Chabad’s incredible work for Jews worldwide should not be taken for granted
Working to strengthen Jewish life in more than 100 countries, Chabad's open and welcoming nature often means that they are the easiest targets for attack
From a ramshackle shed-like building in the small lake town of Bacalar in Mexico, the familiar melody of ‘Lecha Dodi’ was gently carried on the evening breeze.
This ancient Jewish prayer and the smell of spicy Moroccan fish felt bizarrely out of place in this holiday and backpacker hotspot, deep in the Americas. But – as I soon discovered – there is seemingly no place on earth too far or too foreign for Chabad to establish a presence.
It was a Friday night in November, and this was one of five Shabbat dinners I had decided to attend during my 42 day solo-trip through Mexico, Belize and Guatemala.
My experiences at each of the five Chabad houses were unique. But where it mattered most, these places – or home-away-from-homes – were exactly the same. They were hubs of community, Jewish life and (most importantly) delicious challah!
My Shabbat in Bacalar was the most intimate. The Chabad shliach (emissary) had driven down from Playa de Carmen (a journey which takes just over 3 hours) that morning to prepare and host a Shabbat meal for just me and one other young Israeli couple.
I arrived at the dinner at the official start time of 7.30pm which, it turned out, was about an hour too early. Luckily I was just in time for the two person Kabbalat Shabbat service which the Rabbi dutifully and enthusiastically guided me through.
The entire effort seemed like excessive dedication simply to provide a Friday night meal for three travellers. But this is what Chabad does. Their mission, which they serve with unparalleled commitment, is to provide Jewish people (no matter who) with Jewish life in every corner of the world.
Since the inception of Chabad in the late 18th century, devoted followers have been sent to serve needy Jewish communities as teachers, mentors, and Rabbis. Under the seventh Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, this idea was significantly expanded, and couples were sent to Asia, Europe and Australia, with the express aim of bolstering Jewish life across the globe.
This model was enormously successful. In 2019, Chabad described having representatives in more than 100 countries. So determined are they in their mission that I wouldn’t be surprised if Chabad sent someone to live on Elon Musk’s first Mars colony to provide Kosher food to future Jewish astronauts.
Besides Bacalar, the other four Chabad houses I visited on my trip were in Merida, Puerto Escondido in Mexico and Lake Atitlan, and Antigua in Guatemala. The latter three were incredibly rowdy – rammed with dozens of Israeli travellers. It is – for so many of them – a common rite of passage to travel round either south east Asia or the Americas following their mandatory army service.
In Puerto Escondido – a hippy surfer town – there were perhaps 80 or 90 Israeli attendees mixed amongst around five Brits. They were all noisily banging the tables singing ‘tamid ohev oti’ and ‘gesher tzar meod’ at the top of their voices during the meal.
At dinner, I had the opportunity to practice my (terrible) Hebrew, which interestingly improved with each tequila shot. Meanwhile in Antigua, the L’chaims were so plentiful that one Rabbi actually passed out during dinner.
Stepping over the threshold into each house felt like being briefly transported home. The food, the warmth, the easy familiarity of ritual were restorative—anchors in a sea of unfamiliar places and constant movement.
For me, these moments were more than comforting: they were a lifeline. I landed from my six-week long adventure, to the tragic news of the Bondi beach massacre.
‘Welcome home. Just enjoy 5 minutes calm until you read the Bondi beach news’, was the first message my mum sent me as the plane touched down and I reconnected to the WIFI.
The attack – which left 15 people dead – took place at a Chabad organised Menorah candle lighting.
In the wake of this tragedy, it has been even harder to ignore the heroic work of Chabad and its emissaries. Isolated, these dedicated Rabbis and their selfless families build their lives miles from traditional centres of Jewish life. In faraway lands, where Kosher food is scarce and the language and culture is foreign, they found houses which – like lighthouses – act as flashing beacons of Yiddishkeit.
Concerningly, these hubs have become increasingly vulnerable to deadly attacks. In line with their radical policy of hospitality and inclusion, their addresses are often publicly available and the events they organise widely advertised. Typically, the visibly Jewish shlichim set up stands in public places to urge Jewish men to wrap Tefillin or Jewish women light Shabbat candles. They are sitting ducks in hostile countries.
Hideous conspiracy theorists have targeted the organisation further by promoting falsehoods about what is, in reality, a benign and inward-facing movement.
Is it any wonder then that in 2008 six people, including the Rabbi’s pregnant wife, were killed in a terror attack on a Chabad house in Mumbai? Or that in 2019 a woman was killed in a shooting at the Chabad of Poway synagogue? Or that in 2024 Chabad Rabbi Zvi Kogan was kidnapped and murdered by terrorists in the UAE? And of course the fact that Rabbi Eli Schlanger, 41, and Rabbi Yaakov Levitan, 39, were amongst the 15 murdered at the Bondi beach massacre.
But Chabad’s work is holy. They selflessly provide an entirely unique service which I don’t believe exists in any other community or culture. Throughout my trip they were invaluable. Not least because they kept my mother’s anxieties at bay.
But travelling solo can be lonely. It can be frightening. So during these low points, Chabad offered me something priceless: community, tradition and friendship.
And in an increasingly lonely and fractured world, it is hard to imagine anything more precious.
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