Chabad representatives from around the globe gathered last week for the annual Kinus Hashluchim, the International Convention of Chabad Rabbis. Over 3000 Shluchim represented hundreds of countries there over the weekend, but SA really stood out.
Our delegation was probably the largest we've ever had (around the sixty mark) and we certainly made our presence known.
On the Thursday night, we held a South African farbrengen at the Shluchim Office. Various Shluchim from Utah, NY, the UK and the far east joined and shared fascinating stories and insights. The next morning, we took an early visit to the Ohel and- despite all the Shluchim coming in for a public gathering there- stood out proud in the crowd.
Our Shabbos afternoon farbrengen (which has become legendary) was so lively that we ended up dancing in the streets after Shabbos. A local Crown Heightser tweeted later that "if you were wondering why the streets of Crown Heights were shaking on Saturday night, it was because of the South African visitors and their dancing".
Then we took centre stage at the gala dinner on Sunday night, with Steven Solarsh giving a kicker of a speech and our rabbi delivering the keynote address. BH, this has got to have been the best Kinus our community has ever been part of.