By Jonathan Goldberg, Esq.

To all Anash and Shluchim of the Rebbe throughout the world, in Crown Heights and all of New York, in Florida, California, Texas and every state, in France, across Europe, in Eretz Yisrael and in every place the Rebbe has sent you,
Shalom u’vracha.

I am writing to you as one Yid to another, as one Chassid to another, with a plea that comes from the depths of my heart. The time has come for one Kinus HaShluchim, with all of the Rebbe’s shluchim united together, in the Rebbe’s shechunah, as the Rebbe wants. The Rebbe asked for achdus, achdus, achdus. Nearly every member of Anash I have spoken with agrees. Now we must make it happen.

What has been done until now
Over the past months I have written to and spoken with the organizers of the Kinus HaShluchim, and with leading shluchim in America and in Eretz Yisrael. I have also written to Rabbi Bentzion Korf and given him letters about this, including the letter sent out around Shabbos Bereishis. For their sake I will mention the organizers only by first name, so they are not flooded with thousands of pniyos. They are Lipa, the elder among them; Shmuel, of the next generation; Mendel and Mendy, who oversee the programming of the Kinus; Yosef Yitzchok, whom everyone in Kfar Chabad knows; and several others. Some of them have been receptive, and I am grateful for that. Many of my letters, however, have not yet been opened. So I ask them respectfully, here in public: please open the letters.

I have asked to be invited to meetings of the Vaad HaKinus and of the board of Merkos, and I am still waiting. I have been patient until now. But I cannot stay silent while another year, and perhaps another twenty years, go by in division.

What one Kinus requires
The way forward is simple and practical. Rabbi Mendy Hendel is ready, willing and able to speak with Shmuel, who oversees the American bodies and their branches. They have discussed this for several years. One five minute conversation between them can settle the manganon, the agreed mechanism through Merkos for designating and accepting shluchim. Once that is in place, Mendel and Mendy, our M and M, can invite all the Rebbe’s shluchim, choose the best speakers, and arrange for every shliach to attend.

I have proposed that we invite Rabbi Shlomo Farhi as a featured speaker. He is an outstanding speaker, and in his talks he constantly brings the inyanim of the Rebbe’s sichos. Inviting him would build achdus with the Syrian community and many other communities as well.

The Kinus should be held where it belongs, on Eastern Parkway, in the Rebbe’s shechunah, with the street closed to traffic for three hours. Instead it appears that plans are moving toward renting a hall in Edison, New Jersey, at enormous cost, money generously given by a very fine philanthropist. A united Kinus in the Rebbe’s shechunah can be done simply and at a fraction of that cost. I, Jonathan יהונתן Goldberg, am personally willing to cover the cost.

The lesson of Parshas Noach
In Torah Or on Parshas Noach, the Alter Rebbe explains the possuk מים רבים לא יוכלו לכבות את האהבה. The many waters are the worries and distractions of this world, and they cannot extinguish a Yid’s love for Hashem. The waters of the Mabul lasted forty days and forty nights, like the forty se’ah of a mikvah, and they came not only to destroy but לטהר, to purify the world. The years of division around the Kinus have been our mayim rabim. Now is the time to purify them and to come out of the teivah into a world renewed by achdus.

The lesson of Avraham Avinu and Lot
Avraham Avinu went to war to rescue his nephew Lot. From Lot came Ammon and Moav, the nation of Balak. The Torah says they may never enter the kahal of Hashem, because they did not greet us with לחם ומים במדבר, bread and water in the wilderness. Ingratitude, being a kafui tova, is the opposite of what a Yid is meant to be. The Rebbe gave each of us everything we have. A united Kinus is our chance to show hakaras hatov and say thank you to the Rebbe.

Who I am and why I write
I share a little about myself only so you know where this comes from. For about thirty years I practiced law in Eretz Yisrael. With the Rebbe’s bracha, I represented victims of Arab terrorism and challenged the Oslo agreements before the Supreme Court. I argued before Justice Aharon Barak that the State of Israel could not lawfully sign an agreement with a terrorist organization led by Arafat, which is not a state. I also argued before Justice Cheshin against arming the Palestinian police. I asked him whether anyone would consider it reasonable for the Jewish people to hand rifles to the Nazis in exchange for a promise of peace. The court ruled as it wished, but the truth was said. I did these things, and many others, because I care about Klal Yisrael.
I also did shlichus in Ginot Shomron and Beit Shemesh according to the Rebbe’s guidance, and I opened law offices in Migdal Moshe Aviv and in the BSR towers. Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky personally invited me to the Kinus HaShluchim, even though I was not an official shliach. I know what the Kinus means, and I know what it could mean if every shliach stood together.

A call to action
My dear Anash and Shluchim, here is what I ask of you.
Daven. Your tefillos are the most powerful thing you can give, far more than anything gashmi. Ask the רבונו של עולם to open the hearts of the organizers.
Reach out. Call, email or write respectfully to the organizers you know. Tell them how much one united Kinus means to you, and ask them simply to hold that five minute conversation and get this done.

Show up, with derech eretz. Those in Crown Heights can visit the Kinus office in 770 in person and express their support with respect. Those in Maryland can do the same with the head shliach there. When many Chassidim come together, calmly and with ahavas Yisrael, it makes an impression.

Teshuvah is always possible. Whatever has happened in the past, the authority the Rebbe entrusted to the organizers is a holy trust, and if they carry it out according to the Rebbe’s will, every one of us will stand behind them. But one way or another, a Kinus HaShluchim in the Rebbe’s shechunah will take place, because that is the Rebbe’s רצון. It is far better that we all build it together.

Looking ahead
There is more to come, which I will write about separately. This includes the revitalization blueprint for our community, which can be a blessing if Anash are truly involved, and the coming elections, through the bylaws and the Vaad HaKahal and its nitzigim, for a Beis Din in Crown Heights, as the Rebbe always insisted, in the tradition of Rabbi Marlow, Rabbi Heller and Rabbi Osdoba.

As the Rebbe teaches in Hayom Yom, Chassidim should be together: זיצן צוזאמען, לעבן צוזאמען. And I add: טרינקען לחיים צוזאמען, טאנצן צוזאמען. Let us sit together, live together, say l’chaim together and dance together, all of us, in the Rebbe’s shechunah.

The Rebbe has done so much for us. Let us do this one thing for him.
With love for every Yid and with hope for the true and complete Geulah,
Jonathan יהונתן Goldberg, Esq.
JR Gold Law Firm & Asset Management Inc