New Shluchim to Texas, Pittsburgh

Based on an article by Faygie Levy on Chabad.org

Rabbi Mendy and Mushkie Kesselman—25, and 22, respectively—with their 6-month-old son Nosson in tow, moved to Texas to build their own Chabad community in the town of Frisco.

Mushkie Kesselman’s parents, Rabbi Menachem and Rivka Block, head Chabad of Plano / Collin County in Texas, where Mushkie was raised.

“My parents are in Plano, 30 minutes away, and a lot of people were coming to them from Frisco and wishing they were closer,” Kesselman told Chabad.org.

She notes that a wealth of job opportunities in Dallas and Plano has prompted young couples to move out to Frisco, part of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex where there is more affordable housing.

Another Chabad couple who went out on Shlichus are Rabbi Henoch Rosenfeld, 25, who along with his wife, Sarah (nee Mangel), 22, and 8-month-old son Mendel moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

“Shlichus is really a lifestyle,” says Rabbi Rosenfeld, who is joining a large contingent of established shluchim, including his parents, Rabbi Yisroel and Blumi Rosenfeld.

“As much as the Rebbe left us with his teachings,” the young Rosenfeld says, “he left us with a timeless mission to bring every Jew closer to Judaism and their roots. [It’s a mission] that is as present today as it was 30 years ago, when the Rebbe sent them personally.”

The Kesselmans and Rosenfelds are examples of a growing trend of younger couples who were raised on shlichus returning to their home communities to continue the work of Chabad emissaries before them.

According to Rosenfeld, that’s exactly what transpired in the town of Altoona, Pa., several years ago when he and a group of friends traveled through Western Pennsylvania’s smaller communities and saw an interest for a stronger Jewish presence.

“The follow-up to our visit,” he says proudly, “was that a rabbi moved there.”