Partners

This week I'm on my own; Chani is attending the annual conference of Shluchot (Chabad Rebbetzins from around the world).  Many of you contacted me to find out how I'm managing with the children, so while it is not an easy task, this is not really what it is all about. 

Yes, it is correct that no one can nurture the children like their mother, and no one has the infinite patience like Chani has, but I think there is something that you may not be fully aware of and I would like to share it with you.

The Rebbe of blessed memory, who established the outreach movement of Chabad, did a conceptual revolution that is perhaps one of the most radical paradigmatic shift of his teachings.

For generations the Rebbetzin was the wife of the Rabbi.  A lady who was dominant in the home and the education of the children, and a source of support for her husband who was holding the communal position.

The Rebbe didn’t send Rabbis to revive community and increase Jewish life, he sent couples to do that. In his view, the communal responsibility and the mission is shared equally by the husband and wife.  The Rebbetzin is a community leader and a source of teaching, guidance, and inspiration no less than the Rabbi.

This is what Chani and a few thousand of her colleagues do at the conference in New York.  They are not discussing how to be a wife of a Rabbi, but they come together to strengthen their roles as spiritual leaders and driving forces for Jewish life in their communities.

These days it isn’t only the house that is not in order, it is Chabad that is not functioning properly until Chani will return and get things back in order.

One thing I can do only when she is away – write a blog as the one I'm writing now.  If she was here – it wouldn’t have passed...