A native of Canada, Shalom Zirkind studied at yeshivas in Montreal, Los Angeles and Jerusalem. He then taught classes in Halacha and prayer at Mayanot Institute of Jewish Studies, where he received rabbinical ordination from Rabbi Yeruslavski, Chief Rabbi of the Israel Court of Rabbis.
While in Israel, Shalom organized a campaign for students to visit soldiers in various outposts during holidays to help boost their morale. In 2005 he volunteered for the Chabad search and rescue mission during Hurricane Katrina, and led High Holiday services for the Baton Rouge Jewish community. During the Second Lebanon War, together with Birthright Israel, he coordinated an effort to bring families from the battered towns in northern Israel to safety in central and southern Israel.
For 2 years, Shalom was the director of day to day operations in the central offices of Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters, and has seen to the founding and implementation of several global projects.
Shalom Zirkind is the youngest in a family of five boys and four girls.
Born and raised in Chicago, Menucha (“Nuchie”) Zirkind is the eighth in a family of thirteen, and has garnered appreciation as a capable educator for children from age two to adolescence. Nuchie volunteered many of her summers to lead Jewish children at camps around the world, from Kharkov to Kalkaska.
Upon completion of seminary in Israel, Nuchie worked with the Chabad centers in New Jersey where she helped direct many of the Chabad functions. She then established a new branch of the Friendship Circle in Westchester County to help area children with special needs.
In 2007, Rabbi Shalom and Nuchie got married, and since then, have thank G‑d, been blessed with six beautiful children.
In 2010 The Zirkinds moved to Baltimore to found the local chapter of The Friendship Circle, which currently serves close to 75 families with special needs and their volunteer teens.
The entire Zirkind family feels very blessed to currently be serving the as the Chabad emissaries in the Lutherville, Timonium and Hunt Valley neighborhoods, since 2017. If you are in the neighborhood, please stop by and say hello! :)
