Shluchim Center to be Inaugurated

Crown Heights, Brooklyn — After several years of extensive construction, Chabad rabbis the world over have a new address they can turn to for all things outreach-related: 816 Eastern Parkway, the home of the brand-new Shluchim Center.

The Shluchim Center is the natural outgrowth of the Shluchim Office, which for years was housed in a cramped, converted apartment at 715 Eastern Parkway. Founded by a 1986 talk in which the Lubavitcher Rebbe requested the creation of “an office with a phone where people can call to arrange a lecturer,” the Shluchim Office eventually outgrew its facilities.

In 2000, with the help of several dear friends and key supporters, the Shluchim Office was able to purchase, gut and redesign a four-story apartment house a stone’s throw from Lubavitch World Headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway. The Shluchim Office occupied two of the center’s four floors once basic construction was completed in 2003, and interior work continued.

And now, with final finishing touches rapidly drawing to a close, the Shluchim Center will be hosting an inauguration to formally complete construction, honor its friends and supporters, and celebrate 20 years of realizing the Rebbe’s vision.

Most fittingly, the inauguration will be held on Tuesday, June 19th, 2007, which corresponds to the Third of Tammuz, the day of the Rebbe’s passing.

The upscale event will begin at 4:00 p.m. with an exclusive cocktail party on the Shluchim Center’s premises for the Center’s primary benefactors (by invite only). The main function will follow at 5:00 p.m. at the prestigious Jewish Children’s Museum right up the block, with a keynote address delivered by Rabbi Shalom D. Lipskar of Bal Harbour, Florida, founder of the Aleph Institute and The Shul of Bal Harbour. An elegant buffet for the hundreds of expected guests will conclude the inauguration.

“There is a vastly larger amount of programs and resources, and a full office away from home,” says long-time office manager Yankie Rosenblum of the Center’s capacities. “It’s an extensive resource service center at all times, for shluchim all over the world.”

Attendance is $250 for couples, $180 for individuals. To R.S.V.P., call 718-221-0500×308 or e-mail inauguration@gmail.com. For more information, call 718-221-0500.