Chabad Women Leaders Convene for 35th Annual Conference

Thousands of Chabad-Lubavitch shluchos — emissaries — will gather this weekend for the annual International Conference of Chabad Shluchos. The Conference marks its 35th year this year, and its theme — Connections — turns the lens on the work these women leaders do to foster connections in their work of community building, often in remote, isolated locales.

One such leader is Mushky Shkedi, of Chabad-Lubavitch in Billings, Montana. The temperature was a frigid 22 degrees below zero as she set out to New York to join the Kinus, but Shkedi said it was worth the trek. 

“Going to the Kinus is incredibly meaningful to me because living in Billings, I don’t often get a chance to connect with many other shluchos,” she said. “The convention allows me to connect with other shluchos in similar communities — we can share tips and inspire each other.”

With more than 3,000 community and lay leaders in attendance, it is the largest convention of Jewish female leadership in the world. The five-day conference includes scores of workshops and sessions, divided into tracks for shluchos serving college campuses or small communities; newly-minted Chabad centers and those who’ve been on the beat for decades. Workshops will be presented in English, French, Hebrew, and other languages, reflecting the many countries these shluchos call home. 

Also featured this year is a half-day Wellness Summit, which will include courses by mental health professionals and therapists providing additional training to the shluchos. They are often the first ones that community members in crisis turn to.

The shluchos will hear from colleagues whose communities have faced challenges. Nechama Diskin, of Chabad in Pacific Palisades — whose own home was destroyed in the recent wildfires — will address the convention. So will Bracha Leah Sasonkin of Chabad in Metula, Israel — meters away from the border with Lebanon.

They’ll visit the Ohel, praying at the resting places of the Lubavitcher Rebbe and his wife, Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson, on the date of her yahrtzeit on 22 Shevat.

The program will conclude with a gala banquet. The keynote address will be presented by Israel’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Tzipi Hotovely. Thirty five years ago, when she was 12 years old, Hotovely met the Rebbe and received his blessing. 

To find out more about the International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Shluchos, visit Kinus.com