Thousands of Chabad emissaries took part Sunday morning in the movement’s traditional group photo outside the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway. The emissaries packed together on black bleachers set up through the night, braving the New York cold as security around them surged to unprecedented levels in response to rising antisemitism.
The NYPD took no chances, enforcing an extensive security perimeter and blocking major streets around the photo site. A blend of languages filled the air, including English, Hebrew, French, Russian, and Spanish. Emissaries in their 90s stood alongside 25-year-olds, all appearing together in the same frame.
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Thousands of Chabad emissaries gather for their annual group photo
(Photo: Itzik Belenitzki)
The group photo is one of the highlights of the annual global conference, which began Thursday in New York. Thousands of emissaries from nearly every corner of the world flew into the city, many landing at New York’s airports before heading straight to Crown Heights, where the five-day gathering is held.
Thursday was the conference’s central day, with full-day workshops, lectures and panels addressing pressing issues in Jewish communities worldwide. “In the shadow of rising antisemitism and in a time marked by renewed solidarity among Jewish people following the war, the emissaries discussed new challenges and ways to respond to every need,” said Rabbi Menachem Kotlarsky, head of the international conference.
At the main evening session on Thursday, Rabbi Daniel Walker, a Chabad emissary in England, spoke about the moment he confronted and stopped an attacker who tried to enter a synagogue on Yom Kippur, preventing a potential mass casualty attack. His account deeply moved the audience.
On Sunday night, the conference will hold its major annual tribute event, honoring the memory of longtime emissaries who passed away this year and who led transformative work in their communities.
Organizers say the registration system struggled under the weight of so many attendees. Hundreds of young Chabad rabbis joined the global network of emissaries this year alone. Chabad’s youth organization in Israel said that nearly 100 new emissaries were dispatched across Israeli cities this year, with demand only growing.
Once the gathering ends, the thousands of emissaries will return to their posts — from remote Ukrainian villages to high-tech hubs in New York, from British universities to Caribbean islands, and countless locations in between.