Thousands to sit down at Chabad banquet in N.Y.

More than 4,000 guests are expected to be on hand for the final banquet of the annual conference of Chabad emissaries.

What has come to be known as the largest sit-down dinner in New York was scheduled for Sunday in Brooklyn. Some 350 waiters will be required to serve Chabad emissaries from around the world, lay leaders, family, friends and VIPs.

The banquet, which will feature the traditional geographic roll call of emissaries, marks the end of the five-day International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries.

This year’s conference has focused on family involvement in the educational work of the late rebbe, Menachem Schneerson, said Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, director of the international conference.

“The convention itself has a strong familial atmosphere,” Kotlarsky said. “It’s like a large family gathering.”

Over the last year, Chabad outposts have been opened in cities in Mexico, Bulgaria, Canada, Thailand and New Zealand, as well as a new Israeli center in London and a Chabad center at Oberlin College in Ohio.