Chabad-Lubavitch: Encyclopedia II - Chabad-Lubavitch - Chabad today

Chabad-Lubavitch - Chabad today

Chabad-Lubavitch - Emissaries

Menachem Mendel Schneerson, after becoming the Rebbe himself, and following an initiative of the previous Rebbe, spurred the movement on to what has become known as shlichus (outreach work). As a result, Chabad shluchim (emissaries, sing. shaliach) have moved all over the world with a mission of helping all Jews, regardless of denomination or affiliation, with all their needs, physical assistance and spiritual, to learn more about their Jewish heritage, and Judaism as practiced by Chabad.

The movement, following Rabbi Schneerson's call, has trained and ordained thousands of rabbis, educators, ritual slaughterers, and ritual circumcisers, who are all accompanied by equally motivated spouses and typically large families, all of whom aim to fulfill their mandate of Jewish outreach, education, and revival. They look for and recruit Jews who want to join them, encourage Jews to strengthen their commitment to Judaism, and assist in supporting the religious needs of hundreds of thousands of Jews worldwide. Emissaries have commented on various occasions that "wherever there is Coca-Cola, there is Chabad"[1].

Chabad-Lubavitch - The Chabad House

A Chabad House is a Jewish community center, the nerve center of all the educational and outreach activities of a shliach. Often until the community is big enough for its own building, the Chabad House is the shliach's house, with the synagogue being their living room.

There are 4,000 Chabad centers in 70 countries serving the needs of the local Jewish communities worldwide.

Chabad-Lubavitch - Mitzvot campaigns

Chabad is also remarkable in its openness to non-Orthodox Jews; in fact, it aims to attract them to do mitzvot, and believes this part of the process to bring the Geula. This practice is called "mivtzoim" - based on the words mitzvat tefillin.

The Rebbe issued a call to every Jew: "Even if you are not fully commited to a Torah life, do something. Begin with a mitzvah [commandment] - any mitzvah; its value will not be diminished by the fact that there are others which you are not prepared to do." The Rebbe believed even one act of goodness and kindness is incomparable.

The Rebbe also suggested ten specific mitzvot - that, because of their centrality to the Torah's guide to life, are ideally suited for a first experience of the mitzvah connection.

1. Lighting candles before Shabbat and the Jewish holidays (women and girls)
2. Putting on tefillin (phylacteries, for men over 13)
3. Affixing a mezuzah (scroll with central Torah passsages) on doors
4. Torah study on a regular basis
5. Tzedakah (charity)
6. Obtaining Jewish religious literature (a Chumash/Pentateuch, Book of Psalms, and a siddur/prayer book)
7. Adhering to kashrut (the dietary laws)
8. Loving one's neighbor like oneself
9. Proper Jewish education
10. Observing "family purity" (the laws of niddah).

In addition to the above campaigns, Schneerson greatly emphasized spreading awareness of the coming of Moshiach and preparing for his imminent arrival. Some of the points Schneerson stressed in his teachings include:

• Belief in the imminent coming of Moshiach is a fundamental Jewish belief as explained by the Rambam.
• The Geula, or the Era of Redemption, is the culmination of the spiritual work since the Creation of the world.
• Jews prepare and pave the way for the coming of Moshiach and the Geula by doing acts of goodness and kindness.
• Non-Jews have seven commandments, called the Noahide Laws that they should become aware of and practice. Chabad has been a prime force in the dissemination of awareness of these laws, and several Noahide communities have sprung up as a result.
• The importance of opposing any discussion concerning concession of territories in the Holy Land of Israel, or otherwise strategically vital territories to Arabs or anyone else.

Often when asked what remains to be done to bring Moshiach (the messiah), Schneerson answered that we need to perform "Acts of Goodness and Kindness," now a popular catchphrase. Rabbi Schneerson intended that Moshiach awareness be an essential part of everything we do, and thus it is unusual for any Chabad function to be without mention of the desire for the immediate Redemption.

Chabad-Lubavitch - Outreach activities

Activities:

• Chabad has set up an extensive network of camps around the world most using the name Gan Israel, a name chosen by the Rebbe for the first overnight camp. There are 1,200 sites serving 210,000 children -- most of whom are not Orthodox. Of these, 500 camps are in the United States.
• In recent years Chabad has greatly expanded its reach on Campuses. They serve hundreds of college campuses worldwide and has 85 full-service Jewish Student Centers.They have received much praise from faculty and students alike. Professor Alan Dershowitz has stated "Chabad’s presence on college campuses today is absolutely crucial." And "We cannot rest until Chabad is on every major college campus in the world"[2].
• Dissemination of literature by Kehot Publication Society (the Chabad publishing house) in Hebrew, Yiddish, English and other languages.
• Mitzvah tanks (mobile booths for outreach activities) are operated in busy areas.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Chabad today", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki