Chabad shluchot come together in world's biggest Jewish women gathering - opinion

I close the windows not to hear the noise and shouts of an angry Left yet again shouting for democracy and against our government and judicial reform. I look down with anger and desperation. After the country has chosen a new leadership and a new government, the angry opposition has not come to terms with the fact that changes will eventually be made.

I go back to my computer screen to immerse myself in another realm. 

The world’s most enormous gathering of Jewish women was taking place in New York, where 4,000 Chabad shluchot (emissary) women were meeting. Various speakers, including Israeli journalist Sivan Rav Meir, stepped onto that enormous stage, which featured a giant picture of Rabbanit Chaya Mushka, wife of the late Lubavitch rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson. Every year this gathering, held on Chaya Mushka’s yahrzeit, attracts women from countries around the world, and gets larger and more sophisticated. 

This is not some women’s convention of teachers and wives of rabbis sipping tea, exchanging diaper brands and schoolbook materials. This felt like the G20, held by women, organized by women, and led by women. I was so inspired and I wished I were there. I suddenly realized I am so small next to these incredible, super-talented women.

Behind these 4,000 women, who gathered this month for a week of sessions, brainstorming, lessons and workshops, there were 4,000 men at home with their children – usually lots of them – and a Chabad home that needed to keep working around the clock.

Shabbat meals had to keep happening, lessons and day school had to continue as usual, and bathing children, making supper, and doing homework had to take place but without their pillar at their side. Most of these 4,000 men watched the gala banquet, held live and online on February 13, and applauded their spouse from their home while holding a baby and probably balancing a milk bottle.

Rav Meir came on stage smiling, talking about superwomen. She is one of the biggest names in journalism in Israel – religious and married with five children. Aside from being a journalist, she conducts online classes, has a weekly Parashat Hashavua program on TV, and a radio talk show that she hosts with her amazing husband, Yedidya, who is also a journalist.

If only the world would understand the real meaning of a “power couple.”

I WAS recently in Milan, where I stopped over while hopping from one European city to another. The annual music festival that takes place in San Remo, a beautiful city two hours away from Milan, was taking place while I was there. This year’s host was Chiara Ferragni, a young social media mogul with 20 million followers on Instagram and an empire built on her name that has become a huge brand. 

She’s a multimillionaire married to the most famous rapper in Italy, and together they have become the Kardashians of Italy. The media’s speculation on her is insane – which designer will she wear, what will she say, how will she style her hair, will she fall down on stage?

I switched on the TV. There she was, standing at the top of a huge staircase with powerful music as she took her first steps down, her first dress finally revealed. To my shock, the dress was a shining sheet showing all forms and colors of a naked woman’s body.  Glorified like a goddess, she moved toward the podium and started a monologue, which she wrote, addressed to all women. It was a letter to her younger self, telling her not to worry about not feeling “enough” for the role that will eventually come to her; for not feeling guilty about wanting a career outside of having her own family in a world where women are still looked down upon for wanting to “make it” in a man’s world; and wishing her younger self to enjoy every moment of her life because eventually one day she will succeed.

I thought: Look at this woman, showered with money just to accept this invitation to open the show, dressed by the most famous designers in the world, and styled by an army of people who worked around the clock to make her appearance feel like a sighting of Venus. Fans waited outside her enormous villa to see her after the show, while an army of nannies took care of her two children.

It’s in contrast to the gathering of Chabad shluchot, where strong and courageous women speakers ascended the stage and spoke about helping families in Ukraine, building new schools, inspiring young professionals to observe the Torah, and giving us lessons on what it means to care for another Jew simply because he or she is a Jew.

Women dressed beautifully but modestly, no breasts or legs shown, yet so pretty and fine; women who have not one career but literally multi-task as they head their Chabad houses around the world – teaching, hosting, organizing events and bringing up large families, often with no help.

The power of a woman lies exactly between the folding of a skirt that covers her legs, and a shirt that is nicely buttoned all the way up, showing only the delicate curves of a woman’s body but not revealing anything. Yet she looks sexy and feminine.

The power of a woman is when she is sustained by her man, pushed and supported in the work she does so she can come across secure and strong.

The power of a woman is that thin line between being weaker at heart and needing a man next to her, yet the ability to step in when needed and take charge, multi-tasking, looking amazing, while being tired and overwhelmed.

The power of a woman is not when she is treated equally to men but when she keeps her femininity and her dignity while knowing how to show her strengths and her weaknesses too.

Being thrown in front of the cameras dressed in a sheet of material showing off all the tiny details of a woman’s body while reciting phrases of making it in a “man’s world” doesn’t seem powerful. It only proves that society still simply hasn’t yet understood the importance and place of a woman.

Don’t get me wrong, I like Chiara Ferragni. To the world, she is a great example of a successful career woman, with two children. But next to these shluchot... sorry Mrs. Ferragni, there is just no comparison.

If the world only knew... 

The writer is from Italy, lives in Jerusalem with her husband and four children, and heads HadassahChen Productions. She also hosts a weekly talk show on Arutz 7.