This past weekend thousands of Chabad rabbis from across the globe gathered to study Torah, compare best practices, and gain inspiration. Known as the Kinus, it has become emblematic of the Jewish renaissance these men and their wives have brought to more than 100 countries around the world. Here are 8 moments that express the joy, reverence, and faith that carry the weekend:

1. Where Are They From?

We asked these rabbis a series of questions to see if we could guess where they live and serve. Can you figure it out?

2. The Group Photo

Thousands of Chabad rabbis from around the world gather in New York outside Chabad Headquarters for the annual group photo. Together they represent the vibrant face of thriving Jewish life around the world.

3. Do the Rabbis Know Chabad Stats?

We decided to put their knowledge to the test with some trivia! How many questions can you get right?

4. Thousands Pray at the Ohel

The thousands of rabbis in town for the conference prayed for their fellow Jews and all of humanity at the Ohel, the Rebbe’s resting place.

5. From Moscow to Miami

Sasha Kaller grew up without Judaism. A few months after joining the recently founded Jewish school, he volunteered to kindle the menorah for an international satellite broadcast. More than 30 years later, he’d discover a photo of that lighting at a critical juncture in his life.

6. A Flame Rekindled in the Ghetto

As the Holocaust raged in Rome, a non-Jewish milkman saved two Jewish children. Decades later, one of those children would rediscover his Jewish identity in that same spot.

7. The Boy From Bondi

Rabbi Eli Schlanger was murdered at the Chanukah celebration he hosted. His son, just 14 years old, shared how he is living out his father’s mission.

8. Meanwhile, in Philly, a Show of Jewish of Pride

At the same time, in Philadelphia, hundreds of Jews gathered to wrap tefillin and proudly and publicly celebrate their Jewish identity in the face of antisemitism.

This weekend, Jewish communities in the Land of Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and around the world will mark the second yahrzeit of Rabbi Zvi Kogan, the 28-year-old Chabad-Lubavitch emissary who was abducted and murdered by terrorists in Dubai on November 21, 2024. His yahrzeit, 20 Cheshvan, falls out this year on Shabbat, October 31.

Kogan arrived in the Emirates in 2020 and spent the next four years helping to establish and expand Jewish life in the Gulf state, with particular attention to the young Jewish community’s kosher infrastructure. He managed Dubai’s Rimon kosher supermarket, and with his wife, Rivky, ran classes and programs in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

In the two years since his murder, projects begun in his memory have spread from the Gulf to Israel and the United States.

From Ramat Shlomo to the Gulf

Zvi Kogan was born on the 26th of Av, August 11, 1996, in the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood of Jerusalem. His family traces its lineage to Rabbi Yisrael Baal Shem Tov, founder of the Chassidic movement, and to Rabbi Shabtai Cohen, the famed 17th-century commentator on Jewish law known as the Shach.

At 20, he began traveling to assist Jewish communities abroad, teaching children at the Torat Chaim yeshivah in Moscow and in the Yad Israel institutions of the Karlin-Stolin Chassidic group in Pinsk, Belarus. Later, in Paphos, Cyprus, Kogan helped establish a Chabad center for Israeli tourists, with prayer services, Shabbat and holiday meals, classes, a restaurant and a kosher grocery, while in Odessa, Ukraine, he set up a booth at the airport where Jewish travelers could put on tefillin and find kosher food.

An Israeli citizen, Kogan enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces when he was 22. He was first assigned to logistics, then asked to transfer to a combat unit, and served in the Tomer battalion of the Givati Brigade.

After the signing of the Abraham Accords in 2020, Kogan moved to Dubai to work with Rabbi Levi Duchman, director of Chabad of the UAE. He helped build the country’s kosher system from its foundations, overseeing supervision and training for restaurants, hotels and food factories. He married Rivky Spielman in 2022, and together they settled in the UAE to serve the community.

Zechariah Daniel and his wife often brought their children to the Kogans’ Shabbat table. He remembers sitting with Kogan late one night after dinner, not long after the young rabbi had arrived. Kogan told him that he wanted the Jews of the Emirates to have everything they needed to live a kosher life.

With Chaim Heber at the International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries.

‘Achi, That Was Crazy’

Fanny Cohen-Ruben and her family arrived in Abu Dhabi in September 2022, and met Kogan shortly thereafter. He introduced her to people who could help their business, and was a friendly face at every community event, prayer service and children’s program, and made ordering kosher food simple. The last time they spoke, he told her with some pride that he had sung the Sephardic selichot on Yom Kippur, though he was Ashkenazi.

“He just showed us as a model [of] how he behaves with generosity, kindness. We all wanted to be like him,” she later wrote. “His aim was to make you feel comfortable. His smile, his joy of life, his optimism and positivity will remain forever.”

Chaim Heber met Kogan in 2020, after both of them had joined the Chabad team in the UAE, and the two later shared an apartment. Heber remembers a man whose energy could change the mood of a room, and who would often say, in his Israeli accent, “Achi, that was crazy.”

When Heber moved back to the Emirates, Kogan met him at the airport, carried his luggage, arranged a car and took him on his first kosher shopping trip. The store’s non-Jewish staff called Kogan “Rabbi Steve.” He found time to affix mezuzahs, visit the sick and help customers put on tefillin.

“He was a holy, larger-than-life person whom I will never forget,” says Heber.

Hannah and Nick Beaton met him only a few times. New to the UAE, they shopped at Rimon every week, and once asked whether the store carried chopped liver, a dish they missed from home. Kogan offered to make some for them himself.

“He was so warm and welcoming. Like family,” she remembered.

Rabbi Zvi Kogan helping Avi Batito wrap tefillin.

Tefillin, Torah Scrolls and Mitzvot

Many of the projects dedicated to Kogan were inspired by the mitzvot he encouraged others to perform each day.

One program, Zvi’s Tefillin, began with Avi Batito, an Israeli real estate developer. Late in 2020, Kogan found Batito sitting alone in a Dubai hotel and helped him put on tefillin. This soon led to a warm friendship. Batito went on to fund tefillin kits for about 60 stations in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah, and more kits were sent to other stations in the Gulf that are home to small Jewish communities. Each bag is embroidered with the words “ZVI’S TEFILLIN” and carries an AirTag, so that it can be tracked as it passes from hand to hand. At the launch, 60 men put on tefillin together, and community members pledged and paid for another 50 pairs.

A separate gift of 18 pairs was donated in his memory, one of which will remain permanently at Rimon, the store where he worked and from which he was taken. In Israel, friends and admirers organized Thirty for Light, which is funding 30 new tefillin stands around the country and 30 pairs of tefillin for emissaries and volunteers.

The writing of a Torah scroll for the UAE began during the shiva at the Kogan family home, in the presence of Israeli President Isaac Herzog. The scroll was later dedicated in the room of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, at 770 Eastern Parkway during the 2025 International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries. A second scroll was dedicated on Chanukah at the Scheiner family’s synagogue in Monsey, N.Y., and more than 850 friends and relatives have joined in sponsoring a Torah in his name.

A youth center in Kogan’s memory has opened in Miami, and a Tesla Cybertruck outfitted as a mitzvah mobile is planned to tour all 50 U.S. states. More than 40,000 mitzvahs, from lighting Shabbat candles to affixing mezuzahs and giving charity, have been pledged in his memory.

May the soul of Rabbi Zvi Hakohen ben Rabbi Alexander Sender Kogan be bound up in the bond of life.

This past weekend, nearly 2,000 people, mostly college students from around the world, gathered in Crown Heights, the Brooklyn epicenter of Chabad life, for a Shabbat of learning, joy, discovery, inspiration, and camaraderie.

These four clips, posted on Chabad.org’s social media channels before and after Shabbat (all phones were tucked away for Shabbat of course), give you a glimpse into the amazing energy that carried through the weekend.

Tefillin on the Street

Early Friday morning, Kingston Avenue, the main drag of Jewish Crown Heights, was pulsating with life as students soaked in the Judaica shops, kosher eateries, synagogues, and of course, 770, the central Chabad synagogue and headquarters. This student took a moment to put on tefillin and say the Shema.

Unbridled Joy

When Shabbat drew to a close, the students gathered outside of the home of the Rebbe and the Rebbetzin for a soul-stirring Havdalah ceremony, followed by joyful dancing. The tune they are dancing to was especially beloved to the Rebbe, as it was the signature tune of his father, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak, a Torah scholar and kabbalist who put his life on the line to preserve Judaism in the Soviet Union.

“I Believe"

As the evening wound down, the mood turned inward. Here, the crowd joins together, shoulder to shoulder, to sing Ani Maamin, the classic expression of faith in the coming of Moshiach.

The Future Is Bright

A Campus Chabad House is a family affair, with the children forming an integral part of their parents’ work. In this conversation, we get a glimpse into the energy and positivity that makes Chabad Houses an oasis of Judaism on campuses all over the world.

This Shabbat, Jews everywhere will read Bereishit, the first portion of the Torah. The annual cycle of daily Torah study has already begun, and for anyone who has thought about learning the Torah from start to finish, there won’t be a better week to start.

The idea of studying the weekly Torah portion goes back centuries, and early in his leadership, the Alter Rebbe, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of Chabad-Lubavitch, taught that “one must live with the times.” His brother, Rabbi Yehudah Leib, explained what he meant: to live with the week’s Torah portion, and with the section assigned to that day.

Each weekly portion is divided into seven portions, one for each day. Learn a section a day, seven days a week, and you will have covered the entire Chumash, the Five Books of Moses, by next Simchat Torah. Many add a daily portion of Tehillim (Psalms) and Tanya as well, a study regimen known as Chitas, instituted by the Sixth Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson, of righteous memory, and championed by the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, as a source of Divine blessings.

Whether you prefer to listen on a morning commute, read the text in Hebrew and English, or explore the Rebbe’s teachings on each week's portion, here are 8 ways to start.

Available on Chabad.org, as well as in Chabad.org’s Daily Study app, the remastered “Lessons in Tanya” boasts a linear translation and complete mobile integration.

1. Daily Study on Chabad.org

Tens of thousands of people turn to Chabad.org each day for their daily learning. With classes on Chumash, Tanya and Rambam (Maimonides) by several teachers that run concurrently as users follow the text, the Daily Study app is an invaluable resource for Torah Study.

The late master teacher Rabbi Yehoshua Binyamin (Josh) Gordon was a pioneer of teaching Chitas, and his humor, erudition and teaching ability have made his classes, recorded for posterity on Chabad.org, a household name for generations of Torah students worldwide, even a decade after his passing. The Daily Studies with Rabbi Gordon App is a go-to resource for the thousands of students who still learn with him every day, while Chabad.org podcasts, available everywhere, feature classes by him and other teachers updated daily.

Rabbi Yehoshua B. Gordon

Chabad.org also features a comprehensive Parsha Section, complete with the original text of the Torah, translations, summaries, in-depth insights from classical commentaries, and the teachings of the Rebbe. Contemporary essays, classes, and videos are also presented each week.

The Scroll is Chabad.org’s print newsletter for every Shabbat, when offline inspiration is needed. Packed with commentaries, stories, and teachings, it is a must for every home.

2. Selections From Likkutei Sichos

For in-depth study of the weekly Torah portion, Likkutei Sichos—the Rebbe’s 39-volume magnum opus containing his collected and edited talks from thousands of hours of teachings—is the essential resource. Originally published in Yiddish and Hebrew, ‘Selections in Likkutei Sichos’ was recently released by Sichos in English, bringing the Rebbe’s insights into clear, contemporary English alongside the original text.

3. Project Likkutei Sichos

Project Likkutei Sichos is a worldwide initiative to learn and complete the entire Likkutei Sichos within eight years, two talks at a time, each week tied to that week’s Torah portion. Classes are offered in English, Hebrew, Yiddish, Portuguese and Spanish, with downloadable texts, translations and summaries, plus live classes, podcasts and an app.

4. ‘Torah Studies’ by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, the late Chief Rabbi of Great Britain, adapted a selection of the Rebbe’s talks on the weekly Torah readings and Jewish holidays into English. Published in 1996 and given a modern update in recent years by Kehot Publication Society, Torah Studies follows the order of the weekly Torah portion, with a short introduction to each chapter outlining the central question the Rebbe addresses as well as his answer. The full book can be read on Chabad.org.

5. Shabbat deLights

Published by Chabad.org, in collaboration with Ezra Press, an imprint of Kehot, Shabbat deLights is a collection of essays on the Torah portion by Chabad.org author, editor and podcaster, Chana Weisberg. For each Torah portion, Weisberg shares concise and impactful essays rooted in Biblical text and chasidic thought, providing practical, empowering tools for dealing with contemporary life’s most pressing challenges. The book is available here.

6. Daily Wisdom

'Daily Wisdom' was the gold winner in the religion category of the prestigious 2015 Benjamin Franklin Awards.

Translated and adapted by Rabbi Moshe Wisnefsky and published by Chabad House Publications of California, Daily Wisdom summarizes each daily Torah reading and presents an original insight based on the Rebbe’s teachings for every day of the year. Daily Wisdom’s 378 daily lessons offer a accessible taste of the Rebbe’s profound teachings, filled with love for G‑d, Torah, and the Jewish people. The complete volume is available on Chabad.org.

7. ‘Studies in Rashi’

For more than 25 years, beginning in late 1964 after the passing of his mother, to whom he dedicated this initiative, the Rebbe regularly devoted part of his Shabbat addresses to a close reading and study of a single comment of Rashi on the weekly portion. Kehot’s Studies in Rashi, translated by Rabbi Y. Eliezer Danzinger, brings those talks to English readers in a bilingual Hebrew-English set.

8. For Hebrew Readers

For Hebrew readers, an additional wealth of the Rebbe’s teachings is available. Shulchan Shabbat offers a collection of adapted Sichot for each parsha, while Otzar Likkutei Sichos translates selected talks for each Torah portion into Hebrew. Additional volumes can be browsed and purchased on Kehot’s website.