Rabbi Haim Shetrit is the emissary of Chabad Lubavitch in Porto and is an integral part of Chabad Portugal in Cascais, which is an integral part of Chabad World based in New York. It is recognized as the world's largest international Jewish religious outreach and educational organization, operating an extensive global network driven by trained emissaries.
To describe Rabbi Shetrit is to describe Chabad's emissaries in more than a hundred countries. All them maintain confidence in the long-term future of Jewish communities because they operate through a global emissary network, a decentralized entrepreneurial model, and a deeply rooted ideological mission.
Rather than depending entirely on a single charismatic leader or fragile local funding, the movement is built for permanent and reproducible continuity. Centralized global umbrella organizations like Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch provide institutional backing, training, and a steady pipeline of young rabbinic families ready to step in or expand outposts.
Individual Chabad centers are locally self-supporting and do not rely on exclusive, restrictive membership dues, allowing them to weather financial shifts better than traditional synagogues. Emissaries (shluchim) are trained husband-and-wife teams deployed as permanent fixtures rather than transient clergy on a career ladder.
The framework was engineered by the seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson Z"L, who decentralized authority and instilled a mission-driven culture where every follower acts as an ambassador of the overarching goal.
Rabbi Eli Rosenfeld directs the Chabad Lubavitch of Portugal headquarters at the Avner Cohen Casa Chabad in Cascais, which was funded primarily by the Cohen family and the Jewish Community of Porto.
By treating every Jewish individual as family regardless of their current level of observance, Chabad creates an enduring, non-judgmental demand for its own services that transcends individual personalities.
Chabad is the product of the desire of its founder Rav Zalman of Liadi Z"L, who in turn descended from Rabbi Baruch Portugali Z"L.
