Invitation From A Classmate

My dear Chabad brothers,

I have the privilege of being part of the army of Shluchim and serving my Shlichus in a remote corner of the world. As is well known, one of the greatest challenges for Shluchim is the absence of a suitable Chassidishe framework. In such cases, we are forced to send our children far from home at a young age, whether to a boarding school or to stay with relatives.

They adapt to a kind of distant status quo, where parenting happens from afar. Additionally, in our Shlichus there are those Mekuravim among us whose children eventually also need to head to a framework of Torah study. But there is something particularly difficult about Shabbos, Off Shabbosim, or Yom Tov. While everyone prepares for Shabbos and Yom Tov, planning whom to invite or where to be hosted. Our sons and daughters, the shluchim’s children, are missing this aspect of closeness and experiencing distance from their family, which has become their routine. This is when they need to start scouting, and finding for themselves a place to be for Yom Tov.

We parents find ourselves days before an off Shabbos, trying to pull connections and make arrangements with friends from the past. You might have already asked someone from your class or an acquaintance from the other class about the possibility of hosting them. Can we be hosted by you for Shabbos or Yom Tov? That’s the question our children need to ask.

I turn to you, my fellow Chabad families, in every Chabad school or Yeshiva, from high school age and sometimes even in younger grades, there are girls in the schools or boys in the Yeshivas who wait for an invitation from a classmate.

It’s important to bring this matter to your attention.

We are approaching the month before Shavuot, and as I am writing this letter, our children are in need of a family atmosphere and a warm home to be in during the holiday. We Shluchim are scattered in every remote corner of the world for every Jew, and during these days, we are already receiving many requests from people who wish to join in holiday meals and prayers. They know they have a home far from home. Seize the opportunity, open your home, and help us to provide a home for our children who are far from home.

ואהבת לרעך כמוך!

Please ask your son or daughter if they have classmates from another city or country and invite them for Shavous. It’s a privilege that is an obligation.

I would be very happy to sign my name, but out of respect for my children, I will not do so.

My brothers and friends,

I wish you a good Yom Tov and to receive the Torah with joy and inwardness.