The last seven days were very intense. Last weekend I was with 4,000 of my colleagues in NY for the annual Shluchim conference. Upon returning to New Orleans we quickly prepared for the amazing evening we had with Eva Schloss and and audience of 600 hundred strong on Tuesday night at the JCC. I would like to share a poignant experience from my time in NY.
One of the highlights of the Shluchim conference (aka Kinus) is presenting ourselves as a group at the Rebbe’s Ohel. We pray to Hashem, reading Psalms together. A letter of petition for blessing from the Rebbe is written on behalf of us all collectively and every Shliach signs it. It is then read publicly for of us to hear and placed near the Ohel as is traditional.
The letter is very comprehensive and addresses requests for blessings in any conceivable area of our lives both communal and individual. The 4,000 Shluchim live in every corner of the world and are truly responsible for the welfare of each Jew and the Jewish people as a whole wherever they may be.
This year the letter included a special mention of the assault against Jews in Pittsburgh along with a blessing for the safety of the Jewish people worldwide. As those words were being addressed to the Rebbe, with thousands of Rabbis from around the world listening raptly, I felt a potent sense of togetherness with all of the Jews who are in need of Hashem’s protection. There is power in this blessing from the Rebbe and there is power in this group who presented the petition for this blessing. May Hashem indeed hear our prayers for the safety of our people everywhere and for the safety of good people all over the world.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Mendel Rivkin