Lara Dodo, of Ontario, Canada, had a wonderful weekend. One of more than several thousand participants in the annual International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Shluchos (emissaries), she joined women emissaries and Chabad community members from around the world for a gala banquet dinner Sunday night at the New York Hilton Midtown in Manhattan.
And that’s after staying up late on Saturday night being enriched by speakers, dancing with the shluchos and guests—and several days of inspiring talks and classes, including all day Sunday. Earlier in the week she visited the Ohel in Queens, N.Y., the resting place of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, and his father-in-law, the Sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, of righteous memory.
“As a guest, I came away completely in awe of the sacrifices the [emissaries] make to help a simple Jew like me take on one more mitzvah,” she says. “How can I not make a little more effort, and how could I not take on one more mitzvah?”
Dodo says she started wearing a sheitel—a wig to cover her hair out of modesty—almost two years ago, and her children now attend Orthodox schools. She credits Rabbi Mendel Bernstein and his wife, Toby, of the Chabad Romano Centre in Maple, a suburb northwest of Toronto, as helping her family along its Jewish path.
“She has impacted my life and my family’s lives in the most profound way,” she says of Toby Bernstein, explaining that when her children were little, they attended the Chabad preschool and camps. “We were not at all observant, and they guided us along the way with warmth, love and acceptance for who we were at every stage of our growth.”
She spoke excitedly outside the banquet hall, where the evening’s festivities were in full swing. Live music played in the background, while women enjoyed plated dinners on tables set with flower-and-candle centerpieces, and fine linen and dishes. For a change, they relished the opportunity to have others cook, serve and clean up.
Speakers included Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, chairman of Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch, the educational arm of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, and its vice chairman, Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky. Women from around the world—from Alaska, Russia and beyond—also offered presentations, sharing their perspectives on a Chabad shlucha’s mission, sacrifices and many rewards. They all spoke against the backdrop of this year’s theme: “Shining light into the darkness.”
Beacons of Light
Chanie Lipskar, of Bal Harbour, Fla., gave the keynote address, talking about the evolution of Chabad there and the challenges that she and her husband, Rabbi Shalom Ber Lipskar, overcame as they developed an active Jewish presence in an area that at first was not welcoming to Jews. She encouraged her fellow emissaries to persevere. “We are [emissaries] with every fiber of our being, 24/7,” she told the crowd. “Each and every [emissary] serves as a beacon of light, an anchor in the turbulent waters and a lighthouse to people around the globe.”
Sara Blumenfeld, who has spent the past 26 years as an emissary in Lima, Peru, is no stranger to challenges on the job. When she started out, they lacked basic supplies and had water for just one hour a day. Thankfully, times have changed and the living conditions have improved as Peru stabilized over the past few decades. Still, this women’s event remains an important opportunity for her—and for all the other women, really—to know that whatever happens, they are not alone.
“It’s good to be together,” she says of the annual reunion. This year, she brought three women with her and also met up with old friends, including a woman who became observant through their Chabad center and now is based as an emissary out of a Chabad center on Long Island, N.Y.
While in New York, Blumenfeld also took some time to speak at her daughter’s school. “They wanted to know how it was before and how it is now,” she says of questions the high-schoolers asked about her work as an emissary. “I wanted to share with them that everyone can be [an emissary], and that everyone can do the Rebbe’s work.”
Devorah Leah Mangel, of Dayton, Ohio, says she remains in awe of the quantity and quality of women gathered. “It’s impressive. The Rebbe’s vision was to send emissaries all over the world. They inspire me to continue my work as an emissary and to remember that we’re a part of such an unbelievable group,” she says.
Shoshanah Lafer, of Chabad of West Bay, R.I., attended some powerful sessions, including a workshop on Hebrew school and one on adult education that prompted new ideas and perspectives. “They encouraged us to share personal experiences,” she says of that class, which highlighted the importance of creating a safe and connective environment where adults could feel comfortable sharing their opinions.
As for the Hebrew school, she heard about a program that went to a public school to build its student body. It’s something she might try in the future, she says: “It was food for thought, definitely.”
Taking It All Home
Rivka Nemoy, who came in from Berdichev, Ukraine, for the first time in her 12 years as an emissary, says she’s taking it all in and plans to take it all home with her. She and other representatives from her home country will meet with their community and show pictures from the conference, as well describe what took place. “I want to tell them what all of this is,” she stresses.
For Chani Spalter, who has served in Costa Rica for the last 24 years and who returns to the conference every chance she gets, this was time to soak in a well-organized program. She brought a community member with her for the first time. “I’m so happy that she’s going to go back and [mull] over what she’s received,” she says. “She keeps thinking of all the other women who should have come.”
Dodo of Canada brought two friends with her this year, the second year she has participated in the conference. She says she was especially inspired by talks she heard about the idea of dividedness, about empathy and about fulfilling the role G‑d set out for each person.
“My involvement with Chabad makes me want to be a better wife, a better mother, a better daughter and a better woman,” she states. “When I see the true power—the essence and power of a Chabad woman—I want that.”
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