Each November, thousands of rabbis from around the world gather in Brooklyn for the International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries, an event aimed at “reviving Jewish awareness and practice around the world.” The annual “class portrait” is surprising diverse: The assembled rabbis at this year’s conference, which kicked off in Crown Heights one the November 17 weekend, ranged in age from twentysomething to ninetysomething, and hailed from countries as varied as Congo, Uruguay, and South Korea.
Rabbi Chaim Landa, associate director of media relations, has likened the event to a family reunion — in some cases literally. This year’s gathering included three generations of rabbis from the Shemtov clan: grandfather Abraham, father Eliezer, and son Menachem.
Thousands of Chabad-Lubavitch rabbis, clad in traditional Hasidic garb, gather outside the movement’s worldwide headquarters in Crown Heights for their annual “class picture” on Sunday, November 19, 2017.
Rabbis from around the world were in New York for the International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries, an annual event aimed at reviving Jewish awareness and practice around the world.
This year’s conference carries added significance as the Chabad community marks fifty years since Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, the movement’s leader, initiated the “Mitzvah Campaigns.”
More than 5,500 rabbinic emissaries and communal leaders from as far away as Thailand and Congo attended the conference. The topics covered included combating anti-Semitism, stemming the tide of assimilation, counseling troubled relationships, and promoting a message of inclusion.
Chabad-Lubavitch members clad in prayer shawls converse outside the movement’s global headquarters, at 770 Eastern Parkway, Crown Heights.
A young rabbi carries books inside the Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters. The annual event includes a “conference within the conference” for rabbis who serve students on college campuses.
Wearing tallitot and tefillin, a group of rabbis prays at the Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters.
Rabbis in prayer outside the brick-clad headquarters.
Two rabbis entertain a gathering of Chabad-Lubavitch children.
A Chabad-Lubavitch woman leads a gathering of children in song.
A Hasidic woman stands outside a wig shop near the Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters.
After the ”class portrait,” thousands of Chabad-Lubavitch rabbis line up to travel from Crown Heights to a banquet in New Jersey.
Beyond the curtain, the rabbis feast at a banquet in Bayonne, New Jersey.
Rabbis and lay leaders engage in spirited Hasidic dancing at the banquet in Bayonne.
A rabbi dances during the banquet.
Rabbis in conversation after the banquet. The annual conference gives rabbis an opportunity to connect with other Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries and “recharge their batteries.”
A Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi at the end of the banquet. According to Rabbi Chaim Landa, the movement’s annual conference gives the participants, especially those going back to far and isolated outposts, an exhilarating send-off, coupled with the sense that they are not alone.