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Jewish charity organization network From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch (Hebrew: מרכז לענייני חינוך Mēr Kūz Lĕ Īn Yān Nē Ḥin Ōōḵ lit. Central Organization for Education) is the central educational arm of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. It was founded in 1943 by the sixth Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, who served as president, and appointed his son-in-law, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who would later become the seventh Rebbe, as its chairman and director. After the death of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson succeeded him as president. Today, Rabbi Chaim Yehuda Krinsky serves as chairman and, until his death in 2024, Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky A"H[1] served as vice-chairman.[2]
| |
| Formation | 1943 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn |
| Purpose | Education |
| Headquarters | Brooklyn, New York |
Chairman | Yehuda Krinsky |
Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch is the official body responsible for establishing Chabad centers across the globe. Its vice-chairman Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky oversees the global network of emissaries, approves new centers, and directs the annual international conference of Chabad emissaries.[3]
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Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch has these divisions:
One of the best known divisions is the Merkos Shlichus campaign, which dispatches pairs of young rabbinical students, colloquially known as Roving Rabbis, to small and isolated Jewish communities around the world. Hundreds of rabbinical students participate in Passover and summer visitation programs, building Jewish awareness and spreading Torah knowledge.[23][24][25] To date, the program has sent students to more than 150 countries.[11]
The Rabbinical Student Visitation Program began in 1943, when Rabbi Schneerson dispatched the first pairs of students to ten cities in Upstate New York. Cities in California were added to the program in 1944, as were cities in the Southern United States in 1945. By 1948, the summer program numbered 20 students and 100 American cities. Students were also sent to Jewish farmers residing throughout the Northeastern United States, many of whom were European immigrants. The students were sent in pairs, usually one American student and one European-immigrant student.[11]
In the early 1950s, the Rebbe added international destinations to the summer program, personally consulting maps and planning the itineraries.[11]
Currently, 400 Roving Rabbis participate in the annual summer program. They distribute thousands of mezuzot, other religious articles such as tefillin and kosher food, and tens of thousands of Jewish information packets each year.[11]
The students interact with both individuals and families. They often go door to door, teaching women how to light Shabbat candles and showing men how to put on tefillin for the first time. They speak about Jewish education, answer questions, and give bar mitzvah lessons.[23]
Their visits are often anticipated by the local population. On their 2010 swing through the islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao, for example, the two Roving Rabbis were summoned to the office of Aruba Prime Minister Mike Eman, who is Jewish. Eman spoke with them about Jewish heritage, listened as they blew the shofar (it was the Hebrew month of Elul, when the shofar is blown daily in synagogues), and donned a pair of tefillin. After completing their visit to the islands, the students returned to the Prime Minister's office so he could put on tefillin again, and he asked them to arrange for him to have his own pair of tefillin.[26]
The Roving Rabbis share their experiences and communicate with each other on their own blog site.[27]
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