AAQ – The term “Chabad House” was first used in LA in 1969. The concept of Shlichus as we know it today goes back at least to the ’40s (contrary to what some may think, it was the Rayatz who started the “Shlichus” phenomenon). NCSY is not only or even primarily a ‘Kiruv’ organization, although de-facto it does also do that. “Kiruv” literally means “drawing closer”, which can be understood on many levels both quantitatively and qualitatively. Some also don’t like that term at all, for various reasons. Be that as it may, any “Kiruv Professional” of any sort or flavor will readily tell you that ‘Kiruv’ isn’t a numbers game. I once asked a senior staff member at Ohr Someiach what their ‘success rate’ is. He didn’t like the question.. Basically he said that for one person ‘success’ is deciding to marry Jewish (with no further commitment). For another it might be doing some Mitzvos or giving their kids some sort of Jewish education. For some it means becoming fully Shomer Shabbos. Some end up going to Kollel and getting Semicha. This was a Litvak talking. I think that with Lubavitch the picture is basically the same. So any degree of ‘coming closer’ to Hashem and His Torah is a really big deal ??? ?????? ???? ??????. That you have to hand to whoever is willing to walk the walk. It is not easy work, certainly if you live in some crazy third world country.
