Chabad in Israel: New Branding, Same Mission

The three day long annual conference of Chabad emissaries in Israel concluded on Tuesday. 450 Chabad emissaries from around Israel took part in the conference, which centered this year on branding Chabad and emphasizing the uniqueness of its activities.

Rabbi Yossi Swerdlov of the Chabad Youth Organization in Israel explained that “the work of a Chabad shaliach (emissary) is the same everywhere and that is to bring light to the world.”

Rabbi Swerdlov added that in Israel the challenges for the Chabad emissaries are greater than they are outside Israel. “Many times when you’re living in Israel you’re so close to a Jewish land that you feel like you don’t need something else to inspire you and you don’t even realize that there’s something missing in your life. So I think the challenge for the shlichim here is sometimes more difficult but I think that, ultimately, the idea is the same and that is to bring people closer and to spread the mission and to spread the light and to try to help people as much as possible.”

This year’s conference of emissaries centered on branding Chabad since, as Chabad explained in a statement, “in recent years, with the increase of movements and people who work to bring hearts together and teach about the heritage of Israel, there has been some confusion among the general public, who is not familiar with the differences and nuances that are unique to Chabad’s activities over others. Chabad’s new branding will create a new united front in Chabad activities which will help the general public immediately recognize Chabad’s fingerprint behind its enormous task.”

Rabbi Swerdlov was enthusiastic about the branding despite the fact that it may appear like a secular idea. “The Rebbe taught us that everything in the world can be used in all directions. In fact, the Rebbe was the first to take television and the internet and bring them out to the masses. If things in the world which may be considered secular by some could bring some advantage to spreading yiddishkeit and spreading the work of Hashem and the work of Chabad, it’s an important thing. So this idea of branding is great. It’s really important for people all over Israel to realize and to know who’s who and what is what. And that’s what branding really does.”