Four out of Chabad's 24 preschools in the coastal city of Ashkelon, a target of Gaza rocket attacks, remain without secure shelters.

The municipality is offering pre-fab concrete shelters at a price of 70,000 shekels a piece, and Chabad is feverishly trying to raise the money. Recent escalation of bombing raids have parents worried. Fifteen children were pulled from Chabad's pre-schools and enrolled in public schools as a result.

"To see a child's Jewish education ended before it ever began is a sad way to begin the year," said Rabbi Menachem Lieberman, director of Chabad in Ashkelon.Back-to-school jitters of a life-or-death variety were allayed in Ashkelon when  the local Chabad boys' high school moved into its new, secure building. The old location had a tin roof which offered no protection from rockets or missiles launched from Gaza. The new multi-storey school is constructed from reinforced concrete.

"News of the the new building has brought enrollment up by 100 students," said Rabbi Lieberman.

Chabad of Ashkelon's celebration of its new building together with the troubling lack of security for its preschools offers a snapshot of the complex situation faced by many of Israel's Chabad representatives. They are getting ready for the new school year and Rosh Hashanah's renewal with a vision of progress, with an asterisk. 

Last year saw the appointment of 69 Chabad representative couples in Israel, according to Rabbi Moni Ender, director of media relations for the Chabad of Israel. Many have been sent to open smaller neighborhood centers in regions with established, major Chabad centers already in place. Chabad has long blanketed Israel with representatives in major population centers. The new representatives are taking responsibility for regions within these areas.

"Instead of expecting one Chabad representative to reach 40,000 Jews in his city, the new representatives have an area with four to five thousand Jews to reach," said Rabbi Ender. "It's a much more logical ratio, and we expect the new representatives to reach an exponentially greater number of people."

In the Kiryat Haim suburb of Haifa, Rabbi Levi Oirechman is one of the newer micro-Chabad representatives. Kiryat Haim had no publicly funded religious schools. "Parents are looking for a warm, Jewish environment for their children," said Rabbi Oirechman. This week, Chabad of Kiryat Haim celebrated the opening of a pre-nursery school for children ages three months to three years old.

Enrollment is limited by law, and this year's class may not break ten, but Rabbi Oirechman sees the pre-nursery as the beginning, to grow in time to a kindergarten and beyond. "Why should children have to travel outside Kiryat Haim for a Jewish education? The population is ready for change."

In the coming year Chabad intends to introduce and recognize more representatives, continuing the trend to saturation of smaller population centers. Notwithstanding the United Nations vote regarding recognition of a Palestinian state scheduled for September 20, Chabad is sending more representatives to Judea and Samaria.

"We do not differentiate between settlements and Israel. The Chabad position continues to be that the land of Israel is one united whole," said Rabbi Ender.

Rabbi Ender walked over to a poster-sized picture of Israel's hundreds of Chabad rabbis and pointed out the Chabad representative from Gush Katif. "He was serving his community, until the day they were taken from their homes. And even after."

The state of inter-Jewish relations is more worrisome to Rabbi Ender. Anti-religious voices in Israel are few but strident, vocal and adept at attracting sympathetic media attention. Facing off against a fellow Jew in open debate would do more harm than good. Chabad would rather overcome opposition by focusing on areas of mutual agreement in Judaism.

Every Friday night, even before college classes begin in Tel Aviv University, Rabbi Yeshayahu "Shai" Gerlitzsky works on overcoming the divide. The Gerlitzskys' tables are ringed with TAU students willing to sample a taste of Shabbat. Among them are visiting students from North America who seek out the lively Chabad atmosphere.

"At our table, no two minds are the same. The one thing that unites us is that we are all Jewish, and that's what we keep in mind. No matter what our differences are."