How to Get 5,000 Identically Dressed Rabbis to Pose for a Photo; "Hatch, Match, and Dispatch"

When the 5,000 Chabad shluchim (emissaries) gather each year in Crown Heights, Brooklyn for their annual convention, one tradition that is said to come from a request by the Rebbe himself, is for the entire group to pose for a photo that is displayed in Chabad Houses all over the world.

There is some uncertainty as to whether all 5,000 shluchim or only about 3,000 actually showed up for the photo at this year's conference, which concluded Sunday evening, but we find it hard to tell the difference. 

Last year we wrote about the logistics involved in photographing and feeding such a large group. This year we're sharing a video where a Chabad leader explains the origin of the group photo and its importance, and another video where Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, organizer of the conference, describes the Chabad mission in surprisingly modern marketing terms. 

"We're in sales and service," he says. "We sell God, we sell the Torah, we sell Mitzvot. It's a very marketable commodity. If it's packaged correctly and if it's packaged properly, it's a tremendous commodity.

He also comes up with a slogan for the movement: "Hatch, Match, and Dispatch." "We're there when somebody gets born, we're there when somebody gets married, and we're there when somebody, God forbid, has to leave the world."

Jewish Humor Central joins in the pop culture aspect of Chabad marketing by adding our own annual tradition of including a "Where's Waldo" challenge for our eagle-eye readers. See if you can find Waldo, and enjoy the videos.

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Photo Logistics:

Marketing Judaism and "Hatch, Match, and Dispatch":