Chabad.org in financial trouble?

By Jacob Berkman · February 19, 2009


It seems that Chabad.org, the de facto global publicity arm of Chabad-Lubavitch, is having some financial difficulty.

Though Chabad.org is not a chabad outpost, it is run like one, and like all other outposts is responsible for its own fund raising.

I have received the following email twice in the past 24 hours:

By the Grace of G-d

Dear Friend,

I value your time and will therefore get straight to the point:

We need your help to keep our virtual doors open!

The economic crisis has hit us crushingly hard and we are in an emergency situation.

Though we always keep our overhead low (-- our editors and writers do their jobs for comparatively little, as theirs is a labor of love), we’ve had to make some painful cuts.

Yet, we are still hundreds of thousands of dollars behind. Some of our largest donations were canceled due to the economic crisis. We simply cannot continue much longer.

So we appeal to you, friends and beneficiaries of Chabad.org:

Please help us serve! Please partner with us to nurture Jewish souls, to help people who are hungry for meaning to find their answers.

Your tax deductible donation to Chabad.org may be the deciding factor in the life of a struggling teenager, a down-on-his luck business owner, a forlorn Jew in some forgotten place on the globe, or an educated professional suddenly interested in her Jewish roots.

You see, every single day hundreds of people in need of advice and a listening ear email us -- and each month we serve up a broad and deep array of life-affirming Jewish content to millions of visitors:

College students who are struggling to create their identity as Jewish adults. Singles wondering whether they should marry Jewish. Traveling professionals seeking to affirm their Jewishness in the far-flung regions of the world. New parents learning how to raise a Jewish child. And anyone seeking support, compassion, advice and warmth for their questions, their struggles and their pain. For hundreds of thousands, young and old, Chabad.org IS their Jewish home.

So I appeal to you today: Please reach in deeply to your pockets and partner with us! Help us serve the Jewish People, including many who might be in even greater need than you.

G-d assures us each repeatedly in His Holy Torah that He will repay us many times over for the charity we give. And His currency is far more sustaining than money alone.

You can contribute securely online at:

http://www.chabad.org/donate18g

While there, please consider setting up an automatic donation schedule for the coming year -- at regular intervals, or perhaps to mark special dates in your family.

Or mail a check to:

Chabad.org Campaign c/o CLMC
770 Eastern Parkway
Brooklyn, NY 11213

If you are interested in planned giving, or in underwriting a site section or feature, or would like to discuss a stock transfer, a donation of real estate or a will, please contact us here.

We thank you immensely for your partnership and bless you that your partnership in our work will help beautify and illuminate your own life and the lives of all those around you and stand you in good stead forever.

Sincerely,

Rabbi Zalman Shmotkin, on behalf of

THE CHABAD.ORG TEAM