Hasidic Women Making Change

Gloria Rodríguez

February 16, 2004

Growing up in central California, Chani Marcus felt different than the others in her community. All of the houses on her block were decorated with colorful Christmas lights, some with reindeer and candy canes, except hers. Marcus and her sisters always wore skirts below the knees and her brothers wore yarmulkes or skullcaps. Her father, a rabbi, dressed in a black suit, white collared shirt and black hat every day. And there were other things that made Marcus and her family, who are followers of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement, different from the rest of her Los Alamitos, Calif. community.

Marcus and her nine siblings got one pair of shoes for the whole year, not only because money was tight, but because they lived by the Hebrew saying which means, "Who is rich? He who is happy with what he has." Her parents emphasized helping others as a key part of their lives so they got used to the constant buzz of the doorbell in their four-bedroom home, which her parents turned into a Chabad house or welcoming place for Jewish people. The word Chabad is an acronym for the Hebrew words meaning wisdom, understanding and knowledge.

Her parents were shlichim, or emissaries, which are part of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement. Their goal is to help other Jews strengthen their faith and live more closely with the accords of the Torah-the writings that the Jewish faith is founded on and which non-Jews call the Old Testament. Marcus' parents eventually opened a synagogue so the then small Jewish community there would not have to travel far to worship. They hosted Shabbat dinners for about 25 people every Friday night and lunch on Saturdays.

"It's a selfless existence," she said. "We live to help others."

The importance of giving service to others is something Marcus, 25, continues to carry out in her life today. Now living in Manhattan, Marcus runs Hi-Tech Hebrew School in Chelsea and mentors Jews who want to learn more about their Jewish roots and become more observant.

Marcus' experiences were similar to that of the 1,600 women who attended the Annual International Conference of Shluchos for Chabad women emissaries in Crown Heights, Brooklyn in February. The five-day conference, organized by the Lubavitch World Headquarters in Brooklyn, drew Hasidic women like Marcus who devote their lives to serving others. Most of them are mothers, teachers and run Chabad houses. Many of the older women stayed in a large room, filled with crying babies and young children, to care for the younger women's children.

The conference takes place every year around the birthday of Rebbetzin Chaya Moussia Schneerson, the wife of Lubavitcher Rebbe (leader), Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. She was also the daughter of the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe. The Chabad-Lubavitch movement started in Russia 250 years ago. Rebbe Schneerson, who died in 1994 and was one of the movement's most prominent leaders, came up with the concept of shlichim. Usually, shlichim are young couples that move somewhere with a small Jewish community to provide them with kosher food, a place to pray and company.

Karen Blum, who runs a Chabad house out of her apartment for Columbia University students and attended the conference, said emissaries generally leave their families, friends, and the comforts of a close-knit Jewish community to live in an area with few observant Jews.

"You're away from your religious community," she said. "It's kind of a lonely thing."

There are about 4,000 full-time emissary families working in more than 2,700 institutions, according to the movement's Web site. The popularity of shlichim grew fast. By the year 2000, about 3,800 husband-and-wife teams of shlichim were working in 45 states, 61 campuses, and 41 American college campuses, according to Sue Fishkoff's book "The Rebbe's Army: Inside the World of Chabad-Lubavitch." Fishkoff, whose book is about shlichim, spoke at the conference's closing banquet on Sunday.

Bassy Mendelsohn, of Ottawa, Canada, said Fishkoff's speech about the importance of the women's work inspired her. Mendelsohn and her husband started a Chabad house two years after they got married, and plan to open a synagogue in a few years.

"For now, we want a friendly, warm center for people to come and feel at home," Mendelson, 22, said. Mendelson also hosts a women's circle once a month where she teaches about Judaism.
Blum said the conference is important for the Hasidic community and for the individual women who attend.

"It's the one time a year I gather with people in the same profession as I am," she said.

Shternah Sara Wilansky, 41, regularly attends the conferences. She said it gives her renewed energy to keep doing her work. Wilansky and her husband run a Chabad house in Hillside, New Jersey. They focus their efforts on the Russian Jews there who were unable to carry out their faith in Communist Russia. Wilansky and her husband help them to get circumcisions and have religious weddings, she said.

"I think that when we wake up, we say, 'What are we doing today to help another one,'" she said.

They also help educate gentiles about Noah's laws for universal humanity, which apply to everyone, she said, such as not stealing, killing and committing adultery.

Like Marcus, Wilansky grew up in a shlichim family -- Hers in Milan, Italy. Her father was a rabbi who worked with the Persian Jewish community there, and her parents opened their homes to those who didn't have a place to eat their Friday or Saturday meals. In Wilansky and in each one of her seven siblings' rooms, there was a tzedakah (charity) box, where they put their pennies and loose change. They also had a box in the kitchen.

"When you make food for your own family, you think about the poor," she said.
Four of her seven siblings started a Chabad house in different parts of the world. Her sister, who lives in Minn., was also at the conference. Wilansky has nine children ranging in age from 2 to 19, in whom she has tried to instill the giving spirit, she said.

Although the conference was designed for women, Rabbi Avi Rubenfeld, the administrator for the conference, said that service to others is a key part of a Lubavitcher's life.

"If you're not helping another person, you're missing a fundamental part of yourself," he said.

For women like Marcus, having workshops that focus on empowering their communities and seminars that reinforce Rebbe Schneerson's teachings are a motivation to continue their work for others. As is seeing other strong women who make a difference in their communities.

"I'm always blown away by the selflessness the people have," Marcus said. "It's the most incredible thing I take away from the convention."

(Updated May 12, 2004)