Sarah Cunin and her family of 11 were forced to evacuate three times when the wind-whipped Palisades Fire and ensuing mudslides threatened their home in Malibu, Calif.
That it was spared—not to mention her family’s lives—was nothing short of a miracle, says Cunin, who since 1994 has co-directed Chabad-Lubavitch of Malibu with her husband, Rabbi Levi Cunin.
Their adjacent Chabad center, fronting the scenic Pacific Coast Highway, has likewise remained intact.
“We were really blessed by G‑d,” she says of her family’s escape on Jan. 10, as the inferno encroached onto a hill not 30 feet from the Chabad center and their home. Her husband stayed behind a little longer to retrieve their synagogue’s Torah scrolls before following his family to safety.
“We honestly did not think our place was making it that night,” Cunin tells Chabad.org. “Thankfully, the winds turned and firefighters were on it.”
When the threat finally did subside, Chabad of Malibu was still there, miraculously unscathed, and ready to transform into a center of assistance and aid for all. In the weeks since, hundreds of people displaced by the fires have walked through its doors to pick up free clothing, baby items and toiletries; don tefillin; receive Shabbat candles; or just to come together with fellow Jews amid the shock and grief.
Cunin’s story represents just one of the many crises—humanitarian and otherwise—faced this past year by Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries around the world, be it wildfires or war, flooding or antisemitism, hurricanes or terror—or a mixture of any of the above.
All this means that there will be plenty to discuss this weekend at the 35th annual International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Women Emissaries (Kinus Hashluchos), which began on Feb. 19 and will run through Sunday, Feb. 23. The five-day conference, which gathers thousands of women from around the world, each serving in crucial positions of Jewish communal leadership, is the women’s counterpart to the annual men’s Kinus, which took place in late November 2024.
The conference is a tribute to the legacy of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson, of righteous memory, the esteemed wife of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, and is timed to coincide with the anniversary of her passing on 22 Shevat, corresponding this year to Thursday, Feb. 20.
‘Connection’
The theme of this year’s Kinus Hashluchos is “connection,” the links that bind the Jewish people around the world with each other—whether on the scorched coasts of California, the sands of Arabia, or the hills of Jerusalem—and with their Creator.
Female Chabad emissaries, or shluchos, embrace multiple roles and responsibilities in their work. These too-often unsung communal leaders plan, coordinate, teach and direct massive parts of the global Jewish community’s infrastructure, while at the same time creating an inviting home atmosphere for students and travelers, businesspeople and locals. They provide warmth, advice and a shoulder to cry on, all while making sure nothing falls through the cracks.
The Kinus offers these Jewish heroines a few days to re-energize and rejuvenate, and keep up to date in best practices from professionals and colleagues with years of experience. In addition to workshops, panels and sessions on a host of pressing topics from antisemitism on campus to the growing mental health crisis, the emissaries will together visit the Ohel, the resting place of the Rebbe, as well as the nearby burial site of his wife, Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, drawing strength to return home to continue their missions.
The conference will conclude with a gala banquet bringing 4,000 emissaries and their guests together for an evening of recognition and appreciation at the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center, to be held on Sunday, Feb. 23. The banquet program, including the roll call of emissaries from all 50 states and more than 100 countries, will be broadcast live on Chabad.org.
A chapter of Psalms will be read by Lea Duchman, Chabad emissary in the United Arab Emirates—where Chabad Rabbi Zvi Kogan was murdered just a few months ago—as well as Michal Wexilshtein of Hadera, Israel, who will be reciting it live from the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Among the featured speakers at the banquet will be Elisheva Martinetti, a Chabad emissary in Italy whose Jewish story began in northeast China, where she was born, and Tzipi Hatovely, Israel’s ambassador to the United Kingdom.
The inspiration she gains at the Kinus, says Cunin, is something she lives with throughout the year.
“This sisterhood can’t be compared to anything,” she explains. “Connecting with family as well as friends, joining other shluchos who are going through the same things that you’re going through. Finding that support and that camaraderie is incredible. We are blessed to be part of this incredible army.”
Piece of the Puzzle
While Cunin has led many Jewish initiatives during her decades as a Chabad emissary, she never thought relief and humanitarian aid would fall into her portfolio in Malibu of all places. Yet when the fires came and that’s what was needed, that’s what her and her husband’s jobs became.
They started simply by moving all the furniture out of the Chabad center and setting up tables for the items they needed to house for distribution. “People here were desperate for basic toiletries and clothing,” Cunin says.
At the same time, they put out a call for contributions. “The amount of donations that came flooding in was unbelievable,” she says. Some people drove from as far as two to three hours away just to donate to the distraught citizens of LA County.
Word soon spread that Chabad was set up to handle donations, and California companies began calling and offering brand new items and lots of it. Casita, a high-end home goods company, sent beautiful linen and towels. There are even yoga mats available.
With many still living out of their cars, hotel rooms or Airbnbs, suitcases and laundry baskets are in high demand, and Chabad has them stocked as well. In fact, when necessary they deliver.
In partnership with a local kosher restaurant and World Kitchen, hundreds of kosher meals are going out to people who need them. “It’s free, it’s kosher, it’s good. Everybody could use a warm meal,” she says.
Cunin says it’s been a humbling experience, one of giving and sharing. “Just seeing people that are coming in. These are families who are not used to taking. They have always been in the position of giving. It’s very difficult for them to take and we have to remind them that this is what they need for now. Ultimately, their lives are going to turn around. They are going to be in much better places and I’m sure they’ll be givers again.”
Now in Brooklyn, Cunin says it is awe-inspiring to be together with her fellow emissaries, each one of whom has been dealing with so much in their own part of the world.
“It really reminds us that we’re just one piece of a beautiful puzzle,” she says. “Once a year we can all step back for a moment and see it taking shape.”
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