More than 200 co-directors of campus Chabad Houses headed to an upstate New York conference facility for training sessions, workshops and inspirational gatherings in an effort to regroup and plan for the upcoming school year.
Organized by the Chabad on Campus International Foundation, the annual Chabad on Campus conference offers more than three days of programming geared towards campus emissaries and their children, all in an effort to maximize resources in providing a “home away from home” for Jewish students around the world.
Families in minivans began arriving at the Hudson Valley Resort in Kerhonkson, N.Y., on Monday as a carnival welcomed emissaries’ children before they split off into camp groups for the duration of the convention.
Echoing the exclamations of her peers, Sarah Meretsky, co-director of the Chabad House serving Pennsylvania State University, said that the summer event was a welcome chance to network with old friends, meet a crop of emissaries who will establish new centers over the coming year, and hone ideas for campus programs.
“The convention for me is about being inspired and deepening my connections with the other women,” said Meretsky. “I am looking to recharge my batteries.”
The conference’s agenda was filled with sessions exploring both the mundane and exciting aspects of strengthening Jewish life on campus, from perfecting fundraising techniques to deriving the most from a Torah class. Other sessions are analyzing larger multi-campus programs such as free Birthright Israel trips provided by Mayanot and intensive Jewish studies programs such as the Sinai Scholars Society.
With almost 150 Chabad Houses around the world – another 10 will be opened in the coming year – the Chabad on Campus International Foundation represents schools large and small, urban and rural, those with many Jewish students and those with comparatively few.
But Flora Levin, co-director of the Lubavitch House at the University of Pennsylvania, said that all Chabad Houses had a lot in common.
“We all do the same thing,” said Levin, who moved to Philadelphia 20 years ago and is leading a session about raising children in the midst of a university campus. “Of course we have different sized campuses and we have different personalities, but it is the same concept, we have the same goal.”
Rabbi Yossy Gordon, executive vice president of the Chabad on Campus International Foundation, added that his organization was there to help, offering proven strategies and training in expanding campus programming even as continuing economic hardships placed more strain on budgets.
“All of our emissaries can benefit from continuing professional training and support,” he said. “As these centers grow in their scope and sophistication, we are creating more support for them on many levels.”
Speaking on Wednesday, Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, chairman of the Chabad on Campus International Foundation and vice chairman of Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch, the educational arm of Chabad-Lubavitch, was optimistic about the future.
“While Chabad on Campus has grown to almost 150 campuses, and individual Chabad Houses on campus are bursting at the seams,” said Kotlarsky, “we have to go beyond that and break our own boundaries by exponentially increasing attendance at programs, students’ participation at Shabbat dinners, Torah classes and holiday celebrations.”
Rabbi Levi Haskelevich, who serves as the campus rabbi of the Lubavitch House at Penn, said that for him, the annual conference is a necessity.
“We are all so engaged in community building and counseling individuals’ needs,” said Haskelevich, “but we must take time as a group to focus and inspire ourselves to keep our eyes on the ball.”
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