I just returned from a one-of-a-kind trip to New York to participate in the annual International Conference of Chabad Emissaries. I will not attempt to describe what it was like because it is impossible to adequately describe what it’s like. The pictures at this website provide a glimpse into what transpires at these conventions. One of the speakers was one Dr. Lukins, I was very taken by his talk - click here for a round-up of the banquet including a video with an excerpt of his speech. Also, click here for pictures of the banquet and here for pictures of something unusual to find at a banquet. Here’s an article from the New York Times about the conference.
On the second day of the conference a special Torah scroll was completed in memory of the victims of the terrorist attacks in India last year. Included among the victims of those inhuman attacks were the directors of the Chabad House there, Rabbi Gabi & Rivki Holtzberg hy”d (See: The Legacy of Mumbai). I had the extraordinary merit to inscribe a letter in this special Torah, (sorry the picture’s unclear…).
Just to get a little idea of what the ceremony was like – here’s a link to pictures of the culmination ceremony and here are pictures of the dancing that took place (they closed the entire Eastern Parkway – a broad, five-lane, major artery in Brooklyn, NY).